[GU1DO]

1. Burn them in.

2. If the sound is too warm for your subjective taste/set-up, try the perforated suede universe pads.

I don't think it can be understated how different we as different people experience things based on our listening volume, music preference, subjective taste, gear of choice etc etc etc. I work at booths showing off ZMF's all the time, and something that happens all time that always astonishes me, is that we will have all three of our open models sitting there, one person will listen and then define our line-up verbally to me, be happy with one model, then takeoff. Someone else will come sit down a few minutes later, listen to the exact same headphones on the exact same set-up, and define the headphones to their tastes and preferences totally differently.

I've tried my best to accommodate as many varied tastes with pad swaps within each headphone model. I made the decision early on to use the aeolus (different version of universe pads) on the aeolus as stock because it gives a warmer response like the Atticus in an open headphone. BUT what I've found is that many people prefer an more neutral, open and airy sound, and that the Universe suede perforated quickly becomes their preference, because many people have heard the Sennheiser models and want the Aeolus to sound closer to that curve. SO I'd suggest the following:

1. If you want a open atticus, get the stock pads. The stock aeolus pads are punchy and smooth sounding, it's got a mid bass hump like the atticus and sound more open than atticus with a bigger stage.

2. If you want a more neutral, flat sound that has a little bit of romance and more air of a traditional open headphone get the Universe Perf suede pads.

3. If you want a very flat headphone, with a little less dynamics but an accentuation of a flat frequency response curve get the Verite pads.

Thanks i will do the burn-in ,,,
i have one question, do you check every pair before shipping ?
i mean like a frequency sweep to make sure its not defective .

 

[KESM]

OK , thanks .. i will give it 150hrs if it doesn't get better , then i think i have a bad pair
about the burn-in thing ,,i don't dismiss the fact that we all hear in a different ways , so maybe it is real , for me i could hear the difference in DAC's and Amp's more than cables.
Anyway its not a big deal, just enjoy the music.

Oh no...sorry to hear that...contact Zach 1-1 about what you’re experiencing to determine if you need to return ‘em. The Aeolus...IMHO...are ‘straight fire’ outta the box. I’m certain others here have posted first impressions (as I have)...& none report the Aeolus to be underwhelming (veiled or lacking resolution)...it’s the exact opposite...these are a great-sounding-dynamic-fun-loving HPs (from jump).

You should immediately know whether these are keepers or not (regardless of burn in). It could be the sound signature isn’t to your liking; the performance of the Aeolus is undeniably way up on SS, tube amps & portable amps that are designed to push a variety of HPs (to include the Aeolus).

I’ve not experienced a notable shift in SQ since day one...the Aeolus has paired well with all that I own (Woo Audio WA8, Hiby R6 Pro, Naim Atom, Krell Vanguard interconnected to an Oppo blu ray, Headamp’s Gilmore Lite MK2)...I own 1/2 dozen or more HPs to include Senn’s HD6XX.

I can’t imagine your experience would be vastly different from other owners...unless again...the sound signature isn’t tuned to your flavor or the HPs that you have are faulty (consult with Zach regarding technical issues that could be influencing what you’re hearing). Good luck with your findings.

 

[zach915m]

Thanks i will do the burn-in ,,,
i have one question, do you check every pair before shipping ?
i mean like a frequency sweep to make sure its not defective .

The drivers are matched before and after assembly and extensive qc both listening and measurements are done on every set by me. I'd be happy to check any zmf for the cost of shipping if any owner ever thinks there might be an issue regardless if it was purchased directly from us or not.

If you want us to check them out for safety that's totally cool, we could even put the suede pads on for you if you don't have them yet.

 

[koover]

Gumby + Mj2 + Suede pads = really engaging sound on the Aeolus. It's really punchy but doesn't stray out of neutral-ish territory. I think I may swap the Aeolus pads back on and unleash the beast. Get me some Bassnectar for breakfast.

I agree on all accounts. I have the exact same gear and I much prefer the stock pads.
Even though the suede sounded good, I wasn’t all too excited as they lost some of the awesome bass they posses with stock pads.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

they dont get better after burn-in ?
i dont think its an amp issue , i have 2000ohm headphones and they dont sound muffled or veiled on my amps.
i will try them on the crack and lets see how they sound.

I’m sorry that I didn’t address burn in, yes, they need around 150 hours to come into their own. As far as SS amps affecting midrange, that was a very loose quote (on my part) from Zach. The only SS amp I’ve listened too, briefly at the Bluegrass Meet, that didn’t seem to mess with the midrange was the Wells Milo.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

100+? I don't know if I can say for certain. Verite was a rollercoaster for 250+.

Keep in mind, I'm not a huge proponent of the burn-in concept on anything except transducers. I think it's mostly psychosomatic placebo gibberish. If I hadn't experienced for myself on ZMF headphones, I would be dismissive of it.

For example, IMO, anybody who says they need to burn in a headphone cable is so full of crap they could double as a septic tank. You don't need to gently massage the electrons as they go through the copper. Sorry, I just don't believe in any of that.

