[jclyle]

Yeah, 6ft is asking for trouble. I’ve gotten spoiled by a 10ft cable for the last couple years. Don’t think I could ever go back to anything shorter.

Get an extension cable! I use a 15' Corpse Cable Gravedigger, and also a Pangea extender. It's liberating to not be tethered by a 6' cord!

 

[arar]

I think you're supposed to use perforated pads with Aeolus (can't see perforations on your photo). My experience with Aeolus w/ suede perf pads is not at all bass heavy. Sure they're bassier compared to some more neutral headphones but still really balanced to my ears. I think Universe suede perf pads are by far the best earpads for Aeolus. I still tweak the mid to upper midrange with EQ though.

Huh, they do look non-perforated now that you mention it. Would actually be interested in hearing if you can get some relatively massive warmth out of these with non-perforated pads because what dw8083 said about the suedes actually sounds pretty appealing to me, might even reconsider my stance on selling my pair.

These pads are pretty pricey boys, though, gonna need to hear at least some thoughts on this before I'm ordering anything.

 

[helloh3adfi]

Damn. After 1h of listening the Aeolus become unbearable to wear. Hell, even the next day I got pain around my right temporal bone. Perforated Suede and Lambskin earpads both are uncomfortable. Are they even memory foam? To me they're as bad as stock Hifiman earpads. Dekoni pads on the other hand feel a lot better.
Headband on Aeolus is Crescent which should be rather loose and not create so much clamp force. My Hifiman cans got more clamp force, but Dekoni pads are able to disperse it.

 

[Arghavan]

Damn. After 1h of listening the Aeolus become unbearable to wear. Hell, even the next day I got pain around my right temporal bone. Perforated Suede and Lambskin earpads both are uncomfortable. Are they even memory foam? To me they're as bad as stock Hifiman earpads. Dekoni pads on the other hand feel a lot better.
Headband on Aeolus is Crescent which should be rather loose and not create so much clamp force. My Hifiman cans got more clamp force, but Dekoni pads are able to disperse it.

These are definitely memory foams. I've never had any problems or discomfort around my ears. The only problem I have (with the old headband) is the hotspot on top of my head which I assume can be fixed with the Crescent band. Aeolus is not as comfortable as my old Edition X V2 or Beyer T1 but way better than Audeze stuff.

 

[zach915m]

Damn. After 1h of listening the Aeolus become unbearable to wear. Hell, even the next day I got pain around my right temporal bone. Perforated Suede and Lambskin earpads both are uncomfortable. Are they even memory foam? To me they're as bad as stock Hifiman earpads. Dekoni pads on the other hand feel a lot better.
Headband on Aeolus is Crescent which should be rather loose and not create so much clamp force. My Hifiman cans got more clamp force, but Dekoni pads are able to disperse it.

Hey thanks for trying the aeolus out! Did you buy them from us direct or used? It really doesn't matter but one thing about our headphones is that they are rather modular and adjustable, so all these things that may give you an issue now are adjustable, and if bought used may have already been adjusted to the previous owners preferences, now let's get them closer to yours regardless of they are new or not!

Heres a great video to start with -

Some info in here about specifically bending the crescent band if the above isn't enough:

And yes - we use a visco type foam but it's different than what dekoni uses, we have found the foam we use best for our purposes.

If for some reason you do have used aeolus and it came with the older aeolus pads, I would recommend getting a set of universe perf pads in any material, or suede if comfort is the top priority. The older aeolus pads weren't as comfy!

Also definitely email us directly with any pictures and info you can share so we can help to our support email, I promise we will be nice!

Support@zmfheadphones.com

 

[dw8083]

Damn. After 1h of listening the Aeolus become unbearable to wear.

Yeah, something is not right. My wife and I just had 4 people over for dinner. They all had a turn with the Aeolus and each remarked about sound quality and how comfortable they were. Not doubting your having problems, just suggesting a possible miss-adjustment. A common comment by reviewers is the comfort.

Were the headphones adjusted vertically? Try relaxing the vertical extension, that will also ease the clamp.

 

[David222]

Yeah, something is not right. My wife and I just had 4 people over for dinner. They all had a turn with the Aeolus and each remarked about sound quality and how comfortable they were. Not doubting your having problems, just suggesting a possible miss-adjustment. A common comment by reviewers is the comfort.

Were the headphones adjusted vertically? Try relaxing the vertical extension, that will also ease the clamp.

You California people...always passing things around at dinner parties

 

[dw8083]

Get an extension cable! I use a 15' Corpse Cable Gravedigger, and also a Pangea extender. It's liberating to not be tethered by a 6' cord!

