ZMF Auteur Thread
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Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
Amen to this! Ditto.
I have one in Green and I’ve seen other people with Red ones (of which I am jealous), I love it and I’m kind of hoping that they do a Stabilized set of Eikons.
Auteur Pad impression: Been comparing between several popular pads with my Auteur using my Feliks Audio Elise OTL amp and ZMF 2k copper cable. These are just my opinion and peeps might feel differently.
Auteur Perf Lamb: Stock pads. Best soundstage of all the pads that i own and its also the highlight of this pad. Wide sound field with a hint of 3d soundstage. Probably best sparkle in the high end. Lots of airy smooth treble. Mid range is also slightly forward. Voices get the most preferential treatment. Auteur pads brings out the voices and places them in front of the face. This pad is lacking a little in the low end. There's bass, however its not punchy enough for me. There are good amount of sub bass but it lacks the intensity and as a result, the bass is a lttle overtaken by the beautiful mid and high range. These were my default pads for the longest time. It works great with warm amps and solid state amps like my GSX-mini but the low end with my Elise OTL amp leave a little to be desired.
Eikon Perf Lamb: 2nd stock pads. Slightly narrower sound stage than the auteur pads (my only gripe). Feels a little congested. Due to the smaller opening of the pads, these tame the treble ever so slightly to a more neutral level. The treble lacks the amount of air and sparkle that the auteur pads provide and I actually like it. However, the low end is where this pad really shines. I would say that these pads probably has the same amount of actual bass as the Auteur pads, but its definitely more controlled and punchy. Mid bass is phenomenal. Sub bass is plenty and not bloomy and definitely doesn't not bleed in to the mid range. Male voices (deeper voices) have the depth unlike the other two pads. Mid range is just like the auteur pads with the voices appearing slightly forward. If you have a neutral or slightly brighter amp, these pads should help with possible treble harshness. Currently these are the pads i am using.
Auteur Perf Suede: These are the newest pads that i came into possession. I got these solely after reading this forum. These are comfy !!! I had little to no idea about the sound signature of these pads. Using the same amp and listening to the same siongs, I noticed that these are very similar to the Auteur lamb pads previously mentioned. Thats to be expected though. They sound decent. The suede brings the same sparkle that was missing in the Eikon pads. The wide soundstage is also back. the mids, however are a little recessed, which i believe some people would love and enjoy because the other two were mid range heavy and these pads brings the highs and mids on the same page. The voices are directly in line with the instruments. The music sounds lateral rather than 3d or holographic. Unfortunately, the low end is where this pad falls a little short. bass is no longer punchy but there's plenty of rumble to go around. Mid bass has a little slam. This pad mimics its lambkin sibling in almost all the aspects. But heres the thing, whats surprising is that these pads sound glorious with my GSX-mini. While with the Elise OTL, the bass was stationed in the back, the Mini brings it out to the front and these pads sound excellent. Still not on the same level on authority as the EIkon pads but its a decent improvement.
Now I cant help but imagine what the perf Eikon suedes would sound like. If the Eikon suedes provide the same amount of punch as the lambskin while the suede material provides some sparkle and air to the highs, then I think we got ourselves a winner here. Let me know what you guys think. Also, if some one wants to lend or sell me their Ekoin perf Suedes, I'd be more than happy to add to my post about the sound. Hope this helped.
Cheers
Auteur Perf Lamb: Stock pads. Best soundstage of all the pads that i own and its also the highlight of this pad. Wide sound field with a hint of 3d soundstage. Probably best sparkle in the high end. Lots of airy smooth treble. Mid range is also slightly forward. Voices get the most preferential treatment. Auteur pads brings out the voices and places them in front of the face. This pad is lacking a little in the low end. There's bass, however its not punchy enough for me. There are good amount of sub bass but it lacks the intensity and as a result, the bass is a lttle overtaken by the beautiful mid and high range. These were my default pads for the longest time. It works great with warm amps and solid state amps like my GSX-mini but the low end with my Elise OTL amp leave a little to be desired.
Eikon Perf Lamb: 2nd stock pads. Slightly narrower sound stage than the auteur pads (my only gripe). Feels a little congested. Due to the smaller opening of the pads, these tame the treble ever so slightly to a more neutral level. The treble lacks the amount of air and sparkle that the auteur pads provide and I actually like it. However, the low end is where this pad really shines. I would say that these pads probably has the same amount of actual bass as the Auteur pads, but its definitely more controlled and punchy. Mid bass is phenomenal. Sub bass is plenty and not bloomy and definitely doesn't not bleed in to the mid range. Male voices (deeper voices) have the depth unlike the other two pads. Mid range is just like the auteur pads with the voices appearing slightly forward. If you have a neutral or slightly brighter amp, these pads should help with possible treble harshness. Currently these are the pads i am using.
