[Wes S]

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.

Honestly not a whole lot of TOTL stuff, but I have owned the Sennheiser HD650 & HD600, ZMF Atticus, MrSpeakers Alpha Prime, Beyerdynamic DT1770 & DT1990, ZMF Ori & Blackwood.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Honestly not a whole lot of TOTL stuff, but I have owned the Sennheiser HD650 & HD600, ZMF Atticus, MrSpeakers Alpha Prime, Beyerdynamic DT1770 & DT1990, ZMF Ori & Blackwood.

Interesting to hear that the Aeolus could potentially beat the HD-600 on vocals. I hope to listen and compare next month.

 

[Pharmaboy]

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.

I listen to a lot of music with strong vocals, bass & beat (reggae, funk, pop, electronic). I don't really do hip-hop, though I fire up some Eminem now & then. The Aeolus kills on all of it.

I've heard the Stellia & didn't care for it. As for other closed backs that might light up your favorite types of music, I can recommend 2:

• E-Mu Teak (which you mention): The bass is very good; slightly warm tonality; can be a bit sharp on upper mids/lower treble, depending on genre & electronics. I sold mine only because I found the earpads too uncomfortable, and despite much experimentation w/pad-rolling, couldn't find a comfortable pad that sounded as good as stock
• ZMF Ori: IMO the best of the best in closed backs under $1K new/~$600-$700 used. That planar bass is a thing of beauty, and the rest of the frequencies are pretty fine, too. Soundstaging is extremely good for a closed design. If you like the ZMF "house sound," this is ground zero.

I compare the Aeolus & Ori often & love them both to pieces...would never sell either.

 

[hikaru12]

I listen to a lot of music with strong vocals, bass & beat (reggae, funk, pop, electronic). I don't really do hip-hop, though I fire up some Eminem now & then. The Aeolus kills on all of it.

I've heard the Stellia & didn't care for it. As for other closed backs that might light up your favorite types of music, I can recommend 2:

• E-Mu Teak (which you mention): The bass is very good; slightly warm tonality; can be a bit sharp on upper mids/lower treble, depending on genre & electronics. I sold mine only because I found the earpads too uncomfortable, and despite much experimentation w/pad-rolling, couldn't find a comfortable pad that sounded as good as stock
• ZMF Ori: IMO the best of the best in closed backs under $1K new/~$600-$700 used. That planar bass is a thing of beauty, and the rest of the frequencies are pretty fine, too. Soundstaging is extremely good for a closed design. If you like the ZMF "house sound," this is ground zero.

I compare the Aeolus & Ori often & love them both to pieces...would never sell either.

Thanks for your detailed reply! I've looked at the Ori and despite the above it still sounds a bit unrefined but pretty great for its price point. I'm really loving the color of the Cocobolo Aeolus - would pair wonderfully with my PurpleHeart Salire stand. Glad to hear your impressions against the Stellia as I'm really getting tired of going up the detail ladder and being disappointed by other aspects of the headphones. Enjoyment is key or else why get the headphones at all, right?

What amp are you pairing your Aeolus with? Ideally would like to find something balanced as my whole setup has been balanced and it would be a pain to convert everything to SE without going with adapters.

 

[Wes S]

I listen to a lot of music with strong vocals, bass & beat (reggae, funk, pop, electronic). I don't really do hip-hop, though I fire up some Eminem now & then. The Aeolus kills on all of it.

I've heard the Stellia & didn't care for it. As for other closed backs that might light up your favorite types of music, I can recommend 2:

• E-Mu Teak (which you mention): The bass is very good; slightly warm tonality; can be a bit sharp on upper mids/lower treble, depending on genre & electronics. I sold mine only because I found the earpads too uncomfortable, and despite much experimentation w/pad-rolling, couldn't find a comfortable pad that sounded as good as stock
• ZMF Ori: IMO the best of the best in closed backs under $1K new/~$600-$700 used. That planar bass is a thing of beauty, and the rest of the frequencies are pretty fine, too. Soundstaging is extremely good for a closed design. If you like the ZMF "house sound," this is ground zero.

