[TaKo15]

I have had two Eikons. The first was one was a few years ago and had the old style slide rods. I sold that one after I had bought a VC.
Then last year I bought an Eikon again, just before they got discontiued.

With both headphones I have tried the stock Eikon pads and the Auteur pads. In both cases I find that the Auteur pads make the Eikon sound less thick. There is also more space inside the pads, which I prefer comfort wise. I also think that the larger cavity increases the soundstage.

From ZMF website:
Auteur Pads: These pads have the exact same 11mm diameter as the Eikon pads, but a larger ear cavity. This creates a little less bass in general and less frequencies from 500 hz on down. This makes for a more neutral sound signature with less "boom."

I think this is a description of the pads effect on the Auteur headphones, but I think it also describes very well what I hear when I switch from Eikon pads to Auteur pads on the Eikon.

ZMF also have info about pad rolling on the Eikon:
Eikon: The Eikon pads are the stock and recommended pad. They feature a resounding sub-bass, linear mids, and impactful present treble. Gentle downslope response with heightened sub-bass.

Eikon Suede: Linearity without hash. Adding ZMF suede to the Eikon pads gives more linearity, while also flattening treble peaks. Sub-bass is still boosted, but the rumble less forward. A great pad for a change of pace.

auteur: Spatious with linearity. The auteur pads have a little more "dip" in the lower treble and more space for the ears making these more linear, spacious and present sounding.

Universe: Dry, fast, neutral. The flattest pad you can use on the Eikon, reduces treble and bass peaks, making for a brighter more flat response.

Well, went to the store today, explained my situation and trading them in on a Caldera for the same price I paid (was already an open box item when I bought m) was no problem. I did not try different pads on the Eikon after this offer...
The Eikons are fantastic headphones, but the low bass was just a bit much for my ears/HRTF and yeah, the Caldera's are simply endgame headphones for me, they have the typical ZMF warmth while still sounding quite analytical, something I dont think Ive ever heard in a single headphone.
Almost like a High end Stax and an Audioquest Nighthawk rolled into one. (I suck at these descriptions)
Bass is still ever so slightly north of neutral (for me), but with significantly better definition, and minus the "boom".

 

[TheRealDz]

I was playing around with Microsoft's new ai Bing search, and came across an Atticus review that Google had never presented before:

https://www.audiokeyreviews.com/the-reviews/zmf-atticus

It is safe to say he likes it

 

[KaiFi]

Finally received the cables I ordered today, so I can test the Atticus properly!

Now, I've been pretty enthusiastic and excited about these headphones in this thread, and I wish my first impressions could be raving and gushing about them, but I want to be honest and tell you what I really think and unfortunately, it wasn't love at first listen. Simply put, the bass on these, at least with the stock pads...is a bit much.

Everything else about it is essentially perfect. The mids and highs are flawless, the roll-off in the highs is just what I like and yet I hear more detail than I ever did with my NightOwl. But because the bass is a bit excessive, I'm finding I have to turn the volume down lower than I'd like and the mids and highs recess a bit as a result. I wasn't really expecting these to be bass cannons, but to me, they are. And that historically has not been what I've wanted in a pair of headphones.

I'm not saying the Atticus isn't for me. I've been listening to them for over an hour now and overall, I'm enjoying them, especially with classical music, which is a lot of what I listen to. It's more of an issue with certain songs and genres. But I think I'm going to have to tame this bass a little if I'm going to keep them. With my NightOwl, the suede pads were always my preferred sound to the leather ones, and on those headphones, the leather pads were more "V-shaped" compared to the suede. And I might have to get the suede pads to really see what else the sound can be like.

 

[robo24]

Finally received the cables I ordered today, so I can test the Atticus properly!

Now, I've been pretty enthusiastic and excited about these headphones in this thread, and I wish my first impressions could be raving and gushing about them, but I want to be honest and tell you what I really think and unfortunately, it wasn't love at first listen. Simply put, the bass on these, at least with the stock pads...is a bit much.

Everything else about it is essentially perfect. The mids and highs are flawless, the roll-off in the highs is just what I like and yet I hear more detail than I ever did with my NightOwl. But because the bass is a bit excessive, I'm finding I have to turn the volume down lower than I'd like and the mids and highs recess a bit as a result. I wasn't really expecting these to be bass cannons, but to me, they are. And that historically has not been what I've wanted in a pair of headphones.

I'm not saying the Atticus isn't for me. I've been listening to them for over an hour now and overall, I'm enjoying them, especially with classical music, which is a lot of what I listen to. It's more of an issue with certain songs and genres. But I think I'm going to have to tame this bass a little if I'm going to keep them. With my NightOwl, the suede pads were always my preferred sound to the leather ones, and on those headphones, the leather pads were more "V-shaped" compared to the suede. And I might have to get the suede pads to really see what else the sound can be like.

I've only used the Ori suedes and think it will address the bass for you. I don't know if you have new or used, but I've definitely had the bass change (become less prominent) on ZMFs after burn in. The Atticus was my first ZMF and it didn't grab me immediately, but they did within a few weeks. They still feel a bit like coming home even after I go to them after listening to other headphones which are 3+ times the price. They definitely hold their own even with those which are superior on technicalities.

 

[erics75]

Finally received the cables I ordered today, so I can test the Atticus properly!

Now, I've been pretty enthusiastic and excited about these headphones in this thread, and I wish my first impressions could be raving and gushing about them, but I want to be honest and tell you what I really think and unfortunately, it wasn't love at first listen. Simply put, the bass on these, at least with the stock pads...is a bit much.

