[smoothb0re]

Finally had to face reality and list my Aeolus & the cables. Almost physically hurts, but... there are much more important things going on here. Choosing between headphones and family isn't really a choice.

I've been doing my best to try and enjoy them while I can. It's bittersweet, but I'll sure as hell do my best to enjoy every second I still have them! They're such incredible headphones, and so incredibly comfortable with the suede strap. Part of me wants to get it sold asap, but another part wants it to take a long time so I can enjoy them some more.

I hope I'll be able to buy a pair back next year. I'm not ready to live without some ZMF in my life!

 

[GDuss]

Finally had to face reality and list my Aeolus & the cables. Almost physically hurts, but... there are much more important things going on here. Choosing between headphones and family isn't really a choice.

I've been doing my best to try and enjoy them while I can. It's bittersweet, but I'll sure as hell do my best to enjoy every second I still have them! They're such incredible headphones, and so incredibly comfortable with the suede strap. Part of me wants to get it sold asap, but another part wants it to take a long time so I can enjoy them some more.

I hope I'll be able to buy a pair back next year. I'm not ready to live without some ZMF in my life!

Sorry to hear your news. Hopefully everything ends up well with your family and you can get back to some new ZMF's asap.

I'm sure the Aeolus will sell quickly, so enjoy the limited time with them.

Best wishes.

 

[GDuss]

Hmmm... whiskey... and coffee... yes!!

I'm always up for coffee and whisk(e)y, priority given based on time of day of course. They go together with the Aeolus as well as wine does (ok beer too).

Is there anything that doesn't go well with the Aeolus? They sound good on each of my amps and with basically any tube combination. The tube combination I choose can sometimes not be what I'm after for a particular mood or music style, but the headphones always sound good. I'm not saying anything new, all of you that have the Aeolus (or any ZMF) know this already.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I'm always up for coffee and whisk(e)y, priority given based on time of day of course. They go together with the Aeolus as well as wine does (ok beer too).

Is there anything that doesn't go well with the Aeolus? They sound good on each of my amps and with basically any tube combination. The tube combination I choose can sometimes not be what I'm after for a particular mood or music style, but the headphones always sound good. I'm not saying anything new, all of you that have the Aeolus (or any ZMF) know this already.

I heard the Aeolus at shows on some TOTL tube amps I can't afford or physically accommodate in my system...amazing sound all around.

I've tried the Aeolus on 8 amps in my system: 6 SS amps (one w/a tube buffer, since sold) & 2 tube amps. The OTL tube amp is modest but nice Woo WA3 and the bigger tube amp was the Woo WA22 (since sold). The best of the SS amps is V281 & the least is the M Stage Matrix HPA-1. The Aeolus sounds terrific w/all of them. It does scale w/bigger, stronger amps--but pretty clearly is the opposite of amp-picky.

So I can't get this headphone to sound less than amazing (it's my favorite). That's pretty interesting, given that the Atticus (closed design w/the same driver) is known to be amp-picky.

 

[GDuss]

I heard the Aeolus at shows on some TOTL tube amps I can't afford or physically accommodate in my system...amazing sound all around.

I've tried the Aeolus on 8 amps in my system: 6 SS amps (one w/a tube buffer, since sold) & 2 tube amps. The OTL tube amp is modest but nice Woo WA3 and the bigger tube amp was the Woo WA22 (since sold). The best of the SS amps is V281 & the least is the M Stage Matrix HPA-1. The Aeolus sounds terrific w/all of them. It does scale w/bigger, stronger amps--but pretty clearly is the opposite of amp-picky.

So I can't get this headphone to sound less than amazing (it's my favorite). That's pretty interesting, given that the Atticus (closed design w/the same driver) is known to be amp-picky.

I just sold my WA3 to a fellow member of this thread. I didn't need or have time for 2 OTL amps, but it is an awesome match for the Aeolus. As you already know, the WA3 is modest in cost but not performance, especially when you put better tubes in it than the ones it comes with. Those JAN/Philips tubes from the 80's just don't do justice to the amp. Plus it's extremely well made and a pleasure to use e.g. smooth/large volume knob, nice power button, good tube sockets. Too bad they quit making it.

