[baseball8793]

audeze mm500 or atrium open for clarity/detail?

 

[Honeypot]

audeze mm500 or atrium open for clarity/detail?

I didn't hear the mm500 myself but I've been told they sound good, although the best of them is the build quality. I don't think atrium open is the most "clarity/detail" zmf headphone, but it definitely doesn't get short at it. It's a very musical headphone. Very easy to enjoy.
I have the LCD-X and they present music very differently.
I hope someone can compare these hand to hand.

 

[spruce]

For anyone that finds the treble too sharp definitely give the solid mesh a shot if a pad swap doesn't work. For me it's perfect in combination with an OTL amp. It smooths out the highs just enough to not make it too dull. Hybrid pads will smooth it out further. I'm currently using the BE2 suede and although it's a brighter pad it makes the highs very smooth with crystal clear vocals, one of my favorite combos on Atrium. I've had good experience with the Eikon suede perforated too.

Have not tried solid mesh yet. In my case, I think the stock XLR cable can be frustratingly unwieldy and has bothersome treble peaks. Seems like a pretty generic cable to me. I also really enjoy the frequency balance of the stock pads. From what I seem to be hearing, I will not use the stock XLR cable again. For a headphone at this price, the cable does not seem nearly commensurate or complimentary in my opinion. Contacting ZMF has even crossed my mind but I’m just grateful the Atrium exists. I’m currently using a Cardas cable and the treble emphasis has been corrected while providing increase treble definition and overall space throughout. I also swapped my Audeze cable which was an improvement over stock, that peakiness again subsided, but the Cardas cable sounds better yet to my ears based on first impressions. Perhaps I’ll try the solid mesh at some point, but I’d like to enhance the sound spectrum that’s already there versus tamping anything down if that’s what occurs. I did try the BE2 Perforated Suede, which sounded great too, but I was using the stock cable at the time— really nice mids emphasis while you sacrifice some overall balance. Reminiscent of the HD 650 versus HD 600 with stock Atrium pads.
And BTW, if there any readers out there salivating over the Atrium, the HD 600/650 are out this world bargains and relatively speaking come close to what the Atrium offers. You don’t need the Atrium to enjoy this experience.

 

[JackarlTwo]

Have not tried solid mesh yet. In my case, I think the stock XLR cable can be frustratingly unwieldy and has bothersome treble peaks. Seems like a pretty generic cable to me. I also really enjoy the frequency balance of the stock pads. From what I seem to be hearing, I will not use the stock XLR cable again. For a headphone at this price, the cable does not seem nearly commensurate or complimentary in my opinion. Contacting ZMF has even crossed my mind but I’m just grateful the Atrium exists. I’m currently using a Cardas cable and the treble emphasis has been corrected while providing increase treble definition and overall space throughout. I also swapped my Audeze cable which was an improvement over stock, that peakiness again subsided, but the Cardas cable sounds better yet to my ears based on first impressions. Perhaps I’ll try the solid mesh at some point, but I’d like to enhance the sound spectrum that’s already there versus tamping anything down if that’s what occurs. I did try the BE2 Perforated Suede, which sounded great too, but I was using the stock cable at the time— really nice mids emphasis while you sacrifice some overall balance. Reminiscent of the HD 650 versus HD 600 with stock Atrium pads.
And BTW, if there any readers out there salivating over the Atrium, the HD 600/650 are out this world bargains and relatively speaking come close to what the Atrium offers. You don’t need the Atrium to enjoy this experience.

I've never actually tried the stock braided XLR cable, as I have no amp for it so I can't comment on the quality of it. I'm all 6.35mm. I'm not even a cable "believer" in the first place so I doubt even the stock cable would degrade the audio in any way. Between the stock OFC, Audeze stock cable and Lektric C I notice no difference in terms of audio. The value for me is in the looks and feel of the cable. The Lektric cable is miles above in that department.

If you're going to have any realistic change in audio then it's always best to start with pads first because of how fundamental it is to our ear shapes and our head related transfer function.

And yes, HD600/650 are absolutely fantastic in their own way!

 

[spruce]

I've never actually tried the stock braided XLR cable, as I have no amp for it so I can't comment on the quality of it. I'm all 6.35mm. I'm not even a cable "believer" in the first place so I doubt even the stock cable would degrade the audio in any way. Between the stock OFC, Audeze stock cable and Lektric C I notice no difference in terms of audio. The value for me is in the looks and feel of the cable. The Lektric cable is miles above in that department.

If you're going to have any realistic change in audio then it's always best to start with pads first because of how fundamental it is to our ear shapes and our head related transfer function.

And yes, HD600/650 are absolutely fantastic in their own way!

