[Casey’sToneQuest]

I'll have to give these a shot! Will take some measurements today.

Just uploades the "first use" getting to know the Bokeh and adjustments/pad swap video. Will post here shortly.

I general I agree regarding the pads, I'll do something thinking on it with my engineers if there's another system that could be as inexpensive and more malleable.

Thanks Zach you rock!

 

[Casey’sToneQuest]

In my experience at least with the hybrid pads the sound leaks quite a bit, maybe I am listening too loud but I don't think I can use it in the office without my colleagues knowing what I am listening to, which is unfortunate because that is what I bought them for.
I can measure my listening volume with a MiniDSP Ears for reference later if you want though.

Thanks for the reply, I guess if it’s no big deal, I’m curious to hear what volume level you’re at. I’m not needing them for office use thankfully but it’s nice to be able to listen at a decent volume on the couch or in bed when my wife is watching tv or reading or asleep haha

 

[LXMc]

Thanks for the reply, I guess if it’s no big deal, I’m curious to hear what volume level you’re at. I’m not needing them for office use thankfully but it’s nice to be able to listen at a decent volume on the couch or in bed when my wife is watching tv or reading or asleep haha

I listen probably between 70-80db and I don't think it's audible to my wife who's usually sitting 6-7 feet away. In terms of my own isolation, I can hear her talking without issue if nothing is playing (but it's muffled) and if I have music playing I can generally tell she's said something, but not what she said, which she definitely loves.

Between my 3 ZMFs: Bokeh is most isolating (on par with my previous VC), Caldera is least isolating (almost none that I notice) and Auteur Classic is right about in the middle.

 

[Grimlock248]

I listen probably between 70-80db and I don't think it's audible to my wife who's usually sitting 6-7 feet away. In terms of my own isolation, I can hear her talking without issue if nothing is playing (but it's muffled) and if I have music playing I can generally tell she's said something, but not what she said, which she definitely loves.

Between my 3 ZMFs: Bokeh is most isolating (on par with my previous VC), Caldera is least isolating (almost none that I notice) and Auteur Classic is right about in the middle.

“…if I have music playing I can generally tell she's said something, but not what she said, which she definitely loves.”

I feel this so much.

Of late I’ve shared a home office with my wife, and since she seems to expect me to hear her whenever she starts to talk without me having to first take off my headphones / iems, I’ve had to start going with AirPods Pro 2 in transparency mode. Thankfully they have the best transparency mode I’ve heard and actually sound pretty good, but still less than ideal.

 

[LXMc]

“…if I have music playing I can generally tell she's said something, but not what she said, which she definitely loves.”

I feel this so much.

Of late I’ve shared a home office with my wife, and since she seems to expect me to hear her whenever she starts to talk without me having to first take off my headphones / iems, I’ve had to start going with AirPods Pro 2 in transparency mode. Thankfully they have the best transparency mode I’ve heard and actually sound pretty good, but still less than ideal.

There's definitely a correlation between how my wife's day is going and which headphones I'm gonna use while I work (Good mood and light work day means a lot of chatting = wear my calderas so I can hear her. Pissed off at co-workers and cursing at her computer = bokehs/classics). Also I'm starting to think that her tendency to work quietly up until I put on headphones and then striking up a conversation is her way of getting back at me for spending so much on headphones..

On an unrelated note - I tend to bounce around pads a bit when I get a new headphone, see what sticks and is worth revisiting, narrow down what I'm looking for. I didn't pick up the Bokeh suedes but I decided to pop the Caldera suedes on, expecting it to thin them out a bit too much. But so far I'm liking what I'm hearing as well; they seem to bring the mid-bass hump down a bit and the sub-bass feels a little more prominent as a result. Bit more airy up top as well from what I can tell in initial listening. Mids sound good, maybe a bit less weight but still solid. Also like the slightly larger pad size vs the Bokeh hybrids. Will need to do more comparisons between those two before I settle in for a bit I think.

Also trialing the Bokeh stock pads on my Caldera as they sound pretty close in tonality - harder to tell what they do to the soundstage during the duration of a pad swap but also good enough to warrant some further A/Bing vs Caldera stocks.

 

[Farrellc]

Any word on how long the launch discount will be around for?

 

[Swagsupply]

Any word on how long the launch discount will be around for?

