[Mike C]

My favourite genres are classical (piano/guitar) and singer/songwriter but i listento all kinds of music.

The love affair with the Atrium is unabating. Female vocals are beautifully voiced and that's most of my listening. I feel like it's a bio-cell sister of one of my long time favorites, the SR-007. Warm but not dark (given using thin pad of choice on the Atrium), rich vocals, and incredible imaging ability. It's such an emotive headphone just like the SR-007.

Indeed, female vocals are gorgeous, especially with a good source and a valve amp.
Recently I've listened to the following:
Sarah Reed, Singing Solo
Lucy Ann Polk
Amber Rubarth, Scribbled Folk Symphonies
Kelly Sweet
Kat Edmonson, Take to the Sky
Loreena McKennitt, Wind that shakes the barley
Tierney Sutton, After Blue
Athena, Breathe with me
Laurie Allyn, Paradise

OK, not all are singer/songwriters, but I like them all very much and the Atrium loves them, they love the Atrium, and I love the result.

Just a comment on sources. I've been trying out an unusual CD player. It is an old Marantz with TDA1541A dac chip, reckoned by many to be the best dac chip ever and my experience seems to confirm this. The player had major upgrades done by the UK ebay seller; capacitor upgrades, schottky diodes, better regulators, conversion to non oversampling, and a clock upgrade. Then I added a full valve output stage, much as done by Lampizator (look up the website). As I know a bit about valves, I knew I could do a lot better than Lampizator by using better sounding valves, a similar but better circuit, and a high quality power supply. Results are great on all kinds of music, and very special indeed for female vocals. Transparency and detail are excellent, without any trace whatever of hardness; tonality is superb, instruments having their tonal colour and character. Musicality and rhythm are great; a solid sound, natural, realism. It is my best CD player; definitely better than my reworked Cayin CD100i and that's not a bad player.
If you think I've gone over the top, I'll mention that quite a few people say that a TDA1541A machine reworked and 'lampizated' is pretty much as good as CD gets at any price, possibly as good as digital ever gets.
I prefer this Marantz to the Aqua La Scala DAC, and that's really saying something as that is a good unit.
If you ever get the chance to buy a similar machine (they come up occasionally on UK ebay), buy it! Must be one with the TDA1541A.
(just to be clear, I do not modify or sell such things myself, this is not self promotion!).

With this source, a good OTL valve amp and the Atrium, the above music is just out of this world.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

The Flammin' Hot

 

[G8torbyte]

Thank you @zach915m and Team ZMF again for awesome support. Since I've owned the Atrium about a year now it's been my go-to HP. Too much head-bopping to music and accidental drops caused me to strip one of my height adjustment pin threads to the cup bracket. Totally my fault for not catching it sooner and applying thread-locker tape. I asked ZMF if I could buy a replacement pin and they quickly sent out the pin with tools and tape as a fix-it kit at no cost! Can't ask for better service than that!

 

[pravous]

Indeed, female vocals are gorgeous, especially with a good source and a valve amp.
Recently I've listened to the following:
Sarah Reed, Singing Solo
Lucy Ann Polk
Amber Rubarth, Scribbled Folk Symphonies
Kelly Sweet
Kat Edmonson, Take to the Sky
Loreena McKennitt, Wind that shakes the barley
Tierney Sutton, After Blue
Athena, Breathe with me
Laurie Allyn, Paradise

OK, not all are singer/songwriters, but I like them all very much and the Atrium loves them, they love the Atrium, and I love the result.

Just a comment on sources. I've been trying out an unusual CD player. It is an old Marantz with TDA1541A dac chip, reckoned by many to be the best dac chip ever and my experience seems to confirm this. The player had major upgrades done by the UK ebay seller; capacitor upgrades, schottky diodes, better regulators, conversion to non oversampling, and a clock upgrade. Then I added a full valve output stage, much as done by Lampizator (look up the website). As I know a bit about valves, I knew I could do a lot better than Lampizator by using better sounding valves, a similar but better circuit, and a high quality power supply. Results are great on all kinds of music, and very special indeed for female vocals. Transparency and detail are excellent, without any trace whatever of hardness; tonality is superb, instruments having their tonal colour and character. Musicality and rhythm are great; a solid sound, natural, realism. It is my best CD player; definitely better than my reworked Cayin CD100i and that's not a bad player.
If you think I've gone over the top, I'll mention that quite a few people say that a TDA1541A machine reworked and 'lampizated' is pretty much as good as CD gets at any price, possibly as good as digital ever gets.
I prefer this Marantz to the Aqua La Scala DAC, and that's really saying something as that is a good unit.
If you ever get the chance to buy a similar machine (they come up occasionally on UK ebay), buy it! Must be one with the TDA1541A.
(just to be clear, I do not modify or sell such things myself, this is not self promotion!).

With this source, a good OTL valve amp and the Atrium, the above music is just out of this world.

