Shallowness is welcome! The good news is that you can fall in love with many headphones at a time and none of your other headphones will actually get jealousIt’s funny how interest in different models waxes and wanes. I started with Aeolus partly because it seemed a safer, more universally acceptable tuning, and partly because the pictures of the Canarywood limited entranced me. This was at the same time that the Atrium Open was released to much fanfare and acclaim. I was almost positive Atrium would be my next. But I keep reading these Auteur threads and I become less sure. I had to buy a VO in November because the prices were good and the stabilizing resin made it gorgeous. I’m a little shallow. I fall in love too easily. Right now I’m leaning toward Auteur before Atrium. So often with ZMF it’s a matter of which one first rather than just which one. So far I haven’t started on the closed backs. I don’t know what I’m missing, but for some reason closed backs don’t appeal to me. Maybe I just don’t have a suitable use case. I’ve started enjoying IEMs in most cases where a closed back would be called for. That’s an entirely different subject I should search for what I’m sure are many lengthy discussions about the pros and cons of open versus closed headphones. I’m going to focus on AuC vs AO, likely in a limited edition, and for some reason I think my next model needs a brightly polished steel grill. Still shallow, but I’m okay with that.
My journey was similar. Started with the Aeolus, then the Auteur (OG), then the Verite Closed, Verite Open, back to the Auteur (Classic this time), and now the only ZMF I’m dying to own is the Caldera. Never really fell for the closed backs as much as the open backs, but I still haven’t tried the Atrium Closed (didn’t like the open, after many lengthy auditions), Bokeh, or Caldera Closed.
I think it says a lot that the only ZMF I own after all that is the Auteur Classic. I loved the Aeolus, but after a while, the excitement of it wore off on me. My love for the AuC, even though it started off lukewarm, just keeps deepening with time. Get ready to fall in love all over again!