[B1ll]

Hey folks, what’d you say is the closest headphone to the Auteur?

No chance to demo one here in Sydney, so just trying to get a feel for the sound signature.

HD800/S, but those are still thin sounding by comparison.

 

[wazzupi]

Hey folks, what’d you say is the closest headphone to the Auteur?

No chance to demo one here in Sydney, so just trying to get a feel for the sound signature.

Hd650 & hd800 are sitting at a bar, zach walks in and boasts, your auteur is here. Cheezy but i hope it helps.

Ps use a french accent when reading "your Auteur is here"

 

[gken92]

I have a LCD2C and i find them to be a good pair headphones for the price, but im craving for bigger bass slam and less darker highs without having too recessed mids. Do you guys think that Auteur is the correct upgrade path for me? Or do you recommend other ZMF headphones like Eikon or Atticus? For reference, my all time fav pair of headphones are the Senn HD650 but they are lacking in bass department for most modern songs these days and a bit too laid back overall. My previous headphones are Focal Elear (good pair of headphones but the wonky mids are dealbreaker for me, heavy), HD800 SDR modded (lean sounding and too unforgiving for modern songs), Fostex TH-X00 (the highs are sibilant and the mids are a tad too recessed for my liking). I wish I can audition them but Im located in the middle of jungle lol.

 

[wazzupi]

I have a LCD2C and i find them to be a good pair headphones for the price, but im craving for bigger bass slam and less darker highs without having too recessed mids. Do you guys think that Auteur is the correct upgrade path for me? Or do you recommend other ZMF headphones like Eikon or Atticus? For reference, my all time fav pair of headphones are the Senn HD650 but they are lacking in bass department for most modern songs these days and a bit too laid back overall. My previous headphones are Focal Elear (good pair of headphones but the wonky mids are dealbreaker for me, heavy), HD800 SDR modded (lean sounding and too unforgiving for modern songs), Fostex TH-X00 (the highs are sibilant and the mids are a tad too recessed for my liking). I wish I can audition them but Im located in the middle of jungle lol.

Hmm auteurs with eikon pads might be your fix.

 

[Gambitek]

I have a LCD2C and i find them to be a good pair headphones for the price, but im craving for bigger bass slam and less darker highs without having too recessed mids. Do you guys think that Auteur is the correct upgrade path for me? Or do you recommend other ZMF headphones like Eikon or Atticus? For reference, my all time fav pair of headphones are the Senn HD650 but they are lacking in bass department for most modern songs these days. My previous headphones are Focal Elear (good pair of headphones but the wonky mids are dealbreaker for me), HD800 SDR modded (lean sounding and too unforgiving for modern songs), Fostex TH-X00 (the highs are sibilant and the mids are a tad too recessed for my liking). I wish I can audition them but Im located in the middle of jungle lol.

While the Auteur has decent sub-bass rumble that responds even better to EQ, there's little mid-bass slam factor. I used to have an LCD2C and my Atticus is what I wished my LCD2C was. Sure, due to its open backed/planar nature the LCD2C has lightning fast decay and feels very open, but the Atticus has a far wider soundstage and the best mids I've ever heard on a headphone. Mid-bass impact is oh-so-satisfying and the sub bass responds well to EQ. Overall the Auteur is my preferred headphone due to the superior resolution and better imaging (I game), but I would also never part with my Atticus for my random basshead cravings. That said, the Atticus is dark in the treble area, but felt far less so than my LCD2C.

edit: While I found my LCD2C's bass extension to to be decent and the sub-bass rumble okay; the visceral slam factor was lacking from mid-bass hits. The atticus has that. The Auteur doesn't really, even with the Eikon perf pads. To me the Auteur doesn't sound like an Auteur with the Eikon perf pads, even though I am inclined to like darker sound sigs that are warmer.

On my Auteur I boost 25hz by 5 db with a 0.8 Q and I do a -2.5 db cut at 200 hz with a 1.41 Q. No other changes; dream headphone.

 

[Kristy Song]

HD800/S, but those are still thin sounding by comparison.

Hey guys, based on the number of people who have tried & agreed during their visit to Zeppelin, it would be the FOCAL CLEAR.

 

[Kristy Song]

Hd650 & hd800 are sitting at a bar, zach walks in and boasts, your auteur is here. Cheezy but i hope it helps.

Ps use a french accent when reading "your Auteur is here"

hhaha, nice one.

