[MindBreak]

They are all very different sounding headphones, but I like all three more than the Arya. If you like your Arya, the HEKSE would be the obvious upgrade path. Especially since HiFiMan's big price cut these are good value. They offer the same spacious, and tall soundstage familiar from the Arya. Resolution, refinement, detail, coherence are all better than the Arya.
ZMF headphones are a completely different breed. Neither the Atrium not the Caldera will be as spacious as the HiFiMans but they bring other treats to the table which make me love them more. ZMF sound in general can be described as thick, weighty, organic, lush, slightly warm with great bass. Atrium with its dynamic drivers sound very dynamic with big bass and good 3D staging. It is close, but resolution is a bit behind the HEKSE and Caldera. Still the Atrium has many fans as it is one of the most organic and enveloping headphones. The Caldera is my favourite ZMF and one of my favourite headphones ever. The ZMF planar has that last bit of sub-bass extension the Atrium is missing due to its dynamic drivers. There is weight, impact, clarity; planar speed with the natural and lush organic tone and timbre usually known from good dynamic driver headphones. It is less spacious than the HEKSE, but the image is more focused and separation is excellent. Also, remember that with ZMF headphones you have several fine-tuning options with a selection of earpads and meshes. If you don't like the headphones with a certain type of earpads, you might love them with a different pair.

In a nutshell to me HEKSE and oval HiFiMan headphones in general sound large, spacious, but also a little bright, thinner and diffuse to different extent depending on the model. ZMF on the other hand sounds weighty, thick, lush, organic, alive. As always, YMMV.

Thanks for the info, I enjoy both types of sound signatures (many flavors to enjoy). Even if I end up going for the Atrium this time around, I will most likely pick up another Hifiman headphone down the line to be my new top Planar Headphone.

 

[MindBreak]

I always laugh when i hear people call Hek 'bright'. No, fam, there's fabulous.
Some people are just allergic to anything higher than 2k Hz or something

I am sensitive to high frequencies (I am able to hear above 16k, I know i am weird), but as long as it is done well and you don't have a badly mastered track playing I am all for it.

 

[betula]

I always laugh when i hear people call Hek 'bright'. No, fam, there's fabulous.
Some people are just allergic to anything higher than 2k Hz or something

Then your Head-Fi reading time must be full of giggles. Treble sensitivity is a thing and the reason why there is so much disagreement about it is because everyone is sensitive to slightly different frequencies and to different extent.

 

[Nick76]

It's almost like... ear anatomy and subjective preferences are different... Who woulda thought

 

[Slackaveli]

I am sensitive to high frequencies (I am able to hear above 16k, I know i am weird), but as long as it is done well and you don't have a badly mastered track playing I am all for it.

I reach 13.5k . The treble on HeK just sounds so sweet and wonderful to me.

 

[quawn0418]

I always laugh when i hear people call Hek 'bright'. No, fam, there's fabulous.
Some people are just allergic to anything higher than 2k Hz or something

I second this, i think the upper tier hifiman cans are more so revealing of treble quality and quantity rather than bright. Same can be said for the MJ3. I like to think that it’s the recordings that are bright. I experience records that come across shrill due to poor treble quality, and records with just as much treble quantity but are as smooth as butter due to better treble quality.

 

[Slackaveli]

It's almost like... ear anatomy and subjective preferences are different... Who woulda thought

Yet people will hear someone say "they are too bright" and assume that applies to them, too.

Kind of my point.

 

[PopZeus]

I always laugh when i hear people call Hek 'bright'. No, fam, there's fabulous.
Some people are just allergic to anything higher than 2k Hz or something

Actually no, excessive treble gives me a headache and physically hurts my ears. Tbf, I haven't heard the HEK yet, but I can't stand this notion that subjectivity is something to be dismissed or ignored. Your tone is mostly fine but so many others use their subjective personal experience and apply it to everyone with a broad brush, and when they're jerks about it, it can be quite toxic and gatekeep-y. The extreme version of this is one of the things I honestly hate about this community.

 

[Slackaveli]

Actually no, excessive treble gives me a headache and physically hurts my ears. Tbf, I haven't heard the HEK yet, but I can't stand this notion that subjectivity is something to be dismissed or ignored. Your tone is mostly fine but so many others use their subjective personal experience and apply it to everyone with a broad brush, and when they're jerks about it, it can be quite toxic and gatekeep-y. The extreme version of this is one of the things I honestly hate about this community.

The He1000 doesnt have piercing treble though, thats my whole point.

Im not saying bright headphones are great, im saying He1000 are neutral headphones and they are detail monsters. They arent 'bright', and they CERTAINLY don't have poor treble. It's the best treble I've ever heard. I'm merely providing the counterpoint. I wonder how many people havent tried Hifiman cans that would have loved them bc some people just have a thing against treble and they just figured they would too.

 

[psy472]

Actually no, excessive treble gives me a headache and physically hurts my ears. Tbf, I haven't heard the HEK yet, but I can't stand this notion that subjectivity is something to be dismissed or ignored. Your tone is mostly fine but so many others use their subjective personal experience and apply it to everyone with a broad brush, and when they're jerks about it, it can be quite toxic and gatekeep-y. The extreme version of this is one of the things I honestly hate about this community.

MJ3 will need a lot of burn in for the treble to calm down. HEK on the MJ3 will unfortunately give you hissing. I can’t listen to it on the MJ3 on high volume because of this.

Maybe you’ll do better with a Flux Mentor. They got the treble tightly controlled so I barely hear any hiss unless the recording was bad.

 

[Melineous]

Tbf, I haven't heard the HEK yet

If you're someone who's sensitive to treble peaks and measurable resonance/ringing then don't bother. The He1k series headphones are the best example I've found in this hobby of the genetic lottery. They have fantastic resolution and massive staging, but the treble oddities of that ear cup design butcher the timbre of every instrument played. Some people's brains cancel out that resonance, but mine does not. Also, I owned that headphone for over a year and tried it on multiple amps and sources. Nothing can fix the resonance built into that design. It's actually one of the reasons I'm glad Tungsten exists now. You get nearly the same technicalities, almost as big of a stage, with the best balanced treble in the business, and you can have it at the same price. You just have to be patient lol.

 

[Slackaveli]

I hear none of what you speak of Yggy> Mentor > HeK

Back to the everybody has hearing differences absolute truth.

 

[artur9]

Having never heard any treble my entire life, y'all make me curious about the treble sensitivity.

Is it sensitivity to frequencies above XKhz, where X could be 5, 7, 10, etc?
Is it not just a frequency sensitivity but rather a volume & frequency sensitivity. Something like loud 5Khz hurts?

Even for me, long sustained loud-ish high frequency noise hurts but I've never "quantified" what any of those terms mean.

 

[psy472]

Having never heard any treble my entire life, y'all make me curious about the treble sensitivity.

Is it sensitivity to frequencies above XKhz, where X could be 5, 7, 10, etc?
Is it not just a frequency sensitivity but rather a volume & frequency sensitivity. Something like loud 5Khz hurts?

Even for me, long sustained loud-ish high frequency noise hurts but I've never "quantified" what any of those terms mean.

Just imagine a squeaky voice in the middle of a smooth song. That’s annoying, irritating, and enough of it causes a headache.

 

[Erick Muller]

I always laugh when i hear people call Hek 'bright'. No, fam, there's fabulous.
Some people are just allergic to anything higher than 2k Hz or something

I'm starting to appreciate well done and extended treble now, but then again my hearing cuts about 14k so maybe that's why I don't fine hifiman treble or the meze 109s to bright lol.