I recently acquired an

Indeed, female vocals are gorgeous, especially with a good source and a valve amp.
Recently I've listened to the following:
Sarah Reed, Singing Solo
Lucy Ann Polk
Amber Rubarth, Scribbled Folk Symphonies
Kelly Sweet
Kat Edmonson, Take to the Sky
Loreena McKennitt, Wind that shakes the barley
Tierney Sutton, After Blue
Athena, Breathe with me
Laurie Allyn, Paradise

OK, not all are singer/songwriters, but I like them all very much and the Atrium loves them, they love the Atrium, and I love the result.

Just a comment on sources. I've been trying out an unusual CD player. It is an old Marantz with TDA1541A dac chip, reckoned by many to be the best dac chip ever and my experience seems to confirm this. The player had major upgrades done by the UK ebay seller; capacitor upgrades, schottky diodes, better regulators, conversion to non oversampling, and a clock upgrade. Then I added a full valve output stage, much as done by Lampizator (look up the website). As I know a bit about valves, I knew I could do a lot better than Lampizator by using better sounding valves, a similar but better circuit, and a high quality power supply. Results are great on all kinds of music, and very special indeed for female vocals. Transparency and detail are excellent, without any trace whatever of hardness; tonality is superb, instruments having their tonal colour and character. Musicality and rhythm are great; a solid sound, natural, realism. It is my best CD player; definitely better than my reworked Cayin CD100i and that's not a bad player.
If you think I've gone over the top, I'll mention that quite a few people say that a TDA1541A machine reworked and 'lampizated' is pretty much as good as CD gets at any price, possibly as good as digital ever gets.
I prefer this Marantz to the Aqua La Scala DAC, and that's really saying something as that is a good unit.
If you ever get the chance to buy a similar machine (they come up occasionally on UK ebay), buy it! Must be one with the TDA1541A.
(just to be clear, I do not modify or sell such things myself, this is not self promotion!).

With this source, a good OTL valve amp and the Atrium, the above music is just out of this world.

It is still possible to get a TDA1541A dac. I recently picked up an Audial S5 from a fellow headfier. Sounds amazing with a tube amp and the Atrium.

 

[cats4cans]

It is still possible to get a TDA1541A dac. I recently picked up an Audial S5 from a fellow headfier. Sounds amazing with a tube amp and the Atrium.

That’s the chip used in the MHDT Orchid DAC (coincidentally, I have one listed for sale)

Is it just that implementation or anything with that specific chip? Should I save my DAC for when I finally buy an Atrium? (Next headphone for sure)

 

[Mike C]

I recently acquired an

It is still possible to get a TDA1541A dac. I recently picked up an Audial S5 from a fellow headfier. Sounds amazing with a tube amp and the Atrium.

Looks a really good unit!
Non oversampling, many power supplies, and he does some very special things to allow high sample rates; the latter is beyond me, I'm a valve analogue guy.
I'm half tempted to buy one and add a valve output stage ....
You have valves in the system already so you may not need more; enjoy what I know is a great system.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

I'm pad rolling quite a lot these days after a very long time not being able to enjoy my headphones as I would like.

I've included the Caldera Full perf leather pads in the mix along with Unis (leather, Suede & hybrid), Auteurs (leather & hybrid) BE2 Suede, Verite leather and Brainwavz Pu leather XL perforated.

I'll give more detailed impressions on all as my thoughts become clearer but for now just want to say, none stage quite as big as Uni pads (any). Many claim Auteurs offer more depth than Unis. To me it seems more that the Unis and Auteurs present an equally deep stage, but the width is lost on the Auteurs, so depth is more pronounced, but the auteurs do have other advantages over the Unis (e.g. softer upper mids)

If the Verite and BE2 make the Atrium the ultimate HD 6XX/650 upgrade, then the Caldera perforated pads make the Atrium the ultimate HD600 upgrade. Noticeably smaller stage than Unis but more defined clarity, separation and space between sounds without the thickness in the mids of the BE2 and Verite pads. @zach915m will you be releasing hybrid Caldera fully perfs at some point. I think they could be very appealing if they deliver the sound I imagine they would based on my current impressions?

That's all for now. More Impressions to follow as I journey on

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I'm pad rolling quite a lot these days after a very long time not being able to enjoy my headphones as I would like.

I've included the Caldera Full perf leather pads in the mix along with Unis (leather, Suede & hybrid), Auteurs (leather & hybrid) BE2 Suede, Verite leather and Brainwavz Pu leather XL perforated.

I'll give more detailed impressions on all as my thoughts become clearer but for now just want to say, none stage quite as big as Uni pads (any). Many claim Auteurs offer more depth than Unis. To me it seems more that the Unis and Auteurs present an equally deep stage, but the width is lost on the Auteurs, so depth is more pronounced, but the auteurs do have other advantages over the Unis (e.g. softer upper mids)

If the Verite and BE2 make the Atrium the ultimate HD 6XX/650 upgrade, then the Caldera perforated pads make the Atrium the ultimate HD600 upgrade. Noticeably smaller stage than Unis but more defined clarity, separation and space between sounds without the thickness in the mids of the BE2 and Verite pads. @zach915m will you be releasing hybrid Caldera fully perfs at some point. I think they could be very appealing if they deliver the sound I imagine they would based on my current impressions?

