[AlwaysForward]

I am very interested in the VZR Model One headphones. By any chance, does anyone here own the Meze Liric’s, or at least did a good and long audition with them, and therefore give a Meze Liric versus VZR Model One?

I’m especially interested in soundstage (more depth and aboves/belows than width), imaging, separation of sounds and which headphone can handle the faster and more complex music with a lot of shifts the best? Also, which of these two will do the best with binaural recordings?

Just a quick note regarding soundstage and width, as an example; I personally perceive the Sennheiser HD 800 S as having too much width.

Hope to hear from all you guys, especially you AlwaysForward, cause I’ve been reading quite a lot of your words about the VZR Model One’s in different threads in here – and I find them very intriguing. Cheers.

Doubtful anyone has both of them to compare. Regarding soundstage, it’s well documented that lean bass tuning is a psychoacoustic queue for a wider presenting image. I agree that the HD800 is slightly unnatural in this aspect.

On another note: I finally had a chance to get my Audeze Deckard set up to see how the VZR scales. It’s definitely a big step up from the Quidelix. Can confirm, they scale well.

I can also confirm that these things handle the most complex passages with aplomb. It’s a reference tuning with an immaculate transducer.

 

[Salted Peanut]

Doubtful anyone has both of them to compare. Regarding soundstage, it’s well documented that lean bass tuning is a psychoacoustic queue for a wider presenting image. I agree that the HD800 is slightly unnatural in this aspect.

On another note: I finally had a chance to get my Audeze Deckard set up to see how the VZR scales. It’s definitely a big step up from the Quidelix. Can confirm, they scale well.

I can also confirm that these things handle the most complex passages with aplomb. It’s a reference tuning with an immaculate trans

 

[Salted Peanut]

Doubtful anyone has both of them to compare. Regarding soundstage, it’s well documented that lean bass tuning is a psychoacoustic queue for a wider presenting image. I agree that the HD800 is slightly unnatural in this aspect.

On another note: I finally had a chance to get my Audeze Deckard set up to see how the VZR scales. It’s definitely a big step up from the Quidelix. Can confirm, they scale well.

I can also confirm that these things handle the most complex passages with aplomb. It’s a reference tuning with an immaculate transducer.

Thank you – much appreciated!

Very nice to know that these headphones scale up. I have fallen head over heels in love with my Mojo 2, and this little crazy machine does wonders to every headphone I’ve tried it with, also very clinical studio monitor headphones that needs a little help (mostly a lot) in the lower frequencies.

And very good to know that these are fast.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Thank you – much appreciated!

Very nice to know that these headphones scale up. I have fallen head over heels in love with my Mojo 2, and this little crazy machine does wonders to every headphone I’ve tried it with, also very clinical studio monitor headphones that needs a little help (mostly a lot) in the lower frequencies.

And very good to know that these are fast.

I’m considering buying a mojo2 for my VZR, I’d love to hear any thoughts if you pull the trigger!

 

[AlwaysForward]

Ironically @Salted Peanut , a new review is up where the reviewer has also reviewed the Meze Lyric



I personally agree with his impression of the tuning. It’s slightly warm but still very reference and great for studio situations.

 

[Salted Peanut]

Ironically @Salted Peanut , a new review is up where the reviewer has also reviewed the Meze Lyric



I personally agree with his impression of the tuning. It’s slightly warm but still very reference and great for studio situations.

Thank you for letting me know.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Thank you for letting me know.

Sorry not the lyric he’s got the Empy Elite there behind him

 

[Youcan1]

Another review in two parts:





This guy isn't the most technical but he's reviewed a lot of gear and he seems to like them.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Wow, I... that is painful to watch.

 

[Evil Deadly]

So stinking cozy

 

[b0lt 0ns]

Wow, I... that is painful to watch.

Yea unfortunately I just couldn't "stick with him" lol

 

[AlwaysForward]

So I've had these for a while now and I honestly think they might be arguably a top 5 headphones ever released.

It's a bold statement, here's the defense:

Transducer Innovation: CrossWave finally made headphones sound like speakers, achieving every head-fi'ers & music lover's dream of making you feel like you're there. If you reflect on it, you're probably chasing a speaker experience in headphones. These are it.
Tuning Innovation: A new reference tuning that may surpass the Harman Target in how useful it is in the studio / enjoyable to listen to. Reference speakers in cans. You won't need to DSP them in the studio, nor would a bass head boost the bass. Timbre heads rejoice.
Engineering Execution: Apple quality electro-mechanical product design. The CTO did start Apple's audio division, after all. Just exceptional.
Value Innovation: Anyone can afford to buy and power these well. Imagine trying to justify a kilo buck flagship next to these in a HiFi store.


On Kilo-Buck Preferences Optimization:
Think about it like this: the narrative on the VZR has a consensus that these are competitive into the thousands of dollars, which is "preferences optimization" territory. The difference between Utopia and the rest of Focal's line is improved performance in the traditional direct-firing driver pattern. It's an improvement but more similar than different. As earth-shattering as the Utopia was, it's not like speakers.

With the VZR's absolute transients clearly competitive into "serious" territory, we need to think about what the performance optimization is that would bring a "Utopia head" over to the dark side of the VZR preference optimization curve. Where Berrylium improves transients through materials improvements, yielding a slightly more "there" experience with “More information”; Crosswave introduces an entirely new imaging axis of information as “more” through a novel acoustic-transducer, that also helps shape the linear tuning. Music is more directly "felt" or experienced because it interacts with your ear more naturally and has correct timbre.

In the aggregate, both technologies yield imaging improvements over conventional kilo bucks. It'll be up to user preferences. However, there is a new option that achieves the end-game of the headphone quest: A speaker experience in headphones that brings you closer to "being there" with the artist.

 

[AlwaysForward]

@jude These are really serious.

 

[AlwaysForward]

On interacting with your ears more naturally; Possible benefits for tinnitus & hearing loss:
I've observed something very unusual with these headphones. CrossWave may have benefits for people who suffer from tinnitus and partial hearing loss:

Just watch this reviewer's reaction. He breaks down into tears after hearing music more clearly with hearing loss & tinnitus than he has in years. (timestamped):

• My cousin has significant hearing loss in his left ear, he "can't hear anything out of that side." When he tried them, he said he heard music on his left side for the first time clearly in more years than he could remember.

In this review, Nico talks about how they don't hurt his ears (timestamped):

• I have mild tinnitus, I noticed these are gentle on my tinnitus a while ago.

N=4, there's something going on here.

 

[AlwaysForward]

If you have tinnitus and experienced something like this, please share it here. If more people find similar results, it could be a relief to many people's ears when enjoying music.