Aeolus is also great on the SS GLMk2. I've heard others say the same thing about the pairing.

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but the Aeolus is even fun to listen to when using very syrupy, euphonic tube combinations (on the GOTL I have specific tubes that I know meet these criteria). I know many people don't like this sound (detail-heads, people looking for speed), but I actually like it. It's not something I want all the time, but it's a different sound that can be fun to listen to when in the mood for it and with certain kinds of music. I don't think this type of sound works with all headphones, but it does with the Aeolus, at least to my ears. I'm not sure this would work well with the faster drivers of the Verites, and that doesn't seem like a good use for them anyway.

As soon as the Verite pads show up I'll get to see what else these headphones can do.

 

[raindownthunda]

I just sold my WA3 to a fellow member of this thread. I didn't need or have time for 2 OTL amps, but it is an awesome match for the Aeolus. As you already know, the WA3 is modest in cost but not performance, especially when you put better tubes in it than the ones it comes with. Those JAN/Philips tubes from the 80's just don't do justice to the amp. Plus it's extremely well made and a pleasure to use e.g. smooth/large volume knob, nice power button, good tube sockets. Too bad they quit making it.

Aeolus is also great on the SS GLMk2. I've heard others say the same thing about the pairing.

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but the Aeolus is even fun to listen to when using very syrupy, euphonic tube combinations (on the GOTL I have specific tubes that I know meet these criteria). I know many people don't like this sound (detail-heads, people looking for speed), but I actually like it. It's not something I want all the time, but it's a different sound that can be fun to listen to when in the mood for it and with certain kinds of music. I don't think this type of sound works with all headphones, but it does with the Aeolus, at least to my ears. I'm not sure this would work well with the faster drivers of the Verites, and that doesn't seem like a good use for them anyway.

As soon as the Verite pads show up I'll get to see what else these headphones can do.

What are your favorite tubes in the GOTL with your Aeolus?

 

[GDuss]

What are your favorite tubes in the GOTL with your Aeolus?

The fun aspect to the amp is that your favorite can change often, and mine does, depending on what combination is in the amp. Mine has the configuration with 6 power tube slots, 1 slot for SN7-compatible tubes, and 2 slots for C3g-compatible tubes. Like many in the Glenn thread, I don't often use SN7 tubes in that slot anymore, it's almost always a pair of 6J5/6C5/12J5 tubes (with an adapter from @Deyan ), sometimes glass but most often metal versions. My preference is for metal RCA's from the 40's (meatball logo) as those just sound very natural to me. But if I'm going for larger staging or separation, then it's Tung Sol or Sylvania 6J5 or 12J5, both glass. The Tung Sol's are extremely spacious and deep and have great realism. Those are some of my favorites for creating the "in the room with the musicians" sound. That said, I like the tonality of the RCA better.

For the C3g slots, I had some Mullard EL32's with adapters in those slots for months. This was the position I changed the least. But recently I have been going with a pair of 6J7's as they use the same adapters as the EL32. The only 6J7 tubes I have so far are RCA (meatball) and Sylvania, both types are metal. These tubes have similar characteristics to the 6J5-type tubes in their sound. So right now I'm listening to a pair of 1942 glass RCA 12J5's and a pair of 40's metal RCA 6J7's and I enjoy the tonality so much I just want to put my head back and enjoy. If I want to mix up this sound and get a bit of each, swap out the RCA 6J7's for Sylvania 6J7's. Or keep the RCA 6J7's but swap out the RCA 12J5's for Tung Sol 6J5's. The last few nights have been all RCA though and I'm not in a hurry to change it.

In the power slots, I used 6x 6BX7's for a while when I first got the amp. My favorite of those tubes are Tung Sol's, but they don't have as much bass as GE 6BX7's. The Aeolus has enough bass on it's own, so that's not really an issue. With the HD650 that has less bass, this doesn't work as well. A pair of Tung Sol 5998's works very well in these power slots, and like other Tung Sol's can give excellent clarity and staging. But they need the right 6J5's to balance that out. I'm not a fan of Tung Sol 6J5's with Tung Sol 5998's (it can be too much clarity, almost too sterile, but take comment to mean relative to other options, it's not actually sterile). This is even though I like both separately, when combined with other tubes. I have a pair of GEC 6AS7G's for the power slots. As highly regarded as they are, they're not my favorites, and I'm not sure why. I just can't get on board with them. Maybe I haven't hit on the right combination with driver tubes yet. That needs more work.

