[givemetacos]

Where'd you get Paduak?! I asked Zach about a week ago and he said he didn't have anymore. I was under the impression these were preproduction models only!

Just got my Teaks in today. I must say, they look rather handsome and different than the orange look as portrayed in a lot of people's pictures. It's actually a smoky oak barrel oak look. I just got in some Paduak blanks in so I'm looking at ideas on building an all new headphone stand for it but it looks great on my Walnut Omega.

First impressions - the Auteur sounds effortless. The highs are sparkly and actually very forgiving even with the stock Auteur pads. I actually prefer them but will keep doing more testing. The mids are neutral warm. They nail it on not ever sounding shouty but sounding very full. They massage your ears as an artist pans from left to right. ASMR therapy on these is a treat, they literally tickle the hairs all around your ears. The subbass is very linear but present especially when called for. It gives a very nice heft to guitars especially acoustic (steel string in particular).

Microdetail is there but not in your face. It's definitely a few notches short of the HD800 but it does sound like a smooth 'essence'. if you will, floating all around you, subdued, waiting for you to pick up on.

Overall, I'd say the Auteurs are effortless, elegant, relaxed headphones without sounding veiled, screechy, or boring. This is an incredibly difficult task to accomplish considering Zach was aiming at making super neutral cans. I think he achieved his goal and then some while still keeping his house flair which have made his cans very special to me. Planar mids without any harshness with plenty of clarity, great subbass and sparkly highs. These are very reminicent of the LCD 3's imo.

As for the weight, definently lighter than even the Camphor Atticus at only 25 grams less. It's incredible what only a little bit of weight reduction does to the overall feel of the cans. I can finally say I have easily found a surpasser to the HD650 and all of its mods and my endgame. Will continue to tube roll to spicen them up a bit on the detail front but very happy overall.

Congrats on the new Teaks! Love those swirls in your cups. And yeah my Auteur isn't a standard production unit, at least not unless Zach does a future limited released in Padauk.

Your impressions of Auteur being a successor to HD650 is exactly what I was relaying in my previous post as Auteur is the only headphone close enough to being an HD6x0 upgrade that I would feel comfortable not needing to own an HD6x0. My HD6XX basically just sits in a box in my closet most the time as I don't really feel the need to listen to it and I just hold onto it for collection, nostalgic, and review reference reasons. All the other headphones that were supposed to be the HD650 successor like LCD-2, Elear, etc. never did that for me and I always felt the need to keep HD650.

 

[Redmetal1897]

Where'd you get Paduak?! I asked Zach about a week ago and he said he didn't have anymore. I was under the impression these were preproduction models only!



Just got my Teaks in today. I must say, they look rather handsome and different than the orange look as portrayed in a lot of people's pictures. It's actually a smoky oak barrel look.

I just got in some Paduak wood blanks that I'm hoping to build into a headphone stand for these but right now they're looking great on my Walnut Omega stand.

First impressions - the Auteur sounds effortless. The highs are sparkly and actually very forgiving even with the stock Auteur pads. I actually prefer them but will keep doing more testing. The mids are neutral warm. They nail it on not ever sounding shouty but sounding very full. They massage your ears as an artist pans from left to right. ASMR therapy on these is a treat, they literally tickle the hairs all around your ears. The subbass is very linear but present especially when called for. It gives a very nice heft to guitars especially acoustic (steel string in particular).

Microdetail is there but not in your face. It's definitely a few notches short of the HD800 but it does sound like a smooth 'essence'. if you will, floating all around you, subdued, waiting for you to pick up on.

Overall, I'd say the Auteurs are effortless, elegant, relaxed headphones without sounding veiled, screechy, or boring. This is an incredibly difficult task to accomplish considering Zach was aiming at making super neutral cans. I think he achieved his goal and then some while still keeping his house flair which have made his cans very special to me. Planar mids without any harshness with plenty of clarity, great subbass and sparkly highs. These are very reminicent of the LCD 3's imo.

As for the weight, definently lighter than even the Camphor Atticus at only 25 grams less. It's incredible what only a little bit of weight reduction does to the overall feel of the cans. I can finally say I have easily found a surpasser to the HD650 and all of its mods and my endgame. Will continue to tube roll to spicen them up a bit on the detail front but very happy overall.

Glad that all the deliberation seems to have been worth it!

