[Magol79]

The upgrade page only lets me choose "Second Hand Owner". Does that mean that the 20 upgrade orders are filled already?
Had a busy day, so I didn't get a chance to sit down and look at this until just now.

 

[PankajBihari]

The upgrade page only lets me choose "Second Hand Owner". Does that mean that the 20 upgrade orders are filled already?
Had a busy day, so I didn't get a chance to sit down and look at this until just now.

Sorry to hear that. I just placed my order as an original owner under #9148. Had a busy day too. Hope you can still place an order. Good luck!!

 

[Monsterzero]

I think I'm gonna need a moment

 

[warrenpchi]

@zach915m, I'ma just leave this right here.

 

[cacacacaciiiiii]

Thanks for writing in about this. We (ZMF) will reach out to the dealer to try to get clarity and help for you. You should have a working cable, a headphone in good shape, and your item represented correctly. We will raise the concern and make sure it is addressed. I will follow up in email to make sure we are working together on this. Please look for an email from bevin@zmfheadphones.com in your inbox. Thanks for being a ZMF owner-- we are always here to work with you!

Awesome thank you, I have since spoken with the dealer who promptly was all over this (I hadn't talked to him yet before posting this, which is my bad!) - we've come to an agreement on how to proceed and get rid of my concerns. Thank you to all involved!

 

[SmashBruh]

Who plans to send their OG Auteur in for an upgrade?

I’m very tempted. I want the new baffle/damping system, however knowing the driver will be replaced is making me hesitate. I trust Zach’s taste and judgement but also REALLY love dem bio-cellulose mids of my og auteur…

Edit: Upon reviewing zmf’s website I’m seeing that the auteur classic’s driver is listed as bio-cellulose. For some reason I could have sworn I read somewhere (either here or SBAF) that said the new driver would not be bio-cellulose. A little confused now @_@

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Zach's statement "We ran out of OG drivers" (post 6,496) gives me pause in upgrading until more impressions. There may be a "new is better" hype/bias towards the Classics, but from my foray into vintage headphones I've learned that OG's are often preferred to later iterations (e.g., HE6, 007mk1, various Sennheiser's).

To my ears, the OG Auteur has a tasteful coloration (rich, vinyl-like) to vocals and instrument timbre that is unique compared to other bio-cellulose headphones in my collection, albeit not the most resolving and a bit laid back.

I may be dead wrong, but it sounds like the Classic may have been a creative solution to Zach running out of OG drivers. I'm sure the revised air-flow baffle/damping system is an improvement on the technical front, but IMO, what makes Zach's phones special is the coloration and of course the wood!

With that said, I haven't heard the Classic's so I may eat my shoe if the newer version is an unequivocal improvement. However, its my understanding ZMF phones do not fall along a linear progression, but rather all different and special in their own way. I've read many posts of folks preferring their Attius, Aeolus, or Auteur to the flagship Verites.

The obvious but pricey solution is to own both!

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I’m having second thoughts on the upgrade after thinking about it some more. A big deciding factor for me was getting the lifetime warranty on the new drivers on my 3rd-owner Auteur. Now that I think about it, if I ever happen to have a driver failure in my OG, couldn’t I just do the upgrade to a Classic at that point? There’s really no pressure to spend $600 at the moment to be an early-adopter. I haven’t heard anything suggesting the upgrade program is a limited-time offer. I might email Zach and cancel my upgrade order. Hmmm, tough decision…

I think it will be super helpful to have some impressions from those few out there that will have an OG Auteur and Classic side by side to compare. I’d want the Classic to have a good 150 hours on it before doing the comparison though. I don’t doubt the Classis will be technically better in many respects, but I’m sure there will be those that prefer the OG for whatever reason.

If someone missed out on the first-round of upgrades as a second-hand Auteur owner and really wants to get in, I may be opening up a spot for you. I’ll post here when I finally decide one way or the other.

 

[heliosphann]

Zach's statement "We ran out of OG drivers" (post 6,496) gives me pause in upgrading until more impressions. There may be a "new is better" hype/bias towards the Classics, but from my foray into vintage headphones I've learned that OG's are often preferred to later iterations (e.g., HE6, 007mk1, various Sennheiser's).

To my ears, the OG Auteur has a tasteful coloration (rich, vinyl-like) to vocals and instrument timbre that is unique compared to other bio-cellulose headphones in my collection, albeit not the most resolving and a bit laid back.