Got it. I’m always a bit dismayed when I hear of people who are unable to detect sound differences in cables. To me it’s no different than hearing subtle, or not so subtle, differences in headphones or ear pads! Although, I am assuming if you’re introducing harmonic distortion from an OTL amp, those differences may be less apparent. To be clear I’m not talking about the braided cable that I also received, I’m talking about the balanced shielded cable which is like a thick coil that will not straighten under any circumstance. Haha.

 

[JackarlTwo]

Got it. I’m always a bit dismayed when I hear of people who are unable to detect sound differences in cables. To me it’s no different than hearing subtle, or not so subtle, differences in headphones or ear pads! Although, I am assuming if you’re introducing harmonic distortion from an OTL amp, those differences may be less apparent. To be clear I’m not talking about the braided cable that I also received, I’m talking about the balanced shielded cable which is like a thick coil that will not straighten under any circumstance. Haha.

Oh yeah you're talking about the OFC cable. I just have it terminated in 1/4". It's indeed very stiff and annoying (Sorry Zach!) but the material itself is of fantastic quality. This wire is probably going to sound the same a hundred years from now haha. We can argue cable science all day long and nobody will get anywhere. At the end of the day, as long as you're happy with your system you're good to go.

 

[spruce]

Oh yeah you're talking about the OFC cable. I just have it terminated in 1/4". It's indeed very stiff and annoying (Sorry Zach!) but the material itself is of fantastic quality. This wire is probably going to sound the same a hundred years from now haha. We can argue cable science all day long and nobody will get anywhere. At the end of the day, as long as you're happy with your system you're good to go.

Absolutely! I’m also doing some pretty critical listening. For example, I just rolled some new Burson V7 op amps (vivid/volume stage, and classic/buffer stage) into my Burson Soloist 3X Performance during our chat : ) I’ve seen some naysayers regarding op amps as well, but I’m happy to report my first impressions are that I’m hearing a clear improvement. Whether it’s worth the cost is a different story although the Soloist has been on sale recently with free supercharger and seems to pair nicely with the Atrium for those interested in more linear or solid state performance.

 

[RestoredSparda]

Hello good people.

As you may know I picked up last month zmf AO zebra. I got 4 pair of pads with them to try out different setups. I didn't change anything until yesterday, where I swapped caldera ultra perf for universe. To see, when I removed the pads, the AO comes with radial vented mesh pre-installed.


Is that normal? Any recommendations regarding keeping/removing it? I guess they come with them by default for a reason. But I kindly ask you advice and ideas.

Also, had anyone tried the AO with caldera thick?

Thanks in advance

Have a good Sunday

That is not the stock mesh. That is the radial vented mesh which sounds quite a bit sharper and brighter compared to stock. Send ZMF an email to order the stock Atrium mesh. It's not an option via the store. Might as well order a solid mesh at the same time so you can find your preference.

I prefer the stock mesh for what it's worth. The full mesh IMO takes away too much of the dynamic swings Atrium is capable of and mutes it a bit.

 

[YtseJamer]

I prefer the stock mesh for what it's worth. The full mesh IMO takes away too much of the dynamic swings Atrium is capable of and mutes it a bit.

I had the same experience. Wasn't a fan of the full mesh either. I've decided to stick with the stock mesh and Caldera Ultra Perf pads on my Atrium, and I'm not bothering with any other pads anymore.

 

[yodas]

I have seen numerous pad reviews but they don't include the caldera ultra perforated suede pads, has anyone tried them on the atrium open?

I'm using them right now, they fixed the sharp vocals I was having with the universe lamb perf pads. If you've ever heard the hd600, I'd say with these pads the atrium is similar, with more relaxed vocals, better resolution, soundstage, significant better impact/physicality, worse vocals. Worse timbre but nothing really beats hd600 timbre.

 

[Honeypot]

That is not the stock mesh. That is the radial vented mesh which sounds quite a bit sharper and brighter compared to stock. Send ZMF an email to order the stock Atrium mesh. It's not an option via the store. Might as well order a solid mesh at the same time so you can find your preference.

I prefer the stock mesh for what it's worth. The full mesh IMO takes away too much of the dynamic swings Atrium is capable of and mutes it a bit.

So it's not a the stock mesh? How come it came with it installed?

 

[RestoredSparda]

So it's not a the stock mesh? How come it came with it installed?

This is stock. No clue? Did you buy it used? They are very easy to change.

 

[Phantaminum]

N

So it's not a the stock mesh? How come it came with it installed?

There were options for a bit there to select what type of mesh you wanted. Solid, default (the picture that RestoredSparda posted), and the radial mesh. So you just got one that had the radial mesh installed.

 

[goldwerger]

So it's not a the stock mesh? How come it came with it installed?

Just reach out to ZMF if you want it replaced I’m sure @zach915m and his team will take care of you

 

[AnyDave]

Just reach out to ZMF if you want it replaced I’m sure @zach915m and his team will take care of you

Absolutely. This should be relatively easy to sort out. The best thing to do is reach out to the team at: support@zmfheadphones.com.