[franz12]

Interesting. Your Silkwood:



is quite different from the Verite Silkwood pics:



Different wood/same name? Or that much variability?

The same wood, but I believe different oil used to coat wood.

Wood itself is not that dark. The picture above would be closer to the original wood color.

My understanding is that surface color heavily depends on what kinds of oil is used to coat wood. It seems darkening oil is used for vertie, but that color does not necessarily reflect its natural color.

 

[DeepSouth]

Try spinfits CP155 (small or medium).

You can listen to it from a DAP, sure. They are 300ohm cans, but are still pretty efficient. I drove my Eikons from a Pixel 2 for a few days out of necessity, and it wasn't a completely horrible experience (wasn't good either, as that Google supplied dongle sucks).

Now, with that said... I am not sure I would recommend a DAP as a permanent setup. I think they need a decent amp to sound their best.

Help me out here, if autuer and LCD have the same db/mw, why is the headphone with the lowest ohms considered easier to drive? I get the concept that a lower ohm is easier to drive, but dB/w doesn't quite compute.
LCD-4Z
Sensitivity 98 dB/1mW (at Drum Reference Point)
15 ohms

Autuer
ZMF Biocellulose driver, 98dB/mW
300 ohms

 

[ProfFalkin]

Help me out here, if autuer and LCD have the same db/mw, why is the headphone with the lowest ohms considered easier to drive?

The higher the resistance (ohms), the more it resists having electricity being pushed through it.

Sensitivity is dB/mW, or decibels per miliwatt. So, basically it is a measure of how loud they get per 1mw of power going through it.

Because the headphone with the higher ohm rating is resisting the flow of electricity more, and the sensitivity is the same for each headphone, it is the harder of the two to drive.

To put it another way, an amplifier would have to be supplying far more juice to the Auteur to get it to the same volume (98dB) as the LCD-4Z, because the Auteur's resistance (ohms) is so much higher.

 

[vc1187]

Just rejoined the Auteur club after selling my Teak Auteur in the summer. I secured the Blackwood Auteur this time

It sounds as great as the Teak Auteur sounded and possibly better but more similar than not. In my opinion, that is a good thing because it proves that Zach has a consistent process for producing these headphones without wild variances.

That said, the Blackwood Auteur is not in immaculate condition like the Teaks that I previously owned. I'd classify it as "Good" condition. It arrived with some minor dings and scratches, some noticeable, some not so noticeable. The wood finish on the left cup particularly appears to be smeared or worn out and the Auteur pads are greasy (not sure if this is due to sweat, hair gel, or leather treatment, but hopefully the latter).

Someone in this thread or another ZMF thread mentioned using Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner, Beeswax & Orange Oil for wood polishing and conditioning on their ZMF headphones, so I have purchased a bottle for that purpose.

Does anyone have any advice on the proper way I should clean/restore the Auteur pads? The Eikon pads that arrived with the headphones do not have the same issue with being greasy. In fact, they seem like they've never been used.

 

[mwhals]

Just rejoined the Auteur club after selling my Teak Auteur in the summer. I secured the Blackwood Auteur this time



It sounds as great as the Teak Auteur sounded and possibly better but more similar than not. In my opinion, that is a good thing because it proves that Zach has a consistent process for producing these headphones without wild variances.

That said, the Blackwood Auteur is not in immaculate condition like the Teaks that I previously owned. I'd classify it as "Good" condition. It arrived with some minor dings and scratches, some noticeable, some not so noticeable. The wood finish on the left cup particularly appears to be smeared or worn out and the Auteur pads are greasy (not sure if this is due to sweat, hair gel, or leather treatment, but hopefully the latter).

Someone in this thread or another ZMF thread mentioned using Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner, Beeswax & Orange Oil for wood polishing and conditioning on their ZMF headphones, so I have purchased a bottle for that purpose.

Does anyone have any advice on the proper way I should clean/restore the Auteur pads? The Eikon pads that arrived with the headphones do not have the same issue with being greasy. In fact, they seem like they've never been used.

You can purchase new pads from Zach if needed.

