[smodtactical]

Auteur has the best timbre; nothing sounds 'off' with electronic music and musical instruments/vocals sound very natural. The Atticus has the best timbre for real instruments; despite the satisfying midbass thump, the timbre just seems a bit off for electronic music. The Atticus is just very organic. The HP-3 is the total opposite of the Atticus; electronic music sounds AMAAAAAAAAAAZING but I don't care for the timbre when it comes to real instruments.

HP3 and Atticus have about same soundstage width, Auteur a bit narrower. HP3 has the deepest soundstage of them all, but the Auteur's imaging is the best as well as the 'blackground'.

If you like subbass/boosted treble = HP3 (plus it actually isolates a decent chunk for an open back)
If you like midbass/mids = Atticus (the HP3 has an even bigger boosted midbass, but the Atticus does it better with a nice thump you pretty much only get with closed backs)
If you like Mids/Clarity with acceptable subbass = Auteur.

Electronic = HP3, no question
Jazz = Atticus due to sexy mids, then Auteur
Classical = Auteur/HP-3 then Atticus

Best all rounder = Auteur
Most forgiving of poorly recorded tracks = Atticus (the HP3 and Auteur will reveal ****ty mastering very readily, this is kinda a drawback)

Auteur not for consumer bassheads.

Thank you for the awesome impressions. This is a very tricky decision for me. On the one hand I have the hd800s which I use for classical ambient and space ambient music as well as medieval and Celtic music and I'm not really looking to replace them for those genres. However I have always wondered what the 800s would sound like if it had a bit warmer of of the sound with more bass and subbass.

The Atticus seems very appealing to me based on what you said. A sort of hd650 with even better bass and detailed mids and probably even more extended treble. I enjoy my 650 for edm and jazz as well as any music where the 800s gets too white hot or if I'm just in a softer detail relaxation mood.

Very tough decision. I also wonder if I'll get a decent sound with my burson conductor sl 9018 with zmf headphones. I suppose most likely I will be fine. I recently compared the Burson to the Moon Neo 430 had and was surprised to find that the Burson got me to about 95% of the sound quality of the Moon Neo with my hd800s (with a laptop running flac on foobar 2000) I suppose I'll be fine.

Do you think the Atticus could satisfy consumer baseheads?

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

Thanks Zach
I received the Auteur's Friday.
.The Auteur phones these things sound great!!! They beat the HD-800s in everything I never thought any phone could beat the 800s
With the EL3N amp I can plug in both phones and not affect the sound and do a quick A-B and the Auteur beat the 800s with every
kind of music.

Glenn

I don’t think you can get a better compliment then this, let alone who its from!!

NIce to see you on the thread @2359glenn !

 

[Gambitek]

Do you think the Atticus could satisfy consumer baseheads?

I think someone coming from older Beats or Skullcandy garbage would find them lacking bass. By audiophile standards they are pretty damn bassy and kick like a mule.

Think of an Atticus like a super HD650 (or even LCD-2) that has less "air" (due to closed back), but way better everything else (including soundstage). Slower decay.

I use Auteur and Atticus as my "polar opposite" companion headphones. I still miss my HP-3, though. None of those do sub bass and soundstage depth like the HP-3.

 

[zach915m]

Could someone help me understand or describe what I’m hearing -

My Setup:
Lossless FLAC (44.1 - 192k) -> Roon -> UDOO Linux i5 SBC -> Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ -> 4-pin XLR Out and/or Schiit Valhalla 2 -> ZMF Auteur / LCD-2 / Nighthawks.

I find that only on certain tracks I’m hearing distortion(?), maybe a slight static like sound that seems to surround higher frequency guitar notes. It is really evident to me on say King Solomon’s Marbles off of the Dead’s Blues for Allah. I detect it mainly at low volume, as I bring it up it seems to lessen - maybe get covered up?

I don’t really notice it on the Nighthawks but I definitely hear it with the Auteurs and the LCD-2s. To eliminate the Linux box and the Mytek I’ve tried a DAP - the distortion(?) is still there, maybe not quite as evident. I’m wondering if it’s a setup issue on my part or poor recordings. I’m doubting poor recordings because I detect it with maybe 15% of the ‘rock’ music I listen to?

