[Jaebug]

in love. Zebrawood LTD from ZMF November courtesy of my spouse thinking I should have a pair of open backs for the headphones stable. I love the hand-wiped, more satiny finish as a contrast to my glossy VCs. They've got about 20hrs on them (got to open them yesterday), so it's still early days re: burn in. My very early thoughts on them is I like how they're a little brighter than the VCs and I can see why reviews always bring up the mids, but I do miss the noise isolation. They're 50g heavier than my VCs but don't feel like it, which is nice. Not saying that they're feathers, but I'm not getting neck/shoulder fatigue. They have a bit more clamping force so that's probably helping since I can move my head around more freely, but do need to take more care with glasses placement so they don't dig into my nose bridge. Weirdly enough, my Rognirs are my lightest of the 'heavy' headphones (80g lighter than these) but they feel the heaviest.

 

[goldwerger]

in love. Zebrawood LTD from ZMF November courtesy of my spouse thinking I should have a pair of open backs for the headphones stable. I love the hand-wiped, more satiny finish as a contrast to my glossy VCs. They've got about 20hrs on them (got to open them yesterday), so it's still early days re: burn in. My very early thoughts on them is I like how they're a little brighter than the VCs and I can see why reviews always bring up the mids, but I do miss the noise isolation. They're 50g heavier than my VCs but don't feel like it, which is nice. Not saying that they're feathers, but I'm not getting neck/shoulder fatigue. They have a bit more clamping force so that's probably helping since I can move my head around more freely, but do need to take more care with glasses placement so they don't dig into my nose bridge. Weirdly enough, my Rognirs are my lightest of the 'heavy' headphones (80g lighter than these) but they feel the heaviest.

One of the nicest woods I’ve seen. Love it. Congrats!

 

[Somatic]

I tried the Atriums with the Envy. Using WE300B, Elrog ER300b, Elrog 300b-MO and variety of good NOS 6sN7/6F8G tubes.

I still prefer the Ferrum stack to the Envy. Ferrum stack had a great synergy with the Atrium. It made the Atrium naturalness and timbre come through. Vocals were more engaging.

 

[Raidersfan8118]

Oh nice! You must be one of the silent GOTL owners. Does your Glenn have a tube rectifier or HEXFRED, as I find the tube version to be slightly slower than the SS version?
Of course you can always roll away the 3Dness and use faster sounding/less romantic sounding tubes.

Again, it's personal preferences, tube rolls and amping. I love the Atrium for metal and never experienced any screechiness out of them on the GOTL or Airmid. On the Aegis, a couple tube rolls I tried had me turning the amp down some, but a different tube roll fixed that.

True.

Man metalheads are a fickle bunch. We're all after sonic bliss/assault but we cant agree upon where that bliss lies. Personally I love the Caldera for metal as it is a faster headphone than the Atrium and the detail and layering lets me hear stuff in metal that typically gets lost in the mayhem, but @Raidersfan8118 already sold his Caldera because the upper mids were too relaxed for his metal tastes vs. the Atrium.

Also, for me I prefer the Caldera out of a solid state amp.

I’m unfortunately probably a bit of an outlier. I do think caldera is very good for metal. I think most people would probably disagree with my preferences. They are an interesting headphone because they can give you a good amount of treble and not be fatiguing. I think they are technically quite impressive. The midrange of the atrium is just a beast.

 

[Redmetal1897]

Oh nice! You must be one of the silent GOTL owners. Does your Glenn have a tube rectifier or HEXFRED, as I find the tube version to be slightly slower than the SS version?
Of course you can always roll away the 3Dness and use faster sounding/less romantic sounding tubes.

Yea man! We actually briefly exchanged pms when I was considering ordering it way back in 2018 haha. I got some solid use time in when I got it but then 2 kids in quick succession put the hobby on the backburner for a bit. Have a little more time these days so easing back into it! I have the hexafred adapter but I haven't actually used it yet. I run it with 6x6BX7's most of the time.

Again, it's personal preferences, tube rolls and amping. I love the Atrium for metal and never experienced any screechiness out of them on the GOTL or Airmid. On the Aegis, a couple tube rolls I tried had me turning the amp down some, but a different tube roll fixed that.