 

[Fatdoi]

Just rejoined the Auteur club after selling my Teak Auteur in the summer. I secured the Blackwood Auteur this time



It sounds as great as the Teak Auteur sounded and possibly better but more similar than not. In my opinion, that is a good thing because it proves that Zach has a consistent process for producing these headphones without wild variances.

That said, the Blackwood Auteur is not in immaculate condition like the Teaks that I previously owned. I'd classify it as "Good" condition. It arrived with some minor dings and scratches, some noticeable, some not so noticeable. The wood finish on the left cup particularly appears to be smeared or worn out and the Auteur pads are greasy (not sure if this is due to sweat, hair gel, or leather treatment, but hopefully the latter).

Someone in this thread or another ZMF thread mentioned using Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner, Beeswax & Orange Oil for wood polishing and conditioning on their ZMF headphones, so I have purchased a bottle for that purpose.

Does anyone have any advice on the proper way I should clean/restore the Auteur pads? The Eikon pads that arrived with the headphones do not have the same issue with being greasy. In fact, they seem like they've never been used.

From time to time Massdrop does ZMF pads... If you can wait for it, you will save a few bucks

 

[Panimation]

Just a quick update from my recessed grille situation.
My grille seal was damaged during the RMAF weekend so I knew Zach and his team were busy there and didn't expect a response during that weekend.
Zach did get back to me on the Tuesday and offered to repair it for me free of charge as long I cover shipping (I failed to mention to him that I am in Australia and shipping option was going to be very expensive)
What Zach did next was mind boggling, he offered and made a DIY repair video for me (out of his busy schedule) and sent me the bits and parts for it. Took 10 minutes for a complete amateur like myself to have it fixed.
Really speak volumes of the guy and his commitment, a top notch dude! @zach915m thank you again!

Yes, he seriously offered to send a glue gun with it!

 

[phthora]

So, I'm looking for a tube amp to pair with the Auteur.

I've got a few in mind: Dragon Inspire IHA-1, and Woo Audio W2 or W6SE.

Mostly I'll be using this with my Auteur and Atticus, but I'd also love to be able to use the amp with planars.

Any recommendations?

 

[Fatdoi]

Just a quick update from my recessed grille situation.
My grille seal was damaged during the RMAF weekend so I knew Zach and his team were busy there and didn't expect a response during that weekend.
Zach did get back to me on the Tuesday and offered to repair it for me free of charge as long I cover shipping (I failed to mention to him that I am in Australia and shipping option was going to be very expensive)
What Zach did next was mind boggling, he offered and made a DIY repair video for me (out of his busy schedule) and sent me the bits and parts for it. Took 10 minutes for a complete amateur like myself to have it fixed.
Really speak volumes of the guy and his commitment, a top notch dude! @zach915m thank you again!

Yes, he seriously offered to send a glue gun with it!

Think we have love hate situation... We all want and love ZMF to succeed but not getting too large and hear from Zach only via his assistant...

 

[SilverEars]

The higher the resistance (ohms), the more it resists having electricity being pushed through it.

Sensitivity is dB/mW, or decibels per miliwatt. So, basically it is a measure of how loud they get per 1mw of power going through it.

Because the headphone with the higher ohm rating is resisting the flow of electricity more, and the sensitivity is the same for each headphone, it is the harder of the two to drive.

To put it another way, an amplifier would have to be supplying far more juice to the Auteur to get it to the same volume (98dB) as the LCD-4Z, because the Auteur's resistance (ohms) is so much higher.

To be precise, it's not resistance always. Planers are resistance due to the impedance response being flat. Dynamics are not with the voice coil. Impedance is a general term for either (or combination of) delaying the signal in time (phase) or lowering current (resistance).

Overall, it's the sensitivity of how loud the driver is able to get per amount of power put into it. HE-6 at only 50 ohms will not get all that loud whereas a 300 ohm Sennheiser will get loud at much lower power despite significantly more impedance. Impedance relates to how much power the amp is able to deliver to that impedance value, and the sensitivity of the headphone tells you how loud it's able to get per amount of power supplied.

