[Ziltoid2112]

I am new to the audiophile world and don't know that much about equipment and sound properties yet.

I currently have the Mr Speakers Aeon Flow Closed headphones, HeadAmp Gilmore Lite mk2 amp, and Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus DAC.

I am looking for a pair of headphones and an amp that excel at the things my current equipment isn't so good at. Something good for progressive metal would be great since I listen to a lot of that. I listen to all kinds of genres (rock, metal, pop, hip-hop, rap, jazz, ambient, electronic, classical, etc... basically everything but country) so I'm trying to fill in the gaps that my current equipment have.

My budget is ~$800 for the headphones and ~$500 for the amp, although my budget is flexible. I can also get more equipment in the future if needed to cover all those genres.

 

[Monsterzero]

I currently have the Mr Speakers Aeon Flow Closed headphones, HeadAmp Gilmore Lite mk2 amp, and Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus DAC.

Neutral headphone. Neutral fast amp. Bright,neutral DAC.
Sounds like you need some tubes.

My budget is ~$800 for the headphones and ~$500 for the amp, although my budget is flexible. I can also get more equipment in the future if needed to cover all those genres.

$800.00 is kinda no mans land,price wise. $1K is where you start to hear marked improvements in headphones.
I might recommend a ZMF Atticus and a La Figaro 339. Both retail above your budget,but you might come close on the used market. Otherwise an HD650 and same amp will work too,though the Atticus is def a better sounding headphone than the 650,but with similar sound signatures.

 

[Ziltoid2112]

Neutral headphone. Neutral fast amp. Bright,neutral DAC.
Sounds like you need some tubes.



$800.00 is kinda no mans land,price wise. $1K is where you start to hear marked improvements in headphones.
I might recommend a ZMF Atticus and a La Figaro 339. Both retail above your budget,but you might come close on the used market. Otherwise an HD650 and same amp will work too,though the Atticus is def a better sounding headphone than the 650,but with similar sound signatures.

Thanks! I'll check them out. I'm definitely willing to spend more than my listed budget if it's worth it.

 

[Ziltoid2112]

I might recommend a ZMF Atticus and a La Figaro 339. Both retail above your budget,but you might come close on the used market. Otherwise an HD650 and same amp will work too,though the Atticus is def a better sounding headphone than the 650,but with similar sound signatures

What are your thoughts on the ZMF Auteur? Also I saw an older thread (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution.715478/) that compared several headphones for several kinds of metal (progressive metal is by far what I listen to most) and the Fostex TH900 looks like it could be a great option. I've been looking through that thread for comparisons to the ZMF Atticus and Auteur but haven't found anything definitive. At this point I'm thinking I could spend up to ~$1500 on headphones and ~$1000 on an amp.

 

[Monsterzero]

What are your thoughts on the ZMF Auteur? Also I saw an older thread (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution.715478/) that compared several headphones for several kinds of metal (progressive metal is by far what I listen to most) and the Fostex TH900 looks like it could be a great option. I've been looking through that thread for comparisons to the ZMF Atticus and Auteur but haven't found anything definitive. At this point I'm thinking I could spend up to ~$1500 on headphones and ~$1000 on an amp.

I have no experience with the TH900. I do not like recessed mids,nor strident highs. I have read that the TH900 has both,so I have never pursued a pair.

Atticus vs. Auteur....

Auteur is the most neutrally tuned headphone ZMF has released thus far. Wide staging,fantastic mids,some energy in upper mids. Very versatile sounding headphone.
Atticus super hard hitting midbass,can drown out the sub bass. Midbass can get in the way on faster metal like melodeath. Fantastic mids. Rolled off treble.

Something to keep in mind when getting ZMF impressions is to understand that the various pads can change the sound dramatically. I pad roll my Verite open to be as warm and holographic as possible(Universe perf pads) I pad roll my Auteur to be as neutral and bright as possible. This gives me the greatest amount of difference between the two ZMF dynamics I currently own.

 

[Ziltoid2112]

I have no experience with the TH900. I do not like recessed mids,nor strident highs. I have read that the TH900 has both,so I have never pursued a pair.

