[Pharmaboy]

Good choices for the Auteur!

On a side note, my girlfriend wants us to get a dog. I said only if I can name it "Dog Stevens"

Good choices for the Auteur!

On a side note, my girlfriend wants us to get a dog. I said only if I can name it "Dog Stevens"

I (for one) am relieved you two aren't getting a blowfish...

 

[givemetacos]

The 2nd from left and far right are the auteur pads.



I will not defile the holy pads!

Alrite people, I think I just figured out an Auteur vs Eikon pad "cheat sheet" for those still confused. This isn't going to be 100% true for all pairs, but so far from the 2 Auteurs I have had and from the photos I have seen posted, I think this holds mostly true. Zach is right about looking at the thinner, front section of the earpads. I was staring at mine earlier and figured out a "cheat". The Eikon pads have 4 perforation holes going across the length of that area at the narrowest part (where the seam is). The Auteur pads only have 3 perforation holes going across. I know there is going to be a lot of variation in exactly where the holes line up for your pair, but it really does seem clear that Eikon pads will have 4 holes going across, or at least, if yours only have 3 holes you could tell from the spacing that 4 holes would still easily fit. The Auteur pads on the other hand should have 3 holes, or you can at least tell that only 3 holes could fit. One of my Auteur pads only has 2 holes punched out, but a 3rd would fit.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Just came across a track Auteur clearly reproduces better than Utopia in my system

Live 'Angel', Sarah McLachlan and Emmylou Harris

...in two ways.

First, the track is mostly piano and two voices with some other instruments coming in at the end. On Utopia, the piano is too prominent and steps on the vocals. On Auteur, the piano is not recessed, but somehow there is just a space in the music for the voices with the piano surrounding them.

Secondly, the two voices trade off verses, but both sing the choruses. In the choruses, their voices warble together, sometimes perfectly in sync, and sometimes offset to create a sort of vibrato effect. For some reason Utopia just misses this -- interaction of the two voices is much more evident on Auteur. Maybe due to the first item -- piano gets out of the way and then hear more vocal nuance.

chain: NUC ==> Singxer SU-1 ==> AES/EBU Pontus ==> Emotiva XSP-1 ==> BHA-1 ==> Utopia/Cardas Clear | Auteur/Silver Dragon
(all analog connections balanced, volume controlled on preamp)

 

[jmk720]

Just came across a track Auteur clearly reproduces better than Utopia in my system

Live 'Angel', Sarah McLachlan and Emmylou Harris

...in two ways.

First, the track is mostly piano and two voices with some other instruments coming in at the end. On Utopia, the piano is too prominent and steps on the vocals. On Auteur, the piano is not recessed, but somehow there is just a space in the music for the voices with the piano surrounding them.

Secondly, the two voices trade off verses, but both sing the choruses. In the choruses, their voices warble together, sometimes perfectly in sync, and sometimes offset to create a sort of vibrato effect. For some reason Utopia just misses this -- interaction of the two voices is much more evident on Auteur. Maybe due to the first item -- piano gets out of the way and then hear more vocal nuance.

chain: NUC ==> Singxer SU-1 ==> AES/EBU Pontus ==> Emotiva XSP-1 ==> BHA-1 ==> Utopia/Cardas Clear | Auteur/Silver Dragon
(all analog connections balanced, volume controlled on preamp)

This is very interesting ... Which of the two do you think is best for EDM?

 

[lentoviolento]

has someone the fr chart of auteur vs atticus? i don't have atticus at the moment but from what i recall auteur feel more recessed.. am i right?

 

[jinxy245]

I haven't seen Auteur on Innerfidelity, but Atticus is there

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/ZMFAtticus.pdf

 

[Gambitek]

has someone the fr chart of auteur vs atticus? i don't have atticus at the moment but from what i recall auteur feel more recessed.. am i right?

Recessed in what way? Maybe just the top end. The Atticus' mids and mid-bass are emphasized/colored in the best way possible. I think Zach made this headphone using actual magic; and I say this has someone who has been an "I only use open-backs" kind of fanboy.

edit: Never heard "Sugar" by Karmin before but it just came on while wearing my Atticus and I have the dumbest grin on my face right now.

 

[ZenErik]

There are graphs for both the Auteur and Atticus by Marv on that other site that seems to be unmentionable here.

 

[LCMusicLover]

This is very interesting ... Which of the two do you think is best for EDM?

Sorry, that's not really a genre I'm familiar with. In fact, it's sort of the antithesis of what I listen to (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Mark Knofler, Loreena McKennitt, Ray LaMontagne, Steely Dan, Beatles, Gretchen Peters, Ajiit Kaur...).

Does EDM tend to be bass-heavy? If so, and you value that, then neither of these cans are probably for you unless you want to EQ. Both sets respond to EQ very well.

(edit) I just scrolled through the 'EDM Room' on Spotify (here at work via speakers, not my cans). I notice that most of the tunes have a lot of high frequency information/detail. That's what will drive a choice between the two. The Utopia will present and emphasize all that top end stuff, and either be really pleasing or too much. Auteur will either smooth out the presentation to make it wonderfully musical, or dull it down by taking too much edge off. That's going to be a 'what sounds best to your ears' and also a 'what is the rest of your chain like' thing. A Sabre DAC feeding a bright SS amp might add up to 'too much' via Utopia, but be wonderful with Auteur, while an AKM or other warm DAC feeding a warmer amp might be perfect with Utopia, but a bit subdued ... well you get the idea.