I thought it was for the first 250 units

 

[robo24]

TLDR: The Bokeh combines some of the best aspects of the Eikon and Atticus sound, overall besting them both, are very comfortable, and are the best bang for the buck in the lineup. Very easy to recommend even to someone with higher end headphones. Excellent all arounder with great isolation and very changeable with pad and mesh swaps. Get the pad and mesh package if you’re buying them. Burn them in well!

I’ve had a loaner Bokeh that I put 100+ hours on before any serious evaluation for about a week now. The usual disclaimers—Zach never asked me to say anything specific about it and left it up to me even if I want to post anything about it. I won’t have time, nor really the skills anyway, to write up a detailed review. After a week of listening 95% to the Bokeh, spent a few hours today going through my usual test tracks and such comparing them to the Atticus and Eikon.

When I first got the Bokeh I thought they were nice and all, but as usual took a little more time and comparing to appreciate them fully.

I spent most of the past year listening in order of amount the Caldera, Atrium Closed, 1266 TC, and Verite Open more than the rest of my collection. DAC is Sonnet Morpheus and amps are Feliks Envy and Glenn OTL (except for the Caldera which suffers on it). Pads are always suede—the new Caldera more closed thin suede on the Bokeh, and Eikon suedes on the Eikon, Ori suedes on the Atticus. I tried to volume match with an iPhone app the best I could.

The Atticus was my first ZMF 4 years ago and within a few more months I also bought the Verite Open and Auteur and now have every model. The Caldera is my overall favorite by quite a bit, followed by the Verite Open or Atrium Closed.

Given I mostly use the TOTL models and knowing that Atticus, Eikon, and Aeolus don’t provide quite the detail of the higher end models I honestly wasn’t super excited about the Bokeh, and I have a 2nd harder wood Atrium Closed on order to go with my soft Redwood burl so am very excited about that. Then of course my ultimate dream headphone Caldera Closed will be out in a few months or so. Most of my listening is at night when I prefer closed. The isolation on these is the best of the lineup.

I initially used the stock protein and stock installed mesh, then moved on to the hybrid, then the suedes.

First off, if it’s not burned in yet your first impression will probably be wrong. It was more closed in, a little sibilant, and wasn’t really grabbing me with the Protein pads. At 100 hours the sibilance went away, it sounded more open and liquid and is now much more enjoyable.

Given how much I love the Atticus, I didn’t expect to like the Bokeh more than it or the Eikon. Well I can throw that idea away because the Bokeh is just on another level and I’m kind of shocked by it! On every track there wasn’t a one where I didn’t prefer the Bokeh. In fact, my notes going from it to the Atticus is that midbass on the Atticus is more boomy, the vocals are more recessed, and it comes across as more muddy sounding. Mid bass quantity seems about the same, but it’s tighter and there is more definition to it on the Bokeh. Overall the bass is just fantastic on these! The Bokeh is very forward sounding compared to the others. The Eikon is much brighter than the other 2, has slight sibilance at times, and sounds more grainy after the Bokeh. The Bokeh is the most detailed of the 3, and if anything maybe the Eikon has a wider soundstage but the Atticus and Bokeh are similar in that regard. Tonality wise it’s a bit of a mix of the Atticus and Eikon—with that fun and midbass of the Atticus along with more forward vocals and greater clarity of the Eikon.

For it being $1099 when the Atticus cost that nearly 8 years ago ($1375ish in today’s dollars) and I think $1299 for the Eikon, for the Bokeh to be better to my ears by nearly every measure still at the original Atticus price is pretty amazing. And of course $200 less currently.

So I’ll be buying one once the all suedes version is available and will probably wait for models in other wood. The stock wood is gorgeous and I prefer it greatly to the stock camphor of the Atticus and Eikon (when it was still sold regularly). Mine are more brownish than reddish though that changes in the light.

One other thing I noticed immediately is that for my head they’re simply more comfortable than the other models. I don’t know if the stock shape of the headband is it or what, but I was shocked that on my head they feel much lighter than my other ZMFs which are 50g lighter. I haven’t had to shape the headband at all and I usually do. If there’s any negative it’s that the suede pads are the thin Caldera variant and occasionally I feel my ears touch inside. With the fat Ori & Eikon pads that doesn’t happen on the others. Still overall the Bokeh is the most comfortable. The only other negative, is that pad changing is more difficult than on the other ZMFs, though I can’t imagine using anything other than the suede pads so it’s a moot point for me. These suede pads are also my favorites on the AC. I haven’t bothered with the mesh swap as there’s nothing bothersome about the treble and I’ve stuck with stock mesh-wise on all ZMFs that have mesh.