Everything else about it is essentially perfect. The mids and highs are flawless, the roll-off in the highs is just what I like and yet I hear more detail than I ever did with my NightOwl. But because the bass is a bit excessive, I'm finding I have to turn the volume down lower than I'd like and the mids and highs recess a bit as a result. I wasn't really expecting these to be bass cannons, but to me, they are. And that historically has not been what I've wanted in a pair of headphones.

I'm not saying the Atticus isn't for me. I've been listening to them for over an hour now and overall, I'm enjoying them, especially with classical music, which is a lot of what I listen to. It's more of an issue with certain songs and genres. But I think I'm going to have to tame this bass a little if I'm going to keep them. With my NightOwl, the suede pads were always my preferred sound to the leather ones, and on those headphones, the leather pads were more "V-shaped" compared to the suede. And I might have to get the suede pads to really see what else the sound can be like.

I would try the suede Ori pads, see how that goes, and if that's still a bit much, the Eikon suede pads. Suede will lessen the bass transients and make it a bit more linear sounding. The Eikon pads further push the bass down, though it will increase treble presence a bit. But all in all the Atticus even with Eikon suede pads is still on the warmer more fatigue free side of things.

Thanks for the honest feedback, those are great impressions.

 

[UnfetteredWandering]

Special thanks to another forum member for selling me their circa 2017 ZMF Eikon (cherry)!

Group Photo of the Macassar Ebony Atrium Open & Cherry Eikon:

 

[Pharmaboy]

Special thanks to another forum member for selling me their circa 2017 ZMF Eikon (cherry)!



Group Photo of the Macassar Ebony Atrium Open & Cherry Eikon:

Beautiful picture! 2 comments:

1 - The ebony + brass-colored hardware is very pretty

2 - That AO & Eikon strike me as the near-ideal pairing of dissimilar (but both impressively musical) ZMF headphones

Now that you have this Eikon...are your wanderings still unfettered?

 

[FlatCap72]

It's novice-level work, but I thought some of my marblewood photos would be of interest to you guys -

 

[04gto]

It's novice-level work, but I thought some of my marblewood photos would be of interest to you guys -

The Eikon Marblewood really are nice.

 

[Pharmaboy]

The Eikon Marblewood really are nice.

I love the open pore in that wood. Not only is is this good to look at, but in my experience, woods with open pores (such as padauk, oak, others) typically have a slightly resonant, rich quality to their sound that I find very pleasing.

 

[UnfetteredWandering]

Now that you have this Eikon...are your wanderings still unfettered?

For now - I can’t go that far when tethered to the Mjolnir or Folkvangr.

It's novice-level work, but I thought some of my marblewood photos would be of interest to you guys -

I like the first photo the best of the three you posted. The contrast between the lighter wood of the cups and the dark background is a nice touch.

 

[TheRealDz]

I have a few hundred hours on my Atticus now, so here are some more thoughts about it:

• It is overall a fantastic headphone. Its timbre is intoxicating - sounding almost "tubey".
• I've cycled through many different genres, and nothing sounds bad. My favorite 80s New Wave sounds great, as does 90s Trip Hop, Shoegaze, and Alt Rock. Soft rock/classic rock/pop sound great. Synth tracks really benefit; Gary Numan's Moog takes on a beguiling resonant organic tone, as does modern Synthwave. It goes without saying that vocals are spectacular.
• It does sound more spacious than a typical closed back. Certainly more spacious than my Focal Elegia.
• It is more detailed than I expected. Its treble is soft, but the details are there if you listen for them - they just aren't as immediately apparent.
• It is heavy. I got used to it after a few weeks, but the first time I tried it on, it was apparent that it was heavier than any other headphone I've tried.
• Midbass has great impact and dynamics, bringing life to recordings. Sub bass is much lower in volume though. With some EQ, you can coax more sub bass out, but it begins to distort after only few more decibels though. Keep in mind that this reduced sub bass only affects a small portion of songs - most don't have much sub bass to begin with. You will notice it on heavy synth songs though.
• There is too much upper bass/lower midrange for my tastes. It adds too much thickness to music. I found that I can reduce 125/250/500 Hz a few decibels and eliminate the thickness while keeping the Atticus' inherent timbre. This reduction also adds a bit more perceived spaciousness to the headphone.
• The stock cable is bad - the equivalent to those throwaway RCA patch cords that come with cheap electronics. I am eager to hear how an aftermarket cable will sound. Specifically, I ordered a silver XLR cable, hoping to thin out that upper bass/lower midrange a bit.
• It has fantastic isolation - both in and out. I can listen to music about as loud as I want without disturbing my wife (whose desk is next to mine). She complains about my Elegia when played at about the same level.

My goal was to find a closed back headphone that I could enjoy throughout my workday in my home office. Mission accomplished.

 

[DenverW]

The Eikon Marblewood really are nice.

I’m having flashbacks to the gym I used to work at! We had that same silver wall cover everywhere!

 

[robo24]

Finally got around to trying out Caldera Suede pads with the Eikon and very glad I did! Given they're one of the stock pad options on the Atrium Closed I figured they might also sound good on the Eikon. I normally use the Eikon suede (closed) pads. It seems like that solid inner part works well to keep the amazing Eikon sub-bass, while making them a bit more airy. They're actually a lot more similar to my Auteur OG which I always use perforated Eikon suede pads. My Eikons get less use than my other ZMFs and occasionally think about selling them, especially since I'll be getting the Atrium Closed at some point this year. Then I spend a little more time with them and think no way am I ever letting these go!

I actually bought the extra set of Caldera Suedes after loving them on the VO, but I think they're even a better match with the Eikons. I've not heard any other Caldera pads but imagine they're all worth a try with the Eikons if one has them.

 

[Odin412]

After a much too lengthy absence the Atticus is making wonderful music again tonight. Wearing it feels like coming home - warm, cozy and comforting. Salted caramel for the ear! A truly wonderful headphone.