Images showing my pair can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/H9gt0
Design, Comfort, and Build Quality
Right up front, I want to say that I am a sucker for wood grain. My dad used to make hard wood furniture, and as such I’ve always grown up seeing beautifully stained woods around. I guess I carried over that taste to headphones.
As such, when I initially saw photos of the ZMF x Vibro Mk. II’s, I was immediately struct by the stained wood cups. When I decided to order a pair, I opted for the “Burst” finish with “Rust” stain. The photos provided here are courtesy of Zach himself, and do a fairly good job of showing off how impressive this finish is. But, in person, it is even more impressive. My pair have Zebra Wood cups, which has a beautiful wood grain in my opinion.
As for comfort, these are moderately heavy headphones. I haven’t weighed my pair exactly, but they certainly feel a good bit heavier than my HD600’s. However, due to the pilot pad and large, plush ear pads I find these incredibly comfortable and have worn them for 4+ hours straight at work without any problems.
Sound
First and foremost, I am generally powering these through a Schiit Bifrost Uber and Lyr 2, with Amperex White Label 6DJ8’s (Made in Holland variety). Subjectively, due to the tubes, I consider this setup a tad warm through all of my headphones. But, this is a slight effect that doesn’t seem to massively change the frequency response of my headphones.
In addition, I also found my preference with the bass ports was one port plugged. Thus, all of my impressions below are based on having one port plugged.
The bass response on these headphones is wonderful in my opinion. To my ears, these have a nice, controlled bass that is a bit higher than neutral, with very good extension and impact. Comparing the bass to my HD600, the mid-bass is more pronounced and the sub-bass is significantly more present. To my ears, there was no bass bleed into the lower midrange either, similar to the HD600.
The midrange itself has wonderful detail and texture to it, and is a bit forward compared to my HD600’s. I find this to be very desirable, as it really makes vocals and mid-range instruments sound fantastic. This forward nature is not excessive though, and transitions very smoothly into the treble.
The treble has a nice amount of extension, air, and crispness to it. I do not find them to be sibilant or harsh at all, although subjectively I find the top end extension to be just a bit less than my HD600’s.
In terms of sound stage, I was extremely impressed with these. Comparing their sound stage to my HD600’s, I found they both have excellent instrument separation and placement, but found the Vibro’s to be a bit more intimate by a very small amount. In terms of height, I think the sound stage of both is almost the same. But, the width is just a hair narrower on the Vibro’s. While the sound stage is not going to be massive like the AKG Q/K700 series, I find both of these headphones to be very realistic in their presentation.
Customer Service
One aspect that I want to highlight in reviewing these is just how amazing Zach’s customer service skills are. Dealing with him has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. He really cares about his customers and puts in the extra effort to communicate clearly and openly.
In addition, the one-of-a-kind nature of every pair of his headphones is something to highlight as well. They truly do give off the impression that someone has put their time in to build them by hand and both look and feel premium.
Design, Comfort, and Build Quality
Right up front, I want to say that I am a sucker for wood grain. My dad used to make hard wood furniture, and as such I’ve always grown up seeing beautifully stained woods around. I guess I carried over that taste to headphones.
As such, when I initially saw photos of the ZMF x Vibro Mk. II’s, I was immediately struct by the stained wood cups. When I decided to order a pair, I opted for the “Burst” finish with “Rust” stain. The photos provided here are courtesy of Zach himself, and do a fairly good job of showing off how impressive this finish is. But, in person, it is even more impressive. My pair have Zebra Wood cups, which has a beautiful wood grain in my opinion.
As for comfort, these are moderately heavy headphones. I haven’t weighed my pair exactly, but they certainly feel a good bit heavier than my HD600’s. However, due to the pilot pad and large, plush ear pads I find these incredibly comfortable and have worn them for 4+ hours straight at work without any problems.
Sound
First and foremost, I am generally powering these through a Schiit Bifrost Uber and Lyr 2, with Amperex White Label 6DJ8’s (Made in Holland variety). Subjectively, due to the tubes, I consider this setup a tad warm through all of my headphones. But, this is a slight effect that doesn’t seem to massively change the frequency response of my headphones.
In addition, I also found my preference with the bass ports was one port plugged. Thus, all of my impressions below are based on having one port plugged.
The bass response on these headphones is wonderful in my opinion. To my ears, these have a nice, controlled bass that is a bit higher than neutral, with very good extension and impact. Comparing the bass to my HD600, the mid-bass is more pronounced and the sub-bass is significantly more present. To my ears, there was no bass bleed into the lower midrange either, similar to the HD600.
The midrange itself has wonderful detail and texture to it, and is a bit forward compared to my HD600’s. I find this to be very desirable, as it really makes vocals and mid-range instruments sound fantastic. This forward nature is not excessive though, and transitions very smoothly into the treble.
The treble has a nice amount of extension, air, and crispness to it. I do not find them to be sibilant or harsh at all, although subjectively I find the top end extension to be just a bit less than my HD600’s.
In terms of sound stage, I was extremely impressed with these. Comparing their sound stage to my HD600’s, I found they both have excellent instrument separation and placement, but found the Vibro’s to be a bit more intimate by a very small amount. In terms of height, I think the sound stage of both is almost the same. But, the width is just a hair narrower on the Vibro’s. While the sound stage is not going to be massive like the AKG Q/K700 series, I find both of these headphones to be very realistic in their presentation.
Customer Service
One aspect that I want to highlight in reviewing these is just how amazing Zach’s customer service skills are. Dealing with him has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. He really cares about his customers and puts in the extra effort to communicate clearly and openly.
In addition, the one-of-a-kind nature of every pair of his headphones is something to highlight as well. They truly do give off the impression that someone has put their time in to build them by hand and both look and feel premium.
