[Pharmaboy]

Posted in the BHC thread, but figured this belonged here also. Spend a full day with this pairing yesterday. Beautiful sound. Looking forward to the tubes breaking in a bit

https://imgur.com/gallery/3KnaWrz

Love that padauk wood. My Eikon is the same...just beautiful.

 

[Verst]

Would you guys think a pair of Cocobolo Eikon for around $1.2k still be worth it? Or should I still go for Auteurs instead? Looking for something with strong mids and great for vocals.

 

[bildar]

Would you guys think a pair of Cocobolo Eikon for around $1.2k still be worth it? Or should I still go for Auteurs instead? Looking for something with strong mids and great for vocals.

Have you listened to one or the other? I have both in Blackwood. Lots of similarities as the both have the same driver. Eikon has prominent deep bass that is profoundly satisfying. Also its great blocking a lot of outside sounds (like a noisy window AC unit).

 

[robo24]

I’d expect them to have the magnesium chassis for that price used.

 

[jinxy245]

Would you guys think a pair of Cocobolo Eikon for around $1.2k still be worth it? Or should I still go for Auteurs instead? Looking for something with strong mids and great for vocals.

Of course no one can answer that for you except your ears, so it's always a grain of salt (IMO etc. etc.). There are lots of factors like your equipment chain, but more importantly your preferences, which obviously we don't know. I can tell you that the Eikon generally has a downward sloping F/R with a bit of a dip around 6-7K. That never was a problem to my ears, but some take umbrage with that...of course YMMV. The Auteur is generally recognized as the most "flat" of Zach's lineup (still maintaining that ZMF warmth) and may have the most prominent mids of all his offerings. I hope that helps!

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

I have been saying since I got my Atticus that they were my end game (paired with the HD800 as a sidekick)... but man, listening to the Auteur for a while at CanJam NYC out of Zach's Glenn OTL and a Metrum Onyx, I gotta say... I'd be tempted to give both up for the Auteur. I actually liked them better than the Verite, even though Verite is obviously more technically competent on several levels. Ultimately, though, I would miss the HD800's insane detail retrieval and the Atticus' thickness and richness and bass response (and having something to block out external noise like, idk, some heavy machinery across the street LOUDLY beeping on and off for ten hours).

It has officially become too hot for leather pads in New England. Yes, I have air conditioning, I'm just stubborn, cheap, and offended by the cost of electricity out here. I'm switching to the suede pads, but had to clean them as there was a tiny bit of sweat and oil crust forming. I used cold water with highly dilute laundry detergent, used that to dampen a washrag, and dabbed/wiped at it gently until the suede looked uniform. Now waiting for them to dry, and thinking I should do the same for the HD800 pads as they are likely worse...

 

[scottcw]

I found a pair of cherry Eikons locally for $1K. Should I bother checking them out if I already own a pair of cherry Omni? I'm still curious if the Omni's are as good as it gets for closed back, but can't spend the money on Eikon, Atticus, and VC to find out.

Some background, I owned the VO and Aeolus at the same time. I did not care for the Verite. I thought it lacked "air" - not the attack of cymbals, but the decay and reverb. Sold them. I loved the Aeolus, but picked up a pair of pre-Fazor LCD-2.1s on the cheap and fell in love. Sold the Aeolus.

I need a closed pair for when we go back to the office. Based on the above, stick with the Omni or would it be worth checking any of the other closed ZMFs?

Edit to add that my amp is an EC Balancing Act, so no issues with needing to scale up my amplification to get the best from the headphones.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I found a pair of cherry Eikons locally for $1K. Should I bother checking them out if I already own a pair of cherry Omni? I'm still curious if the Omni's are as good as it gets for closed back, but can't spend the money on Eikon, Atticus, and VC to find out.

Some background, I owned the VO and Aeolus at the same time. I did not care for the Verite. I thought it lacked "air" - not the attack of cymbals, but the decay and reverb. Sold them. I loved the Aeolus, but picked up a pair of pre-Fazor LCD-2.1s on the cheap and fell in love. Sold the Aeolus.

I need a closed pair for when we go back to the office. Based on the above, stick with the Omni or would it be worth checking any of the other closed ZMFs?

Edit to add that my amp is an EC Balancing Act, so no issues with needing to scale up my amplification to get the best from the headphones.

I own the Eikon & Ori. True, they're both closed-backs, but don't sound all that similar.

IMO the Eikon doesn't lack "air." Its sound is rather neutral tonally, incisive, dynamic/dramatic, with excellent bass (real sub-bass & no midbass bump) & epic soundstaging for a closed design. And it's a dynamic driver, not a planar; that alone provides contrast between it & the distinctly planar Ori. IMO these 2 headphones contrast nicely.