That's good to hear. Sadly I likely won't have much time to tube roll for the foreseeable future so mainly stuck with the 2 combos I mainly use.

Man metalheads are a fickle bunch. We're all after sonic bliss/assault but we cant agree upon where that bliss lies. Personally I love the Caldera for metal as it is a faster headphone than the Atrium and the detail and layering lets me hear stuff in metal that typically gets lost in the mayhem, but @Raidersfan8118 already sold his Caldera because the upper mids were too relaxed for his metal tastes vs. the Atrium.

Lol at this point I an purely making $hit up just so I can buy more ZMF gear

It is interesting though because I hadnt really considered speed to be what i needed, had always thought it was imaging/staging to cut throught the chaos. The points raised in this thread though make sense, faster speed+lower decay will probably lead to more clarity/separation in the various instruments.

Is it fair to say between the atrium/verite closed and the caldera the weight of the instruments is greatest in the Atrium?

 

[Monsterzero]

Yea man! We actually briefly exchanged pms when I was considering ordering it way back in 2018 haha.

Right on, glad you were able to get your hands on one before they became unobtanium.

I have the hexafred adapter but I haven't actually used it yet. I run it with 6x6BX7's most of the time.

The sixer of 6bx7s is a lot of fun and quite fast sounding.
The HEXFRED adapter sounds different than the built-in HEXFRED for some reason I cant wrap my brain around. It added an etched sound in my system as well as a couple other GOTL owners, so I always stuck with a rectifier tube in mine.

Lol at this point I an purely making $hit up just so I can buy more ZMF gear

Sounds like a great plan.

It is interesting though because I hadnt really considered speed to be what i needed,

That goes back to what I mentioned before about metalheads not always agreeing on what attributes make up a solid "metal headphone". For me speed is an absolute necessity for metal, but I know other members who could care less about speed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Is it fair to say between the atrium/verite closed and the caldera the weight of the instruments is greatest in the Atrium?

I havent reallly listened for that specifically, but I've yet to hear a ZMF that lacked weight and texture. The Atrium hits hardest with the pads I've used thus far, but the Caldera isnt too far behind.

Either way I think both Atrium and Caldera excel at metal and there really isnt a wrong choice IMO

 

[YtseJamer]

Nice, what amp do you run them out of?

It's the Quicksilver, but even if it's a great amp for the Atrium, I don't recommend you to buy this amp because the owner of the company is a jackass. (Sorry, I don't want to promote his products because of the awful customer support I got from him)

That goes back to what I mentioned before about metalheads not always agreeing on what attributes make up a solid "metal headphone". For me speed is an absolute necessity for metal, but I know other members who could care less about speed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For me it's the timbre. I'm very very picky with the sound of the instruments and to my ears, the timbre of the Atrium is perfect. Instruments sound more natural compared to all planar headphones I heard so far.

 

[Redmetal1897]

Right on, glad you were able to get your hands on one before they became unobtanium.


The sixer of 6bx7s is a lot of fun and quite fast sounding.
The HEXFRED adapter sounds different than the built-in HEXFRED for some reason I cant wrap my brain around. It added an etched sound in my system as well as a couple other GOTL owners, so I always stuck with a rectifier tube in mine.

Yea I really enjoy the 6bx7s. Glenn had originally sent me 2x6H13. Those sound absolutely gigantic/wall of sound but a bit lacking on control on the overall sound. Still a fun listen but I stick to the 6bx7s for the most part. I need to take a listen with the hexafreds though.

That goes back to what I mentioned before about metalheads not always agreeing on what attributes make up a solid "metal headphone". For me speed is an absolute necessity for metal, but I know other members who could care less about speed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yea its interesting. It's almost like you need certain profiles depending on the subgenre you listen to depending on the speed, technicality, soundscape etc. The Auteurs are fantastic on more traditional/ old school metal but on the fast/complex stuff is where I feel it's congested.

