[Schuie Driver]

Beautiful picture. The atrium sounds so good on the echo as well.

I'd like to try an Echo sometime. Seems "reasonable" from a used price perspective.

 

[fonna]

I'd like to try an Echo sometime. Seems "reasonable" from a used price perspective.

Yeah i highly recommend the echo with this headphone. its a great pairing, imo. The echo definitely doesn't have that gooey tube sound, it's a more linear sounding amp with a little bit of warmth added. paired with the RME ADI 2 DAC it provides a completely fatigueless and extremely enjoyable listen for me.

 

[erics75]

What's a man to do with no work, no kids, no chores? ATRIUM AND DNA STRATUS ALL DAY LONG! I can't remember the last time I had a full day to myself, but man is it refreshing. I've been giving so much time to the AC and Bokeh at work that my poor AO has been seemingly forgotten. But man what fun it was to revisit this amazing headphone (and amp!). I even pad rolled all my available open friendly pads (Caldera lamb UP, BE2 lamb perf, Universe lamb perf, Auteur lamb perf). Seems I have a lamb fetish... but i digress.

First, I dismissed the stock pads too fast at first. I don't remember the AO sounding so good on the Auteur and Universe pads. That being said, I still prefer the Caldera UP and BE2. I like the more immediate and dynamic/punchy presentation they give over the stock pads.

Second, man the midrange on this headphone is good! I've gotten so used to the AC's softer less forward mids, and this was a stark reminder how much more I like the mids of the AO over the AC. The AC is a more engaging and fun headphone, but the AO for me is more well balanced and complete from head to toe. Vocals on the AO really stand out in a good way. Great presence and tone!

I can't remember a more enjoyable day just doing nothing and loving every second of it. It's not often a dead day becomes so memorable, but today will linger for some time, I can tell. Good music on good equipment just soothes me like nothing else. Reminds me of when I was a kid resting on my mom's lap while she rubbed my head. Total contentment caught in time.

 

[goldwerger]

Listening to ZMF headphones all day today

 

[Failed Engineer]

Me too, with a little twist

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

What's a man to do with no work, no kids, no chores? ATRIUM AND DNA STRATUS ALL DAY LONG! I can't remember the last time I had a full day to myself, but man is it refreshing. I've been giving so much time to the AC and Bokeh at work that my poor AO has been seemingly forgotten. But man what fun it was to revisit this amazing headphone (and amp!). I even pad rolled all my available open friendly pads (Caldera lamb UP, BE2 lamb perf, Universe lamb perf, Auteur lamb perf). Seems I have a lamb fetish... but i digress.

First, I dismissed the stock pads too fast at first. I don't remember the AO sounding so good on the Auteur and Universe pads. That being said, I still prefer the Caldera UP and BE2. I like the more immediate and dynamic/punchy presentation they give over the stock pads.

Second, man the midrange on this headphone is good! I've gotten so used to the AC's softer less forward mids, and this was a stark reminder how much more I like the mids of the AO over the AC. The AC is a more engaging and fun headphone, but the AO for me is more well balanced and complete from head to toe. Vocals on the AO really stand out in a good way. Great presence and tone!

I can't remember a more enjoyable day just doing nothing and loving every second of it. It's not often a dead day becomes so memorable, but today will linger for some time, I can tell. Good music on good equipment just soothes me like nothing else. Reminds me of when I was a kid resting on my mom's lap while she rubbed my head. Total contentment caught in time.

I enjoyed reading this. More of this energy please!

 

[Machiavelli1310]

Got my Atrium today. Loved it, especially for rock which is where my HE1000V2 lacks. Had to EQ in a bit of subbass though.

A couple of questions:
1) What is this "burn-in" I hear about? Should I play some pink noise in the nights or something or will it get burnt in organically as I keep listening to it in the next few weeks?
2) What is the benefit of polishing these headphones i.e., what will happen if I do and if I don't?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

[sp33ls]

Got my Atrium today. Loved it, especially for rock which is where my HE1000V2 lacks. Had to EQ in a bit of subbass though.

A couple of questions:
1) What is this "burn-in" I hear about? Should I play some pink noise in the nights or something or will it get burnt in organically as I keep listening to it in the next few weeks?
2) What is the benefit of polishing these headphones i.e., what will happen if I do and if I don't?



Thanks in advance for any answers.

No need to deliberately run a signal. Just listen, enjoy, and the rest will take care of itself.

You’ll likely observe improvements in several areas as the days go by.

That one is a beauty!

 

[robo24]

Got my Atrium today. Loved it, especially for rock which is where my HE1000V2 lacks. Had to EQ in a bit of subbass though.

A couple of questions:
1) What is this "burn-in" I hear about? Should I play some pink noise in the nights or something or will it get burnt in organically as I keep listening to it in the next few weeks?
2) What is the benefit of polishing these headphones i.e., what will happen if I do and if I don't?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

It will burn in over time but I've never had a headphone change as much after burn-in as the Atrium. I'd suggest leaving them running with either random music or pink noise when not using them until they have at least 50 hours on them. They'll still change some after that but for now it's almost like you're not really hearing how they'll actually sound most of the time you own them.

No need to polish them though doing so with whatever ZMF suggest for your finish can certainly make them look nicer if they accumulate dust. I do it maybe twice a year.

 

[Promee]

Got my Atrium today. Loved it, especially for rock which is where my HE1000V2 lacks. Had to EQ in a bit of subbass though.