If you like the Ori as much as I do, there would be no real necessity to get another closed back. Still, having both of them is an embarrassment of riches.

PS: if your wallet permits, also consider the Verite Closed. That's a most impressive sounding closed back design...

 

[scottcw]

I don't find any faults with the Omni. I did swap the tuning materials to Zach's brightest recommendation.

I'm not getting the impression that the Eikon, Atticus, or VC would be a vast improvement.

 

[Bullpride]

I don't find any faults with the Omni. I did swap the tuning materials to Zach's brightest recommendation.

I'm not getting the impression that the Eikon, Atticus, or VC would be a vast improvement.

Consider the Aeolus or Aueter. The open backs will give you a significant enough sound different while still having that signature ZMF sound. I own The Atticus, and while I have not heard the open back offerings, I would buy one when the budget permits.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Yeah, to be honest, I think Zach's dynamics are on a totally different level from his planars. The T50RP is easy to mod but it can only go so far. I don't have the Eikon or Omni, but I do have the Blackwoods and Atticus, and the Atticus are on a completely different level... in just about every way. It's pretty immediately obvious going back and forth that the Blackwoods lack a lot of the fine microdetails and microdynamics the Atticus is able to retrieve; Atticus has a much larger and deeper 3D soundstage, whereas the T50RP mods tend to be pretty flat and 2D even with angled pads. I would say they're not even in the same league.

 

[scottcw]

Consider the Aeolus or Aueter. The open backs will give you a significant enough sound different while still having that signature ZMF sound. I own The Atticus, and while I have not heard the open back offerings, I would buy one when the budget permits.

Please go back and carefully read my post previous to the one you quoted.

Yeah, to be honest, I think Zach's dynamics are on a totally different level from his planars. The T50RP is easy to mod but it can only go so far. I don't have the Eikon or Omni, but I do have the Blackwoods and Atticus, and the Atticus are on a completely different level... in just about every way. It's pretty immediately obvious going back and forth that the Blackwoods lack a lot of the fine microdetails and microdynamics the Atticus is able to retrieve; Atticus has a much larger and deeper 3D soundstage, whereas the T50RP mods tend to be pretty flat and 2D even with angled pads. I would say they're not even in the same league.

This is good info. I'm not sure the Blackwoods are the same level as Omni/Ori, though. Also, is it possible that you prefer dynamic to planar? I've read several comments that the LCD-2s are flat, which I don't find to be the case.

Not discounting your recommendations, just trying to understand the context of your preferences.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

I mean, I definitely prefer dynamics to planars, but I still love good planars like the LCD2-3 and don't think those sound flat at all. What I'm saying is more that, in my experience, Zach's dynamic drivers are way more capable than the T50RP driver could ever hope to be. T50RP drivers are good for sure, and what Zach has done with them is really, really impressive, but at the end of the day they still have their limitations. The dynamic drivers he designed don't have those same limitations, they are just in a different league in terms of imaging, detail, dynamics, etc... just about across the board. When listening to the Blackwoods, I don't necessarily notice that anything is missing per se, but when I switch to the Atticus, it makes me realize how much more depth there is in a recording that the Blackwoods just can't reach.

Also, years back I was able to listen to all of his planars back to back. I think the Blackwoods and Ori/Omni are on about the same level, but with different tunings--Blackwoods are more neutral, whereas the Ori was more of a reach for the ZMF "house sound". I wouldn't be surprised if Ori were somewhat more technically capable in some areas, but they would have to be WAY ahead of the Blackwoods in order to even touch the Atticus, and I really doubt they are that different.

 

[Wes S]

Please go back and carefully read my post previous to the one you quoted.



This is good info. I'm not sure the Blackwoods are the same level as Omni/Ori, though. Also, is it possible that you prefer dynamic to planar? I've read several comments that the LCD-2s are flat, which I don't find to be the case.

Not discounting your recommendations, just trying to understand the context of your preferences.

Just throwing this out there. Having owning both at the same time, the Blackwoods are not at the same level, as the Ori. I ended up trading off my Blackwood, because the Ori are just way better. Also, the Atticus are kind of a more mature sounding Ori if you will, and a good step up. However, the Ori definitely have their strengths and a unique planar sound and on certain songs can not be beat, and can hang with the Atticus and Aelous no doubt. All in all, the Atticus is my current favorite, and even over the Aelous, but the Ori will always have a special place in my heart and will always remain in my collection.

 

[Speednut]

After about 6 month of having used the suede pads on my Atticus, I switched back to the lambskin pads. I should have switched back sooner, since I prefer the lambskin pads by quite a bit. I feel the suede pads take away some of the character traits that make the Atticus so much fun to listen to. It definitely toned down the bass quite a bit. After going back to the lambskin, I was almost kinda shocked they had this much bass to begin with. I'll stick with the lambskin pads from now on.