[smodtactical]

Has anyone paired the ZMF Atticus with the Luxman p750u ?

 

[MacMan31]

If you have an Aeolus, and want another ZMF, i'd recommend going for an Eikon or Auteur. That will be a nice complement to the Aeolus. My favorite two ZMFs that complement each perfectly (for me) are the Atticus (or Aeolus) and Auteur. If i had to downsize the collection to two sets, that would likely be the two.

How does they differ from the Aeolus in sound?

 

[Wes S]

I feel pretty much the same and it's why the Aeolus is the only ZMF I've sold. I preferred the Atticus myself.

Right there with ya! I sold my Aeolus and kept the Atticus, and don't regret it one bit. The Atticus is a very very special headphone.

 

[Odin412]

Hey has anyone here compared the Atticus with the Aeolus? I have the latter now but there are a couple of Atticus up for grabs on CAM (Canuck Audio Mart) and I am curious to try them. One is in Cocobolo wood.

I own both and enjoy them both. Like others have said they sound similar, but the Atticus has maybe a little more midbass so they can sound a bit fuller and richer. For me the Aeolus is a wonderful all-rounder and the Atticus is when I just want comfort food for the ear. By the way, if you use the Atticus with the suede pads it becomes a more 'neutral' sounding headphone.

 

[erics75]

How does they differ from the Aeolus in sound?

Both will give you deeper sub bass, less mid bass, and more treble extension. The Eikon is still pretty bassy and the Auteur more balanced though still warmer than neutral. If you like bass but want more air and less thickness than the Atticus or Aeolus then the Eikon is a great option. The Auteur still has good bass but can’t match the Eikon in quantity.

 

[1-MiC]

I can see why some own so many ZMF headphones.... I have the Eikon and Aeolus currently, but I THINK the Atticus / Auteur is the combo calling my name. Probably because I have neither! I LOVE the Eikon, but some of my music just feels so good with the Aeolus. Specifically some of my 90's rap, some poorly recorded blues, and a lot of rock. I think I could live with a bit more flavor coming from the Atticus. I just don't know if the Auteur would take the spot of my Eikon.

 

[smodtactical]

Some people keep **** on Atticus in my discord saying it sounds small and congested. But I could not disagree more. The sound is simply beautiful. A rich incredible smooth tone but with such haunting beauty. Listen to 'Song of Sending - Inanna's dream - Steve Roach'. The echos and reverb of Serena Gabriel's voice send shivers down my spine. The weighty plodding thunderous drum is palpable on the atticus. Comparing it to the HD800S ya sure it sounds a bit bigger and a bit more open but it sounds utterly flatter, less harmonically rich, less organic less texturally dense and weighty. Every time I go to HD800S save for classical I go running back to Atticus. This is all powered by my pass x350.8 with he9 as pre.

Apparently the Empyrean is a more detailed Atticus/aelous but I dont know?

 

[Wes S]

Happy to report the Pendant SE and Atticus are a match made in heaven! I have been using my VC exclusively with the Pendant SE as I was burning it in. However, the burn in is complete now, and I spent the entire weekend with my Atticus hooked up to my Pendant SE and man oh man is this a killer pairing. In fact, I like my Atticus more than my VC with the Pendant, and there is just such an amazing synergy going on. The holographic stage is phenomenal and the depth front to back is awesome. Talk about being transported to the venue, this combo does it. The images are huge and fully fleshed out, and sounds just seem to explode all around from way outside my head. This is a highly immersive sound, and the texture and impact are first class. The mids and especially vocals are the star of the show, and are more forward than with the VC, which allows me to feel the emotion and hear every little nuance like lip smacking and things of that nature. Another big plus with the Atticus is that I don't hear any hum whatsoever from the high Z tap, and this is a much welcomed outcome. So, if any of you fellow Atticus owners are looking for a dynamite amp pairing, I highly suggest you take a hard look at the Pendant SE.

The Atticus and Pendant SE go together like PB&J, and I just can't get enough!

