[acohen001]

I am noticing continued improvement around 200 hours. The change has been really significant actually. I freaked out a little when I got them because I was really expecting to be over the moon with them, but the peakiness was getting to me. Now that I’m about 5 weeks in, I have been right where I expected to be with them for about the past week. If your experience is like mine, then your ears do not deceive you, just give it a little time and you shall be rewarded

You are spot on. I had a similar experience w/my AOs. They sounded so much better once they burned in.

 

[LCMusicLover]

I am noticing continued improvement around 200 hours. The change has been really significant actually. I freaked out a little when I got them because I was really expecting to be over the moon with them, but the peakiness was getting to me. Now that I’m about 5 weeks in, I have been right where I expected to be with them for about the past week. If your experience is like mine, then your ears do not deceive you, just give it a little time and you shall be rewarded

Having gone through Auteur burn-in, I wasn’t freaked out by Atrium’s initial sound. I heard a fully burned-in demo, so I knew where the sound was headed. I burned them in 100 hours before really listening and didn’t hear much delta after that.

 

[JerseyD]

Nitpicking not calling you out (I swear!) but I'm pretty sure they're Caldera Ultra-Perf.

Either way I just picked up a set of those pads at CanJam, and I really enjoy them too. I honestly don't even notice a reduction in headstage. I'm sure it's there, but Atrium is so good at it already, and like you I don't prioritize staging that much with headphones, though it is a nice bonus.

Definitely sound more reference to me too. I was scared that the treble would be too tipped up for my preference, but that definitely wasn't the case for me. IDK if I'm fully team Ultra-Perf, but I'm really glad I have as many options as I do.

He may very well be talking about Verite Ultra Perf. I bought a pair in November (b-stock, because I think they were actually a production error) for cheap. Did not like them on the Atrium! Caldera Ultra Perf is much better with Atrium (for me)

 

[jinxy245]

He may very well be talking about Verite Ultra Perf. I bought a pair in November (b-stock, because I think they were actually a production error) for cheap. Did not like them on the Atrium! Caldera Ultra Perf is much better with Atrium (for me)

Ah gotcha! I had no idea that there was such a thing. I thought I had a decent handle on the ZMF pad offerings. Too many to keep track of! Glad to be proven wrong!

 

[Honeypot]

I can't wait for my new pair to arrive

 

[dkar]

I can't wait for my new pair to arrive

I can't wait for mine either. I just pulled the trigger on one of these today.

 

[spittis]

I ordered the new 2024 Pro cable for my Atriums, I don't like the OFC cable that came with them, it's way too thick and stiff and negatively affects the comfort for me while wearing them since it's always putting some pressure on the xlr-jacks on the headphone when it's coiled on the desk. I also ordered a pilot pad and a co-pilot pad, I want to test if I can get them a bit more firmly placed on my head that way, in stock config they move around a bit too much if I'm doing something else while listening.

Still going back and forth between pads as well, right now evaluating BE2 vs Caldera ultra perf, I might prefer the Caldera. With the Bokeh being new in the house as well, I don't have enough time to do as much testing as I'd like, work is taking up too much time from hobbies as usual

On a side note, I had a chance to listen to the Empyrean 2 and Utopia 2022 yesterday among others. It was a demo setting, and I didn't have my own headphones there to compare directly, but based on that short(ish) experience, I like the Atriums sound a bit better compared to Empy2, although this new Empy is a clear improvement of the first version at least going by memory. I really enjoyed the Utopia, they weren't as clinical sounding as I had expected, but still a very different sound compared to the Atriums, more intensive, would need much more time with them to give any meaningful comments.

 

[G8torbyte]

I ordered the new 2024 Pro cable for my Atriums, I don't like the OFC cable that came with them, it's way too thick and stiff and negatively affects the comfort for me while wearing them since it's always putting some pressure on the xlr-jacks on the headphone when it's coiled on the desk. I also ordered a pilot pad and a co-pilot pad, I want to test if I can get them a bit more firmly placed on my head that way, in stock config they move around a bit too much if I'm doing something else while listening.

The new pro OFC cables are much nicer in terms of flexibility, comfort and aesthetics. My ears are too old to really tell any difference in sound but I am going to order the copper version for my Bokeh and another one to fit my other ZMFs. I have read where the copper has a warmer sound more than silver. ZMF had a lot of the cables at CanJam NYC so it was nice to get some hands-on with them. Here is a photo I took with it on the Aeolus.

 

[spruce]

I have the AO as well and the sound really opened up around 100 hrs. I believe ZMF said about 200 hrs for burn-in. I will be interested in hearing your thoughts in a few weeks.

 

[spittis]

The new pro OFC cables are much nicer in terms of flexibility, comfort and aesthetics. My ears are too old to really tell any difference in sound but I am going to order the copper version for my Bokeh and another one to fit my other ZMFs. I have read where the copper has a warmer sound more than silver. ZMF had a lot of the cables at CanJam NYC so it was nice to get some hands-on with them. Here is a photo I took with it on the Aeolus.

Yeah it looks good and cables braided like that tend to be very flexible and nice to use. I could have ordered a similar cable from Forza and gotten away with cheaper shipping and no extra taxes, but since I wanted the pads too and the pricing on this new "pro" cable was sensible, I decided to just get it from ZMF.

To me all cables sound the same, so I don't worry about that, but they do impact comfort and aesthetics which is important too.

 

[YtseJamer]

I really enjoyed the Utopia, they weren't as clinical sounding as I had expected, but still a very different sound compared to the Atriums, more intensive, would need much more time with them to give any meaningful comments.

I had the original Utopia, but they didn't quite click for me like the Atrium does. The sound was just too shouty. Tried out the Utopia 2022 recently, and it seems they've made some improvements, but man, the price tag in Canada is $6500. Ouch!

 

[Promee]

I started hearing what everybody was glowing about regarding the Atrium last night with a really big smile on my face. After about 30 hours of burn-in, I switched from the default Universe pads to the Auteur pads and connected my Ares II to my Singxer SA1. WOW. I’ve definitely never heard headphones capable of what these things are providing in their performance. It’s a real treat. For example, my LCD 2C was a revelation at the time (ie, authority/staging/seperation) but these Atriums are just on another level with overall capability. Part of me thinks the Universe pads were confusing my brain but on the other hand, I think with some burn-in and some time, the drivers may have opened up considerably as well. And I also think my chain is a good pairing from what I’ve heard, regarding the Singxer SA1, for example. Now I’m wondering about pairing with another solid state, such as the Burson soloist 3X. I also added the BBB strap, which seems to be a nice addition with comfort— more uniform weight distribution on my head.

Just in case you haven’t done it yet, I would strongly suggest making sure you have the latest firmware from summer 2023 for the Ares II. It made an enormous difference for me with the Ares 12th, and I believe that same firmware applies to the Ares II. I was actually expecting it to be a subtle change, but for me it was enormous (though I think the firmware the 12th shipped with was kind of broken to begin with, so YMMV).

 

[orbilius]

I can't wait for my new pair to arrive

Those are beautiful. Congratulations!

 

[orbilius]

I know this is off topic, but I described by Atrium setup to Chat GPT and this was the initial result. Too funny not to share.

 

[spittis]

I had the original Utopia, but they didn't quite click for me like the Atrium does. The sound was just too shouty. Tried out the Utopia 2022 recently, and it seems they've made some improvements, but man, the price tag in Canada is $6500. Ouch!

Ouch indeed, it's 5000€ here, and to be honest I was not sold on the build. The quality is nice for sure, but they don't feel as premium as say ZMF headphones to me.