[grizzlybeast]

^true

 

[ProfFalkin]

^true

Trust the pink bear

 

[rhenom]

  So I'm getting the impression that the Eikon (and ZMF in general) is absolutely *not* in the analytical/ear-bleeding/fatiguing sound signature camp, and maybe good for Senn. HD650 fans. True? Thanks.
(And maybe it's also good for Stax SR007 fans too...)?

In theory the Atticus/Eikon should be a whole new ball of wax, as it were. As you may (or may not) be aware, all previous ZMF headphones were using a planar driver ripped out of the $150 Fostex t50 rp. The Atticus and Eikon are using their own custom dynamic drivers that could sound significantly different than past ZMF products, although no doubt Zach will tune them to his usual preference (not overly bright).

 

[grizzlybeast]

^ this too

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

So I'm getting the impression that the Eikon (and ZMF in general) is absolutely *not* in the analytical/ear-bleeding/fatiguing sound signature camp, and maybe good for Senn. HD650 fans. True? Thanks.
(And maybe it's also good for Stax SR007 fans too...)?

Not quite as dark as the HD650, but very smooth still. The HD650 has a little bite in the upper mids that ZMF stuff doesn't, which lends a more balanced and non-fatiguing sound signature. The Eikon should be slightly brighter in the treble and smoother in the upper midrange.

 

[rgs9200m]

OK, that's what I needed to hear and I'll find out in March and report back. Thanks everyone.

 

[mwhals]

I never ordered a DAC, amp or speakers yet. A $2,000 car repair bill has made me keep my expendable money stash in case it becomes needed. Also, I add to the expendable stash every week, so the pot grows richer meaning I may get a better DAC and Amp by the time I buy. I decided since I am not buying now, I will wait until others with existing amps start posting their thoughts on how the Atticus and Eikon sound. This may change my mind from a Jotunheim and steer me to an OTL amp and Bimby or Gunger DAC to go with it.

My Atticus and Eikon are still showing on the Finishing step.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I never ordered a DAC, amp or speakers yet. A $2,000 car repair bill has made me keep my expendable money stash in case it becomes needed. Also, I add to the expendable stash every week, so the pot grows richer meaning I may get a better DAC and Amp by the time I buy. I decided since I am not buying now, I will wait until others with existing amps start posting their thoughts on how the Atticus and Eikon sound. This may change my mind from a Jotunheim and steer me to an OTL amp and Bimby or Gunger DAC to go with it.

My Atticus and Eikon are still showing on the Finishing step.

 
"....so the pot grows"
 
(interesting way to pay for an audio addiction!)
 
"But seriously" I have an ormosia henryi Omni/Ori on order and I'm beating the bushes for a solid, not stratospherically priced balanced/SE amp. Any suggestions--any brands known to sound good w/Ori?
 
My early research leads me to the Yulong A18, though no one has one F.S. at this time.
 
Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely w/the balanced thing? It only occurred to me because:
 
A. The Ori will be easily the best headphone I've ever heard (or owned); and
B. It's capable of balanced operation, unlike any of my others

 

[ProfFalkin]

"....so the pot grows"

(interesting way to pay for an audio addiction!)

"But seriously" I have an ormosia henryi Omni/Ori on order and I'm beating the bushes for a solid, not stratospherically priced balanced/SE amp. Any suggestions--any brands known to sound good w/Ori?

My early research leads me to the Yulong A18, though no one has one F.S. at this time.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely w/the balanced thing? It only occurred to me because:

A. The Ori will be easily the best headphone I've ever heard (or owned); and
B. It's capable of balanced operation, unlike any of my others

From: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615218/review-yulong-sabre-a18-reference-headphone-amp/0_30#post_8473100

This amp is NOT a "true balanced" design. I want to make that clear. Yulong explained to me: "We converted two negative signal wires together to achieve balanced output. This way customers who use a balanced headphones do not need to have an adapter but still can get very high quality playback sound."

It probably sounds excellent, but is something to consider.

 

[Pharmaboy]

From: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615218/review-yulong-sabre-a18-reference-headphone-amp/0_30#post_8473100

This amp is NOT a "true balanced" design. I want to make that clear. Yulong explained to me: "We converted two negative signal wires together to achieve balanced output. This way customers who use a balanced headphones do not need to have an adapter but still can get very high quality playback sound."

It probably sounds excellent, but is something to consider.

 
Yep, I know that. I corresponded with this reviewer on this very point. His review made it quite clear that (despite it not being a true, balanced design), this HP amp just sounded better to him when the inputs were XLR and the output to headphone was 4-pin XLR. I told him that my source DACs are single ended all the way, though the L + R RCA outs could go into 2 X mono (3-pin) XLR adapters as inputs to the Yulong. He said that would (in his experience/opinion) give a better sonic result, even if listening to SE headphones (of which I have 3-4).
 
Best of all would be balanced headphones, which the Ori certainly can become w/the right after-market cable ending in 4-pin XLR male fitting.
 
So it's purely sonic considerations that lead me to the Yulong A18. And away from (for example) a more powerful, true balanced design, the Schitt Jot, which is said to sound very analytical/clinical/razor-edged on transients, blah-blah (in other words, all the things I embrace ZMF designs to get away from). Also the true balanced Yulong, the A28, said to sound more analytical/clinical, blah-blah.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

   
"....so the pot grows"
 
(interesting way to pay for an audio addiction!)
 