I may be dead wrong, but it sounds like the Classic may have been a creative solution to Zach running out of OG drivers. I'm sure the revised air-flow baffle/damping system is an improvement on the technical front, but IMO, what makes Zach's phones special is the coloration and of course the wood!

With that said, I haven't heard the Classic's so I may eat my shoe if the newer version is an unequivocal improvement. However, its my understanding ZMF phones do not fall along a linear progression, but rather all different and special in their own way. I've read many posts of folks preferring their Attius, Aeolus, or Auteur to the flagship Verites.

The obvious but pricey solution is to own both!

I think "running out" of the original drivers was more due to Zach not wanting to reorder a large batch. After finding success in the Atrium dampening system, Zach no doubt wanted to integrate it into the Auteur. It only makes sense to tweak an already custom driver if you're going to have to order a new batch for future units.

I do understand where you're coming from with concerns about original drivers. I had all the early HiFiman and Audeze planars that used those meaty diaphragms. They had a very distinct sound that was never replicated, despite both companies trying to. I really don't think that's will be the case with Zach's drivers. I'll have a pair next week and will give some impressions right away.

 

[Deleeh]

Zach's statement "We ran out of OG drivers" (post 6,496) gives me pause in upgrading until more impressions. There may be a "new is better" hype/bias towards the Classics, but from my foray into vintage headphones I've learned that OG's are often preferred to later iterations (e.g., HE6, 007mk1, various Sennheiser's).

To my ears, the OG Auteur has a tasteful coloration (rich, vinyl-like) to vocals and instrument timbre that is unique compared to other bio-cellulose headphones in my collection, albeit not the most resolving and a bit laid back.

I may be dead wrong, but it sounds like the Classic may have been a creative solution to Zach running out of OG drivers. I'm sure the revised air-flow baffle/damping system is an improvement on the technical front, but IMO, what makes Zach's phones special is the coloration and of course the wood!

With that said, I haven't heard the Classic's so I may eat my shoe if the newer version is an unequivocal improvement. However, its my understanding ZMF phones do not fall along a linear progression, but rather all different and special in their own way. I've read many posts of folks preferring their Attius, Aeolus, or Auteur to the flagship Verites.

The obvious but pricey solution is to own both!

Hello,

We will have to wait until the first upgrade auteurs have returned to their owners and have been rehearsed until honest reviews are available.
I think some reviews will be taken seriously, especially from those who have had their Og for a while and have upgraded and can distinguish the sound signature.

I think Zach's arguments are actually very tenable.
Just by this concept and solution to stick to the auteur one can offer the customer a lot concerning the new purchase.
If you look, you have the choice between Aeolous and Auteur at no extra cost, which is also an announcement for the future and also an announcement to the competition.
And you could also reduce the main costs of the Auteur.

Roughly speaking, after 5 years of Auteur on the market, the update is also OK and appropriate and probably also arose somewhat by chance due to the crisis of Corona and the current inflation.
The fact that they are also doing something for second owners as well as first owners is also a strong action.
Other manufacturers have discontinued products because of the crisis or have not done anything for the current customer base when they have brought out something new, but rather urged them to buy the new one, which is usually seen.
Therefore, Zmf's strategy and offer is really fair, transparent and exemplary in every respect.
There should be many more companies like this or encourage them to do so, also to save valuable resources.

 

[AudioDuck]

Somewhat random digression from the upgrade conversation: I just listened to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (remastered) on the Auteur (driven by the WA2, so all tube power) with Norne Vygarde as the cabling.

I can honestly say I’ve never heard the song with such balanced detail and range before. WOW.

 

[warrenpchi]

I think it will be super helpful to have some impressions from those few out there that will have an OG Auteur and Classic side by side to compare.

We will have to wait until the first upgrade auteurs have returned to their owners and have been rehearsed until honest reviews are available.

I happen to have an OG Auteur and an Auteur Classic here at the same time.

Actually, I had both of them here for ABing before the CanJam Chicago 2022 preview video, and my comments therein are based directly on my comparative listening sessions between them. At the risk of possibly being unhelpful, I've specifically avoided talking about them too much since, as I was hoping for more people to chime in with their own comparisons.

That said, I've just now realized that the best comparative impressions may not come from those of us who upgrade, but from those of us who eventually wind up owning both... which probably explains the lack of such impressions.

EDIT: Oops, posted this too soon.

In any case, I'm happy to answer any questions regarding sonic differences that I can. Just one caveat, I'm in the midst of working on the CanJam London preview video and auditioning gear for those video segments, so I may not be able to respond super quickly. But I'll try my best.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I happen to have an OG Auteur and an Auteur Classic here at the same time.