Is low volume distortion a thing? It’s not uncomfortable to bring the volume up enough that the sound goes away, I’m just curious as to what the heck I’m hearing?!

I'm pretty sure it's roon, I've heard these issues too and it's typically about getting your roon settings right for your setup. For me going into the source settings and making sure the driver is on exclusive mode almost always fixes this issue. There can be other tweaks all of them found in the audio settings of your driver within roon. If the above doesn't work just tweak until you find the setting that works best with room and your computer.

Part of the blessing and curse of roon I guess!

 

[mattkuehn]

I'm pretty sure it's roon, I've heard these issues too and it's typically about getting your roon settings right for your setup. For me going into the source settings and making sure the driver is on exclusive mode almost always fixes this issue. There can be other tweaks all of them found in the audio settings of your driver within roon. If the above doesn't work just tweak until you find the setting that works best with room and your computer.

Part of the blessing and curse of roon I guess!

I kind of had my suspicions about Roon potentially being the source of this - I’ll have to dig in to the setup and see what I can find out, maybe try out some other endpoints other than the linux box I’m using right now.

By the way - FANTASTIC job on these cans. I’ve had them for maybe a month and I’ve used them literally every night - absolutely amazing.

 

[smodtactical]

I think someone coming from older Beats or Skullcandy garbage would find them lacking bass. By audiophile standards they are pretty damn bassy and kick like a mule.

Think of an Atticus like a super HD650 (or even LCD-2) that has less "air" (due to closed back), but way better everything else (including soundstage). Slower decay.

I use Auteur and Atticus as my "polar opposite" companion headphones. I still miss my HP-3, though. None of those do sub bass and soundstage depth like the HP-3.

Thats cool. Seems like Atticus is what I am after to complement my HD 800S.

Could Eikon match the HP3's subbass?

 

[Gambitek]

Thats cool. Seems like Atticus is what I am after to complement my HD 800S.

Could Eikon match the HP3's subbass?

No idea. Never heard an Eikon. Atticus is the only closed headphone I really love. Wish I could try an EIkon.

 

[gLer]

I think someone coming from older Beats or Skullcandy garbage would find them lacking bass. By audiophile standards they are pretty damn bassy and kick like a mule.

Think of an Atticus like a super HD650 (or even LCD-2) that has less "air" (due to closed back), but way better everything else (including soundstage). Slower decay.

I use Auteur and Atticus as my "polar opposite" companion headphones. I still miss my HP-3, though. None of those do sub bass and soundstage depth like the HP-3.

Agree about the bass - took me a while to wean off the cheap bass addiction (think of it as weaning off a sugar addiction), and appreciate what great bass is all about. The Atticus has this in spades, both quality and quantity, while more ‘refined’ (I hate that condescending word) headphones tone down the bass quantity but have plenty of quality (a-la Auteur).

I’m with @Gambitek with the Atticus/Auteur combination, except I currently have an LCD-3F which I love that occupies the ‘Auteur’ role. Still deciding if the LCD-3/Auteur have too much overlap to own both, and if yes, which would be preferable as a long term keeper. I have a soft spot for the LCD-3, as it was always my aspirational headphone and now that I have it really don’t want to sell it. But having heard the Auteur, I’ve fallen in love with its natural, realistic sound, despite it not kicking as hard or being as holographic as the LCD-3.

First world problems for sure at the top of the tree.

 

[commtrd]

Agree about the bass - took me a while to wean off the cheap bass addiction (think of it as weaning off a sugar addiction), and appreciate what great bass is all about. The Atticus has this in spades, both quality and quantity, while more ‘refined’ (I hate that condescending word) headphones tone down the bass quantity but have plenty of quality (a-la Auteur).

