[Deleeh]

The auteur og is not quite perfect.
If it had a little more bass it would be stunning.
When I switch from the Auteur to Eikonpads, I get that at the cost of top end and low end.
The Atrium is in a different league, a good friend said the Atrium is Aelous+Auteur and he's not wrong.
With Atrium and Auteur og you have two different headphones from the same manufacturer with first class workmanship and different sound signatures.That makes it first class as well as unique when you have both.
Certainly the music genre plays a role in the end.
For classical,rock,some jazz,blues,pop the Auteur is definitely very good,less so for hip hop,R&B,electronic music and as well as the upper genres the Atrium does better.
It plays punchier, more refined and more enveloping.

The Auteur is also good when you want absolute neutrality, whether it's checking amp options or different tubes, as well as dacs.

 

[Tshiknn]

The Ash would really appeal to me as a classic.
It looks like no one has bought it yet to show it and tell me what it's like.

I have an Ash! In fact, I have the one in the cover photo on the website. Those photos are fairly saturated and they look a little less red and a little browner in real life.




The wood has an almost luminescent quality. I think they look really nice and I'm a little surprised more people haven't gone for them, but I guess people are all about flashier colors.

 

[Deleeh]

Wonderfull

 

[LXMc]

The wood has an almost luminescent quality. I think they look really nice and I'm a little surprised more people haven't gone for them, but I guess people are all about flashier colors.

My personal (and likely less popular) feeling on the aesthetics is that, on Auteur Classic and Atrium especially, the grills are so ornate and full of character, that the simpler and more subtle woods are a better visual complement with that contrast.

 

[Deleeh]

It's a bit waste that you can only choose black and brass for the Ash.
Copper would also have been nice for the grills and rods.
I also think that other lower models should benefit from the colour selection of the grills and rods.
Wooden box would also have been nice as an additional option, of course at extra cost.


@Tshiknn
It's really beautiful, congratulations.
How do you like the sound of it?
According to the link here, it has 1500 Janka hardness.
https://www.wood-database.com/european-ash/

 

[ckhirnigs113]

The auteur og is not quite perfect.
If it had a little more bass it would be stunning.
When I switch from the Auteur to Eikonpads, I get that at the cost of top end and low end.
The Atrium is in a different league, a good friend said the Atrium is Aelous+Auteur and he's not wrong.
With Atrium and Auteur og you have two different headphones from the same manufacturer with first class workmanship and different sound signatures.That makes it first class as well as unique when you have both.
Certainly the music genre plays a role in the end.
For classical,rock,some jazz,blues,pop the Auteur is definitely very good,less so for hip hop,R&B,electronic music and as well as the upper genres the Atrium does better.
It plays punchier, more refined and more enveloping.

The Auteur is also good when you want absolute neutrality, whether it's checking amp options or different tubes, as well as dacs.

Have you tried the Eikon Suede pads on your OG Auteur? I didn’t care for the darker sound of the Eikon Lambskin pads, but the Eikon Suedes hit the sweet spot for me on my Manchurian Ash set. They add a little more bass than the stock Auteur Lambskin, but not to the level of the Eikon Lambskin pads. They shrink the soundstage a little bit compared to the Auteur pads, but it’s an acceptable trade off to me. I can always use my Meze Elite if I want an open and airy soundstage.

@Tshiknn your European Ash set looks great!

 

[Deleeh]

No, I've stuck with Eikon and Auteur Lammleder so far.
When I order another Zmf, I'll think about it.
Maybe the support has a tip.
The only ones I have are the Caldera ultra perf and Universe from Atrium, which I haven't tried on the Auteur yet.

Your Manchurian is a little harder than the ambrosia maple in the Janka hardness, I have noticed.
Theoretically, the Ambrosia should be a little better in the bass range and the upper end.
What I don't know now about the older Og's is which wood is better, softer or harder.
I wanted to wait for a nice wood, but then the announcement came that the Og will no longer be available.
I was lucky to get one at all.

 

[Tshiknn]

My personal (and likely less popular) feeling on the aesthetics is that, on Auteur Classic and Atrium especially, the grills are so ornate and full of character, that the simpler and more subtle woods are a better visual complement with that contrast.

Very fair! It's all a matter of taste, as we know.

How do you like the sound of it?
According to the link here, it has 1500 Janka hardness.
https://www.wood-database.com/european-ash/

Well, I really like them. They are my favorite headphones I've heard under $2k. They have a bit of brightness at 5kHz that bothered me at first, but either it became less bothersome during break-in (more likely) or I simply got used to it. They have a really deliciously tactile sound, I guess, with a sense of grain and texture that is "just right" for most acoustic music. They're particularly impressive for classical, which they do (IMO as a classical musician) better than most other pairs of headphones I've heard (including some of the agreed-upon best options for classical). As for cup reverb, it's slightly present but not very noticeable most of the time. Overall, neutral but vibey. At times they can be a little dry. Bass is very neutral - it is enough for me in any situation.

That said, I haven't compared them directly to any other woods. I've also never heard the OG (this is my first ZMF, although I've heard most of the others at shows) - eventually I'd like to compare the two. Zach said he may start bringing an OG pair to shows but we'll see. You may very well find the Atrium better in every way. I bought the Auteur for budget reasons but I'm very happy with them and don't really plan to upgrade anytime soon.

You can always email support to see if they will be able to make a unit with customized options that are not available on the website, but in this case it will probably take a lot longer for you to receive the headphones.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Well...it's ZMF November's eve (yes I know it October!) and auteur Classic Stabilized and resin will be released tomorrow at 6PM CST // 23:00 UTC HERE: https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/zmf-november

Keep up to date with the mega-thread HERE: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-november-2023-megathread.970182/#post-17782248

Here's some preview pics as well!

The headphones are amazing--but I want that rug.

 

[AnyDave]

The headphones are amazing--but I want that rug.

It definitely ties the photo shoot together.

 

[zach915m]

The headphones are amazing--but I want that rug.

It definitely ties the photo shoot together.

There's this magical place I got them called Ross Dress For Less. If you boys wanna go and then hit up the Red Robin across the street then it's a date.

 

[mformoriarty]

Auteur vs Aeolus, I need opinions. I have the Aeolus but I want to understand how it compares to the og Auteur. Any opinions on the subjet are appreciated.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

The Aeolus definitely has more mid-bass. The Auteur has better extension in the bass and treble. I’d also say the Auteur has better resolution overall. I ended up preferring the Auteur to the Aeolus and Verite Closed. The Aeolus was my very first ZMF, and it’s definitely a great headphone.

 

[jonathan c]

The headphones are amazing--but I want that rug.

… with or without the waterbed?

 

[mformoriarty]

The Aeolus definitely has more mid-bass. The Auteur has better extension in the bass and treble. I’d also say the Auteur has better resolution overall. I ended up preferring the Auteur to the Aeolus and Verite Closed. The Aeolus was my very first ZMF, and it’s definitely a great headphone.

Classics or og? I appreciate your input, got a trade offer for a limited Wenge og Auteur and am considering it. Aeolus is my first as well, haven't tried anything else in their lineup.