[ThanatosVI]

If you were to buy an Atrium and Atrium closed, which 4 Pads would you choose?

 

[AudioDuck]

My Olivewood Atrium Closed, Ferrum Oor/Hypsos and Feliks Euforia Evo.

Lovely- a fine setup indeed! Enjoy the music.

 

[kumar402]

Bummer you're unhappy with them. Personally I think the grain looks stunning on that pair! To be honest, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to consider this QC issue given the prominent disc

Received my AC early today finally after a little bit over a month and i was so excited to open the box. A BIG disappointment at the Quality Control of the headphones, right cup was damaged. There is a knot with a dent that you can feel with fingers and a small crack next to it.

I have emailed Zach, hopefully he will take cake of the cup, so who knows how long i have to wait again for the repair.

laimer that wood can come with natural markings (like knots) and there's no guarantee they will look like the photos. However as others said, I'm sure Zach can help you out if you email him.

is it Knot or Bore like below.
Are these Bore cause of concern in general for ZMF headphones?

 

[aloki]

Received my AC early today finally after a little bit over a month and i was so excited to open the box. A BIG disappointment at the Quality Control of the headphones, right cup was damaged. There is a knot with a dent that you can feel with fingers and a small crack next to it.

I have emailed Zach, hopefully he will take cake of the cup, so who knows how long i have to wait again for the repair.

Btw, the crack could have developed after QC, such as during shipping. My Caldera developed a crack along a dark line that went on either side of the grill despite my babying them and putting them in their case when not in use. Some spots in wood can be weaker and it really isn’t a QC fault, just a natural unpredictability of wood. But the ZMF team fixed them up and got them back to me with no trouble, I’m betting something similar happened here.

 

[aloki]

Im a bit surprised these passed through the quality check and were shipped out... like thats pretty obvious lol. Would these even be considered b stock quality? It looks like someone drilled a hole on the headphone cups. Its still crazy they still shipped it to ya while looking lile this. You have me a bit nervous for mine. Feels like everyone should do a full inspection when they receive theirs just incase.

It is a good idea to inspect big ticket purchases, not just with ZMF, to ensure what you get is as it should be, but it seems like you’re jumping to conclusions and making yourself nervous needlessly, without first gathering all of the facts from both parties.

 

[VanHai]

Btw, the crack could have developed after QC, such as during shipping. My Caldera developed a crack along a dark line that went on either side of the grill despite my babying them and putting them in their case when not in use. Some spots in wood can be weaker and it really isn’t a QC fault, just a natural unpredictability of wood. But the ZMF team fixed them up and got them back to me with no trouble, I’m betting something similar happened here.

Great to hear that. Did he replace the cup or patched?. I have e-mailed Zach but no reply yet, hopefully he can replace the cup for the dented knot and crack.

 

[aloki]

Great to hear that. Did he replace the cup or patched?. I have e-mailed Zach but no reply yet, hopefully he can replace the cup for the dented knot and crack.

I cannot speak as to their policy overall, but the cup in mine was replaced, I think the spot where it was located was too much of a hassle and the cup they selected was still a very nice match to the non-cracked cup.

 

[vcoheda]

My Olivewood Atrium Closed, Ferrum Oor/Hypsos and Feliks Euforia Evo.

interested in hearing this comparison as well. what does the evo offer over the ferrum stack.

 

[zach915m]

Received my AC early today finally after a little bit over a month and i was so excited to open the box. A BIG disappointment at the Quality Control of the headphones, right cup was damaged. There is a knot with a dent that you can feel with fingers and a small crack next to it.

I have emailed Zach, hopefully he will take cake of the cup, so who knows how long i have to wait again for the repair.

Bummer you're unhappy with them. Personally I think the grain looks stunning on that pair! To be honest, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to consider this QC issue given the prominent disclaimer that wood can come with natural markings (like knots) and there's no guarantee they will look like the photos. However as others said, I'm sure Zach can help you out if you email him.

Agreed. Zach & Bevin are awesome.


The photos don’t seem to highlight the crack. That being said, what a gorgeous pair!
Olive wood is notorious (and acclaimed) for these little aberrations.

Edit: Oh, now I see it. Yeah, it’d be worth checking in with Zach to make sure all is good. He’ll take care of you.

I have no problems with the grain or natural markings, as the mater of fact i love the grain. It looks fabulous, from the picture you can not see a dent unless you put your fingers right on the knot and there is a small crack next to it. I love ZMF headphones beside the AC, i also own VC, OG Auteur, Eikon, Aeolus and VO (sold).