"But seriously" I have an ormosia henryi Omni/Ori on order and I'm beating the bushes for a solid, not stratospherically priced balanced/SE amp. Any suggestions--any brands known to sound good w/Ori?
 
My early research leads me to the Yulong A18, though no one has one F.S. at this time.
 
Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely w/the balanced thing? It only occurred to me because:
 
A. The Ori will be easily the best headphone I've ever heard (or owned); and
B. It's capable of balanced operation, unlike any of my others

I wouldn't worry too much about the balanced connection. Some of the best amps I have ever heard are SE. I think Zach likes tubes so maybe that is a good direction to go. I'm not a huge Jotenheim fan but others love it so that might be a safe bet if you want to experiment with balanced connection.
 
If you are not worried about balanced, here are some good sub $1K SS options: Audio GD C-2 11th, Nuprime HPA-9, Cayin IHA6. I know the Cavalli Liquid Carbon is popular as well but I've never heard it. 
 
Under $1K, I would consider the following tube options: Feliks Espressivo / Elise, Mapletree OD300, The Crack is good if you can manage DIY. Zach has his own tube amp coming but it could be a long ways off. 

 

[Pharmaboy]

 
I wouldn't worry too much about the balanced connection. Some of the best amps I have ever heard are SE. I think Zach likes tubes so maybe that is a good direction to go. I'm not a huge Jotenheim fan but others love it so that might be a safe bet if you want to experiment with balanced connection.
 
If you are not worried about balanced, here are some good sub $1K SS options: Audio GD C-2 11th, Nuprime HPA-9, Cayin IHA6. I know the Cavalli Liquid Carbon is popular as well but I've never heard it. 
 
Under $1K, I would consider the following tube options: Feliks Espressivo / Elise, Mapletree OD300, The Crack is good if you can manage DIY. Zach has his own tube amp coming but it could be a long ways off. 

 
Thanks! This post is very helpful.
 
I am definitely interested in tubes: have been considering the Feliks Elise (which @ProfFalkin has on order, if memory serves); also one of the LaFigaro designs (upscale iteration of Darkvoice 336SE); and Little Voice MKIII, the least expensive option. All are SE.
 
I have also been jonesing for months over the Hifiman EF-6, descriptions of which fascinate me (it has a "convenience" XLR output, but is SE all the way). One is F.S. on HF, but what hangs me up is its sheer size (nearly imposslble to fit somewhere on my desktop); also the fact that it has what is described as a high quality stepped pot--yet no one ever mentions how many steps it has (not in mfr's literature, either). I've learned the hard way that a stepped pot w/too few steps, no matter great the quality, is a fast track to hair-pulling madness, particularly w/the more efficient HPs.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Thanks! This post is very helpful.

I am definitely interested in tubes: have been considering the Feliks Elise (which @ProfFalkin
has on order, if memory serves); also one of the LaFigaro designs (upscale iteration of Darkvoice 336SE); and Little Voice MKIII, the least expensive option. All are SE.

I have also been jonesing for months over the Hifiman EF-6, descriptions of which fascinate me (it has a "convenience" XLR output, but is SE all the way). One is F.S. on HF, but what hangs me up is its sheer size (nearly imposslble to fit somewhere on my desktop); also the fact that it has what is described as a high quality stepped pot--yet no one ever mentions how many steps it has (not in mfr's literature, either). I've learned the hard way that a stepped pot w/too few steps, no matter great the quality, is a fast track to hair-pulling madness, particularly w/the more efficient HPs.

I received it a while ago and I'm impressed with the sound so far. Not going to post any comparisons to my Schiit stack until my Atticus and Eikon arrive.

 

[echineko]

Thanks! This post is very helpful.

I am definitely interested in tubes: have been considering the Feliks Elise (which ProfFalkin
has on order, if memory serves); also one of the LaFigaro designs (upscale iteration of Darkvoice 336SE); and Little Voice MKIII, the least expensive option. All are SE.

Personally I'd take the Elise from that list, but I may be biased, I happen to think they're great

 

[Stillhart]

   
"....so the pot grows"
 
(interesting way to pay for an audio addiction!)
 
"But seriously" I have an ormosia henryi Omni/Ori on order and I'm beating the bushes for a solid, not stratospherically priced balanced/SE amp. Any suggestions--any brands known to sound good w/Ori?
 
My early research leads me to the Yulong A18, though no one has one F.S. at this time.
 
Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely w/the balanced thing? It only occurred to me because:
 
A. The Ori will be easily the best headphone I've ever heard (or owned); and
B. It's capable of balanced operation, unlike any of my others

 
I'd be careful with Yulong.  They have a reputation for poor QA.  I know the D100 I had died shortly after I sold it (dodged a bullet there) and I read about the QA stuff afterwards.
 
One thing I noticed about the Omni when I had one was that it actually scales well with a good amp.  When I upgraded from the Liquid Carbon to the Liquid Crimson, I was quite disappointed to realize that my HE-560 did not scale up very well.  The Omni however, sounded better than the HE-560 on the Crimson, resolving more details.  So my recommendation is to get the best amp you can afford because the Omni will love it.