I received my Atrium last Friday, but I’ve had a really unusual experience with them. I have a clue what’s going on now, but I hope that some of you fine folks might be able to help.
Simply put, my Atrium hurts to listen to, moreso than anything else I own. They’re also the best headphone I’ve ever owned in many regards, which has made the past week rather confusing.
The way it hurts me is similar to the reaction you’d get from sibilance, that uncomfortable cringe, but throughout the treble range. Depending on what I was listening to, the Atrium would be either slightly dark or aggravatingly treble-dominant, and it could switch instantly. I found this out the hard way when I was deliberately seeking out chill music and listened to some Coldplay, because I really liked them as a kid. It worked for a song or two, until Chris Martin hit a high note, and for a split-second, it felt like Chris Martin was right in front of me and about to murder me. While I have to applaud the ZMF team for making such a fantastic headphone that can make the artist appear in front of you, I don’t think that’s what either artist had in mind!
Clearly something’s not right in my case. So, I figured I should do a sine sweep test with visuals to see where the issue is. The best I could find was on Youtube (I know, I know…), and the results surprised me.
While I passed a hearing test at an audiologist with flying colors a year ago, those only test to see if you have enough hearing. What they don’t test for is if you have too much hearing! According to a couple different video tests, at 2600-3000, 6000, and 8000, I have some rather sizable peaks in my hearing. I tried it on three different headphones, and that basic pattern applied across all of them for me, even if the headphones and the tests had slightly different results.
So, the problem is just me then, right? Well, yes and no. Here’s the odd thing: the other two headphones I used were the Focal Clear and Hifiman Arya, and while both of those headphones are obviously designed to be more treble-heavy than the Atrium, they don’t bother me remotely as much as the Atrium does at those peaks, not even close. Something about the Atrium brings those peaks to the forefront of my hearing in a way that nothing else I own has ever done.
So, after all of that, I have two questions:
1. Is there a proper, Head-fi approved piece of software to do these kinds of sine sweeps with? I’m looking to essentially create an EQ for my ears, so I’d like to be precise and have it be a properly valid result. I’d like to do better than Youtube for that!
2. Why is it that the Atrium would aggravate my ears so much more than a Clear or an Arya?
So, final score: 10/10, comfy, pretty, Chris Martin tried to murder me. Thanks for reading my blog, and any help would be appreciated!