Auteur Perf Suede: These are the newest pads that i came into possession. I got these solely after reading this forum. These are comfy !!! I had little to no idea about the sound signature of these pads. Using the same amp and listening to the same siongs, I noticed that these are very similar to the Auteur lamb pads previously mentioned. Thats to be expected though. They sound decent. The suede brings the same sparkle that was missing in the Eikon pads. The wide soundstage is also back. the mids, however are a little recessed, which i believe some people would love and enjoy because the other two were mid range heavy and these pads brings the highs and mids on the same page. The voices are directly in line with the instruments. The music sounds lateral rather than 3d or holographic. Unfortunately, the low end is where this pad falls a little short. bass is no longer punchy but there's plenty of rumble to go around. Mid bass has a little slam. This pad mimics its lambkin sibling in almost all the aspects. But heres the thing, whats surprising is that these pads sound glorious with my GSX-mini. While with the Elise OTL, the bass was stationed in the back, the Mini brings it out to the front and these pads sound excellent. Still not on the same level on authority as the EIkon pads but its a decent improvement.
Now I cant help but imagine what the perf Eikon suedes would sound like. If the Eikon suedes provide the same amount of punch as the lambskin while the suede material provides some sparkle and air to the highs, then I think we got ourselves a winner here. Let me know what you guys think. Also, if some one wants to lend or sell me their Ekoin perf Suedes, I'd be more than happy to add to my post about the sound. Hope this helped.
Cheers
Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
Thanks for the pad rolling experiment! That’s really helpful. If you get to try more pads, please keep the impressions coming! I’ve heard the Verite perforated leather pads sound good on the Auteur as well. They’re my favorite on the Verite, so I wonder what they sound like on the Auteur.
jarredp1993
Head-Fier
Can anyone with both Auteurs and 6XX’s comment on the difference in audible noise bleed? It has come to my attention that my wife is quite sensitive to the bleed on my 6XX’s.
Are the Auteurs better at all when it comes to sound bleed? My immediate guess would be slightly simply because the entire 6XX driver is exposed through the mesh grille whereas the Auteur is more encapsulated (the grille opening and some slots around the main driver opening).
Obviously both are open back and I expect bleed 1000% but if there is any improvement at all my wife would be thrilled. Moral of the story is that I need to move my setup out of the office!
Are the Auteurs better at all when it comes to sound bleed? My immediate guess would be slightly simply because the entire 6XX driver is exposed through the mesh grille whereas the Auteur is more encapsulated (the grille opening and some slots around the main driver opening).
Obviously both are open back and I expect bleed 1000% but if there is any improvement at all my wife would be thrilled. Moral of the story is that I need to move my setup out of the office!
My experience is that it is roughly 80% of something completely open like the 6XX. I listen next to my wife and she doesn't notice much, however I do keep the volume fairly low-medium.
jarredp1993
Head-Fier
Awesome! That’s great to hear. Thanks for the info.
LCMusicLover
Headphoneus Supremus
Concur -- Auteur is 'semi-open' and lets some sound out (and in). But less than 6xx. I don't know about 80% but that seems ballpark.
Propagandist
100+ Head-Fier
Not sure if this helps, but I find the Auteur to be "more closed" than the Aeolus and Verite. Maybe it's because of the different vent/opening sizes?
Although the ZMF open backs are truly open, they do a little bit of isolation, which I really enjoy.
Although the ZMF open backs are truly open, they do a little bit of isolation, which I really enjoy.
I have a bottlehead crack with HD600, HD650 and HD800S headphones. I love this set up. To me, the HD600 and HD650 are like pees an carrots. They complement each other perfectly and I divided my listening time between the two headphones by genre. Anything needing more clarity, like classical music, I used the HD600s and if it needed more warmth, like Bossa Nova, I used the HD650s. I am looking for a complementary set of headphones for my HD800S which needs more bass. I am considering the ZMF Amateurs for this purpose. Would they be complementary? Or, is there another ZMF headphone that would be better in this regard?
Just got the notice from ZMF that my Auteur Wenge + brass shipped today. Yay!
jarredp1993
Head-Fier
I’m seeing lots of changes on the sheet!! Hoping to see my name disappear too! Congrats, enjoy the set!
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