I compare the Aeolus & Ori often & love them both to pieces...would never sell either.

I don't know why I even bother posting, when @Pharmaboy always one ups us all, with great info like that! I agree with everything he said about the Aelous and Ori, and I myself will go to the grave with those 2 headphones, which are my 2 favorites, with the Ori being number 1 forever.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Thanks for your detailed reply! I've looked at the Ori and despite the above it still sounds a bit unrefined but pretty great for its price point. I'm really loving the color of the Cocobolo Aeolus - would pair wonderfully with my PurpleHeart Salire stand. Glad to hear your impressions against the Stellia as I'm really getting tired of going up the detail ladder and being disappointed by other aspects of the headphones. Enjoyment is key or else why get the headphones at all, right?

What amp are you pairing your Aeolus with? Ideally would like to find something balanced as my whole setup has been balanced and it would be a pain to convert everything to SE without going with adapters.

" I'm really getting tired of going up the detail ladder" (love that). The problem with going up the detail ladder (ie, Focal; Stax; Hifiman) is that the headphones get peakier & peakier as they get more detailed & "accurate." I've heard some TOTL detail cannons that took my head off--way too bright, too insistent. Not musical.

The wonderful thing about ZMF IMO is that you can chase detail all you want, and find it (ie, Eikon; Auteur; VO/VC)--but it will sound more musical/like music IRL than most competing designs. ZMF isn't the only mfr who offers this, but I think they're the best at it...

As for what amp, I have to chuckle. I was an amp 'ho before I ever went nuts on headphones. I currently have 6 amps in-house and over time, listen to my all headphones on all of them. 5 are SS (best is V281) & 1 is OTL/tube (Woo WA3). I just sold a 6th SS amp that had a tube buffer (Hafler DA-75), and last year had & sold a big/powerful tube amp, Woo WA7.

• 3 of the SS amps are balanced. One, the Audio GD SA-31SE, is SE but offers a 4-pin balanced out for convenience
• I prefer balanced, but my SE amps sound so good to me that when I got my ForzaAudioWorks HCP Noir MkII cable, I purchased the balanced-to-SE adapter made of the same cable. That adapter lets me use my balanced cables/headphones very easily on any SE amp.

I've heard the Aeolus with all these amps & it always sounds good. It scales with bigger/better amps, but never manages to sound bad (or even just average) on any amp I try.

Tonight I'll re-listen to the Aeolus on my most modest (yet nice-sounding) SS amp, the M Stage Matrix HPA-1, w/the 3rd & best of the opamps I rolled into it. It has been awhile since I heard that combo...looking forward to checking it out again.

PS: Aeolus now has Verite pads on (thanks @jinxy245!), which I'm enjoying all over again. IMO the perf. suede universe is the ultimate pad for the Aeolus, but the Verite pads sound so good, too--just in somewhat different ways.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I don't know why I even bother posting

Don't ever stop, Wes! Love that "go to my grave with those 2 headphones" comment.

I just pictured myself making advance arrangements at the local funeral parlor...

• "For myself I'd like an oak casket, nothing fancy. For the Aeolus I'd like a miniature blackwood casket; and for the Ori, a miniature ormosia henryi casket. Only the best for my headphones!"

 

[Astral Abyss]

As for what amp, I have to chuckle. I was an amp 'ho before I ever went nuts on headphones. I currently have 6 amps in-house and over time, listen to my all headphones on all of them.

Glad I don't have those problems.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Glad I don't have those problems.

My god, you have more amps than I do!

 

[GDuss]

PS: Aeolus now has Verite pads on (thanks @jinxy245!), which I'm enjoying all over again. IMO the perf. suede universe is the ultimate pad for the Aeolus, but the Verite pads sound so good, too--just in somewhat different ways.