Atticus vs. Auteur....

Auteur is the most neutrally tuned headphone ZMF has released thus far. Wide staging,fantastic mids,some energy in upper mids. Very versatile sounding headphone.
Atticus super hard hitting midbass,can drown out the sub bass. Midbass can get in the way on faster metal like melodeath. Fantastic mids. Rolled off treble.

Something to keep in mind when getting ZMF impressions is to understand that the various pads can change the sound dramatically. I pad roll my Verite open to be as warm and holographic as possible(Universe perf pads) I pad roll my Auteur to be as neutral and bright as possible. This gives me the greatest amount of difference between the two ZMF dynamics I currently own.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind as I do more digging to figure out which one to buy.

 

[Monsterzero]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind as I do more digging to figure out which one to buy.

Not trying to wreck your bank account or anything,but I have the new Verite closed here on loan. Thing is friggin fantastic! Not cheap though.

EDIT: I should add here,since youre new to the hobby,that ZMF headphones in general have a thicker, visceral,more textured sound than your AFC. The chunk in metal that youre missing in the AFC is abundant in the ZMF sound.

 

[Ziltoid2112]

Not trying to wreck your bank account or anything,but I have the new Verite closed here on loan. Thing is friggin fantastic! Not cheap though.

EDIT: I should add here,since youre new to the hobby,that ZMF headphones in general have a thicker, visceral,more textured sound than your AFC. The chunk in metal that youre missing in the AFC is abundant in the ZMF sound.

Those cost more than I'm willing to spend right now. I've been looking at a lot of reviews for other ZMF headphones. The Aeolus have really caught my interest. I really wish I could go to a shop and try them all out to figure out what I would prefer, but there's very few shops near me. I'm not sure any of them carry ZMF.

 

[Monsterzero]

Those cost more than I'm willing to spend right now. I've been looking at a lot of reviews for other ZMF headphones. The Aeolus have really caught my interest. I really wish I could go to a shop and try them all out to figure out what I would prefer, but there's very few shops near me. I'm not sure any of them carry ZMF.

Your location is rather vague. The US is quite large. That being said,ZMF recently said theyre moving away from US distributors. Im not sure if thats an iron clad policy or not.

Perhaps drop a PM to @zach915m and ask if theres anywhere near you that carries their headphones.

 

[Ziltoid2112]

Your location is rather vague. The US is quite large. That being said,ZMF recently said theyre moving away from US distributors. Im not sure if thats an iron clad policy or not.

Perhaps drop a PM to @zach915m and ask if theres anywhere near you that carries their headphones.

I'm in Utah. There's a couple decent shops. I've looked at their websites and haven't seen any ZMF products. I did find one shop that has the Fostex TH900 mk2 (at least online).

 

[Ninth Wave]

What are your thoughts on the ZMF Auteur? Also I saw an older thread (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution.715478/) that compared several headphones for several kinds of metal (progressive metal is by far what I listen to most) and the Fostex TH900 looks like it could be a great option. I've been looking through that thread for comparisons to the ZMF Atticus and Auteur but haven't found anything definitive. At this point I'm thinking I could spend up to ~$1500 on headphones and ~$1000 on an amp.

Just wanted to mention that it’s nice to see a fellow Devin Townsend fan. Big fan here too and can easily say he’s my most listened to artist. By a long, long way!

And another thing, I have the Aeon Flow Open headphones. How about that!

 

[Ziltoid2112]

Just wanted to mention that it’s nice to see a fellow Devin Townsend fan. Big fan here too and can easily say he’s my most listened to artist. By a long, long way!

And another thing, I have the Aeon Flow Open headphones. How about that!

Nice! Devin is my second favorite artist just behind Rush. I think they are both musically very similar in many ways and they are both from Canada. I think Singularity on Empath is very similar to and probably heavily influenced by 2112. I have Eras I and III on vinyl. I'm going to get Eras IV next then I'll finish up with Eras II. Devin is such an incredible musician! I've seen him live twice and was blown away both times. The second was his acoustic set and my god he was incredible! He's also hilarious! He's as much a comedian as he is a musician.