[Marlowe]

I’d be thrilled with a Bottlehead Crack, but me and my two left hands would surely fail at building one.

I completely sympathize with this sentiment. I'm 67, have a completely non-technical background (my degrees are in history and law), had zero (or worse) manual skill in arts and crafts when I was six or in shop class when I was sixteen, and have not acquired any since, though my fingers are definitely stiffer. You can pay to have the Crack built for you, but that nearly doubles the price and is not worth it IMO. I'm quite happy with my LP, which conveniently came in a box already put together.

BTW, I've had people pooh pooh this conviction and tell me how wrong I am, how easy it is, and expound on the joys of soldering. TBH, that royally tees me off. I think I know my skills and interests better than they do. (Not only do I doubt my ability to successfully build an amp, I have less than zero interest in doing so.) I may despise his politics, but Clint Eastwood was right: a man should know his limitations.

 

[Bimbleton]

I completely sympathize with this sentiment. I'm 67, have a completely non-technical background (my degrees are in history and law), had zero (or worse) manual skill in arts and crafts when I was six or in shop class when I was sixteen, and have not acquired any since, though my fingers are definitely stiffer. You can pay to have the Crack built for you, but that nearly doubles the price and is not worth it IMO. I'm quite happy with my LP, which conveniently came in a box already put together.

BTW, I've had people pooh pooh this conviction and tell me how wrong I am, how easy it is, and expound on the joys of soldering. TBH, that royally tees me off. I think I know my skills and interests better than they do. (Not only do I doubt my ability to successfully build an amp, I have less than zero interest in doing so.) I may despise his politics, but Clint Eastwood was right: a man should know his limitations.

Judging by your extremely impressive signature, I’d say you have plenty to be happy about!

What combination of your equipment sounds best with your Aeolus?

 

[oldsweatyman]

Had the Aeolus for a while and my BHC from someone on reddit was taking ages but it finally is set to get here Thursday. I swapped the Aeolus + $200 for the Verite silkwood from another person on reddit because the opportunity came up and seemed too good to miss. Reading these new comments, now I'm worried I made the wrong decision because I'll probably never know what the Aeolus sounds like with the BHC. Hopefully the Verite is similarly transformed by the BHC... I got some nice tubes to swap so we'll see. This hobby is just a deep void of FOMO isn't it?

The Aeolus just didn't have the resolution or bass I was looking for, even with EQ. I was running it off my magnius/modius stack though, no tubes. However, some genres like classic rock, e.g. Neil Young or Led Zeppelin, the Aeolus outclassed my Audeze LCD-MX4 in terms of enjoyment by a longshot.

 

[granularclouds]

Had the Aeolus for a while and my BHC from someone on reddit was taking ages but it finally is set to get here Thursday. I swapped the Aeolus + $200 for the Verite silkwood from another person on reddit because the opportunity came up and seemed too good to miss. Reading these new comments, now I'm worried I made the wrong decision because I'll probably never know what the Aeolus sounds like with the BHC. Hopefully the Verite is similarly transformed by the BHC... I got some nice tubes to swap so we'll see. This hobby is just a deep void of FOMO isn't it?

The Aeolus just didn't have the resolution or bass I was looking for, even with EQ. I was running it off my magnius/modius stack though, no tubes. However, some genres like classic rock, e.g. Neil Young or Led Zeppelin, the Aeolus outclassed my Audeze LCD-MX4 in terms of enjoyment by a longshot.

Were you running the Aeolus balanced or single ended out of the Magnius?

What headphones would you say satisfied your itch for resolution and bass in the past? Curious - have been eyeing the Aeolus for some time, but also don't love hearing mixed things about its detail capability. It's not a be all end all requirement for me (I quite love the 6xx using the correct source and with the right cable, for example), but is definitely important to me.

 

[oldsweatyman]

Were you running the Aeolus balanced or single ended out of the Magnius?

I was running balanced off the Magnius. My understanding is that the SE from the Magnius is sub-par. Could I personally tell a massive difference? No. Maybe when I was blasting it at unlistenable levels it started to sound kind of muddy, but thats it. In terms of the magnius modius stack, in retrospect, I think its very unlikely that the magni heresy and modi 3 stack would be audibly different.