Actually, I had both of them here for ABing before the CanJam Chicago 2022 preview video, and my comments therein are based directly on my comparative listening sessions between them. At the risk of possibly being unhelpful, I've specifically avoided talking about them too much since, as I was hoping for more people to chime in with their own comparisons.

That said, I've just now realized that the best comparative impressions may not come from those of us who upgrade, but from those of us who eventually wind up owning both... which probably explains the lack of such impressions.

EDIT: Oops, posted this too soon.

In any case, I'm happy to answer any questions regarding sonic differences that I can. Just one caveat, I'm in the midst of working on the CanJam London preview video and auditioning gear for those video segments, so I may not be able to respond super quickly. But I'll try my best.

You might be the best person to ask advice for my particular situation. I’ve decide to keep my Auteur as a complement to my more technically proficient headphones, my Meze Elite. Would you recommend doing the upgrade in this context?

Until recently, the Auteur was my favorite pair of headphones. I sold two VC’s last year in favor of keeping the Auteur as my only ZMF. The Meze Elite has thrown a proverbial wrench in my plans. I had always assumed I’d go for the upgrade since it would improve my favorite cans and give me a lifetime warranty as well. Now I’m not sure it’s worth the investment at present. I’d like to get more feedback from early adopters before taking the plunge. I need to decide soon so someone else can take my spot in line for the upgrade!

 

[warrenpchi]

You might be the best person to ask advice for my particular situation. I’ve decide to keep my Auteur as a complement to my more technically proficient headphones, my Meze Elite. Would you recommend doing the upgrade in this context?

Until recently, the Auteur was my favorite pair of headphones. I sold two VC’s last year in favor of keeping the Auteur as my only ZMF. The Meze Elite has thrown a proverbial wrench in my plans. I had always assumed I’d go for the upgrade since it would improve my favorite cans and give me a lifetime warranty as well. Now I’m not sure it’s worth the investment at present. I’d like to get more feedback from early adopters before taking the plunge. I need to decide soon so someone else can take my spot in line for the upgrade!

Given that you've had other headphones come and go, and preferred the Auteur over them, you're almost the perfect candidate for the upgrade. For obvious reasons, I can't speak to the cost of the upgrade, nor the value of the warranty, since both of those are of varying importance to different people. But sonically, yes, you're going to very much love the upgrade.

The difference is not a true revision, i.e. it's not an Auteur v.2 at all. It's mostly everything you already love about your OG Auteur, just more/better. Level-wise, everything is the same, and the OG's tonal balance is preserved, but the mid-bass is richer, vocals are more present, the highs are airier. It's pretty much an Auteur, just moar of it, does that make sense? Of the sonic departures that are present, it's better extended at the low end, so there's less of a sub-bass roll-off if you listen to Electronica and the like. And spatially, the ADS is a welcome improvement in both staging and imaging. It's just, well, better.

Having said all that, let's be honest, there's no real rush to upgrade right at this moment - especially if you love your OG Auteur. I can't imagine that these upgrades will be a limited time offer in any way. So yeah, there is literally no pressure to upgrade anytime soon. I suppose there's a very slight chance that Zach might find these upgrades to be more of a headache than they are worth, and decide to discontinue them for sanity's sake, but I highly doubt that.

Are you by any chance in the Southern California area? Maybe, if there's enough interest, I can bring these out to a mini-meet after CanJam London?

 

[omega1990]

Been reading the recent posts about the upgrade. I'd say, if you don't want to upgrade yet, don't worry, I'm taking one for the team

Also my auteur blackwood has had more than 1 owner before me and had I been the original owner I never would of let it go the way it's been, so my pair definitely need Zach and his team to give my pair new life. I'd also like to add that if @zach915m wants to, he could take photos of mine to show before and after images (the photos he takes always look amazing).

I'll be listening to them more often now to try and build some memory of what they sound like (even though I'm very familiar with them) and burn them in after I get them back.

While my favorite zmfs/favorite headphones in my collection are the Aeolus followed by Atticus, the Auteur is special. I'd say that looking past by own personal bias/preferences toward phones like aeolus, between tonal balance and technicalites the auteur-for the money-is a perfect headphone (the other being the stax 007mk1). Even critics that might not be crazy about the zmf house sound still show that they were impressed by the auteur.

The Auteur may well be a sacred cow to some. I guess the auteur is the perfect candidate for Zach to prove if he could really make a better version of it.