[dunkyboy]

P.S. - While I appreciate the wood quality of the ZMFs, the Alpha Primes are prettier, sturdier, better built, and considerably more comfortable.

 

[dunkyboy]

Follow-up impressions (Tidal & iTunes on iPhone 6 -> Schiit Bifrost Uber -> Schiit Lyr w/ Bugle Boy PQs):
 
Blackwoods have a bit of a midbass bump – Primes’ bass is more linear. 
 
Blackwoods are a bit dry, bleached-sounding.  Primes are richer, with more tonal color.
 
The Primes have a scale and heft the Blackwoods can’t match.  With the right tune, the Primes sound HUGE and really fill your senses with sound – the Blackwoods can’t really pull that off.
 
Blackwoods have a punch to them that makes music really engaging and fun – brings out the music.  Primes are more matter-of-fact.  The Blackwoods really grip onto a rhythm and make it easy to follow, while the Primes can leave a tight rhythm sounding a bit mushy and lost.  (The track “One Percent” by GoGo Penguin really brought this out!)
 
Blackwoods are definitely more prone to listener fatigue, especially with loud/dense/busy music.  The Primes are fatigue-free – I know I can play any music and it’ll sound great, where with the Blackwoods to some extent you know bright/edgy tunes risk sounding rough.  It’s not a huge thing though (not like EL-8s…), as the Blackwoods are broadly smooth and forgiving – just not bomb-proof like the Primes.
 
Conclusion:
 
They’re both really excellent headphones.  They both have flaws, but they’re relatively minor.  They have very different presentations that will suit different people, but they’re also both near enough neutral, natural, and near enough flawless that I don’t think anyone would be offended by either presentation.  I think the Primes are worth the extra cost (especially discounted at $800) given the better comfort and build, and more importantly, the higher resolution, refinement, and tonal richness – but I also think a lot of people will prefer the Blackwoods. 
 
Either would make me very happy – but given the choice, I’m going to go with the Alpha Primes.  They suit my use case better – hunched over my desk at the open-plan office, coding for hours, wanting to lock the outside world out and fill my soul with energy and beauty to fuel my brain…  Mmmmm.  The Primes really nail that.  The fact that they’re so smooth, refined, and forgiving means you can really crank up the volume.  Do that with something grand and atmospheric, like Muse or M83 or <nerd>the Game of Thrones soundtracks</nerd>, and the world goes away leaving nothing but glorious sound…  (I don’t need drugs – I’ve got choonz and killer audio. )
 
But I will really miss the openness and clarity of the Blackwoods.  Hopefully someday someone will invent a closed-back can with the qualities of both (and hopefully it won’t cost a bajillion bucks)…
 
Cheers,
Dunc
 
P.S. – Must say I’m curious about the new ZMF Omni, but I think the vented design probably rules it out for me – can’t afford to piss off the coworkers…
P.P.S. – Haven’t yet tried tweaking the Alphas via tuning dots – hoping I might be able to squeeze a little more clarity and sparkle out of them…

 

[dunkyboy]

Update: tuning dot success!  Yesterday I tried a couple of the configurations recommended in the Tuning Guide to bring a little more treble into the picture. 
 
First I tried configuration #18, with three dots (default is 2).  The frequency balance was nice - it definitely brought more sparkle and air in the highs - but it also seemed to knock things off-kilter a bit…  Wonder if it’s a phase thing?  It just made music seem a bit disjointed, and lost the groove a bit, made complex tunes harder to follow.  Maybe just spurious resonances somewhere in the upper midrange?  Weird, and no good.
 
Then I tried #32, with one dot.  Bingo!  The groove was back – and the sparkle was still there!  Yassss!!  This sounds really great – all of the qualities of the default configuration (rich, textured mids; huge soundfield; deep, powerful, clean bass; sweetness, refinement; detail; etc, etc) but with treble!  Lovely sparkly, airy, open treble!  The overall balance is now very neutral.  It’s still thick in the mids (a MrSpeakers T50RP signature), but isn’t overwhelmingly mid-forward.  Really nice compromise.
 
Anyway, I’m happy.  Pretty sure I won’t bother trying other configs (I’m lazy, and not very dexterous…)  They’re still not as wide-open and clear as the ZMF Blackwoods, but it’s a big step in the right direction, and actually I think they might be more neutral than the ZMFs now.
 
Thank you Dan & MrSpeakers for including the tuning dots and guide, and allowing us to eek out the last ounce of performance (and personal sound signature) from these excellent cans!
 
Cheers,
Dunc
 
P.S. – Take care removing the pads!  I tugged a little too hard the first time, and actually pulled out a tiny bit of the seam!  Tiny enough for it not to be noticeable, but still annoying with brand new headphones.

 

[musiclvr]

Thanks for taking the time to leave your well communicated impressions Dunc!

 

[Delayeed]

Awesome to hear that you enjoy them! Might be upgrading from Dogs to the Primes myself since the Dogs sound too dark and boring
hopefully the Primes will bring out the mids/treble

 

[dunkyboy]

  Awesome to hear that you enjoy them! Might be upgrading from Dogs to the Primes myself since the Dogs sound too dark and boring
hopefully the Primes will bring out the mids/treble

Try the tuning dots.  I agree that the Dogs (and Primes) soul a little dull up top out of the box, but with a bit of tuning, the dots bring out that treble sparkle.  Made more of a difference in that regard than going from Dogs to Primes.
 
Dunc

 

[Delayeed]

Yeah been messing with them, and the treble is now good and revealing without being too fatiguing ( 1 dot in each cup )
The thing that I find lacking is presence and liveliness maybe in the 3-8khz range or something like that.

Coming from the HD600's they sounded really hollow and dull *nervous laughter*

Like the vocals have this very nice clarity but they sound uhh.. almost distant I guess and the focus is in the overtones of the vocal
and not the fundementals. They are like warm overall but with a crazy good sparkly, but not overly so treble. Its kind of weird.

 

[Jimbob Andrews]

 
I'll definitely sell the Alpha Dogs, in case anyone's interested...  Mint condition (brand new, really), red cups, 1/4" jack, all original packaging, accessories, etc.
 
Cheers,
Dunc

 
How much do you want for the Alpha Dogs. I would be interested in comparing them to the Primes