What headphones would you say satisfied your itch for resolution and bass in the past? Curious - have been eyeing the Aeolus for some time, but also don't love hearing mixed things about its detail capability. It's not a be all end all requirement for me (I quite love the 6xx using the correct source and with the right cable, for example), but is definitely important to me.

Certainly the LCD-MX4 and in retrospect, if I wanted to stay with the LCD planar capability, I would get the LCD-2, EQ it, and be done. I haven't actually heard the LCD-2 but I had the LCD-2C and given all the reviews I've read and my tastes, the LCD-2 will satisfy the itch for resolution and bass. (with EQ). The MX4 is more resolving the the LCD-2C but not enough for me to care. I guess if I had the money to blow, why not. After that, I think I'd have to try the LCD-4 or the abyss series for anything "better," probably in the 5-10% "better" range I would imagine.

The thing about the Aeolus is that it does certain genres like classic rock significantly better than the LCD's in my opinion. So it depends on what you listen to. Some electronic tracks will sound significantly better on the LCD series because of the bass and much sharper mids/treble, but the Aeolus has this mids/lows grunt that rounds out the sound so nicely for rock that it is easy for me to say it definitively sounds "better" than the LCD on those genres. I don't think the Aeolus would have consistently satisfied my bass and resolution itch despite sounding so great on classic rock, so I went for the Verite.

Thankfully, the Verite has satisfied my bass itch too. It really did turn out to be a mix between planar and aeolus in my opinion. Definitely sounds different from the Aeolus but, as they say, has the ZMF warmness. Sounding excellent with my new bottlehead crack right now. I'll be sticking with the Verite and working on the rest of the chain instead of continuing to swap headphones. I agree with Resolve Reviews when they said that although the Verite perhaps doesn't sound 100% as good as the Aeolus for its genres or the LCD series for their genres, it does everything good enough, making it a jack of all trades. I'm satisfied.

 

[breakfree40]

Firstly, thank you all for the excellent replies. Amp picking is sometimes even more convoluted than picking a headphone. I have heard the gamut of impressions from:
- “tubes are best on brighter headphones”
- “tubes make the Aeolus too dark”
- “hybrids are not worth it, just get a tube”
- “tubes measure terribly, just get a solid state”

Is the Darkvoice/LP good for the Aeolus only with specific tubes? Does it make it too dark? And some amps have way too much gain— is this a problem with the LP or Darkvoice?

I do think there is merit to having multiple amps, and more specifically multiple types of amps. I think that considering the HP use case when selecting an amp is important as well. Since this is the ZMF Aeolus thread, there’s likely not many users here looking for pinpoint accuracy and mastering technicalities as high on the priority list when selecting a system. The ZMF Aeolus is a wonderfully musical and relaxing headphone to listen to. Trying to pick an amp that meets the goal of being the most precise and accurate sorta defeats the purpose of using the Aeolus, no?

With the stock DV tubes I did find the Aeolus a bit muddy and too warm even for my goal usage of non fatigue, relaxing and realistic/musical sound. After a couple of rolls I’ve found myself settled in with a rca 6080 6as7 halo top and a CV-181 6sn7. Punchy and holographic are the two descriptors I would use when describing this setup with the Aeolus… while retaining the warm, fatigue free natural sound that the Aeolus is renowned for.

Can tubes help bright headphones? Yes. They can also make some of them unlistenable.

Can tubes make the Aeolus too dark? Yes. They can also make them perfect for MY use case.

Are hybrids not worth it? Eh… depends on use case. If you have a budget for multiple amps vs just one I would say go full ss and full tube. If you just want one amp for space or budget reasons then the LP can be your guy if it works with your hp for your use case. It’s very flexible so it may just do that.

Tubes measure terribly. Yes. Probably so. But so what? If your goal is perfect measurement and mastering excellence… you probably not only don’t need a tube amp but you also are rocking the wrong headphone.

All IMO of course.

 

[Bimbleton]

I do think there is merit to having multiple amps, and more specifically multiple types of amps. I think that considering the HP use case when selecting an amp is important as well. Since this is the ZMF Aeolus thread, there’s likely not many users here looking for pinpoint accuracy and mastering technicalities as high on the priority list when selecting a system. The ZMF Aeolus is a wonderfully musical and relaxing headphone to listen to. Trying to pick an amp that meets the goal of being the most precise and accurate sorta defeats the purpose of using the Aeolus, no?

