[Monsterzero]

I'm contemplating on saving up for either the Atticus or the Eikon, which of the two is better for faster metal i.e. thrash, death, and black? I hear conflicting opinions regarding the Atticus: some say it's fast and punchy with the right amp, others say it's slow and muddy.

I have the Aeon Closed paired up with the Black Label and it performs nicely, but on some recordings it sounds thin even with the white pads and the bass boost on, and the highs on certain albums can make this phone fatiguing to listen to. I do favour some warmth in a headphone, but not so much that it would negatively impact the performance of the records I've already mentioned.

I used to own the Atticus,and have reviewed the AFC as well the Aeolus. I will also note most of the stuff I listen to isnt nearly as fast as some of the stuff you mentioned. About as fast as I get is some melodeath like Unleash the Archers and Parasite Inc.,and old school speed/thrash like Destruction.

That being said, I felt the Atticus did get in the way of faster passages at times thru my GOTL. Less so on my Gilmore Lite Mk2,but I didnt like that pairing very much. I have since ended up selling both the Atticus and the GLM2.

I do think the Aeolus is a better headphone,but having the same driver as the Atticus,just in an open backed design you will still run into the fickleness of amp matching to give the Aeolus/Atticus enough slam to satisfy,but not too much as to get in the way.

I might suggest the ZMF Auteur,which is closer to neutral,but has much more texture and aggression than the AFC. Farther up the price ladder the Meze Empyrean is lightning fast and pretty simple to drive.

For less cash on the used market the ATH AD2000 (non-X-version) is stellar with fast metal,but not the most comfortable headphone Ive ever owned. Hard to find,but can be had for around $300-450.00.

The HE-500 is a fantastic sounding headphone,but theyre getting harder to find,and of course HifiMan's dodgy QC can be an issue.

For even less cash is the AKG K240 sextett which excels at every type of metal Ive thrown at it,except doom. It requires a powerful SS amp to really kick ass though.

For context I felt the AFC was an excellent sounding headphone and very comfortable,but it was too smooth,lacked slam and texture for metal for my tastes.

 

[burningv]

Thanks very much for the advice, Monster. I live with my wife who hates the kind of music I listen to, so an open-back headphone is a no-go for me, unfortunately.

It appears that the Eikon may be the most proficient closed-back headphone on the market for fast metal at the moment, so I may have to go with this option, but I would appreciate it if anyone could provide some input with regard to how the Eikon performs with some of the albums I've listed.

 

[Monsterzero]

Thanks very much for the advice, Monster. I live with my wife who hates the kind of music I listen to, so an open-back headphone is a no-go for me, unfortunately.

It appears that the Eikon may be the most proficient closed-back headphone on the market for fast metal at the moment, so I may have to go with this option, but I would appreciate it if anyone could provide some input with regard to how the Eikon performs with some of the albums I've listed.

Yeah,my wife hates metal too,but I have a mancave,so I can use whatever headphones I prefer.
I dont have much experience with the Eikon,other than demoing both it and the Atticus at Canjam a cpl years ago when they first dropped. For me it was a very easy choice. I bought the Atticus for that slam,but the only metal they had to try was Judas Priest "British Steel".

You might want to wait and see what others suggest. You can also try dropping a PM to @zach915m and ask his opinion on amp pairings for the Atticus to subtract some of the excess midbass. He's not a metalhead,but he is honest,and knows more about ZMF headphones than anyone

 

[Zenvota]

I have the Aeon Closed paired up with the Black Label and it performs nicely, but on some recordings it sounds thin even with the white pads and the bass boost on, and the highs on certain albums can make this phone fatiguing to listen to. I do favour some warmth in a headphone, but not so much that it would negatively impact the performance of the records I've already mentioned.

Thats my kind of music and my kind of headphones, but I don't experience the thinness or fatigue due to two things, the system I'm using, utterly powerful and utterly clean, and using a loudspeaker emulator.

 

[burningv]

Thats my kind of music and my kind of headphones, but I don't experience the thinness or fatigue due to two things, the system I'm using, utterly powerful and utterly clean, and using a loudspeaker emulator.

Care to share some information concerning the system you're using and this loudspeaker emulator you speak of?

 

[Zenvota]

Care to share some information concerning the system you're using and this loudspeaker emulator you speak of?

Its in my sig.

System is isolated, regenerated, clocked, conditioned, multistage regulation, discrete class a amps, fully balanced, non feedback current signal xD

Loudspeaker emulation using Out of Your Head, personal room impulse response binaural rendering based on measurements using a Realiser A8, manually applied inverse eq curves. Incredible "virtual room" size, fidelity and realism. My main system also runs a separate tactile transducer system to enhance the externalization of the binaural rendering, suprisingly natural sub bass low bass rumble.