My favorite power tubes for the last several months are 6080's. I most often use Sylvania's from the 60's (right now I'm using a pair from 1966). Sometimes 2 of them and sometimes 4. They just seem to work with every tube combination I put in front of them. They are among the cheapest power tubes I have. The combined cost of the Tung Sol 5998's and GEC 6AS7G's could probably buy another pair of ZMF's, but I just use the Sylvania's more.

I think it's cliche in the Glenn thread, but the GOTL can make most tubes sound good, and sometimes favorite tubes end up being unpredictable, and not even necessarily expensive. Right now I have 6 tubes in (2x RCA 12J5 glass, 2x RCA 6J7 metal, 2x Sylvania 6080), and their combined cost was maybe $70. And it sounds awesome.

I'm not sure I actually answered your question, I think I just gave a rambling monologue . It's a hard question to answer with the GOTL and Aeolus because you almost can't lose. Anyone thinking of getting either will hear nothing but encouragement from me.

 

[Benno1988]

Aeolus arrived today!

Anyone here EQ these at all? Bump up that 1500hz and 4000hz dips a bit?

 

[smoothb0re]

Sorry to hear your news. Hopefully everything ends up well with your family and you can get back to some new ZMF's asap.

I'm sure the Aeolus will sell quickly, so enjoy the limited time with them.

Best wishes.

Thank you! It's getting a little worse in that I'm having to sell them right now, but luckily I have a trade to a Beyer T1 lined up that would get me enough funds to solve the family crisis. The buyer is just worried about possible future warranty issues because it's a used pair, though still just a year old. He said he emailed ZMF to ask, so we'll see what happens. I told him that @zach915m and the entire ZMF team are unlikely to leave anyone with a pair of ZMF headphones hanging. Personally, my experience with ZMF is awesome. They genuinely care and want to help you out. Special thanks to Bevin for being a massive help more than once!

On top of that, I thought I had a heart attack this morning, but it's starting to look like some sort of stress reaction. Pretty embarrassing, they're keeping me in the hospital until tomorrow morning, being bored to death. Good thing I had my girlfriend bring the Aeolus to me!

It's not all bad news though, things should get a lot better next year and I got great news about my fight with cancer. Things should look pretty good a year from now! Another piece of good news is that I'll be able to get a new Aeolus in January! It is such a nice feeling. If things go right, I'll be able to order both the Aeolus Ltd and a Verite C at the same time from the new Finnish ZMF retailer. I think I can live without ZMF for a few months if the payoff after it is like that.

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Thank you! It's getting a little worse in that I'm having to sell them right now, but luckily I have a trade to a Beyer T1 lined up that would get me enough funds to solve the family crisis. The buyer is just worried about possible future warranty issues because it's a used pair, though still just a year old. He said he emailed ZMF to ask, so we'll see what happens. I told him that @zach915m and the entire ZMF team are unlikely to leave anyone with a pair of ZMF headphones hanging. Personally, my experience with ZMF is awesome. They genuinely care and want to help you out. Special thanks to Bevin for being a massive help more than once!

On top of that, I thought I had a heart attack this morning, but it's starting to look like some sort of stress reaction. Pretty embarrassing, they're keeping me in the hospital until tomorrow morning, being bored to death. Good thing I had my girlfriend bring the Aeolus to me!

It's not all bad news though, things should get a lot better next year and I got great news about my fight with cancer. Things should look pretty good a year from now! Another piece of good news is that I'll be able to get a new Aeolus in January! It is such a nice feeling. If things go right, I'll be able to order both the Aeolus Ltd and a Verite C at the same time from the new Finnish ZMF retailer. I think I can live without ZMF for a few months if the payoff after it is like that.

