VZR Model One

[AlwaysForward]

Hello everyone. I see that not a lot of people have written about these. I currently own a pair and use these for all my console gaming at home, as well as much video watching at my entertainment desk. I have a gaming dac/amp and buttkicker connected to my monitor with a PS5 and an Amazon firestick. 32in curved monitor at 3ft distance is very immersive. I first listened to the Model One at Canjam and I was trying to decide between it and the Audeze gaming planar. What I noticed immediately while listening/watching a video I played on YouTube from my phone of a COD battle is that unlike the Audeze, it was getting positional cues with the stereo audio from the Model One. The biggest difference I feel with these over other hifi headphones is that these feel made for gaming/video. The overall position feels almost natural va typical stereo headphones. If connected to a gaming DAC that simulates surround sound, it will play even better with these than just about any other headphone, IMO. Iused to love gaming with my lcd-i4 eq'd, because they sound so open, but when I got the model one, the positioning is what was a major step up for me. This has been my experience since day one, and I actually watch more movies at my desk with these and my buttkicker, than I do sitting on my couch with my surround sound.

Oh you have an i4?? How do you think the imaging/resolution/tuning compare between the two for music listening?

 

[AlwaysForward]

https://www.thegamer.com/vzr-model-one-headphones-preview/

This is probably the most reliable gamer review because of the reference comparisons to their JBL LSR4328P Studio Monitors which is part of their music recording setup they’ve been building for a while. Unsurprisingly, the feedback is simply glowing.

 

[Devodonaldson]

Oh you have an i4?? How do you think the imaging/resolution/tuning compare between the two for music listening?

Sorry for the delay. I personally do not like the Model One for music. It's a weird presentation to my ears. It feels like virtual surround sound, and that's not really the presentation I want foe music most of the time. Details are nice, but the presentation for stereo based music just feels "weird". i4 definitely sounds more open, as it is an open back, but the Model One certainly does not sound congested, just not the presentation I would want for my music listening. Personal preference

 

[AlwaysForward]

Sorry for the delay. I personally do not like the Model One for music. It's a weird presentation to my ears. It feels like virtual surround sound, and that's not really the presentation I want foe music most of the time. Details are nice, but the presentation for stereo based music just feels "weird". i4 definitely sounds more open, as it is an open back, but the Model One certainly does not sound congested, just not the presentation I would want for my music listening. Personal preference

Yes, they indeed render very differently than traditional headphones. I completely understand that as a preference.

Do you have experience with music production and performance or is your experience more on the consumption side?

 

[Youcan1]

I guess you’re the only other head-fi’er with these right now, it’s interesting that we hear the tuning so differently. I hope you don’t mind me asking but could you elaborate on your reference for reference tuning? I certainly see you have a solid headphone gear collection. Do you have experience as a musician in the studio and/or live performance?

I'm not a musician. I'm just going off of all the headphones/speakers I've heard over the years. Male voices seem a little bloated to me on almost everything music wise I've demoed in addition to some other tells like the clarity not being the greatest and the headphones sounding a little slow and laid back (possibly a treble roll off too). What the other user said about the presentation being off might feed into that too. I would say that when I use dynamic mode on my Soundblaster dongle the sound improves noticeably (better clarity and more dynamic).

 

[AlwaysForward]

I'm not a musician. I'm just going off of all the headphones/speakers I've heard over the years. Male voices seem a little bloated to me on almost everything music wise I've demoed in addition to some other tells like the clarity not being the greatest and the headphones sounding a little slow and laid back (possibly a treble roll off too). What the other user said about the presentation being off might feed into that too. I would say that when I use dynamic mode on my Soundblaster dongle the sound improves noticeably (better clarity and more dynamic)

Thanks for the additional information and context. It sounds like we have very divergent experiences with these. It’s a good example of how subjective it can be in the headphone community.

I’ve shared these with a few musician fiends with studio experience and they have all had the “oh wow… wowwwww” reaction with them. I will be doing a beach house retreat with a cohort of musicians next weekend including full time professionals who play to crowds up to 20-30k and am very excited about their reaction.

 

[Devodonaldson]

Yes, they indeed render very differently than traditional headphones. I completely understand that as a preference.

Do you have experience with music production and performance or is your experience more on the consumption side?

Purely consumption, just a lot of it. I work 12hr days and listen 10 of those 12hrs to music. I also sleep with headphones, and workout with iems. Generally 90% of my life occurs with its own soundtrack

 

[AlwaysForward]

Purely consumption, just a lot of it. I work 12hr days and listen 10 of those 12hrs to music. I also sleep with headphones, and workout with iems. Generally 90% of my life occurs with its own soundtrack

Get some! Haha. So it probably isn’t a game changer but it might be worth double checking if your pads have the thick end with the seam positioned backwards away from the face.

I find aligning the pad-seam with the back hinge-screw does a marvelous job of working a consistent seal

I got to compare these things with the Focal Stellia yesterday. The Stellia had a nice jump in transient resolution but I personally preferred the VZR for the tuning and the way the Crosswave rendered the sound closer to being inside the recoding studio with the musicians.

I’ve gone back and fourth with my iSine20 quite a bit and feel the transient tracking between the two is fairly similar with a slight edge to the VZR. So I think these compete with the bulk of hifi quite well in that regard.

Where the iSine is more open, the VZR is more immersive and brings me closer to the musicians.