 

[ProfFalkin]

To be precise, it's not resistance always. Planers are resistance due to the impedance response being flat. Dynamics are not with the voice coil. Impedance is a general term for either (or combination of) delaying the signal in time (phase) or lowering current (resistance).

Overall, it's the sensitivity of how loud the driver is able to get per amount of power put into it. HE-6 at only 50 ohms will not get all that loud whereas a 300 ohm Sennheiser will get loud at much lower power despite significantly more impedance. Impedance relates to how much power the amp is able to deliver to that impedance value, and the sensitivity of the headphone tells you how loud it's able to get per amount of power supplied.

I was just trying to provide a simple answer. Electronics can be difficult to grasp at first. It's like when a child asks why the sky is blue, one does not begin by describing light as a linearly polarized sinusoidal wave of electromagnetic radiation being difused through a nonhomogeneous medium where the shorter EM wavelengths - specifically those of 450 to 495 nm - are affected more strongly by interactions with particulates in said medium and are thus scattered to a greater degree than those of 620–750 nm wavelengths.

Know what I mean?

 

[SilverEars]

Sure, but (and please forgive me if this sounds condescending, it's not how I mean it...) but when a child asks why the sky is blue, one does not begin by describing light as a linearly polarized sinusoidal wave of electromagnetic radiation being difused through a nonhomogeneous medium where the shorter EM wavelengths - specifically those of 450 to 495 nm - are affected more strongly by interactions with particulates in said medium and are thus scattered to a greater degree than those of 620–750 nm wavelengths.

Know what I mean? It's better to start with a simple answer.

I don't know what additional jibberish is about, but correct is correct. Not what you wrote.

 

[ProfFalkin]

I don't know what additional jibberish is about, but correct is correct. Not what you wrote.

Wow, calm yourself. If the guy doesn't even understand resistance or impedance, you think bombing him with what you put up will help? He's not going to understand why planar magnetic headphones are purely resistive, or why dynamic headphones are not. Furthermore, your explanation that "HE-6 at only 50 ohms will not get all that loud whereas a 300 ohm Sennheiser will get loud at much lower power despite significantly more impedance." is easy for you and I to understand, because we understand that the efficiency of each of those headphones are vastly different, but he won't know that let alone understand it.

The answer he will understand is that it is harder to push an electric current through one vs the other.

Try not to confuse the hell out of people in your effort to be right.

 

[thecrow]

I was just trying to provide a simple answer. Electronics can be difficult to grasp at first. It's like when a child asks why the sky is blue, one does not begin by describing light as a linearly polarized sinusoidal wave of electromagnetic radiation being difused through a nonhomogeneous medium where the shorter EM wavelengths - specifically those of 450 to 495 nm - are affected more strongly by interactions with particulates in said medium and are thus scattered to a greater degree than those of 620–750 nm wavelengths.

Know what I mean?

Of course!!!

Note: you might be on the wrong thread

 

[whirlwind]

Just rejoined the Auteur club after selling my Teak Auteur in the summer. I secured the Blackwood Auteur this time



It sounds as great as the Teak Auteur sounded and possibly better but more similar than not. In my opinion, that is a good thing because it proves that Zach has a consistent process for producing these headphones without wild variances.

That said, the Blackwood Auteur is not in immaculate condition like the Teaks that I previously owned. I'd classify it as "Good" condition. It arrived with some minor dings and scratches, some noticeable, some not so noticeable. The wood finish on the left cup particularly appears to be smeared or worn out and the Auteur pads are greasy (not sure if this is due to sweat, hair gel, or leather treatment, but hopefully the latter).

Someone in this thread or another ZMF thread mentioned using Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner, Beeswax & Orange Oil for wood polishing and conditioning on their ZMF headphones, so I have purchased a bottle for that purpose.

Does anyone have any advice on the proper way I should clean/restore the Auteur pads? The Eikon pads that arrived with the headphones do not have the same issue with being greasy. In fact, they seem like they've never been used.

The Howard Feed-N-Wax works great! I polish about every six months and my cans look like new. Congrats on the Blackwood Auteur.