 

[Rhamnetin]

I have a LCD2C and i find them to be a good pair headphones for the price, but im craving for bigger bass slam and less darker highs without having too recessed mids. Do you guys think that Auteur is the correct upgrade path for me? Or do you recommend other ZMF headphones like Eikon or Atticus? For reference, my all time fav pair of headphones are the Senn HD650 but they are lacking in bass department for most modern songs these days and a bit too laid back overall. My previous headphones are Focal Elear (good pair of headphones but the wonky mids are dealbreaker for me, heavy), HD800 SDR modded (lean sounding and too unforgiving for modern songs), Fostex TH-X00 (the highs are sibilant and the mids are a tad too recessed for my liking). I wish I can audition them but Im located in the middle of jungle lol.

As someone who has owned both Audeze and ZMF, I think what you want is the ZMF Ori. It is just what you describe: take the Audeze sound, increase bass slam, remove the upper mid or lower treble recession and voila you have a ZMF Ori.

 

[wazzupi]

While the Auteur has decent sub-bass rumble that responds even better to EQ, there's little mid-bass slam factor. I used to have an LCD2C and my Atticus is what I wished my LCD2C was. Sure, due to its open backed/planar nature the LCD2C has lightning fast decay and feels very open, but the Atticus has a far wider soundstage and the best mids I've ever heard on a headphone. Mid-bass impact is oh-so-satisfying and the sub bass responds well to EQ. Overall the Auteur is my preferred headphone due to the superior resolution and better imaging (I game), but I would also never part with my Atticus for my random basshead cravings. That said, the Atticus is dark in the treble area, but felt far less so than my LCD2C.

edit: While I found my LCD2C's bass extension to to be decent and the sub-bass rumble okay; the visceral slam factor was lacking from mid-bass hits. The atticus has that. The Auteur doesn't really, even with the Eikon perf pads. To me the Auteur doesn't sound like an Auteur with the Eikon perf pads, even though I am inclined to like darker sound sigs that are warmer.

On my Auteur I boost 25hz by 5 db with a 0.8 Q and I do a -2.5 db cut at 200 hz with a 1.41 Q. No other changes; dream headphone.

What he said hehe, i wasnt sure if the highs would suffice to his liking but i agree atticus is the best bet.

 

[B1ll]

Hey guys, based on the number of people who have tried & agreed during their visit to Zeppelin, it would be the FOCAL CLEAR.

I think the airiness and resolution while maintaining musicality is closer to well driven Sennheiser cans, the Focal stuff is nasal and shrill, but still resolving, not musical.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Hey folks, what’d you say is the closest headphone to the Auteur?

No chance to demo one here in Sydney, so just trying to get a feel for the sound signature.

Of my cans, and those I've tried/owned in the past, my (Blackwood) Auteur is closest to my Utopia, with much the same dynamics & tonality.

As others have mentioned, the Utopia is more detailed and analytical, less musical, and leans slightly brighter than the Auteur. Utopia also has extremely precise soundstage, although it feels somewhat smaller than Auteur's. Both have very balanced/neutral tonality, with the Utopia having just a small amount of lift in the upper-mids/treble region compared to Auteur. Both have great impact and dynamics. Neither is a 'bass-cannon', although both take EQ very well.

Bottom line: Blackwood Auteur comes remarkably close to Utopia @40% of Utopia MSRP/RRP (or whatever they call it).

 

[zach915m]

HD800/S, but those are still thin sounding by comparison.

I just realized I don't know exactly where they are located in AU - but Epiphany Audio in australia carries the ZMF's. https://epiphany.audio/

 

[Liu Junyuan]

I have a LCD2C and i find them to be a good pair headphones for the price, but im craving for bigger bass slam and less darker highs without having too recessed mids. Do you guys think that Auteur is the correct upgrade path for me? Or do you recommend other ZMF headphones like Eikon or Atticus? For reference, my all time fav pair of headphones are the Senn HD650 but they are lacking in bass department for most modern songs these days and a bit too laid back overall. My previous headphones are Focal Elear (good pair of headphones but the wonky mids are dealbreaker for me, heavy), HD800 SDR modded (lean sounding and too unforgiving for modern songs), Fostex TH-X00 (the highs are sibilant and the mids are a tad too recessed for my liking). I wish I can audition them but Im located in the middle of jungle lol.

HEKv2 might be another headphone to consider, along with Atticus, Ori and Auteur. I've noticed not a few people who have migrated from the LCD2C gravitating toward the Aeon Flow, which is in a similar price bracket.

 

[wazzupi]

HEKv2 might be another headphone to consider, along with Atticus, Ori and Auteur. I've noticed not a few people who have migrated from the LCD2C gravitating toward the Aeon Flow, which is in a similar price bracket.

Eww lcd2c is better imo.

 

[NickedWicked]

Eww lcd2c is better imo.

Yeah, I was pretty disgusted by the AFO as well. Everything that was described seem to match my preferences but when I put it on my head it just didn't click at all, maybe it was the amp I was using, but they were comfy I'll give them that.