 

[smodtactical]

Happy to report the Pendant SE and Atticus are a match made in heaven! I have been using my VC exclusively with the Pendant SE as I was burning it in. However, the burn in is complete now, and I spent the entire weekend with my Atticus hooked up to my Pendant SE and man oh man is this a killer pairing. In fact, I like my Atticus more than my VC with the Pendant, and there is just such an amazing synergy going on. The holographic stage is phenomenal and the depth front to back is awesome. Talk about being transported to the venue, this combo does it. The images are huge and fully fleshed out, and sounds just seem to explode all around from way outside my head. This is a highly immersive sound, and the texture and impact are first class. The mids and especially vocals are the star of the show, and are more forward than with the VC, which allows me to feel the emotion and hear every little nuance like lip smacking and things of that nature. Another big plus with the Atticus is that I don't hear any hum whatsoever from the high Z tap, and this is a much welcomed outcome. So, if any of you fellow Atticus owners are looking for a dynamite amp pairing, I highly suggest you take a hard look at the Pendant SE.

The Atticus and Pendant SE go together like PB&J, and I just can't get enough!

Wow impressive. How does it compare to RH5 and what other tube head amps have you compared it to ?

 

[Wes S]

Wow impressive. How does it compare to RH5 and what other tube head amps have you compared it to ?

They really are 2 different presentations and compared to the RH-5 the Pendant is more intimate, euphonic, and warm. The RH-5 is faster and more neutral with a bit better grip and control in the bass. The stage is more expansive and bigger all around on the RH-5, with the Pendant being a bit more intimate and forward especially in the mids. The highs are more extended with the Pendant as well, and the detail retrieval is about equal on both. Overall they are just completely different presentations of equal caliber. I am really liking my VC with the RH-5 as the speed of the amp combined with the speed of the VC is an awesome combo, and the slower more euphonic Atticus pairs incredible with the more euphonic and intimate sound of the Pendant SE.

Tube Amps I have heard - Schiit Valhalla 2, Bottlehead Crack with Speedball, and Liquid Platinum cap modded. Of important note, is that I am using some killer NOS tubes with all these amps. Obviously, I have not heard very many high end amps, but I know what good sound is, and the Pendant SE and Atticus is a dynamite pairing.

I imagine it will be real hard to find a better pairing with the Atticus, as the Pendant SE was made for them.

 

[robo24]

Some people keep **** on Atticus in my discord saying it sounds small and congested. But I could not disagree more. The sound is simply beautiful. A rich incredible smooth tone but with such haunting beauty. Listen to 'Song of Sending - Inanna's dream - Steve Roach'. The echos and reverb of Serena Gabriel's voice send shivers down my spine. The weighty plodding thunderous drum is palpable on the atticus. Comparing it to the HD800S ya sure it sounds a bit bigger and a bit more open but it sounds utterly flatter, less harmonically rich, less organic less texturally dense and weighty. Every time I go to HD800S save for classical I go running back to Atticus. This is all powered by my pass x350.8 with he9 as pre.

Apparently the Empyrean is a more detailed Atticus/aelous but I dont know?

Yeah, who cares what anyone else thinks, really. No one else has your ears and brain. I'd certainly hope the Empyrean is more detailed, but really to my ears all the other ZMF drivers are more detailed, but the Atticus (edit: meant to say the shared driver) is still more detailed than most in its price range, especially in the Aeolus with BE-2 or Verite pads.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Some people keep **** on Atticus in my discord saying it sounds small and congested. But I could not disagree more. The sound is simply beautiful. A rich incredible smooth tone but with such haunting beauty. Listen to 'Song of Sending - Inanna's dream - Steve Roach'. The echos and reverb of Serena Gabriel's voice send shivers down my spine. The weighty plodding thunderous drum is palpable on the atticus. Comparing it to the HD800S ya sure it sounds a bit bigger and a bit more open but it sounds utterly flatter, less harmonically rich, less organic less texturally dense and weighty. Every time I go to HD800S save for classical I go running back to Atticus. This is all powered by my pass x350.8 with he9 as pre.

Apparently the Empyrean is a more detailed Atticus/aelous but I dont know?