God bless you. Am sure you will pull through this rough patch in your life. Look forward to your sharing of Aeolus LTD and Verite C

 

[hikaru12]

Can anyone confirm if the Aeolus is good for hip hop, instrumentals or EDM? A large portion of my collection is vocals and hip hop music, beats etc. I’m continually going back and forth between wanting more detail from my cans or just enjoying a nice powerful impactful can that lets me just sit and enjoy the music. I’m currently on some Aryas after some Goldilocks LCD 3s and I find them to be too bright. Will the Aeolus be what I’m looking for? The other can I’m thinking that might be similar to what I want tonality wise is the Stellia, detail, mid bassy like the Aeolus and warm but every can I’ve had from Zach (Atticus, Auteur Teak, Auteur Blackwood) has had the upmost best build quality of any can I’ve had even more than Audeze.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[PopZeus]

Can anyone confirm if the Aeolus is good for hip hop, instrumentals or EDM? A large portion of my collection is vocals and hip hop music, beats etc. I’m continually going back and forth between wanting more detail from my cans or just enjoying a nice powerful impactful can that lets me just sit and enjoy the music. I’m currently on some Aryas after some Goldilocks LCD 3s and I find them to be too bright. Will the Aeolus be what I’m looking for? The other can I’m thinking that might be similar to what I want tonality wise is the Stellia, detail, mid bassy like the Aeolus and warm but every can I’ve had from Zach (Atticus, Auteur Teak, Auteur Blackwood) has had the upmost best build quality of any can I’ve had even more than Audeze.

Decisions, decisions.

Hell yes! LOL

But seriously, even though there is a mid-bass emphasis, the roll off still offers plenty of sub-bass for synths, beats, etc. And vocals sound great on the Aeolus, imho. So, I'd say they're quite good with many recordings from those genres.

 

[Wes S]

Can anyone confirm if the Aeolus is good for hip hop, instrumentals or EDM? A large portion of my collection is vocals and hip hop music, beats etc. I’m continually going back and forth between wanting more detail from my cans or just enjoying a nice powerful impactful can that lets me just sit and enjoy the music. I’m currently on some Aryas after some Goldilocks LCD 3s and I find them to be too bright. Will the Aeolus be what I’m looking for? The other can I’m thinking that might be similar to what I want tonality wise is the Stellia, detail, mid bassy like the Aeolus and warm but every can I’ve had from Zach (Atticus, Auteur Teak, Auteur Blackwood) has had the upmost best build quality of any can I’ve had even more than Audeze.

Decisions, decisions.

They are a match made in heaven with 2 of those genres, no doubt. l listen to instrumental and EDM 90% of my listening time, and could not imagine a better headphone. I don't listen to hip hop at all, but I do know that the vocals are the best part of the Aeolus (best I have heard in any headphone), so there is that.

 

[Marlowe]

Can anyone confirm if the Aeolus is good for hip hop, instrumentals or EDM? A large portion of my collection is vocals and hip hop music, beats etc. I’m continually going back and forth between wanting more detail from my cans or just enjoying a nice powerful impactful can that lets me just sit and enjoy the music. I’m currently on some Aryas after some Goldilocks LCD 3s and I find them to be too bright. Will the Aeolus be what I’m looking for? The other can I’m thinking that might be similar to what I want tonality wise is the Stellia, detail, mid bassy like the Aeolus and warm but every can I’ve had from Zach (Atticus, Auteur Teak, Auteur Blackwood) has had the upmost best build quality of any can I’ve had even more than Audeze.

Decisions, decisions.

No clue, since I run for the hills rather than listen to hip hop or EDM. Instrumentals? Is that a genre I am not aware of or do you just mean any music without vocals. I almost always listen to music with vocals,, but don't avoid music without like the other two genres.

 

[hikaru12]

They are a match made in heaven with 2 of those genres, no doubt. l listen to instrumental and EDM 90% of my listening time, and could not imagine a better headphone. I don't listen to hip hop at all, but I do know that the vocals are the best part of the Aeolus (best I have heard in any headphone), so there is that.

Wow that sounds fantastic. What headphones have you heard that you think the Aeolus bests on vocals? I remember really enjoying the Atticus for its blackness of background, slam and vocals so I have a good idea on what you’re referring to.