[Joeybgood]

Oh well.. I guess it's not exactly the WORST 'problem' to have! You lose a few $ in the resale but I guess we should just look at that as an 'audition fee'

 

[Pharmaboy]

  I don't think you are weird at all! Anything but flat is going to cause listener fatigue... I spent much time at Interval Research (Paul Allen's personal R&D lab) in the '90s on a team developing ways of taking audio to the next level. Part of that work was understanding psychacoustics. Our conclusion in a nutshell was: flat and no ringing. Really hard to do in a headphone, but doable. I have a pair of PMx2s, which do it. I am looking forward to hearing the Eikons, because it sounds like they might.

 
I might start an opinion war with this, but I must disagree. I have no acoustics research background, but I've been an audiophile for decades & listened to live music on countless occasions in more venues than I could list. I think Venture Guy has this backwards: audio gear designed to be flat pretty much guarantees listener fatigue.
 
Leaving aside studio-produced pop/electronic music (it's purpose-built & plays by different rules), live, unamplified or minimally amplified music performed in actual spaces is anything but flat. Its frequency varies greatly according to musical/instrumental content. For example, during a symphony, when the entire ensemble (incl. massed cellos & violas) develops a theme, one can feel pressure waves of bass & mid-bass...all those low frequencies emanating from larger instrument bodies really travel. There's much  midrange & treble, but it sits atop on a foundation of dense, lower-pitch sound. Seconds later, things reverse as the violins take over--treble dominates.
 
Even if the ensemble could play at the same volume in dB over the entire frequency range, the character of the hall/venue/space would assert itself (the sum of dimensions of the room/space, materials used in construction, any sound reinforcement/attenuation devices used by designers), so that nothing is truly flat.
 
If one recorded the symphony just described--a digital recording equalized to be ruler-flat, then reproduced it on high-quality audio gear (speakers or headphones) also mercilessly engineered to be flat--the result would be inhuman. It would razor your ears off. Most of us have heard recordings and gear like this. Contrast this to the original live music, which rarely sounds "bright" in the way audio equipment owners know that term. On the contrary--it sounds rich, nuanced, and full.
 
This is one of many reasons that talented designers like Zach "voice" headphones & speakers based in their ears & audio/music experience. They become our avatars, bridging the gulf beween real-life music and reproduced music.
 
I become more interested in an audio product when I know its designer really exerted him/herself to voice it for optimal sound reproduction. Not to make it into an expensive equalizer, but to subtly nudge it in the direction of faithful reproduction, helping pull the listener through the chain of electronics to a reasonably good simulation of real music. That's very hard (and expensive) to do. But abdicating that responsibility by making everything flat is no answer, either. (thanks for listening)

 

[24grant24]

It would be awesome if we could get a picture of the drivers, very interested in the design choices you made

 

[EternalCoconut]

Still looking for my first good headphones (Portapro on Schiit 2U stack right now, no bully pls). Thought I had settled on the E-MU Teak because of its bio-cellulose driver and seemingly least offensive sound for that category, but then I saw these ones. Wow, a non-fostex bio-driver, neat - finally made me take the step and make a head-fi account.
 
Will we be getting measurements (graphs- err, despite having been into this a few months the shorthand isn't all there) of these before the pre-order period starts as well?

 

[Cinder]

  Still looking for my first good headphones (Portapro on Schiit 2U stack right now, no bully pls). Thought I had settled on the E-MU Teak because of its bio-cellulose driver and seemingly least offensive sound for that category, but then I saw these ones. Wow, a non-fostex bio-driver, neat - finally made me take the step and make a head-fi account.
 
Will we be getting measurements (graphs- err, despite having been into this a few months the shorthand isn't all there) of these before the pre-order period starts as well?

Perhaps,  but I don't think Zach likes to release his own frequency response graphs. It's not uncommon among some headphone makers.

 

[zach915m]

  Perhaps,  but I don't think Zach likes to release his own frequency response graphs. It's not uncommon among some headphone makers.

 
Jude and Tyll will gets sets in to measure.  We built a great headphone measurement rig for manufacturing consistency, but I leave headphone publications with graphs to the big boys.

 

[Cinder]

   
Jude and Tyll will gets sets in to measure.  We built a great headphone measurement rig for manufacturing consistency, but I leave headphone publications with graphs to the big boys.

Makes sense. I'd likely do the same if I were in your shoes. 

 

[ProfFalkin]

Perhaps,  but I don't think Zach likes to release his own frequency response graphs. It's not uncommon among some headphone makers.

I find FR graphs to be annoying. People get into ultra-analyitcs mode... "This headphone can't be good, it's got a spike in the blah blah blah frequency..." Instead of "Wow, I really like the sound of these headphones. Oh, it might be due to the blah blah I see in the FR...". Know what I mean?

Try it before you pollute your brain with confirmation bias and other such nonsense.

 

[Eudis]

I find FR graphs to be annoying. People get into ultra-analyitcs mode... "This headphone can't be good, it's got a spike in the blah blah blah frequency..." Instead of "Wow, I really like the sound of these headphones. Oh, it might be due to the blah blah I see in the FR...". Know what I mean?

Try it before you pollute your brain with confirmation bias and other such nonsense.

I love measurements. A well measured and proper rig is no nonsense and those who understand how to read them can paint an accurate picture.

 

[ProfFalkin]

I love measurements. A well measured and proper rig is no nonsense and those who understand how to read them can paint an accurate picture.

Yeah, I used to think so too. Then I tried a lot of headphones the FRs and reviews indicated I wouldn't like, and found out I did like them. (Or aspects of them.)

I realized it doesn't matter how much of this metadata you use to paint a detailed picture of the mountain, nothing can replace standing on the summit yourself and experiencing it first hand.

Anyway, I know opinions differ. It's not a bad thing.

 

[Arcamera]

Just wondering: The 'Z' and the 'M' in ZMF stand for initials I presume, but what about the 'F'?

 

[JerryLeeds]

Zach Modified Fostex

 

[zach915m]

Just wondering: The 'Z' and the 'M' in ZMF stand for initials I presume, but what about the 'F'?

don't make fun of me it's kinda ridiculous, I went to film school and had every intention of making films full time, so I started "Zach Mehrbach films." by the time everyone knew zmf headphones it was a little too late to change the name.

I guess you can think of listening to my headphones as a "feature presentation."



I taught film at Columbia College Chicago up until a year ago, and then the headphone business had me too busy.

 

[mysticstryk]

I find FR graphs to be annoying. People get into ultra-analyitcs mode... "This headphone can't be good, it's got a spike in the blah blah blah frequency..." Instead of "Wow, I really like the sound of these headphones. Oh, it might be due to the blah blah I see in the FR...". Know what I mean?

Try it before you pollute your brain with confirmation bias and other such nonsense.

Subjective impressions followed by objective measurements is how to properly review a headphone and inform potential buyers.

Subjective impressions alone are completely worthless unless you know the reviewer and their preferences extremely well.

Zachs headphones have always measured very well though. The best t50rp mods out there along with the Slants and some of the best closed headphones available.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Just wondering: The 'Z' and the 'M' in ZMF stand for initials I presume, but what about the 'F'?

Zach's Magic Frequencies