 

[b0lt 0ns]

my Model Ones just came in today. they definitely have a ton of bass, my ears are ringing right now lol. they dont sound good for music compared to the few other sets of headphones i currently have (drop HE-X4, fidelio X2HR, senn RS220). vocals sound muddled and bass seems to muffle vocals a lot. hopefully they do better at gaming which i will try out later tonight.

im only powering them with a FiiO e10k right now but i have a monolith 887 on the way so maybe they will sound better with a better amp?

 

[AlwaysForward]

my Model Ones just came in today. they definitely have a ton of bass, my ears are ringing right now lol. they dont sound good for music compared to the few other sets of headphones i currently have (drop HE-X4, fidelio X2HR, senn RS220). vocals sound muddled and bass seems to muffle vocals a lot. hopefully they do better at gaming which i will try out later tonight.

im only powering them with a FiiO e10k right now but i have a monolith 887 on the way so maybe they will sound better with a better amp?

They’re noted for requiring pad break in, it was designed that way. They recommend about 20 hours of head time for the pads to settle in. It’ll be extra boomy at first and then should even out. You’ll have plentiful impact in the bass but it’s similarly impactful everywhere.

Regarding the pads, double check to make sure the thickest part with the pad-seam is towards the back of your head so that you may have the best seal.

You can try pressing the cups in when you put them on to help them break in faster through compression. This also helps with the seal.

 

[b0lt 0ns]

They’re noted for requiring pad break in, it was designed that way. They recommend about 20 hours of head time for the pads to settle in. It’ll be extra boomy at first and then should even out. You’ll have plentiful impact in the bass but it’s similarly impactful everywhere.

Regarding the pads, double check to make sure the thickest part with the pad-seam is towards the back of your head so that you may have the best seal.

You can try pressing the cups in when you put them on to help them break in faster through compression. This also helps with the seal.

Ok ill check that out, I actually bought these based on your postings about them so hopefully you're correct lol. I needed a quality gaming headphone as I was using a wireless set of corsairs which obviously are terrible in comparison and I wanted some bassy headphones so I figured 2 birds 1 stone with these.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Ok ill check that out, I actually bought these based on your postings about them so hopefully you're correct lol. I needed a quality gaming headphone as I was using a wireless set of corsairs which obviously are terrible in comparison and I wanted some bassy headphones so I figured 2 birds 1 stone with these.

Haha, I've certainly not been shy about my adoration of them. I hope you like 'em! Yes, I have read just about everything you can find on the internet about them. I believe the pad adjustment period was mentioned twice citing the CTO designing the overall system to settle into regular perf after break-in. Though it's pad break in, rather than driver break-in

Regarding pad placement, that's common knowledge as a best practice. I had to adjust mine. I noticed a substantial improvement in the seal once I adjusted. Since you're on the new side to head-fi, I'd recommend grabbing a DAC/AMP to tap into their full potential. These are so efficient that almost any well-reviewed device will work that fits your needs and budget.

Also, if you're new to hi-performance headphones, you will start your journey anchored to whichever headphones have kept you going the last few years. Sometimes(often) these are going to have tuning that is far from great. If that's what your ear is trained to look for, anything will sound weird and new. Many people were unhappy with the HD6XX at launch for this reason but adjusted after a few weeks.

And then on that topic, since these spatialize and present very different images than normal headphones, that will take some time to get used to and "click" into.

You'll get plenty of bass, but it'll be clean, reference -tuned and impactful. I listen to a lot of music with information in the sub-bass section. These are, along with DSP'd Audeze, the best I've heard for low-bass performance. I have not heard the Abyss yet. If there could be a challenger to the bass performance on these, it's probably the Phi.

 

[AlwaysForward]

I got to spend more time comparing the VZR with my iSine20 last night. The VZR has been getting all of my head time lately but it's been very hot, making in-ears more attractive. Surprisingly, after some hours with the iSine, I went back to the VZR and found it to have substantially more detail retrieval, improved imaging etc.

For context, these are both running off of my Quidelix. With the iSine, I'm running the Oratory1990 EQ and the VZR is without DSP/EQ (doesn't need it with stock tuning)

Purely from a tech details perspective, iSine is well known as a detail benchmark to be competitive with many open-back leaders.

 

[b0lt 0ns]

ok so ive got about 12 hours on the now. gaming wise they are nice, gunshots and footsteps are much more crisp compared to what i have used in the past. the instruments are crisp especially drums, dubstep/EDM sound good but vocals are just....bad when compared to my X2HR and drop HE-X4. they sound like the treble is turned all the way down is the best i can describe it. i dont know if my E10K doesnt play well with them, or if its something else. the Monolith 887 and SMSL m200 will be here friday so i will see if that changes anything. do these benefit from an EQ maybe?

worst case i simply use them for gaming and leave the music for other headphones. so far funny enough im most impressed with my FiiO FD3 pro IEMs powered by a BTR5. im new to this so i might be easily impressed.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Weird, maybe give them more time to break in? I find the mids to be incredibly lush, tuned competitive with the best from Sennheiser (from memory). I’ve already lauded the treble and will skip the repeat.

They’re incredibly sensitive and efficient cans, maybe if you have a low power option that might help improve the clarity. They don’t need a lot of juice.

While EQ is an option I find the reference tuning in to these to be borderline revolutionary.

Also yes, the drums are so lifelike it’s astonishing.