The Empyrean is definitely not a more detailed Atticus/Aeolus. I have an Aeolus and had an Empyrean at one time. While the voicing of these headphones is roughly similar (both are very musical sounding, somewhat warm, with big mids and good soundstaging), they're not all that similar in the details:

• The Empyrean is a planar magnetic driver of novel design, and planars just don't behave much like dynamics in my experience. They have very different impedance profiles, sometimes have more pressurized/heavy bass, and propogate notes in a more linear, low-distortion way.
• With either of the available earpad sets, the Empyrean is IMO average to a little above average in resolution. This is not a planar design that prioritized resolution over other things.
• By contrast, the Aeolus is higher in resolution. It doesn't get much credit for resolution, since most listeners focus on its fun, bassy signature. But there's plenty of detail & resolution in the Aeolus sound, even more so with the Verite pads, which knock down much of that attention-getting midbass bump.
• The Aeolus has that characteristic midbass bounce, which gets smaller with some earpads than others. It also has a consistently entertaining/enveloping vibe--this is just a fun headphone, dynamic, entertaining and very musical. The Empyrean is a relaxing, musical headphone, but not nearly as fun & rousing as the Aeolus (yes, this comment is absurdly subjective--but many Aeolus owners would agree with it).
• I'd put the Empyrean a bit ahead of the Aeolus in classical music, big choral works, that kind of thing--but the Aeolus seems better to me on pretty much everything else.

You also have to factor in cost: a stock Aeolus costs ~1/2 what an Empyrean costs. $$ isn't everything, but it is a consideration.

 

[steve468]

Hey! New Atticus owner here. Just wanted to chime in with a picture of the Marblewood, as there's not much out there on the internet. Also, they sound great! I bought without hearing them (silly me), and from all the descriptions on the internet I thought they would be claustrophobic and muffled, with nothing but tinny static for the high frequencies, but they really sound quite clear and open. Detail is surprising for the price. It's definitely not neutral, which is not what I was looking for anyway, but neither are the bass and mids as exaggerated as I expected. Just a smooth, relaxing, fun flavour to the music. And this is after less than an hour! I don't usually believe in burn-in, but my VC changed dramatically, sometimes day-to-day, for several hundred hours. Should I expect the same for Atticus?


I also wanted to commend ZMF for an excellent purchase process. I bought VC from a now kicked-to-the-curb distributer in Canada, while my Atticus was bought direct from ZMF. I really missed out on choosing my own setup and getting the silly boiler plate emails about what stage my headphones were in. Finally getting them home and lifting the lid on the case became an event! I love how mine turned out, and of course the craftsmanship is top notch.

Okay, thank you for putting up with my new toy syndrome.

 

[jinxy245]

Okay, thank you for putting up with my new toy syndrome.

Par for the course here, and generally not unwelcome...especially with gorgeous pics like that. Thanks for sharing!

 

[erics75]

Happy to report the Pendant SE and Atticus are a match made in heaven! I have been using my VC exclusively with the Pendant SE as I was burning it in. However, the burn in is complete now, and I spent the entire weekend with my Atticus hooked up to my Pendant SE and man oh man is this a killer pairing. In fact, I like my Atticus more than my VC with the Pendant, and there is just such an amazing synergy going on. The holographic stage is phenomenal and the depth front to back is awesome. Talk about being transported to the venue, this combo does it. The images are huge and fully fleshed out, and sounds just seem to explode all around from way outside my head. This is a highly immersive sound, and the texture and impact are first class. The mids and especially vocals are the star of the show, and are more forward than with the VC, which allows me to feel the emotion and hear every little nuance like lip smacking and things of that nature. Another big plus with the Atticus is that I don't hear any hum whatsoever from the high Z tap, and this is a much welcomed outcome. So, if any of you fellow Atticus owners are looking for a dynamite amp pairing, I highly suggest you take a hard look at the Pendant SE.

The Atticus and Pendant SE go together like PB&J, and I just can't get enough!

All that talk about tubes and the Atticus made me take the evening off from burning in my Auteur and Aeolus in favor of some fun with the Kenzie Ovation and Atticus. Really glad I read this post! It's easy to forget how fun the Atticus is, especially on tubes. I gotta admit, there's something really fun about running the Atticus on the high ohm tap of the Ovation (300ohm output impedance). It's overdose level warm, but man it's fun with the right music. Gives the legendary thrash album Reign in Blood so much force and energy. Makes me double down on my thoughts on the Atticus: Technical merits be damned, this is the most musical and engaging headphone i've listened to, and stands above the rest for my tastes. I hope i'm buried with my Atticus!