Lamens.... Ultra clean detailed full non fatiguing loudspeaker listening over headphones. Perfect for metal xD

You'd think these hifi systems would be a detriment to lowfi recordings but the opposite is true and they're able to mine all the detail from crap recordings and provide actual separation in stereo imaging.

 

[burningv]

Well that response wasn't very helpful at all

 

[Zenvota]

Well that response wasn't very helpful at all

? What would you like to know?

 

[tcellguy]

Thanks very much for the advice, Monster. I live with my wife who hates the kind of music I listen to, so an open-back headphone is a no-go for me, unfortunately.

It appears that the Eikon may be the most proficient closed-back headphone on the market for fast metal at the moment, so I may have to go with this option, but I would appreciate it if anyone could provide some input with regard to how the Eikon performs with some of the albums I've listed.

I only had a short time listening to the ZMF headphones at CanJam (the booth was very popular ). I brought my iDSD BL and tried out some metal with that setup. I recently have discovered Vektor and have been listening to the three albums non stop for the last few months.

I'm on the fence about getting the one of the ZMF lineup. The headphones are beautiful and very comfortable. However, I'm worried that biocellulose and TPE dynamic drivers may just not be fast enough to keep up with faster metal. I of course could be completely wrong (and happy to be wrong if that is in fact the case). The beryllium drivers in the Utopia and Stellia sounded very fast listening to Metallica - And Justice for All. I didn't get a chance to listen to the Verite, but I imagine it is very fast as well.

It could have been my setup not driving the ZMFs well enough but they all sounded a bit veiled in the treble compared to what I'm used to hearing with my MrSpeakers planars. I'd like to hear if others feel that these may not be fast enough as well. The Atticus, Aeolus, Eikon, and Auteur all had tons of sub-bass and mid bass slam vs. the MrSpeakers headphones and sounded more dynamic at lower volumes. I recall liking the Aeolus the most out of the 4. I think they had the best mid bass and the mids were very smooth. Sub bass was still great. I think the Eikon needs a more dynamic amp than the iDSD BL to get sufficient dynamics as it sounded a bit too flat/compressed on my setup. The booth didn't have any metal available to run out their tube amp setups (which sounded much better).

I currently feel the Aeon Flow Open is my favorite headphone for metal given their speed, slightly reduced peaks in the treble, and boosted mid bass with excellent transient response. The Ether 2 may actually be a great headphone for metal given similar characteristics. The Emu Teaks (biocellulose driver) are my second favorite that I own for metal. However, the mid bass falls apart and bleeds in the mids in really fast music. Those headphones are excellently tuned, but they aren't that fastest or most resolving.

I'm still new to this hobby and still learning. I'm still looking for a closed headphone that's great for metal. I just got the Ether Cx. It sounds excellent for many genres, but it's very similar to the Aeon Flow Closed in terms of being very flat/neutral without a significant mid bass bump that I think is needed for a lot of metal. I'm getting a Lyr 3 and Loki and will see if I can squeeze a bit more mid-bass out of it. The Ether Cx sub-bass is excellent. However the upper mids and treble can get a bit sharp on thrash / black metal / Vektor's singer (hah).

 

[iPaintCode]

I'm confused by Monster's review video on the ZMF Aeolus sent out by @zach915m and his current comments on both the Aeolus and Atticus. He said the Aeolus is killer for metal; now it's not fast enough to recommend. I've seen this same trend with other reviewers like that z-reviews and many other's that have reviewed ZMF offerings, so is it a metal headphone, acoustic, prog, jazz, butt-rock, or EDM? This kind of makes it harder for newer people getting into the hobby when one day the headphone is the cat's meow, and a few months later it's just ok. I understand reviews, and headphone tastes are hugely subjective, and from time to time someone's opinion can change, but it's becoming far more frequent. Perhaps it's the honeymoon effect that skews a review or fears they won't get a pair sent out to test for a review, or trade a stellar gotta buy this now review in exchange for free gear. With that said I do enjoy watching Monster's review video's, I'm just pointing out, well, wishing (wishful thinking) more people did update videos if their opinions have changed.

I've been a fan of Grado's RS2 for some rock/metal music, especially music that is percussive but others might find the Grado house sound, not to their liking. I bought a pair of HE-500 years ago and from my memory that did great with different rock sub-genres, but solve them awhile ago to fund new gear.