Bottom line though, Auteur and Utopia are close together, and way different than (say) LCD or Hifiman or MrSpeakers planars.

Hope that helps.

 

[Spandy87]

Sorry, that's not really a genre I'm familiar with. In fact, it's sort of the antithesis of what I listen to (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Mark Knofler, Loreena McKennitt, Ray LaMontagne, Steely Dan, Beatles, Gretchen Peters, Ajiit Kaur...).

Does EDM tend to be bass-heavy? If so, and you value that, then neither of these cans are probably for you unless you want to EQ. Both sets respond to EQ very well.

(edit) I just scrolled through the 'EDM Room' on Spotify (here at work via speakers, not my cans). I notice that most of the tunes have a lot of high frequency information/detail. That's what will drive a choice between the two. The Utopia will present and emphasize all that top end stuff, and either be really pleasing or too much. Auteur will either smooth out the presentation to make it wonderfully musical, or dull it down by taking too much edge off. That's going to be a 'what sounds best to your ears' and also a 'what is the rest of your chain like' thing. A Sabre DAC feeding a bright SS amp might add up to 'too much' via Utopia, but be wonderful with Auteur, while an AKM or other warm DAC feeding a warmer amp might be perfect with Utopia, but a bit subdued ... well you get the idea.

Bottom line though, Auteur and Utopia are close together, and way different than (say) LCD or Hifiman or MrSpeakers planars.

Hope that helps.

I actually think the Auteur is excellent for EDM. I don't enjoy that genre but the resolution and bass slam make it the better candidate. EDM relies on tones that aren't typically recorded using traditional styles, and as a result you eliminate any recording imperfections that show up with real music (yes I went there). High resolution cans let that kind of stuff really shine, and the Auteur does that with excellent macrodynamics as well.

 

[ZenErik]

I think the Auteur sounds quite nice with EDM, but I'm not a believer of EDM requiring u shaped frequency response or anything like that. It's got more than enough mid and sub bass for my tastes. Plenty of detail without being overly bright and sibilant. I do have to admit that sometimes I think about how cool the HD800S soundstage can be for EDM. Even still the Auteur is fantastic.

 

[Maalis]

I don't hear any harshness in the Auteur anymore, currently running it with stock cable and eikon pads (I also have the OCC cable which I initially used). Also since I got a new table and upgraded my PC listening setup I'm using my new WA6 instead of the SE which I have for my CDs.

 

[givemetacos]

has someone the fr chart of auteur vs atticus? i don't have atticus at the moment but from what i recall auteur feel more recessed.. am i right?

I have both Auteur and Atticus (for a while now) and I can confidently say the Auteur does NOT feel recessed in any sense for any part of the frequency range. Like I have said before in my reviews, Auteur is what I personally consider "neutral" and spot on in tonal balance. Where HD800 has an upper mid tip that I would call slightly recessed, Auteur does not have that.

As for Atticus (and Eikon), be very careful when looking at measurements, particularly Tyll's. Those are headphones that just don't sound exactly like they measure for whatever reason. Atticus' measurements almost look like the mids roll-off in a similar way as LCD headphones do, but it absolutely does NOT sound like that at all. It is very mid-forward like the Sennheiser HD600/650. I've done a ton of comparisons with Atticus vs those Sennheisers, LCD-2F, and LCD2C to confirm that.

Both are great headphones, but Auteur is the more tonally correct headphone if that is what you are looking for. If you want really thick and rich emphasized mids, Atticus bring that.

 

[ProfFalkin]

I have both Auteur and Atticus (for a while now) and I can confidently say the Auteur does NOT feel recessed in any sense for any part of the frequency range. Like I have said before in my reviews, Auteur is what I personally consider "neutral" and spot on in tonal balance. Where HD800 has an upper mid tip that I would call slightly recessed, Auteur does not have that.

As for Atticus (and Eikon), be very careful when looking at measurements, particularly Tyll's. Those are headphones that just don't sound exactly like they measure for whatever reason. Atticus' measurements almost look like the mids roll-off in a similar way as LCD headphones do, but it absolutely does NOT sound like that at all. It is very mid-forward like the Sennheiser HD600/650. I've done a ton of comparisons with Atticus vs those Sennheisers, LCD-2F, and LCD2C to confirm that.

Both are great headphones, but Auteur is the more tonally correct headphone if that is what you are looking for. If you want really thick and rich emphasized mids, Atticus bring that.

I think it's fair to say that Tyll was never a huge ZMF fan, and his review of the Atticus and Eikon were half-assed at best. The headphones he chose to compare them to had very little similarities in either sound, price point, or target audience.

With that said, Mr. Speakers sure has a place in Tyll's heart (or up his ass, depending on your point of view after the Ether C Flow/M50X/WOF debacle).

 

[Spandy87]

I think it's fair to say that Tyll was never a huge ZMF fan, and his review of the Atticus and Eikon were half-assed at best. The headphones he chose to compare them to had very little similarities in either sound, price point, or target audience.

With that said, Mr. Speakers sure has a place in Tyll's heart (or up his ass, depending on your point of view after the Ether C Flow/M50X/WOF debacle).

One of the key points about the WoF though was that items had to be commercially available. So typically massdrop stuff and other custom made cans weren't listed there (many weren't even reviewed or auditioned). While ZMF headphones are commercially available, the wait time and the fact that these headphones weren't of the traditional "product to market" type may have made him reluctant to take them as seriously as he should have.