I just got these pads delivered on Monday from ZMF and have spent the last 2 nights with them on the Aeolus. My way too early thoughts are that your (and others like @jinxy245 ) prior descriptions of how they change the sound are quite accurate. Admittedly I went into this biased by those comments, but the bias was for how the sound would change, not necessarily whether I would like it.

The frequency response is flatter and the stage is smaller, both width and depth (at least I think it is for depth, need more time). While these sound like negatives, and people may be asking why anyone would do this, the Aeolus retain the same euphonic nature and timbre thus far in my listening, and their sound is still as pleasing as ever. There is just less of any one region or characteristic calling attention to itself.

The interesting thing is in the last 2 nights I have sort of zoned out to music in a different way than normal. The wider and deeper stage with the Universe pads often has me placing instruments in space, like I'm trying to follow the action around the room, and with the Verite pads I'm not doing that. Everything is there more evenly, it all sounds fantastic, and I'm just enjoying the whole picture.

I'd say the minimal cost of this tweak is definitely worth what it does and I'll be keeping these pads on for a while. I think they change the sound more dramatically than going from the original Aeolus pads to the Universe perforated suede. It's definitely not going to be for everyone though and probably depends on musical styles and tastes for whether this is a good thing or not.

 

[GDuss]

Don't ever stop, Wes! Love that "go to my grave with those 2 headphones" comment.

I just pictured myself making advance arrangements at the local funeral parlor...

• "For myself I'd like an oak casket, nothing fancy. For the Aeolus I'd like a miniature blackwood casket; and for the Ori, a miniature ormosia henryi casket. Only the best for my headphones!"

This reminds me of a post from someone in one of the other ZMF threads, basically saying that if you get your ZMF's in the wooden box, then you need a case to protect the wooden box.

 

[Mink]

Could someone give me an idea how 'open' the Aeolus sound? I have come to the conclusion that I generally prefer a closed immersive, 'pivate concert' sound over a more open and airy festival sound. As much as I love the HD650s, they just sound too open. But they don't have to isolate completely, my Denon D5000s and Sony MDR-Z7s are semi-closed and the NightHawks are semi-open but they all sound closed enough, they block outside noises sufficiently to audibly remove me from the room I am in and to replace me in their sonic world. (sonic world? what an ugly way of putting it, my apologies )
So since the Aeolus is a semi-open design does it in any way block outside noises? Or should I just avoid them and go for the (semi-)closed Atticus?

 

[Wes S]

Could someone give me an idea how 'open' the Aeolus sound? I have come to the conclusion that I generally prefer a closed immersive, 'pivate concert' sound over a more open and airy festival sound. As much as I love the HD650s, they just sound too open. But they don't have to isolate completely, my Denon D5000s and Sony MDR-Z7s are semi-closed and the NightHawks are semi-open but they all sound closed enough, they block outside noises sufficiently to audibly remove me from the room I am in and to replace me in their sonic world. (sonic world? what an ugly way of putting it, my apologies )
So since the Aeolus is a semi-open design does it in any way block outside noises? Or should I just avoid them and go for the (semi-)closed Atticus?

Hey there! I own both and based off what you are looking for, go for the Atticus. It's actually closed not semi, as not all those vents are open. The Aeolus sounds more open than the HD650, for sure. I also, used to own the Z7 and Nighthawks, and the Atticus blows them out of the water.

 

[Mink]

Thanks! Much appreciated!

 

[Marlowe]

Could someone give me an idea how 'open' the Aeolus sound? I have come to the conclusion that I generally prefer a closed immersive, 'pivate concert' sound over a more open and airy festival sound. As much as I love the HD650s, they just sound too open.

Frankly, if you think the HD650 sounds too open for your taste, and I've heard IEMs that sound more open than the extremely intimate 650, I'm not sure you should be considering any open back headphones. And yes, the Aeolus sounds significantly more open and wider than the 650.