Hey guys -

Olive wood is a really special tree, and I'm honored we're able to work with it, it's also a crazy tree, in that it's twisting and going crazy all over the place. Just look at it:

I have worked things out with @VanHai via email - but I would implore you guys not to assume we have QC issues because we have four stages of QC, and I handle all the special wood myself and check to make sure these things like small finish checks and splits are innate to the wood, and not an issue for quality down the line or something done by workmanship. Our entire team and system is built around staring at stuff like this.

Ofcourse the more exotic the wood and crazier the tree and grain - the more chances there will be stuff like this. I would implore anyone buying a headphone from us to leave a note asking for what your personal guidelines are for what YOU think is acceptable for you. In the case of Olive, if you want wood that doesn't have any aberrations, you will also get the most boring wood, because it's these natural characteristics (yes even small splits) that happen near the most valued and curly wood in Olive and many other species. @VanHai asked for matched cups in his note to us, and we paid special attention to that, and not to making sure natural innate features to Olive wouldn't be present, because it wasn't asked for.

This was my response to @VanHai and would also be my response to anyone with similar subjective appearance issues with Olive or any other similar exotic wood and/or curly wood:

Hey XXXX -

Zach here! Anyways I want to step in to help and hopefully give you some good options.

I personally wrote the product page (which I'll paste in italics at the end of this email) to make the wood characteristics of Olive sound pretty harsh - because well - Olive is kind of a crazy wood. It's super dense, has markings and knots and all that stuff everywhere from growing in every which direction - this is just how an Olive tree is, if you google it you'll see it's got a lot going on!

Anyways this is what gives it the cool figure that's in your set, and also what gives you you stuff like knots and small splits (these are called finish checks and they're natural.)

I personally have gone through all our wood from the time of cutting to the CNC and then after CNC'ing to make sure we're sending out the best stuff, and I would classify your set as one of the more exceptionally figured sets that many people have been asking for. There is no QC issue as we have tons of checks including going through my personal hands, this is just the way Olive is, and it will vary greatly even from the same board, which as you may have seen on our instagram, we cut everything from giant slabs.

We can absolutely exchange your set for a different set of Olive, but I Can't guarantee it won't have some of the natural characteristics that are innate to Olive like this listed from the product page, and if it's cleaner without markings and such, it may be a much more boring looking set as that's the trade-off:

The current LTD wood for the Atrium Closed is Italian Olivewood. The Olive is finished in a natural hard wax oil with brass rods. Olive as a species has innate features such as knots, grain lines, discoloration, dark marks and spots and other aberrations that vary per cup but are typically visible on all headphones.

The other option would be that we can exchange the set for cherry, which has it's own unique characteristics but is much much more uniform of a wood.

Just let me know what you'd prefer and we can get you started, you would need to pay for shipping each way for an exchange.

Zach Mehrbach

is it Knot or Bore like below.
Are these Bore cause of concern in general for ZMF headphones?

Absolutely knot!!!

Btw, the crack could have developed after QC, such as during shipping. My Caldera developed a crack along a dark line that went on either side of the grill despite my babying them and putting them in their case when not in use. Some spots in wood can be weaker and it really isn’t a QC fault, just a natural unpredictability of wood. But the ZMF team fixed them up and got them back to me with no trouble, I’m betting something similar happened here.

Anything that splits after you have the headphone in hand is something we can definitely look at and repair. But splits that happen after in the owners care are tough to diagnose why it happened, do remember to keep your headphones with a Boveda pack if they are in humidity that is beyond either side of 25% to 60%.

One of the great things about stabilized wood as well if you live in an extreme environment is that it is stable. So not only is it beautiful but it will be stable for it's life!

 

[TsKen]

It is a good idea to inspect big ticket purchases, not just with ZMF, to ensure what you get is as it should be, but it seems like you’re jumping to conclusions and making yourself nervous needlessly, without first gathering all of the facts from both parties.

I mean these are wooden headphones.. its really not the same as inspecting your regular big ticket items. Shouldnt you pay extra attention when inspecting these? Like do you get variations with your non wooden headphones?

And whats the conclusion lol? Dont check your headphones when you receive them?

 

[aloki]

I mean these are wooden headphones.. its really not the same as inspecting your regular big ticket items. Shouldnt you pay extra attention when inspecting these? Like do you get variations with your non wooden headphones?

And whats the conclusion lol? Dont check your headphones when you receive them?