Agree! On another thread posted pics of shiny new 12' DIY ZMF Atmos C cable. This cable is better than the stock cable. It sounds more airy or open perhaps a little crisper sounding. Well worth the investment. I just wanted more length, but also wound up with better sound quality.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/looking-for-zmf-cable-diagram.962821/#post-16897740

 

[arar]

@dw8083, did you notice this post:

I think you're supposed to use perforated pads with Aeolus (can't see perforations on your photo). My experience with Aeolus w/ suede perf pads is not at all bass heavy. Sure they're bassier compared to some more neutral headphones but still really balanced to my ears. I think Universe suede perf pads are by far the best earpads for Aeolus. I still tweak the mid to upper midrange with EQ though.

?

Would like to hear if you were using the non-perforated suedes as, like I mentioned earlier on this page, "VERY warm/bassy" actually sounds appealing to me and I'm considering giving the non-perforated universe suedes a try with my Aeolus, even though ZMF specifically recommends against it.

Apologies if this comes across as badgering you, it's just that an extra pair of pads will cost me literally over 100 euros with the shipping and taxes so it's not exactly something I can impulse buy just to give it a try lol. I did try to google if anyone had tried non-perforated pads with their Aeolus, but couldn't find anything.

(Also sorry for pinging you with the quote, Arghavan, lol)

 

[jnak00]

@dw8083, did you notice this post:

?

Would like to hear if you were using the non-perforated suedes as, like I mentioned earlier on this page, "VERY warm/bassy" actually sounds appealing to me and I'm considering giving the non-perforated universe suedes a try with my Aeolus, even though ZMF specifically recommends against it.

Apologies if this comes across as badgering you, it's just that an extra pair of pads will cost me literally over 100 euros with the shipping and taxes so it's not exactly something I can impulse buy just to give it a try lol. I did try to google if anyone had tried non-perforated pads with their Aeolus, but couldn't find anything.

(Also sorry for pinging you with the quote, Arghavan, lol)

I tried non-perforated Auteur pads with Aeolus. It was not good. The sound got thick and congested, and seemed to slow down. Like running through mud.

 

[arar]

I tried non-perforated Auteur pads with Aeolus. It was not good. The sound got thick and congested, and seemed to slow down. Like running through mud.

Gotcha, thanks for the response!

 

[dw8083]

@dw8083, did you notice this post:

?

Would like to hear if you were using the non-perforated suedes as, like I mentioned earlier on this page, "VERY warm/bassy" actually sounds appealing to me and I'm considering giving the non-perforated universe suedes a try with my Aeolus, even though ZMF specifically recommends against it.

Apologies if this comes across as badgering you, it's just that an extra pair of pads will cost me literally over 100 euros with the shipping and taxes so it's not exactly something I can impulse buy just to give it a try lol. I did try to google if anyone had tried non-perforated pads with their Aeolus, but couldn't find anything.

(Also sorry for pinging you with the quote, Arghavan, lol)

No bother at all. I have 2 sets of pads for the Aeolus; Verite perforated suede and Universe perforated suede. The key difference is the Verite pad has a larger interior volume/space. The favorite Aeolus pad for many owners seems to be the Universe perf suede. Coming from the HD650 the Universe pads were too warm for my tastes.

Personal experience, it's easier to EQ away bass and add treble than boost bass. I'm also a Roon user and EQing the sound with their built-in equalizer is easy.

 

[arar]

No bother at all. I have 2 sets of pads for the Aeolus; Verite perforated suede and Universe perforated suede. The key difference is the Verite pad has a larger interior volume/space. The favorite Aeolus pad for many owners seems to be the Universe perf suede. Coming from the HD650 the Universe pads were too warm for my tastes.

Personal experience, it's easier to EQ away bass and add treble than boost bass. I'm also a Roon user and EQing the sound with their built-in equalizer is easy.

Oh whoops, I thought the other guy was you lmao, you two have eerily similar avatars. Thanks!

 

[ColdsnapBry]

Might be a semi controversial statement, but I really think the Schiit Jotunheim 2 synergies best with the ZMF Aeolus. I've tried loads of tube amps - Hagerman Tuba, SW51+, Feliks Echo, Pendant, Mogwai, Bottlehead Crack. And I'm left thinking the Aeolus with stock pads is colored enough and doesn't need tubes, it really just needs a fast and neutralish sounding SS that can slam a bit.

 

[Arghavan]

Might be a semi controversial statement, but I really think the Schiit Jotunheim 2 synergies best with the ZMF Aeolus. I've tried loads of tube amps - Hagerman Tuba, SW51+, Feliks Echo, Pendant, Mogwai, Bottlehead Crack. And I'm left thinking the Aeolus with stock pads is colored enough and doesn't need tubes, it really just needs a fast and neutralish sounding SS that can slam a bit.

I really like the synergy between Jotunheim 2 and Aeolus as well, although I'm using them with Suede pads. Unfortunately the QC on Schiit products is not good in recent products. My ES9028 DAC card failed for no reason after a week and so did my friend's! I've seen numerous similar problems too on reddit and Head-Fi. So while I can't recommend buying one, it definitely sounds good.