I’m with @Gambitek with the Atticus/Auteur combination, except I currently have an LCD-3F which I love that occupies the ‘Auteur’ role. Still deciding if the LCD-3/Auteur have too much overlap to own both, and if yes, which would be preferable as a long term keeper. I have a soft spot for the LCD-3, as it was always my aspirational headphone and now that I have it really don’t want to sell it. But having heard the Auteur, I’ve fallen in love with its natural, realistic sound, despite it not kicking as hard or being as holographic as the LCD-3.

First world problems for sure at the top of the tree.

I once owned LCD3 pre-fazor and I regularly regret having traded on my LCD-X. Although the X are probably my favorite headphones of all time. Should have kept the 3 also. From reading everything in this thread, it seems the Auteur is more resolving on the order of a well cleaned up (treble wise) HD800, perhaps minus the huge sound stage. So if that is the case, it would seem that the Auteur and the LCD3 would then be perfect complements to each other. Someday after I beef up the upstream components some, I will own an Auteur. Been wanting to get a high quality dynamic for some time now.

 

[NickedWicked]

I agree with the above, the Clear and Ori I have here at the moment really do go a bit deeper than the Auteur nothing to be worried about though. It’s more than enough especially with a bit of EQ to really feel the kicks and drums and the weight of snares etc.

The thing about the Auteur what impressed me most is how dark it can be yet so incredibly detailed and tight, in fact it has slightly better resolution than the Clear but the Clear has more perceived treble detail because how bright it is in comparison although it does have a upper-mid dip that the Auteur doesn’t have.

Originally wanted to sell one of the headphones after seeing which 2 appealed to my taste most but all 3 seemingly have a place for now. Really love all 3 for what they are, now I just need a good tube amp...

 

[smodtactical]

Agree about the bass - took me a while to wean off the cheap bass addiction (think of it as weaning off a sugar addiction), and appreciate what great bass is all about. The Atticus has this in spades, both quality and quantity, while more ‘refined’ (I hate that condescending word) headphones tone down the bass quantity but have plenty of quality (a-la Auteur).

I’m with @Gambitek with the Atticus/Auteur combination, except I currently have an LCD-3F which I love that occupies the ‘Auteur’ role. Still deciding if the LCD-3/Auteur have too much overlap to own both, and if yes, which would be preferable as a long term keeper. I have a soft spot for the LCD-3, as it was always my aspirational headphone and now that I have it really don’t want to sell it. But having heard the Auteur, I’ve fallen in love with its natural, realistic sound, despite it not kicking as hard or being as holographic as the LCD-3.

First world problems for sure at the top of the tree.

How does the Atticus bass compare to LCD 3 ?

 

[seeyou]

I agree with the above, the Clear and Ori I have here at the moment really do go a bit deeper than the Auteur nothing to be worried about though.

Curious how you'd compare the Ori and the Auteur for any kind of electronic / EDM genres?

 

[2359glenn]

I don’t think you can get a better compliment then this, let alone who its from!!

NIce to see you on the thread @2359glenn !

Hi Craig
The Auteur is the first new headphone I got in years was happy with HD-800. The Auteur beats it just got to get used to the feel of them.
Do you have the Auteur yet?
Check your mail I will be sending you that 13D1 tube I promised you a couple of months ago. Finally got some at a great price.

 

[gLer]

How does the Atticus bass compare to LCD 3 ?

The Atticus is more midbass-heavy and as a result a bit warmer overall. That said the midbass very rarely if ever infringes on the mids, which more forward on the Atticus. In contrast the bass on the LCD-3 (and Auteur) is more linear, with perhaps a very slight sub bass emphasis in the Auteur. The LCD-3 and Atticus are also ‘fuller’ sounding than the Auteur, the Atticus more so than the LCD-3 I would say.

 

[smodtactical]

The Atticus is more midbass-heavy and as a result a bit warmer overall. That said the midbass very rarely if ever infringes on the mids, which more forward on the Atticus. In contrast the bass on the LCD-3 (and Auteur) is more linear, with perhaps a very slight sub bass emphasis in the Auteur. The LCD-3 and Atticus are also ‘fuller’ sounding than the Auteur, the Atticus more so than the LCD-3 I would say.

So the atticus has more thumb and impact but the LCD3 has more rumble ?