 

[hikaru12]

Glad that all the deliberation seems to have been worth it!

Glad I listened to my instincts. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[Sound Trooper]

The Auteur looks gorgeous in paduak & teak! Coincidentally I also tried a teak & blackwood Auteur and I felt that the teak sounds closer to the cocobolo. The cocobolo adds a little more warm to the teak sound. The blackwood was very much darker in sounding.

Are you guys running your Auteur’s with tubes?

 

[givemetacos]

The Auteur looks gorgeous in paduak & teak! Coincidentally I also tried a teak & blackwood Auteur and I felt that the teak sounds closer to the cocobolo. The cocobolo adds a little more warm to the teak sound. The blackwood was very much darker in sounding.

Are you guys running your Auteur’s with tubes?

Yeah I'm using Valhalla 2 for now with the EC ZDT Jr on order.

 

[hikaru12]

The Auteur looks gorgeous in paduak & teak! Coincidentally I also tried a teak & blackwood Auteur and I felt that the teak sounds closer to the cocobolo. The cocobolo adds a little more warm to the teak sound. The blackwood was very much darker in sounding.

Are you guys running your Auteur’s with tubes?

Yes sir, right now I got in a RCA Grey Glass, a Sylvania Bad Boy 6SN7W and a Westinghouse 5U4G and this strikes the perfect balance between smooth and crisp. I can see why some people might find the Teaks bright if they put in some more dynamic tubes (I tried in a Philips 54Y and it was super punchy but a bit sibilant). Personally I chose the Teaks because they strike a nice contrast of the black grills and the lighter wood. I've spoken to Zach but been sworn to secrecy about his next limited wood runs...suffice to say they'll be exotic and fun

 

[Sound Trooper]

Yeah I'm using Valhalla 2 for now with the EC ZDT Jr on order.

Yes sir, right now I got in a RCA Grey Glass, a Sylvania Bad Boy 6SN7W and a Westinghouse 5U4G and this strikes the perfect balance between smooth and crisp. I can see why some people might find the Teaks bright if they put in some more dynamic tubes (I tried in a Philips 54Y and it was super punchy but a bit sibilant). Personally I chose the Teaks because they strike a nice contrast of the black grills and the lighter wood. I've spoken to Zach but been sworn to secrecy about his next limited wood runs...suffice to say they'll be exotic and fun

Wonderful! I’m looking forward to driving mine with tubes as well.

I do find the weight of the black grills to be more comfortable.

 

[hikaru12]

Wonderful! I’m looking forward to driving mine with tubes as well.

I do find the weight of the black grills to be more comfortable.

The ZDT JR or the Blues Mini are excellent options for under $1k.

 

[Hansotek]

Wonderful! I’m looking forward to driving mine with tubes as well.

I do find the weight of the black grills to be more comfortable.

You have a Glenn EL3N amp on order, right? I'm curious to hear what you think of it with the Auteur and the Phi.

 

[Sound Trooper]

You have a Glenn EL3N amp on order, right? I'm curious to hear what you think of it with the Auteur and the Phi.

Yes Sir! I'll surely report back on the pairings.

 

[Gambitek]

How is the bass impact on the Auteur? I'm assuming it's not as visceral as a fully closed back like the Atticus?

 

[Hansotek]

How is the bass impact on the Auteur? I'm assuming it's not as visceral as a fully closed back like the Atticus?

I compared the bass of the two here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-auteur-thread.862918/page-54#post-14070894

 

[Gambitek]

Thanks!

BTW, I heard that the Auteur isolates about as well as a semi-closed/open like the TH-X00, which is decent. How open is it? Will it isolate even slightly or like "none" like an LCD2C or HD650?

 

[Daemon Ursus]

Thanks!

BTW, I heard that the Auteur isolates about as well as a semi-closed/open like the TH-X00, which is decent. How open is it? Will it isolate even slightly or like "none" like an LCD2C or HD650?

It isolates a little bit, more than you would expect probably, but it's definitely still open. It's not like Eikon or Atticus where if even the quietest music is playing, you can't hear anything outside of the headphones.

 

[Sound Trooper]

I compared the bass of the two here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-auteur-thread.862918/page-54#post-14070894

Ditto on your comments about the Auteur bass sounding like a planar. When I first tried on the Auteur, I mistook it as a planar as the bass is of that quality.