That's all for now. More Impressions to follow as I journey on

Interesting. I find the Auteur perforated leather pads to have the largest stage by far, in all directions.

 

[Failed Engineer]

If the Verite and BE2 make the Atrium the ultimate HD 6XX/650 upgrade, then the Caldera perforated pads make the Atrium the ultimate HD600 upgrade. Noticeably smaller stage than Unis but more defined clarity, separation and space between sounds without the thickness in the mids of the BE2 and Verite pads. @zach915m will you be releasing hybrid Caldera fully perfs at some point. I think they could be very appealing if they deliver the sound I imagine they would based on my current impressions?

These are fascinating impressions to me, as a big time lover of the HD580/HD600 and only slightly less so of the HD650. Thank you for the thoughts. You succinctly state why I love the BE2/Verite pads on the Atrium. I use the Verite Ultra Perf pads that were part of the B-stock pad release as they are a touch more delicate than the BE2 lamb and suedes. Really curious about Caldera variants on the Atrium based on your thoughts. Appreciate you sharing!

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

Interesting. I find the Auteur perforated leather pads to have the largest stage by far, in all directions.

Interesting. I do feel I get more of sense of sounds travelling behind me with Auteur pads, but there's a general openness to the Uni pads that always strikes me every time I switch back to them.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Interesting. I do feel I get more of sense of sounds travelling behind me with Auteur pads, but there's a general openness to the Uni pads that always strikes me every time I switch back to them.

They’re both fantastic. But the Auteur pads on the Atrium sound almost as wide as the Senny 800/800S to me.

Having owned the Auteur OG and Verite, the Atrium with Auteur pads has the largest/widest stage of all ZMF’s I’ve heard and is the 2nd most satisfying headphone I’ve EVER heard in terms of soundstage.

 

[idairyou]

I got a nice bonus this month, so I have joined the Atrium club. Purchased the Redhheart yesterday with the Universal Lambskin, and the Universal Suede. Will be a nice counterpart to my Caldera.

 

[Mike C]

That’s the chip used in the MHDT Orchid DAC (coincidentally, I have one listed for sale)

Is it just that implementation or anything with that specific chip? Should I save my DAC for when I finally buy an Atrium? (Next headphone for sure)

That is a very good question, with no simple answer I'm afraid. I can only give you some thoughts which are not absolute truths so take them with care.

It is often said that the quality of implementation of a dac chip matters more than the choice of chip, and there is a lot in that; particularly for delta/sigma dacs, where many players tend to sound somewhat similar.
But I have found some multibit players to sound better than delta/sigma; but implementation is still vital. I tried an Opus 21 multibit player, quite liked it, but found some slight edge to the sound, something very slight that I didn't like (sorry if I offend a fan of this player, it's good). Which may be why bitstream (with a slighly smoother sound) found some favour.
A good implementation of a multibit dac can avoid any such edge, with good results, in particular with a good gain stage. Valves can work well; I have a Lector player and it's very good indeed. Solid state can be very good if done well, often by discrete transistors rather than op amps, as Naim do (though I don't like the Naim sound myself). And I'm sure that op amps can be made to give good results but, in my limited experience, that is not generally the case. In all my messing about, the biggest upgrade was from adding the valve output stage. See what Lampizator says about output stages, and TDA1541 sound generally, link below.
I also have a Marantz CD65 II SE (TDA1541A) to be modified; in standard form it's a good player, but definitely let down by the output stage; I think the best of modern delta/sigma players will at least match it (but there's still a bit of magic in there).
Just to add to the confusion, I'll mention my ANK DAC 4.1x which is a kit form of a high end Audionote UK dac; multibit with a valve output stage; it's a very good dac, I like it a whole lot, but somehow I don't love it as much as my (by comparison dirt cheap) modded Marantz. Now, whether that's because the TDA1541A is better than the AD in the ANK, or whether it's a matter of implementation .... who knows! I don't.

I do think that, given a good equal quality of implementation, the TDA1541A is a bit extra special, my experience suggests this but I can't prove it.
,
I guess the implementation in the Orchid is good, but not the best as it's built to a price (and very good value indeed!); there is a lot out there about upgrading the MHDT dacs, with better caps and power supplies. But I think it uses discrete transistors and of course the valve buffer which I'm sure remove any 'edge' that multibit can have, giving a very good sound. Take great care, myself I'd definitely keep it as a benchmark and ensure that any replacement really is better, no matter how expensive or well reviewed. I'd expect it be better than a whole lot of delta/sigma dacs at significantly higher prices.

Do have a look at here, note his comments belwo the Block Diagram section.
http://www.lampizator.eu/lampizator/TDA1541 corner/TDA1541.html

 

[blackdragon87]

.

 

[Lyssky]

This may be a weird comparison to ask but since I don’t have any other headphones and also don’t have any chance to audition, can anyone please compare Audeze LCD-XC and Atrium in terms of
- Sub bass,
- General quality of the bass
- Treble quality and quantity
- Detail, speed and separation
- Imaging and clarity
Can Atrium be considered clear step up?
I appreciate the help, thank you.

Note: I only have the Mojo 2 as dac/amp.