[Renexx]

Which one of the ZMF headphones is the most suitable for heavy/death metal?

Any opinion/experience?

Aeolus/Atticus with a harder wood is perfect for metal, even the faster genres.
Warm, fast ,engaging, forgiving ..it's fun, you will enjoy your music with it.

Atrium if you prefer a more neutral presentation.

Verites big staging and resolution is sometimes not beneficial for bad recordings. If the recording is good then it is impressive.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Which one of the ZMF headphones is the most suitable for heavy/death metal?

Any opinion/experience?

I don't listen this kind of genre on daily basis, and only have very few album, so take my suggestion with grain of salt. I vote for Atrium, it has lively midrange, bass punch hard and fast, with enough treble bite to make things feel "aggressive" but still maintain the smoothness not to create fatigue for long listening time.

Verite Open, while has speed, but with a little laidback presentation of Midrange and more revealing Treble, may not suit the genre.

 

[Mattyjm]

Which one of the ZMF headphones is the most suitable for heavy/death metal?

Any opinion/experience?

I remember @Monsterzero saying something about Aeolus having faster decay compared to VO or sth in his Aeolus Video

nvm its the Atticus, see his comment section under the Aeolus video

 

[Monsterzero]

I remember @Monsterzero saying something about Aeolus having faster decay compared to VO or sth in his Aeolus Video

nvm its the Atticus, see his comment section under the Aeolus video

Yeah the VC is much faster than either the Aeolus or Atticus. The decay will be dependant upon wood type( harder the wood, faster the decay) as well as pad choice.

 

[Researcher]

To be honest, I have strongly considered buying Aeolus before I would you all to share your opinions. It is pretty sweet for me to think the same.

However, there is not enough info about its LTD variant.

Sample1

Sample2 (LTD)

Which one is the better for Heavy metal?

I would also appreciate if anyone could compare them with Arya stealth that I also consider buying?

Aeolus/Atticus with a harder wood is perfect for metal, even the faster genres.
Warm, fast ,engaging, forgiving ..it's fun, you will enjoy your music with it.

Atrium if you prefer a more neutral presentation.

Verites big staging and resolution is sometimes not beneficial for bad recordings. If the recording is good then it is impressive.

I don't listen this kind of genre on daily basis, and only have very few album, so take my suggestion with grain of salt. I vote for Atrium, it has lively midrange, bass punch hard and fast, with enough treble bite to make things feel "aggressive" but still maintain the smoothness not to create fatigue for long listening time.

Verite Open, while has speed, but with a little laidback presentation of Midrange and more revealing Treble, may not suit the genre.

I remember @Monsterzero saying something about Aeolus having faster decay compared to VO or sth in his Aeolus Video

nvm its the Atticus, see his comment section under the Aeolus video

Yeah the VC is much faster than either the Aeolus or Atticus. The decay will be dependant upon wood type( harder the wood, faster the decay) as well as pad choice.

 

[haasaaroni]

However, there is not enough info about its LTD variant.

Sample1

Sample2 (LTD)

Which one is the better for Heavy metal?

I would also appreciate if anyone could compare them with Arya stealth that I also consider buying?

That Bocote LDT is the denser of the two woods, so you'll get more impact and speed to the sound, probably the better one for metal.

I have the Arya Stealth, and I don't think I would really recommend it for heavy metal. The treble gets much spicier than any ZMF I've tried, and with an aggressive song I fear it'll be too much (I also don't listen to metal though, so grain of salt!).

I can test a specific track with the two headphones if you're curious though! I have an Aeolus in a very light wood (Almond), but it has the same tonal characteristics as any Aeolus.

 

[Monsterzero]

Which one is the better for Heavy metal?

I would also appreciate if anyone could compare them with Arya stealth that I also consider buying?

I have not heard the Arya. but its hard to compare a planar headphone to a dynamic headphone. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Regarding which is "better for heavy metal" thats a tough question to answer with 100% accuracy. There are literally close to 50 different genres and sub genres of metal. What sounds great for doom metal might not sound great for speed or thrash.

When I owned the Atticus I loved it for hard rock and traditional metal, but the decay lingered too long for my tastes for faster genres of metal.
I never owned the Aeolus and only had it for about a month for a review, so I cant really remember enough to give you an honest opinion.

What I can say is the new Atrium excels with rock and metal, even moreso out of a solid state amp, or a faster sounding tube amp. My old Glenn OTL gave the Atrium too much of that floaty 3D tube sound, which detracted from the immediacy and aggresive nature that metal should have. My new OTL is much faster sounding and does metal very well.

 

[TheRH]

What are the main differences between the Atticus and Aeolus?

 

[Mattyjm]

What are the main differences between the Atticus and Aeolus?

Atticus is closed back , Aeolus is open back..

https://www.zmfheadphones.com/atticus-aeolus

Aeolus is quite reminiscient of the HD600, while the Atticus is more bassy.

 

[TheRH]

What does "Linear Downslope Frequency Response" mean? And how do they compare to the 2021 version of the Audeze LCD-X?

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Aeolus is quite reminiscient of the HD600, while the Atticus is more bassy.

I see what you mean in the context of Atticus vs Aeolus, but as a long time owner of both the 600 and Aeolus I can say that IMHO they are very different sounding headphones (even with the universe suede pads). If I were to compare the 600 with a ZMF it would be the Auteur, but there are large differences there too.

This is just my experience.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

I see what you mean in the context of Atticus vs Aeolus, but as a long time owner of both the 600 and Aeolus I can say that IMHO they are very different sounding headphones (even with the universe suede pads). If I were to compare the 600 with a ZMF it would be the Auteur, but there are large differences there too.

This is just my experience.

I'd say exactly the same. Auteur is a ramped up 600. But has the holographic (3d head in a bubble as opposed to left and right) presentation similar to the Beyerdynamic T1 (not 3rd gen).

 

[mvneufeld]

I'd say exactly the same. Auteur is a ramped up 600. But has the holographic (3d head in a bubble as opposed to left and right) presentation similar to the Beyerdynamic T1 (not 3rd gen).

Yup, the Aeolus is much more like a super HD650. Great bass - nice slam, reaches deep for a dynamic headphone. Like Monster said about the Atticus, not sure if it's fast enough to be optimal for some faster metal. Really smooth and enjoyable headphone.

 

[TheRH]

Where does this put it in comparison to the Audeze-X?

 

[MacMan31]

Yup, the Aeolus is much more like a super HD650. Great bass - nice slam, reaches deep for a dynamic headphone. Like Monster said about the Atticus, not sure if it's fast enough to be optimal for some faster metal. Really smooth and enjoyable headphone.

This is why I'm thinking of selling my Aeolus and keeping an eye out for an Auteur to come up for sale used. I think the Aeolus is a great headphone but can be a bit "dark". Perhaps more so with tubes. Even my HD6XX sound dark on my Feliks Audio Echo MkII. Perhaps an HD600 would be a better match also.