A couple of questions:
1) What is this "burn-in" I hear about? Should I play some pink noise in the nights or something or will it get burnt in organically as I keep listening to it in the next few weeks?
2) What is the benefit of polishing these headphones i.e., what will happen if I do and if I don't?



Thanks in advance for any answers.

I got mine almost 2 weeks ago, and I actually emailed ZMF about how I could tame the lower treble because it felt a little extreme or out of balance to me. Burned them in a few days on random music, and this is really not an issue anymore. It’s still slightly hot to me there, but way more balanced now. I’m also waiting for the full titan mesh to come in, turns out the vented one was definitely the wrong choice for me. Also, I try to avoid leather when possible, so I’m using suede pads, which I know is part of the issue too, but I just want to see if I can get it where I want it before going to leather. Not that that has anything to do with burn in, just for context for my comment on the balanced of the Atrium. It’s a magical HP, no doubt!

 

[Edosan227]

I got mine almost 2 weeks ago, and I actually emailed ZMF about how I could tame the lower treble because it felt a little extreme or out of balance to me. Burned them in a few days on random music, and this is really not an issue anymore. It’s still slightly hot to me there, but way more balanced now. I’m also waiting for the full titan mesh to come in, turns out the vented one was definitely the wrong choice for me. Also, I try to avoid leather when possible, so I’m using suede pads, which I know is part of the issue too, but I just want to see if I can get it where I want it before going to leather. Not that that has anything to do with burn in, just for context for my comment on the balanced of the Atrium. It’s a magical HP, no doubt!

yeah, that was definitely the the issue for me as well, I'm coming from the meze elite, the treble region gets way to hot and harsh for me. So I got the full mesh and continued to burn the headphone in, it's definitely way more enjoyable now. But man in the beginning I was starting to think I made a mistake cus it was so harsh and fatiguing I can't deal listening to it more than 30 minutes.

 

[Machiavelli1310]

I got mine almost 2 weeks ago, and I actually emailed ZMF about how I could tame the lower treble because it felt a little extreme or out of balance to me. Burned them in a few days on random music, and this is really not an issue anymore. It’s still slightly hot to me there, but way more balanced now. I’m also waiting for the full titan mesh to come in, turns out the vented one was definitely the wrong choice for me. Also, I try to avoid leather when possible, so I’m using suede pads, which I know is part of the issue too, but I just want to see if I can get it where I want it before going to leather. Not that that has anything to do with burn in, just for context for my comment on the balanced of the Atrium. It’s a magical HP, no doubt!

Could you post the link of the mesh you ordered please? I don't think I have an issue with the treble as I like my HE1000V2, which I've heard people say is not for treble-sensitive people (or maybe I do slightly cuz I dislike it for rock, and I EQ it with -3db at 3K without which it's unbearably shrill but I'm digressing). So I'll probably try out the solid mesh too.

I also feel like I need to do something with the Atrium at around 1.5-2K cuz I don't know if I'm liking the vocals dominating so much in rock songs. Don't know if this is the right thing to do though. Time to experiment. But man, this headphone on classic rock is just . I'm feeling some slight harshness for metal though. I'm not able to increase the volume to the level I'd like to.

 

[AnyDave]

Could you post the link of the mesh you ordered please? I don't think I have an issue with the treble as I like my HE1000V2, which I've heard people say is not for treble-sensitive people (or maybe I do slightly cuz I dislike it for rock, and I EQ it with -3db at 3K without which it's unbearably shrill but I'm digressing). So I'll probably try out the solid mesh too. But man, this headphone on classic rock is just . I'm feeling some slight harshness for metal though. I'm not able to increase the volume to the level I'd like to.

I also feel like I need to do something with the Atrium at around 1.5-2K cuz I don't know if I'm liking the vocals dominating so much in rock songs. Don't know if this is the right thing to do though. Time to experiment.

I believe this is what he's referring to:

https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/products/acoustic-titan-mesh?variant=41596362686627

Make sure you select "solid" under the perforation pull down options. The solid mesh will damp things a little bit, including the primary peak at 2.8kHz or so. The Atrium is actually quite flat between 1.5-2kHz, so it doesn't affect much there. Based on your comments, I suspect that the solid mesh would be an improvement for what you're looking for, but there's only one way to know for certain.

 

[Traiguen]

Just to show how different we all are.... I find the Atrium too dark, for me it worked best without the Mesh all together!.

 

[JackarlTwo]

I got mine almost 2 weeks ago, and I actually emailed ZMF about how I could tame the lower treble because it felt a little extreme or out of balance to me. Burned them in a few days on random music, and this is really not an issue anymore. It’s still slightly hot to me there, but way more balanced now. I’m also waiting for the full titan mesh to come in, turns out the vented one was definitely the wrong choice for me. Also, I try to avoid leather when possible, so I’m using suede pads, which I know is part of the issue too, but I just want to see if I can get it where I want it before going to leather. Not that that has anything to do with burn in, just for context for my comment on the balanced of the Atrium. It’s a magical HP, no doubt!

The solid titan mesh will definitely help tame the upper mids-lower treble area. I found the treble slightly sharp when I first got them, but with burn in it seemed much better, not a hint of peakiness and better balanced. I'd let them burn in for ~200 hours before doing anything. Pad swaps can also help with treble. Hybrid pads can help smooth it out.

The smoothest pad I've tried is the Eikon suede (same pad as Auteur but slightly smaller ear cavity) which definitely makes them a bit warmer. Eikon lambskin is even warmer (more bass) but slightly peakier treble for some reason and is probably not recommended over Auteur lamb.