I haven’t done a lot of comparing with the VC or AC after some initial comparing as those TOTL ones are a level up for me, and being more than double the price of the Bokeh, and nearly triple currently, the pricing makes sense and I do prefer those 2 overall. Compared to the TOTLs the Bokeh stage is more narrow and they’re not as detailed. Tonality wise it’s a toss up, as I love them all.

One other tidbit is that I love the 3.5mm plugs. I’ve ruined more than one set of cables when they get caught on my chair arms. Did it today with the Bokeh and they simply detached as they should have.

If Zach’s goal was to provide a gateway drug, I mean headphone, for the ZMF lineup which is both the cheapest and up a level from the other lower priced models then he’s clearly achieved this! I expect many new customers for them from the Bokeh.

 

[MacMan31]

Any word on how long the launch discount will be around for?

I would like to know this also cause I really want these headphones.

A question for those who have reviewed these. How well does the Bokeh do with instrumental music? I mostly listen to genres like jazz, blues, classical and movie scores. Of course some jazz and blues will have vocals. I do also listen to classic rock and pop but these days I mainly listen to instrumental type music. Perhaps I missed it in this thread but has anyone compared the Bokeh with Aeolus and/or Auteur OG?

 

[erics75]

I would like to know this also cause I really want these headphones.

A question for those who have reviewed these. How well does the Bokeh do with instrumental music? I mostly listen to genres like jazz, blues, classical and movie scores. Of course some jazz and blues will have vocals. I do also listen to classic rock and pop but these days I mainly listen to instrumental type music. Perhaps I missed it in this thread but has anyone compared the Bokeh with Aeolus and/or Auteur OG?

It’s excellent for acoustic music. I was listening to California Guitar Trio and loved how well it renders love music and strings. The bass with the protein pads can get a bit overzealous at times but nothing too bad. Overall I prefer acoustic music on it to the Atticus but give the Atrium the upper hand for its extra refinement. Wish I still had my Auteur OG for reference that’s my all time favorite acoustic music set.

 

[Wes S]

TLDR: The Bokeh combines some of the best aspects of the Eikon and Atticus sound, overall besting them both, are very comfortable, and are the best bang for the buck in the lineup. Very easy to recommend even to someone with higher end headphones. Excellent all arounder with great isolation and very changeable with pad and mesh swaps. Get the pad and mesh package if you’re buying them. Burn them in well!

I’ve had a loaner Bokeh that I put 100+ hours on before any serious evaluation for about a week now. The usual disclaimers—Zach never asked me to say anything specific about it and left it up to me even if I want to post anything about it. I won’t have time, nor really the skills anyway, to write up a detailed review. After a week of listening 95% to the Bokeh, spent a few hours today going through my usual test tracks and such comparing them to the Atticus and Eikon.

When I first got the Bokeh I thought they were nice and all, but as usual took a little more time and comparing to appreciate them fully.

I spent most of the past year listening in order of amount the Caldera, Atrium Closed, 1266 TC, and Verite Open more than the rest of my collection. DAC is Sonnet Morpheus and amps are Feliks Envy and Glenn OTL (except for the Caldera which suffers on it). Pads are always suede—the new Caldera more closed thin suede on the Bokeh, and Eikon suedes on the Eikon, Ori suedes on the Atticus. I tried to volume match with an iPhone app the best I could.

The Atticus was my first ZMF 4 years ago and within a few more months I also bought the Verite Open and Auteur and now have every model. The Caldera is my overall favorite by quite a bit, followed by the Verite Open or Atrium Closed.

Given I mostly use the TOTL models and knowing that Atticus, Eikon, and Aeolus don’t provide quite the detail of the higher end models I honestly wasn’t super excited about the Bokeh, and I have a 2nd harder wood Atrium Closed on order to go with my soft Redwood burl so am very excited about that. Then of course my ultimate dream headphone Caldera Closed will be out in a few months or so. Most of my listening is at night when I prefer closed. The isolation on these is the best of the lineup.