 

[Monsterzero]

I'm confused by Monster's review video on the ZMF Aeolus sent out by @zach915m and his current comments on both the Aeolus and Atticus. He said the Aeolus is killer for metal; now it's not fast enough to recommend.

Perhaps I wasnt clear when I said:

I will also note most of the stuff I listen to isnt nearly as fast as some of the stuff you mentioned. About as fast as I get is some melodeath like Unleash the Archers and Parasite Inc.,and old school speed/thrash like Destruction.

I dont listen to death metal. I am however familiar with the tempo and speed needed for it to sound as it should to those who do enjoy faster sub-genres of metal.

For stuff like Priest,Accept,Unleash the Archers,Agalloch,Amon Amarth,Falkenbach,etc... I think both of the ZMF headphones in question are dynamic enough and punchy enough. Coupled with those great mids and rolled off highs,they lend themselves to cranking up the volume and getting busy. However when it comes to really fast metal,im not sure theyre the last word in speed.

In my reviews I talk about music im familiar with and enjoy listening to. You wont hear me talk about how any given headphone sounds with classical nor jazz,cuz frankly I rarely listen to those genres. Similarly I dont listen to death metal,so when I say this headphone or that headphone is killer for metal it is with the types of metal I prefer,hence the disclaimer I gave above.

Hope that clarifies the conflicting comments.

 

[zach915m]

or trade a stellar gotta buy this now review in exchange for free gear.

I can't speak to the subjective nature of impressions people have on our headphones etc, but I never give out gear in exchange for a review and very strictly will not talk to a reviewer about them buying as headphone and price until a review is written. As someone who comes from the enthusiast side and having now run ZMF for the better part of the last decade - I think it's important for potential buyers that we have this safe-guard in place so that potential ZMF owners know the information their getting is as un-biased as possible.

 

[Monsterzero]

Perhaps it's the honeymoon effect that skews a review or fears they won't get a pair sent out to test for a review, or trade a stellar gotta buy this now review in exchange for free gear.

As Zach mentioned above I have never received free headphones from ZMF nor any other company in exchange for a favorable review. If anything my brutal honesty has cost me considerably when it comes to getting loaners sent out for reviews. Without mentioning names,there a couple companies who wont send me any review samples. Im currently working on that,but I dont find it to be a coincidence that these companies are the same that I had less than favorable things to say about aspects of their other products.

I will also add that when I first got into this hobby and knew nothing about nothing I watched a video review of the Beyer T1. In it the reviewer said the highs were "perfect". The mids were "perfect". The bass was "perfect".
So of course I had to own these "perfect headphones"
Looking back now I'd like to walk up to that jack ass and ask him how much swag did he get from Beyer for that BS review.
If for no other reason than to strive to not be that guy,I will never give a bogus review. Ever.

 

[Hansotek]

Perhaps I wasnt clear when I said:



I dont listen to death metal. I am however familiar with the tempo and speed needed for it to sound as it should to those who do enjoy faster sub-genres of metal.

For stuff like Priest,Accept,Unleash the Archers,Agalloch,Amon Amarth,Falkenbach,etc... I think both of the ZMF headphones in question are dynamic enough and punchy enough. Coupled with those great mids and rolled off highs,they lend themselves to cranking up the volume and getting busy. However when it comes to really fast metal,im not sure theyre the last word in speed.

In my reviews I talk about music im familiar with and enjoy listening to. You wont hear me talk about how any given headphone sounds with classical nor jazz,cuz frankly I rarely listen to those genres. Similarly I dont listen to death metal,so when I say this headphone or that headphone is killer for metal it is with the types of metal I prefer,hence the disclaimer I gave above.

Hope that clarifies the conflicting comments.

IMO, a headphone doesn’t have to be the last word in speed for metal. It just has to be natural. I find the Auteur to be a perfect pace for metal, personally. So much so that I pretty much stopped listening to the Abyss once I got it, and I tend to listen to stuff that’s pretty fast.

The Atticus’s performance for metal is more dependent on amping than anything. The mid bass quantity varies depending on the amp’s damping factor. I actually think it’s awesome with metal on the GOTL, which is probably around 50 ohms. Same with the 60 ohm CSP3. I feel a lot of solid states make it a little too midbassy, which can slow down the feel of the decay. To each their own, of course.

 

[burningv]

Hi Hansotek,

Thank you for your input. Would you say that the Atticus would be able to keep up with the albums I've mentioned if it's paired up with a GOTL or the CSP3? I just don't want it to have a warm mushy bloated sound. As you probably know some metal albums have sufficient bass, don't have enough or have too much bass bleed depending on the mastering.