[aloki]

Zach did hint that a closed planar was next but it may be a while since he has just been working on the AC. I only got the stock pads (which are the Caldera Lambskin Stock for the Atrium Closed) but will order the Caldera Suede pads which are supposed to cool the sound down, add some sparkle up top and make the stage a bit wider and attack a bit better. Between the Atrium and the Atrium closed, the closed had more bass obviously and because of that the punch/slam.

I agree that the harder wood makes a difference, at least on the closed backs. It should make less of a difference on the open models. I ended up choosing olive wood partly for the stiffness of the wood and partly for aesthetics.

Damn. That olive wood is gorgeous. I WANT to hold off until ZMF November for an AC to for stabilized options, but that olive wood makes it hard to wait until then

 

[Sandor121]

Damn. That olive wood is gorgeous. I WANT to hold off until ZMF November for an AC to for stabilized options, but that olive wood makes it hard to wait until then

The olive is not the standard wood so I expect it to be somewhat limited and might be worth waiting for November.

 

[zach915m]

The olive is not the standard wood so I expect it to be somewhat limited and might be worth waiting for November.

We're still cutting up the figured olive boards, I'm guessing we'll have somewhere between 60-80 sets or so for release.

PS - Stabilized and Resin Caldera next month, and then sometime over the summer we *might* (don't quote me) do some kind of special run of something, but I'm not sure yet if it will be stabilized or some other something or other.

 

[aloki]

The olive is not the standard wood so I expect it to be somewhat limited and might be worth waiting for November.

I know… that’s why it is tempting not to wait: Launch/first LTD VS November.

 

[Huntersknoll]

If this came in Purpleheart wood it would be the perfect ode to the headphone that get me into headphones the TH-X00 Purpleheart.

This one sounds tempting. Very tempting. Would be a good wedding gift to myself.

 

[NovaFlyer]

Atrium Closed (Black & White Ebony)

Just stunning! I think I'm looking at a wild animal fur pattern.

 

[goldwerger]

Just stunning! I think I'm looking at a wild animal fur pattern.

The craftsmanship and wood color takes my breath away. I'm really incredibly lucky

 

[obzilla]

PS - Stabilized and Resin Caldera next month

*sploosh*

 

[9bphillips]

OKOKOK so I took some measurements from the final Canjam sets. Here's some graphs and quick thoughts to help. All taken on BK 5128 with DF weighting unless stated.

First - Atrium Closed VS Verite Closed


AC kind of zigs where the VC zags - very similar to the open versions. I will talk a lot coming up about my choices coming up at some point. The Atrium closed definitely sounds a lot like well, a closed version of the Atrium. So if you like the Atrium a lot and wanted one with isolation and more sub-bass, that's how these sound.

And yes - I did at a point almost exactly tune AC like the Atrium open just to F around and find out - and I gave up on that, it sounded really bad, as one VERY important note to make is that you can't tune an open and closed headphone the same - to get the same perceived response. I don't know if there's research on this yet, but I've done it with all our closed vs open options, the perception and HRTF you get from the same response in open and closed backs is just not the same. So in AC VS AO tuning, they look different, but are perceived closer than they are. I will post much more on this later.

Also the AC damping system is ADS (Atrium Damping System,) but the ADS system for closed backs is slightly different than the open, and much harder to implement and perfect because of the closed chamber. Much of our time over the past year was spent perfecting this for production and repeatability.

AC_Suede Caldera (dotted) VS Thin Caldera


AC Suede auteur Pads (dotted) vs Caldera Thin Pads (solid)



The Caldera pads with their solid interior act a lot like solid pads but with more graduated slow dissipation of airflow. It really helps the high frequencies. The auteur pads are a good alternative, but the Caldera pads sound better IMHO. You can get a touch more isolation if you go to an all solid pad, but really not much because the interior wall is solid, and pertains mostly to isolation.

Atrium Closed VS Harman Target (uncompensated) - this is with Caldera suede, Caldera Thin are bassier by about 2 dB


I think most people know I am not a Harman Target follower, nor a dissenter. I am a "every driver and system has its course" er. BUT - while working on Atrium closed and knowing I wanted a headphone with more sub-bass a-la Eikon - it made a lot of my tuning choices be to get the "node" of the bass lower. You might notice that the baffle and cup of the headphone are VERY closed with little airflow, while the main airflow is through the Caldera pads. This is what helped bring the node of the bass down to about 50 Hz. So you get a fairly laid back sound with a little something up top and none of that "Harman Hash" that can come from adhering to the Harman curve in the 2-3KHZ area which I always prefer to end up in this area.