I initially used the stock protein and stock installed mesh, then moved on to the hybrid, then the suedes.

First off, if it’s not burned in yet your first impression will probably be wrong. It was more closed in, a little sibilant, and wasn’t really grabbing me with the Protein pads. At 100 hours the sibilance went away, it sounded more open and liquid and is now much more enjoyable.

Given how much I love the Atticus, I didn’t expect to like the Bokeh more than it or the Eikon. Well I can throw that idea away because the Bokeh is just on another level and I’m kind of shocked by it! On every track there wasn’t a one where I didn’t prefer the Bokeh. In fact, my notes going from it to the Atticus is that midbass on the Atticus is more boomy, the vocals are more recessed, and it comes across as more muddy sounding. Mid bass quantity seems about the same, but it’s tighter and there is more definition to it on the Bokeh. Overall the bass is just fantastic on these! The Bokeh is very forward sounding compared to the others. The Eikon is much brighter than the other 2, has slight sibilance at times, and sounds more grainy after the Bokeh. The Bokeh is the most detailed of the 3, and if anything maybe the Eikon has a wider soundstage but the Atticus and Bokeh are similar in that regard. Tonality wise it’s a bit of a mix of the Atticus and Eikon—with that fun and midbass of the Atticus along with more forward vocals and greater clarity of the Eikon.

For it being $1099 when the Atticus cost that nearly 8 years ago ($1375ish in today’s dollars) and I think $1299 for the Eikon, for the Bokeh to be better to my ears by nearly every measure still at the original Atticus price is pretty amazing. And of course $200 less currently.

So I’ll be buying one once the all suedes version is available and will probably wait for models in other wood. The stock wood is gorgeous and I prefer it greatly to the stock camphor of the Atticus and Eikon (when it was still sold regularly). Mine are more brownish than reddish though that changes in the light.

One other thing I noticed immediately is that for my head they’re simply more comfortable than the other models. I don’t know if the stock shape of the headband is it or what, but I was shocked that on my head they feel much lighter than my other ZMFs which are 50g lighter. I haven’t had to shape the headband at all and I usually do. If there’s any negative it’s that the suede pads are the thin Caldera variant and occasionally I feel my ears touch inside. With the fat Ori & Eikon pads that doesn’t happen on the others. Still overall the Bokeh is the most comfortable. The only other negative, is that pad changing is more difficult than on the other ZMFs, though I can’t imagine using anything other than the suede pads so it’s a moot point for me. These suede pads are also my favorites on the AC. I haven’t bothered with the mesh swap as there’s nothing bothersome about the treble and I’ve stuck with stock mesh-wise on all ZMFs that have mesh.

I haven’t done a lot of comparing with the VC or AC after some initial comparing as those TOTL ones are a level up for me, and being more than double the price of the Bokeh, and nearly triple currently, the pricing makes sense and I do prefer those 2 overall. Compared to the TOTLs the Bokeh stage is more narrow and they’re not as detailed. Tonality wise it’s a toss up, as I love them all.

One other tidbit is that I love the 3.5mm plugs. I’ve ruined more than one set of cables when they get caught on my chair arms. Did it today with the Bokeh and they simply detached as they should have.

If Zach’s goal was to provide a gateway drug, I mean headphone, for the ZMF lineup which is both the cheapest and up a level from the other lower priced models then he’s clearly achieved this! I expect many new customers for them from the Bokeh.

Good stuff! I agree with ya, that the Bokeh are amazing and every ZMF fan should own a pair. The Bokeh is definitely the "Gateway Drug" to ZMF!

 

[RoThe]

By the way will the Bokeh get a product page like the Caldera for example where we can add reviews?
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zmfheadphones-caldera.26159/

I am thinking about writing a review.

 

[erics75]

My Bokeh is probably around 150ish hours in now and seems to have settled. I don't notice any changes sonically day to day now, whereas last week it was almost a daily discovery what new aspect I'd hear different. I've been using the Bokeh at work, at home, for music, for games, for movies, anything and everything I can throw at it, it handles with aplomb. Zach is quite the madman to make such an amazing sounding headphone and price it at the bottom of the price list. But don't let that price fool you, this headphone competes with anything else in the ZMF lineup and beyond. If you're a detail-head and love headphones like the Utopia, etc. then you might not be as impressed. But for those who forego details for musicality, and love a warm engaging listen, it's tough to beat, even within the hallowed ZMF halls. I know i'm a baseless fanboy, but I'm loyal by listen, not by person or logo/brand. If I didn't honestly love the sound, I'd jump ship without hesitation.