It really is no different than inspecting other expensive purchases, actually. When you get them, that’s the first thing you should do, and you should inspect them closely.

The conclusion is the opposite of what you just said. Check expensive purchases. But also don’t jump to conclusions and cause yourself unnecessary stress based on what someone else has said if you don’t have all of the facts from both sides.

 

[TsKen]

It really is no different than inspecting other expensive purchases, actually. When you get them, that’s the first thing you should do, and you should inspect them closely.

The conclusion is the opposite of what you just said. Check expensive purchases. But also don’t jump to conclusions and cause yourself unnecessary stress based on what someone else has said if you don’t have all of the facts from both sides.

Im not understanding lol what facts am i not considering? I have no idea what you are getting at honestly.

 

[aloki]

Im not understanding lol what facts am i not considering? I have no idea what you are getting at honestly.

Your first comment about this topic said 1) "I'm a bit surprised these passed through the quality check and were shipped out, 2) "Would these even be considered b stock quality?" 3)"Its still crazy they still shipped it to ya while looking lile this." and 4) "You have me a bit nervous for mine."

The first 3 presuming that if the headphones had an issue, that issue was not spotted QC and were shipped with the issue, without considering that issues could have developed after they went out of the door. Also, without hearing from the ZMF team, which Zach has since addressed; this particular LTD wood is known for being crazy, resulting in unique markings and if you have a preference, to leave a note that they'll accommodate if they can. Many woods are difficult to work with, the environment someone lives in can affect the wood, there are many factors that could have accounted for a crack or an imperfection that wasn't solely aesthetic. The 4th statement, becoming nervous, being unnecessary at least until hearing what ZMF had to say.

 

[TsKen]

Your first comment about this topic said 1) "I'm a bit surprised these passed through the quality check and were shipped out, 2) "Would these even be considered b stock quality?" 3)"Its still crazy they still shipped it to ya while looking lile this." and 4) "You have me a bit nervous for mine."

The first 3 presuming that if the headphones had an issue, that issue was not spotted QC and were shipped with the issue, without considering that issues could have developed after they went out of the door. Also, without hearing from the ZMF team, which Zach has since addressed; this particular LTD wood is known for being crazy, resulting in unique markings and if you have a preference, to leave a note that they'll accommodate if they can. Many woods are difficult to work with, the environment someone lives in can affect the wood, there are many factors that could have accounted for a crack or an imperfection that wasn't solely aesthetic. The 4th statement, becoming nervous, being unnecessary at least until hearing what ZMF had to say.

Can you take your fanboy hat off for one second and look at it from my perspective?

Everyone here has been posting their pair with no black spots or cracks at all unlike that particular one. Like am i wrong to get the wrong impression that its doesnt seem normal?

And i have not said anything negative at all about zach or zmf, like am i not allowed to ask a question? I supported Zach when he first came out with the ZMF Vibros and his policies were different back then. Back then when these headphones have these marks they are usually considered b stock so i was confused. And everyone posted their gorgeous pairs without the markings so can you blame me for asking if its normal? Like where are the pairs with the bores on them???

 

[aloki]

Can you take your fanboy hat off for one second and look at it from my perspective?

Everyone here has been posting their pair with no black spots or cracks at all unlike that particular one. Like am i wrong to get the wrong impression that its doesnt seem normal?

And i have not said anything negative at all about zach or zmf, like am i not allowed to ask a question? I supported Zach when he first came out with the ZMF Vibros and his policies were different back then. Back then when these headphones have these marks they are usually considered b stock so i was confused. And everyone posted their gorgeous pairs without the markings so can you blame me for asking if its normal? Like where are the pairs with the bores on them???

I'm getting the feeling that you're trolling, so this is the last I'll respond to you about this. You first claim you don't know what I'm talking about not jumping to conclusions, when I explain, very clearly, where the jumping was, I suddenly have a "fanboy hat." Lol, ok. I would encourage anyone to gather information from both sides about any subject, whether it involves a company I like or not.

I did not criticize asking a question, but as you can see of the 4 quotes I pulled from your original statement, only one of those was a question. Two of those were commentary on the quality of QC, again without obtaining all of the information, which you curiously chose not to address in your most recent response.

Or go ahead and stress yourself out without really needing to, you do you, dude. The original subject has been addressed: if there are physical issues with a headphone, ZMF will more than likely work with the owner to fix those and if there is an aesthetics question, put it in a note and the ZMF team will do their best to accommodate, even if not, then ZMF will likely still try to work with the owner within reason.