With the stock DV tubes I did find the Aeolus a bit muddy and too warm even for my goal usage of non fatigue, relaxing and realistic/musical sound. After a couple of rolls I’ve found myself settled in with a rca 6080 6as7 halo top and a CV-181 6sn7. Punchy and holographic are the two descriptors I would use when describing this setup with the Aeolus… while retaining the warm, fatigue free natural sound that the Aeolus is renowned for.

Can tubes help bright headphones? Yes. They can also make some of them unlistenable.

Can tubes make the Aeolus too dark? Yes. They can also make them perfect for MY use case.

Are hybrids not worth it? Eh… depends on use case. If you have a budget for multiple amps vs just one I would say go full ss and full tube. If you just want one amp for space or budget reasons then the LP can be your guy if it works with your hp for your use case. It’s very flexible so it may just do that.

Tubes measure terribly. Yes. Probably so. But so what? If your goal is perfect measurement and mastering excellence… you probably not only don’t need a tube amp but you also are rocking the wrong headphone.

All IMO of course.

Y’all got a recommendation for a good SS transportable DAC/amp? I’d probably want something very neutral (to contrast with a tube amp down the road). Gotten a few good recommendations, including ifi Black label/signature, but not sure if those are neutral.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Y’all got a recommendation for a good SS transportable DAC/amp? I’d probably want something very neutral (to contrast with a tube amp down the road). Gotten a few good recommendations, including ifi Black label/signature, but not sure if those are neutral.

Chord Hugo 2. Try to demo it first though. Some do not like it with ZMFs, others (including me) do.

 

[robo24]

Chord Hugo 2. Try to demo it first though. Some do not like it with ZMFs, others (including me) do.

I've had that and the iFi Micro Black and can recommend both. The Hugo is more detailed and neutral. The iFi is warmer and I prefer the amp in it though the DAC is less revealing.

 

[breakfree40]

Y’all got a recommendation for a good SS transportable DAC/amp? I’d probably want something very neutral (to contrast with a tube amp down the road). Gotten a few good recommendations, including ifi Black label/signature, but not sure if those are neutral.

Hugo 2 here. I found it an upgrade to the bifrost2 that came before it. More neutral and resolving.
That being said my Aeolus are almost exclusively fed by a schiit phono

 

[ColdsnapBry]

I'm still taken by the stock Aeolus pads. I thought for sure I would be a universe perf suede user, like most people I know, but something about the stock pads I keep coming back to. They are just incredibly fun and easy going at the same time.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

I'm still taken by the stock Aeolus pads. I thought for sure I would be a universe perf suede user, like most people I know, but something about the stock pads I keep coming back to. They are just incredibly fun and easy going at the same time.

I need to pick up a new pair of those. You're right, they sound very different to the universe. Very warm, but a perfect partnership if you've also got a neutral headphone.

 

[Another Audiophile]

It’s a pity that the original pads, specifically offered with the Aeolus, are not available anymore. tried many and the stock are my favorite

 

[Marlowe]

Tangentially on topic, ASR reviewed (actually "reviewed" is more accurate since it primarily consisted of graph after graph of measurements followed by a handful of sentences describing "listening tests") the Aeolus' closed sibling Atticus a few days ago. Hilarity and hijinks as High Priest Amir discovered that Atticus did not provide the "neutral response which is key to excellent transformation of fidelity." This was accompanied by predictable virtual ritual burning of the ZMF heretics in the comments by the cultists. It was reminiscent of the digital tar and feathering Schiit used to receive in those forums until it produced a high measuring amp with op-amps as a sacrifice to the ASR gods. if you want a few laughs, take a look.

Meanwhile, I listened to Joni Mitchell's masterpiece Blue (which was released fifty years ago this month) on the Aeolus last night. It may not have had the requisite neutrality to appease the objectivist mob, but I found it pure bliss.

 

[muckyfingers]

It’s a pity that the original pads, specifically offered with the Aeolus, are not available anymore. tried many and the stock are my favorite

You have to email them to place an order specifically for the Aeolus pads. I just bought some a couple weeks ago.