A few things I've noticed now that my unit seems to be broken in. First, it's not as ham fisted and stiff sounding as it was out of the box. Transients have rounded just a bit and have a more liquid/wet characteristic to them vs the slightly stiff and blunt out of box performance. Also the bass, though still insanely potent, seems to have mellowed out some. Maybe it's brain burn in (most likely), but I don't find it as overbearing with the protein pads as I did. Not that I disliked it before, quite the contrary, but I did note it could dominate my attention. And to some extent it still does, but only because it's so dam fun sounding. The bass is quickly becoming my favorite of the ZMF lineup. It's also transmitting more nuance than it did when new. It's still not as subtle and delicate/nuanced as the AC, but it's noticeably better than out of the box. Finally, the stage seems different. I can't put my finger on it, it's subtle, but it's different. How so I'm still gathering thoughts, but i'm guessing it has to do with the more relaxed drivers giving more subtle spatial cues. I'll add more thoughts as they come to me.

I'll add I found a great budget solution that drives the Bokeh well with incredible synergy. I picked up an iFi Zen Dac 2 and Zen Can combo awhile back when someone was fire selling them in the classifieds, mostly for curiosity. Never used it that much, but figured I'd give the stack a try with the Bokeh. I loved what I was hearing. The Zen stack isn't the most resolving, but it's smooth and dynamic, which pairs well with the similar Bokeh. The bass was slamming, no glare up top, and overall I quickly forgot I wasn't on tubes and got lost to the music. I briefly tried the bass boost but that was way too much bass for me. But I did like the cross feed button quite a bit. It gave the Bokeh an almost surround system type soundstage. Not the most natural sounding, but really fun with games and orchestral pieces.

Finally I wanted to expand on my thoughts on the Bokeh with acoustic music. If you need ultra resolution to break down the plankton in the recording, then look elsewhere. But if you listen for the emotion of the music, IMO the Bokeh is every bit as good as any of the ZMFs in the lineup. It has a wonderful balance of full but not overly forward mids, very present but non-fatiguing upper mids/treble, and of course that luscious bass. What I found with acoustic music, especially jazz and singer/songwriter tracks was it quickly engaged me with it's macro presentation, and is more than resolving enough to give me all the elements I need to hear, without overwhelming me with micro detail. Grain of salt I am not a detail head. I don't put much emphasis in resolution, I value coherency and engagement at a macro level above all else. But jazz beats just got into my head immediately and had me tapping my toes and bobbing my head. Very engaging. Orchestral pieces were intimate sounding but not overly so, I could break down what I needed to, and it sounded quite good. I'd still take the Atrium open for it's more expansive stage, but the Bokeh was every bit as fun. Finally vocalists, especially soloists, where quite enthralling. The subtle breaths and volume gradients came through with good separation and presence. But the overall tone was just on pointe. I have a soft spot for the song Ave Maria and spent a few hours just listening to the many renditions of it on Tidal. I loved the more sparse sets that put the instruments far in the background so the singer was front and center. I adore Aaron Neville's rendition, and must have repeated it a dozen times. I've listened to that track on all my headphones regularly throughout the years, and the Bokeh nails it as good as any. Twist my arm and I'll put the Auteur OG and Atrium open slightly ahead of it for it's slightly silkier and nuanced performance, but for pure goosebumps the Bokeh delivered as good as any.

 

[Sword of Damocles]

Received my Bokeh (number 16) today.

Personally I didn't expect to like the stock pads very much and I was quite right. I don't usually mind midbassy sound, but upper mids were too calm and relaxed for my taste. After changing to hybrid pads the sound has been great and I have absolutely nothing to complain!

 

[erics75]

Received my Bokeh (number 16) today.



Personally I didn't expect to like the stock pads very much and I was quite right. I don't usually mind midbassy sound, but upper mids were too calm and relaxed for my taste. After changing to hybrid pads the sound has been great and I have absolutely nothing to complain!

I love the pores, reminds me of padauk wood. Great looking set, congrats!