[Sajid Amit]

Cross-posting from the WaterCooler thread:

So I squeezed in two tracks on my Atrium Closed before heading to office today. First, I played the Simple Man cover by Shinedown with my AC off the iFi Diablo connected to my iPhone.

The first impression you get is how well-spaced out a stage you get with distinct positioning of instruments. The song starts with the strumming of the acoustic guitar from the left; vocals somewhere on the center right; someone in the audience whistling, further back in the venue to right of the vocals.

The drums come in authoritatively and I am left smiling at the AC’s subbass prowess. The song encounters a busy passage as the chorus starts at 1:36, and the AC handles it without breaking a sweat. So impressive.

I have the Italian Olive Ltd version and its a harder wood, which is supposed to have slightly less decay and more impact. However, the biocellulose drivers have more decay in general than the beryllium drivers so there’s that.

I also appreciate how @zach915m and Bevin pay attention to little details like the olive color of the inner strap, which complements the color of the wood.

Next, I played Ode to my Family from The Cranberries.

What was noticeable about this track is again how open the AC sounds. Dolores sounds as lovely as always and the violin sounds perfect timbrally. Overall, ZMF headphones tend to do timbre really well and the AC continues that legacy.

Those of you looking for a closedback option to add to your stable and you fancy a good deep and gutteral subbass whilst keeping the midrange clean and pristine, the Atrium Closed is worth considering.

 

[kumar402]

Cross-posting from the WaterCooler thread:

So I squeezed in two tracks on my Atrium Closed before heading to office today. First, I played the Simple Man cover by Shinedown with my AC off the iFi Diablo connected to my iPhone.



The first impression you get is how well-spaced out a stage you get with distinct positioning of instruments. The song starts with the strumming of the acoustic guitar from the left; vocals somewhere on the center right; someone in the audience whistling, further back in the venue to right of the vocals.

The drums come in authoritatively and I am left smiling at the AC’s subbass prowess. The song encounters a busy passage as the chorus starts at 1:36, and the AC handles it without breaking a sweat. So impressive.



I have the Italian Olive Ltd version and its a harder wood, which is supposed to have slightly less decay and more impact. However, the biocellulose drivers have more decay in general than the beryllium drivers so there’s that.

I also appreciate how @zach915m and Bevin pay attention to little details like the olive color of the inner strap, which complements the color of the wood.



Next, I played Ode to my Family from The Cranberries.



What was noticeable about this track is again how open the AC sounds. Dolores sounds as lovely as always and the violin sounds perfect timbrally. Overall, ZMF headphones tend to do timbre really well and the AC continues that legacy.

Those of you looking for a closedback option to add to your stable and you fancy a good deep and gutteral subbass whilst keeping the midrange clean and pristine, the Atrium Closed is worth considering.

Nothing like listening to Acoustic covers on ZMF

 

[heliosphann]

Does hard vs soft wood not matter as much on the AO?

Here's what I found with the AO: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-atrium-new-open-back-co-flagship.962609/post-17080173

 

[dbull12]

For anyone who's had the Atticus or at least gotten to try it for a while, is the AC as forgiving when it comes to poorly recorded or noisy genres of music (shoegaze, black metal, noise rock, that sort of thing)? I'm going to CanJam Chicago and plan to try both headphones, but in case I don't get to try them for very long I'm curious to hear some opinions. These two seem like the best options for me as dynamic closed backs that aren't fatiguing and emphasize musicality while being good all-rounders

 

[helljudgement]

Wood choice does make a little difference with all ZMFs

I'd mostly agree with this statement with a very slight exception for the VO. I'm (un)fortunate enough to compare both a soft and hardwood variant and by the end of it I was seriously contemplating swapping my Ziricote variant out for the original stock silkwood. Aesthetically there's is very little out there that match the Ziricote VO imo but boy was the sound of the silkwood special. Though probably not a big enough difference to warrant a swap for most and I seem to be the minority on this.

 

[johnnypaddock]

I'd mostly agree with this statement with a very slight exception for the VO. I'm (un)fortunate enough to compare both a soft and hardwood variant and by the end of it I was seriously contemplating swapping my Ziricote variant out for the original stock silkwood. Aesthetically there's is very little out there that match the Ziricote VO imo but boy was the sound of the silkwood special. Though probably not a big enough difference to warrant a swap for most and I seem to be the minority on this.