Edit: While I'm normally not openly critical of other people's gear, and I've never heard the XI Audio Formula S, I have heard enough AGD stuff to say that if you want resolution out of your ZMF headphones, get a better amp. (Take that with a grain of salt, as I'm only trying to help.) Do Zach a solid and get a Pendant with clean sounding tubes. Haha.

Hey now, my electrons enjoy a gentle massage!

 

[GU1DO]

The drivers are matched before and after assembly and extensive qc both listening and measurements are done on every set by me. I'd be happy to check any zmf for the cost of shipping if any owner ever thinks there might be an issue regardless if it was purchased directly from us or not.

If you want us to check them out for safety that's totally cool, we could even put the suede pads on for you if you don't have them yet.

Thanks for the offer
sure i will leave a feedback if it get better , if not i will contact you after burn-in, if it worth spending another 200$ on shipping and another new pad ,
i really appreciate your time and effort

 

[spittis]

How many hours the Aeolus need for burn-in ?
i got my pair yesterday , and it sound muffled , boomy , veiled , even my HD660 sound way clearer
not sure if this is burn-ing issue or if i had a bad pair.

I had the exact same impression, boomy and muffled compared to the HD-650. For me it didn't improve at all after 100 hours+ so I sent them back. They haven't been received yet by the german dealer where I ordered them but I got the impression Zach was going to look into them (he contacted me). I'm hoping he does because I'm really curious to know if they're supposed to sound like mine did.

 

[zach915m]

I had the exact same impression, boomy and muffled compared to the HD-650.

As I mentioned earlier, if you want them to sound like HD6xx or do comparisons - you should try the Universe Suede perf pads.

If looking for a warmer sound with more comparison to the atticus, the Aeolus (universe) pads are great. The stock pads will always sound warmer than the HD6xx series.

Thanks for trying them I'm sorry you didn't get to hear the full gamut of capabilities of the Aeolus.

Edit: I would also recommend, if just receiving your headphones to email me directly through our site. The Aeolus is capable of being a warm thick headphone and also a neutralish fast headphone depending on the pads used. We can point you in the right direction and help you out to get you as close as possible to your subjective preference. It will be much easier and faster communicating directly with me VS me replying on public forums. Furthermore, if something is wrong with the headphone we can help out that way too before you give up on us. I'm here to help!

 

[franz12]

How many hours the Aeolus need for burn-in ?
i got my pair yesterday , and it sound muffled , boomy , veiled , even my HD660 sound way clearer
not sure if this is burn-ing issue or if i had a bad pair.

As far as reviews I read from various channels, Aeolous/Verite sound more like semi-open headphones, so I wouldn't be surprised that they sounded closed-in than your other headphones.
Anyway, as you own the same headphone as me, I would look forward to hearing more impressions from you about them.

 

[lentoviolento]

As far as reviews I read from various channels, Aeolous/Verite sound more like semi-open headphones, so I wouldn't be surprised that they sounded closed-in than your other headphones.
Anyway, as you own the same headphone as me, I would look forward to hearing more impressions from you about them.

Semi-what?

 

[lentoviolento]

well i don't know about verite as i dont have it yet.. but aeolus definitely sounds like an open hp i can assure you. even atticus sounded more open than many open hps

 

[GU1DO]

I had the exact same impression, boomy and muffled compared to the HD-650. For me it didn't improve at all after 100 hours+ so I sent them back. They haven't been received yet by the german dealer where I ordered them but I got the impression Zach was going to look into them (he contacted me). I'm hoping he does because I'm really curious to know if they're supposed to sound like mine did.

Thanks for your feedback , and sorry that we are in the same boat , i will contact Zach after the bur-in for 150hr and i will ask him about your pair if it is defective or not , hopefully he get them ASAP,
truly i don't think cheaper headphones should have better detail retrieval than the Aeolus, am sure there is something wrong , but that will not be confirmed until he takes a look at your pair, which will save me the shipping cost and the new pads.

 

[franz12]

well i don't know about verite as i dont have it yet.. but aeolus definitely sounds like an open hp i can assure you. even atticus sounded more open than many open hps

i know i know, but I don't think semi-open is necessarily a bad thing, because it can also isolate outside noise (like air conditioning, refrigerator) I was actually looking for a headphone with a bit more isolation.

 

[GU1DO]

As I mentioned earlier, if you want them to sound like HD6xx or do comparisons - you should try the Universe Suede perf pads.

If looking for a warmer sound with more comparison to the atticus, the Aeolus (universe) pads are great. The stock pads will always sound warmer than the HD6xx series.

Thanks for trying them I'm sorry you didn't get to hear the full gamut of capabilities of the Aeolus.

Edit: I would also recommend, if just receiving your headphones to email me directly through our site. The Aeolus is capable of being a warm thick headphone and also a neutralish fast headphone depending on the pads used. We can point you in the right direction and help you out to get you as close as possible to your subjective preference. It will be much easier and faster communicating directly with me VS me replying on public forums. Furthermore, if something is wrong with the headphone we can help out that way too before you give up on us. I'm here to help!

I bought my pair directly from your website , sure i will contact you whenever i finish the burn-in ,
Thanks for all the help , everybody speak highly of you , i am really sure this issue will be resolved.