Either way I think both Atrium and Caldera excel at metal and there really isnt a wrong choice IMO

Watched your review for both and I just want both Getting my Auteur upgraded to a classic and springing for the Caldera is something I'm mulling over too.

For me it's the timbre. I'm very very picky with the sound of the instruments and to my ears, the timbre of the Atrium is perfect. Instruments sound more natural compared to all planar headphones I heard so far.

Me to especially when you get the weight and crunch of the guitars just right, hits different!

 

[Dawgfish]

Well I finally get to join the rest of the Atrium owners..They are so far everything that I imagined and more....I also know they are only going to get better with burn in...What did you guys do for burn in besides the obvious listening to them? I have just left the playing while I am sleeping and or at work...I have just been using regular music and no pink noise...Should I switch between them or just stick with music?

Congrats! Beautiful set of Atriums you have there Dawg!

 

[geoffalter11]

Hi all... I just posted my review of the Atrium. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zmfheadphones-atrium.25763/reviews

 

[YtseJamer]

Me too especially when you get the weight and crunch of the guitars just right, hits different!

I think you would be very happy with the Atrium. To my ears, the Atrium is the best ZMF for the crunch of the electric guitars.

 

[Dawgfish]

in love. Zebrawood LTD from ZMF November courtesy of my spouse thinking I should have a pair of open backs for the headphones stable. I love the hand-wiped, more satiny finish as a contrast to my glossy VCs. They've got about 20hrs on them (got to open them yesterday), so it's still early days re: burn in. My very early thoughts on them is I like how they're a little brighter than the VCs and I can see why reviews always bring up the mids, but I do miss the noise isolation. They're 50g heavier than my VCs but don't feel like it, which is nice. Not saying that they're feathers, but I'm not getting neck/shoulder fatigue. They have a bit more clamping force so that's probably helping since I can move my head around more freely, but do need to take more care with glasses placement so they don't dig into my nose bridge. Weirdly enough, my Rognirs are my lightest of the 'heavy' headphones (80g lighter than these) but they feel the heaviest.

That's a gorgeous Atrium! Congrats! I have an Eikon with rusted Zebrawood cups. It's quite nice but it has a matte finish. I would much prefer a semi gloss finish like your Atrium. That is quite beautiful! I have often thought about contacting Zach and company to see if there is anything I could do to get a finish closer to what you have on your Atrium. Anyways sorry for the rambling and enjoy!

 

[Jaebug]

That's a gorgeous Atrium! Congrats! I have an Eikon with rusted Zebrawood cups. It's quite nice but it has a matte finish. I would much prefer a semi gloss finish like your Atrium. That is quite beautiful! I have often thought about contacting Zach and company to see if there is anything I could do to get a finish closer to what you have on your Atrium. Anyways sorry for the rambling and enjoy!

This satin-like finish is lovely. Would be curious if it's a no-go to change up the matte finish to something else. Seems potentially more doable than trying to go the reverse direction starting with glossy, but I'm not a woodworker .

I don't always love the look of zebrawood, but these ones stood out. It was these or the Tasmanian blackwoods, but hubs liked the contrast of the silver-tone grill/rods better.

 

[Redmetal1897]

in love. Zebrawood LTD from ZMF November courtesy of my spouse thinking I should have a pair of open backs for the headphones stable. I love the hand-wiped, more satiny finish as a contrast to my glossy VCs. They've got about 20hrs on them (got to open them yesterday), so it's still early days re: burn in. My very early thoughts on them is I like how they're a little brighter than the VCs and I can see why reviews always bring up the mids, but I do miss the noise isolation. They're 50g heavier than my VCs but don't feel like it, which is nice. Not saying that they're feathers, but I'm not getting neck/shoulder fatigue. They have a bit more clamping force so that's probably helping since I can move my head around more freely, but do need to take more care with glasses placement so they don't dig into my nose bridge. Weirdly enough, my Rognirs are my lightest of the 'heavy' headphones (80g lighter than these) but they feel the heaviest.

These are stunners wow Would love a pair with that contrast. Finishing looks beautiful too.

 

[bokononista]

Can Atrium be good with Yggy/Raggy(1)? Anybody have the experience? Thank you.