So anyways - I guess if you believe in the Harman curve, this may be the ZMF for you, or at least the closest one to it if you like how it looks on graphs and all that.

And yes these are the same driver as in Atrium open. It's 300 ohms, adjusts to your chain and so on.

Zach I noticed you were talking about the ADS being implemented with the AC and I've noticed you talk about trying different things tinkering with your headphones. I was curious, have you ever tried the ADS with either of the Verite's ?

 

[Monsterzero]

Zach I noticed you were talking about the ADS being implemented with the AC and I've noticed you talk about trying different things tinkering with your headphones. I was curious, have you ever tried the ADS with either of the Verite's ?

I spoke wih Zach about that way back when the AO was about to drop. He said that there are "elements" of the ADS already in the Verites

 

[zach915m]

Zach I noticed you were talking about the ADS being implemented with the AC and I've noticed you talk about trying different things tinkering with your headphones. I was curious, have you ever tried the ADS with either of the Verite's ?

I spoke wih Zach about that way back when the AO was about to drop. He said that there are "elements" of the ADS already in the Verites

Oh yeah there are small parts of it in verite, but the main complete structure is in the Atrium models.

I haven't messed with any changes for the Verite series since I'm really happy with them and what they present for me. I don't have any current plans to update the Verite's right now.

 

[Monsterzero]

Been doing some tube rolling tonight, which is my ritual whenever a new headphone lands. Dropped a USAF 596 and a pair of Gold Lion KT77s into my DAC and a pair of Tung Sol 6J5s and a pair of Western Electric 421a into the Airmid.
Man, I'm extracting some super deep holographic staging out of the AC tonight! The USAF 596 tamed the bass some , but this headphone fights back!

Some highlights from tonights listening session

<<<<amazing 3Dness

<<<<<thunderous, deep, cavernous bass and when Peter Murphy's undead vocals kick in.....wow, super deep atmospheric stage

<<<<<tight bass and David Robinson's syndrum and cymbal work really stand out

<<<<< The AC really highlights Glenn Hughes' funky bassline and then Jon Lord's keyboards just swirl all around your head.

<<<<< Who know this song has monster bass? The AC does.

<<<<< This song can sound brittle on some headphones, but here it's fully fleshed out while keeping the voodoo of Peter Green front and center, where it belongs.

<<<<< The AC highlights the bass line, gives it plenty of texture and girth. If your foot ain't tapping, you ain't breathing

 

[warrenpchi]

I don't have any current plans to update the Verite's right now.

"right now"

 

[Monsterzero]

Tried the suede pads tonight on the AC. First a huge "Thank You" to @goldwerger for shipping them up the Hudson about 3 hours so I could try them.

To my ears the bass was def toned down, but not to the point where it was gone. The separation between instruments was better defined and the imaging maybe tightened up some? The sound in general got much warmer, with a decrease in some of the upper frequencies, and in the case of my system and current tube roll, they actually sounded almost dark. Finally, the suede pads made my ears sweat :/

I feel like the volume decreased a bit with the suede pads as well, but that might simply be a byproduct of having less treble and upper mid energy.

 

[goldwerger]

Tried the suede pads tonight on the AC. First a huge "Thank You" to @goldwerger for shipping them up the Hudson about 3 hours so I could try them.

To my ears the bass was def toned down, but not to the point where it was gone. The separation between instruments was better defined and the imaging maybe tightened up some? The sound in general got much warmer, with a decrease in some of the upper frequencies, and in the case of my system and current tube roll, they actually sounded almost dark. Finally, the suede pads made my ears sweat :/

I feel like the volume decreased a bit with the suede pads as well, but that might simply be a byproduct of having less treble and upper mid energy.

Most welcome my friend

I also perceived some reduced bass going to suede, completley agree. To my ears this was reudcing from too elevated to slightly elevated. Different strokes etc.

I also got better instrument separation and tighter imaging.

In contrast, for me the suede pads had a better treble extention vs. more recessed and rolled of treble with the thin calderas pads. Go figure

Biggest differences for me though, and what got me to pounce on the suede pads: (1) a much open feeling soundstage, (2) cleaner transition from bass to lower mids.

Like you I think, I persoanlly I always go for leather. Leather pads on all my other ZMF headphones, and in general where possible. Just like the feel. Though, so far, I'm surprised I'm pretty cool with this suede. We'll see how goes..

I suspect we probably hear things a little differently (espeically on dark vs. me hereing more openness and sparkle). Got to love how much HRTF varies between all of us. Good news for ZMF users - there are fans for both options, so.. you'll likely find you prefer one of these two options greatly. Good news is it's super easy to find out..