ZMF Atrium - new open-back co-flagship

[realmassy]

Brilliant, thanks!

 

[realmassy]

According to the notes on the website the default pads must have been the lambskin universe perforated and the additional one the Auteur perforated as @heliosphann suggested. I'm going to read the pads review!

 

[Dawgfish]

According to the notes on the website the default pads must have been the lambskin universe perforated and the additional one the Auteur perforated as @heliosphann suggested. I'm going to read the pads review!

To date I've tried the Universe lambskin, Auteur Hybrid, and Auteur lambskin on the Atrium. The Auteur lambskin is my favorite to date though I do really like the Universe lambskin also. @heliosphann review of the pads for the Atrium is a great guide. I find his descriptions at least with the 3 pads I've tried to be very accurate.

 

[Somatic]

To date I've tried the Universe lambskin, Auteur Hybrid, and Auteur lambskin on the Atrium. The Auteur lambskin is my favorite to date though I do really like the Universe lambskin also. @heliosphann review of the pads for the Atrium is a great guide. I find his descriptions at least with the 3 pads I've tried to be very accurate.

How would you compare Auteur Hybrid vs Leather? Is the mids as magical on the Leather? I assume bass is tighter vs hybrid?

 

[Dawgfish]

How would you compare Auteur Hybrid vs Leather? Is the mids as magical on the Leather? I assume bass is tighter vs hybrid?

Its been a little bit since I listened to the Auteur hybrids but going by memory the mids were pretty comparable to the Auteur lambskin. Both have a slight reduction to the upper mids/lower treble compared to the Universe lambskin pads which tends to align more to my personal preference. I would say the bass is tighter and slightly lower in quantity with the hybrids. Both have a deeper, more 3d soundstage compared to the Universe lambskin pads.

 

[JerseyD]

@zach915m Weird question, but loving the Atriums. Those holographic mids are magical.

Thinking of getting the Feliks Envy and later upgrading my bookshelf speakers are well. Any recommendations for bookshelfs that sound similar to the Atriums. More mid forward. Excellent timbre and transparency. Or maybe a better question which bookshelfs do you like? Thanks.

My favorite bookshelf speakers are the ProAc Response D2D. Can't say whether they sound like a speaker version of the Atrium, but can say they sound fantastic, and do have a somewhat "magical mid."
https://www.proac-loudspeakers.com/products/response-d2-r-d/
If those are too large, the Response DB1 is also excellent, but with less bass extension.
https://www.proac-loudspeakers.com/products/response-db1/

 

[AcousticMatt]

After listening to my VCs over the past month, I assumed I was listening with the Be2s, but it turns out I was listening with the Auteurs (they're the angled ones, right? Not the Be2s?). I switched to the Be2s and, while I like them for different reasons, I LOVE this headphone with the Auteur pads! The sense of space and imaging increases in a beautiful way with these pads. I still find it very cool that you can change the sound of ZMF headphones by pad swapping.

Whoops - meant to post in the VC thread!

 

[gonintendo]

Probably a dumb idea but has anyone tried caldera pads on atrium lol

 

[zach915m]

Probably a dumb idea but has anyone tried caldera pads on atrium lol

Full perf caldera pads work great, I will be slowly introducing those and showing measurements at some point. But I need more time to fully dissect what they do and why you might want them.

The Caldera pads with solid interior, sound pretty pad, they push a bit too much bass into the mix kind of like a closed pad.

 

[heliosphann]

Probably a dumb idea but has anyone tried caldera pads on atrium lol

I'll put this on my short list!

 

[AntonRisto]

I'm still patiently waiting for my Atrium to arrive. Made the order through Finnish retailer nearly 10 weeks ago, but the retailer tells me that the headphones are still in the manufacturing process. Anyone else waiting for their Atrium at the moment?

 

[zach915m]

I'm still patiently waiting for my Atrium to arrive. Made the order through Finnish retailer nearly 10 weeks ago, but the retailer tells me that the headphones are still in the manufacturing process. Anyone else waiting for their Atrium at the moment?

We have the shortest wait time of the year on headphones right now, dealers often will unfortunately collect orders before ordering from us. The Finnish dealers ordered on Sept 26th and their order should ship soon-ish.

When ordering from a dealer its always best to check if the headphone is in stock. If not it's best to order from us directly. They are specifically told not to collect orders like this.

 

[AntonRisto]

We have the shortest wait time of the year on headphones right now, dealers often will unfortunately collect orders before ordering from us. The Finnish dealers ordered on Sept 26th and their order should ship soon-ish.

When ordering from a dealer its always best to check if the headphone is in stock. If not it's best to order from us directly. They are specifically told not to collect orders like this.

Ahh, I see. So my order from the dealer on August 18th was actually ordered from you on September 26th? Had I known this, I would definitely have ordered directly from your website.

 

[zach915m]

Ahh, I see. So my order from the dealer on August 18th was actually ordered from you on September 26th? Had I known this, I would definitely have ordered directly from your website.

Yes unfortunately. I should mention, these are just the games dealers play and not always specific to one dealer, and the reason we have no north American dealers. I don't blame them, their job is to sell headphones, not to be honest sellers/manufacturers. For many businesses a dealer network becomes an integral part, I have fought hard against this, to both keep prices down (margins) and for customer satisfaction. It's never fun to feel like any relationship is triangulated.

I should also mention we have wonderful dealers who keep our headphones in stock, and won't tell potential owners that "they have an order in" when they don't. Safest thing to do is to see if they have actual stock on hand.

 

[AntonRisto]

Yes unfortunately. I should mention, these are just the games dealers play and not always specific to one dealer, and the reason we have no north American dealers. I don't blame them, their job is to sell headphones, not to be honest sellers/manufacturers. For many businesses a dealer network becomes an integral part, I have fought hard against this, to both keep prices down (margins) and for customer satisfaction. It's never fun to feel like any relationship is triangulated.

I should also mentioned we have wonderful dealers who keep our headphones in stock, and won't tell potential owners that "they have an order in" when they don't. Safest thing to do is to see if they have actual stock on hand.

That's unfortunate. It is understandable, I guess, but I wish they would be open about it at least.

The dealer did have the Cherry Atrium with black grills in stock, but I specifically wanted the Aged Cherry Atrium with copper grills, so I went ahead and ordered them, since the dealer told me they would just order the headphones straight from you guys. Too bad they didn't mention that the order would actually be made almost 6 weeks after that.