This is very similar to my experience with the VO... I absolutely loved the aesthetics of the blackwood. It's something else, really. I ended up preferring the sound of silkwood in direct comparison, so I ended up sticking with that one.

 

[SlothRock]

Walking to work and seeing this sign - unfortunately NOT a shop dedicated to the ZMF Atriums but I was hoping so

 

[goldwerger]

I'd mostly agree with this statement with a very slight exception for the VO. I'm (un)fortunate enough to compare both a soft and hardwood variant and by the end of it I was seriously contemplating swapping my Ziricote variant out for the original stock silkwood. Aesthetically there's is very little out there that match the Ziricote VO imo but boy was the sound of the silkwood special. Though probably not a big enough difference to warrant a swap for most and I seem to be the minority on this.

This is very similar to my experience with the VO... I absolutely loved the aesthetics of the blackwood. It's something else, really. I ended up preferring the sound of silkwood in direct comparison, so I ended up sticking with that one.

Interesting, thanks for sharing! I’m happy with my VO blackwood, sl I think I will avoid trying any other one and stay with my ignorance bliss

 

[johnnypaddock]

Interesting, thanks for sharing! I’m happy with my VO blackwood, sl I think I will avoid trying any other one and stay with my ignorance bliss

I loved the blackwood! It's like an addiction, trying out all of these great options. I'm doing my best to hold off on the Caldera but I'm sure it will happen at some point.

 

[mattiastomas]

Just got an email that my AC has shipped! Order 13382. Olive wood.

 

[VanHai]

Just got an email that my AC has shipped! Order 13382. Olive wood.

Great news, my is #13384 and also Olive wood.

 

[goldwerger]

I loved the blackwood! It's like an addiction, trying out all of these great options. I'm doing my best to hold off on the Caldera but I'm sure it will happen at some point.

Not to take this AC thread too off topic, but the Caldera are really something else entirely and so worthy of your time. I have put my impressions of them early on (see bottom of my reviews page: https://www.head-fi.org/members/goldwerger.546676/#showcase-reviews)

 

[johnnypaddock]

Not to take this AC thread too off topic, but the Caldera are really something else entirely and so worthy of your time. I have put my impressions of them early on (see bottom of my reviews page: https://www.head-fi.org/members/goldwerger.546676/#showcase-reviews)

I'm familiar and have been following your reviews closely, as they are always helpful... I liked your writeup on the ZMF/Decware amp also. I almost pulled the trigger on that when I ordered the AC.

I've been pretty surprised by how much I enjoy the AC. It handles everything thrown at it, no problem.

 

[goldwerger]

I'm familiar and have been following your reviews closely, as they are always helpful... I liked your writeup on the ZMF/Decware amp also. I almost pulled the trigger on that when I ordered the AC.

I've been pretty surprised by how much I enjoy the AC. It handles everything thrown at it, no problem.

Thanks buddy appreciated

The AC continues to surprise me. After 3 months it remains very heavy in my rotation and I like it more the more I use it.

It’s pretty great with the Decware/ZMF amp. I also enjoy it with L0rdGwyn’s Aegis. It is rather easy to drive and passed the chain info very well, making it very enjoyable to play with different amps

 

[Monsterzero]

For anyone who's had the Atticus or at least gotten to try it for a while, is the AC as forgiving when it comes to poorly recorded or noisy genres of music (shoegaze, black metal, noise rock, that sort of thing)? I'm going to CanJam Chicago and plan to try both headphones, but in case I don't get to try them for very long I'm curious to hear some opinions. These two seem like the best options for me as dynamic closed backs that aren't fatiguing and emphasize musicality while being good all-rounders

It's been awhile since I had the Atticus so I cant say 100% for sure if the AC or Atticus is more forgiving, but I tend to listen to some genres that have less-than-stellar production value and I have not noticed the AC to be particularly harsh on said recordings.
Naturally, the better the recording the better it will sound out of the AC, but IMO the AC is fine with albums that had a five dollar production budget.