Mid-bass focused Caldera closed and sub-bass focused Atrium? Are you sure you didn't mean the other way around?
Thoughts/Impressions on the Caldera Closed
Closed headphone creation is a tough business yet here we have ZMF continuing to create and innovate in the closed headphone space. To start, I love the look of the headphones, they are beautiful works of art and the sculpting of the cup is fantastic. To me the cups look like play buttons which is very fitting since these headphones make you want to press play on music as fast as possible. The headphones do have some weight to them but the weight is evenly distributed by the headband/crescent strap system so there was no issues with wearing these for a long time.
This headphone is very customizable. The amount of options feels like going into a Blaze Pizza and and seeing a cornucopia of toppings to create an amazing pizza. There are four different pads to choose from, the Caldera hybrid (top perf only), Bokeh protein (top perf only), Caldera suede (top perf only) - this is the only one I have not tried yet, and Caldera thick (top perf only). There are currently two different tuning meshes as well, red which is the stock mesh and black which is a thinner mesh. If you are daring you can even run the headphone with no mesh.
Initially I started with the stock configuration (red mesh, hybrid pads), and while they sounded great, I could not resist wanting to tinker with the different pads and mesh. The thick pad provided the vocals/mids the farthest away but provided the widest soundstage with the most depth of sound. I also noticed an increased thickness to the sound. The hybrid pads were the middle ground between the three where the vocals were brought closer while the soundstage was decreased slightly with a smidge less depth. These pads had less of the thickness to the sound but more increased clarity and speed, definitely a middle ground between the thick and protein pads. The protein pad brought the vocals the closest while it had the most intimate soundstage, but the protein pads were the ones with the most of everything, more slam, more treble energy at the cost of the least amount of depth of sound. Those are the pads when you want just more intensity. They brought the most clarity and speed of the three pads. The pad findings were true when running the black mesh as well. The difference with the black mesh is increased treble energy. I even tried running them without any tuning mesh, which gives the most treble energy, and even loved listening to them that way but could see how that it might be to much energy for some. The great thing is you can modify the sound to change your mood very quickly. This is due to the mesh having adhesive making it to where you can get them on and off fairly quickly and couple that with the fact that pads are easy and quick to change. For now I have been leaning towards the black mesh with the protein pads being my go-to. Cant really go wrong with any combination though.
The Caldera Closed provides good bass response with more of a mid bass focus compared to the Atrium Closed where the sub bass is the focus. They reach down low but just don't have the quantity of the Atrium Closed. The soundstage for a closed back is very impressive and of course isn't as wide as an open headphone, but I didn't feel claustrophobic listening to these and I don't believe anybody who listens to these will either. The mids still retain that ZMF magic while the treble is nice and extended. Of course as stated above you can tweak to your hearts content with the tuning meshes and pads. The imaging was fantastic and I could pinpoint sounds with ease. The resolution was very good as well. From memory I believe the Caldera Open had a little more resolution but these headphones are no slouch in that area. The Caldera Closed is just a fantastic headphone that provides a fun listen that lets you get lost in the music. It is another ZMF masterpiece and worth being added to any collection.
OP was referring to Atrium Closed, where the sub-bass is definitely the focus of the lower register. The AO is more mid-bass focused for sure.
The Caldera Closed is the best sounding headphones I have ever heard, I have heard many and still own some, including the HIFIMAN Shangri-la Jr, HE-R10P, HE1000SE, HIFIMAN Edition XS and earlier when I first discovered the magic of plannars the Fostex RP40, My Caldera Open is currently under repairs for some booboo I made so can't do side by side. But I would say the CC is able to retrieve more detail, paints a more holographic image, I bet if reviewers are a bit more objective they will confess it is more detailed than even the HIFIMAN Susvara, because part of detail retrieval to me is the ability to recreate the original performance as closely as possible, but we have all been so excited so long about unfocused artifacts of a recording.
Thoughts/Impressions on the Caldera Closed
Closed headphone creation is a tough business yet here we have ZMF continuing to create and innovate in the closed headphone space. To start, I love the look of the headphones, they are beautiful works of art and the sculpting of the cup is fantastic. To me the cups look like play buttons which is very fitting since these headphones make you want to press play on music as fast as possible. The headphones do have some weight to them but the weight is evenly distributed by the headband/crescent strap system so there was no issues with wearing these for a long time.
This headphone is very customizable. The amount of options feels like going into a Blaze Pizza and and seeing a cornucopia of toppings to create an amazing pizza. There are four different pads to choose from, the Caldera hybrid (top perf only), Bokeh protein (top perf only), Caldera suede (top perf only) - this is the only one I have not tried yet, and Caldera thick (top perf only). There are currently two different tuning meshes as well, red which is the stock mesh and black which is a thinner mesh. If you are daring you can even run the headphone with no mesh.
Initially I started with the stock configuration (red mesh, hybrid pads), and while they sounded great, I could not resist wanting to tinker with the different pads and mesh. The thick pad provided the vocals/mids the farthest away but provided the widest soundstage with the most depth of sound. I also noticed an increased thickness to the sound. The hybrid pads were the middle ground between the three where the vocals were brought closer while the soundstage was decreased slightly with a smidge less depth. These pads had less of the thickness to the sound but more increased clarity and speed, definitely a middle ground between the thick and protein pads. The protein pad brought the vocals the closest while it had the most intimate soundstage, but the protein pads were the ones with the most of everything, more slam, more treble energy at the cost of the least amount of depth of sound. Those are the pads when you want just more intensity. They brought the most clarity and speed of the three pads. The pad findings were true when running the black mesh as well. The difference with the black mesh is increased treble energy. I even tried running them without any tuning mesh, which gives the most treble energy, and even loved listening to them that way but could see how that it might be to much energy for some. The great thing is you can modify the sound to change your mood very quickly. This is due to the mesh having adhesive making it to where you can get them on and off fairly quickly and couple that with the fact that pads are easy and quick to change. For now I have been leaning towards the black mesh with the protein pads being my go-to. Cant really go wrong with any combination though.
The Caldera Closed provides good bass response with more of a mid bass focus compared to the Atrium Closed where the sub bass is the focus. They reach down low but just don't have the quantity of the Atrium Closed. The soundstage for a closed back is very impressive and of course isn't as wide as an open headphone, but I didn't feel claustrophobic listening to these and I don't believe anybody who listens to these will either. The mids still retain that ZMF magic while the treble is nice and extended. Of course as stated above you can tweak to your hearts content with the tuning meshes and pads. The imaging was fantastic and I could pinpoint sounds with ease. The resolution was very good as well. From memory I believe the Caldera Open had a little more resolution but these headphones are no slouch in that area. The Caldera Closed is just a fantastic headphone that provides a fun listen that lets you get lost in the music. It is another ZMF masterpiece and worth being added to any collection.
to Zach and team for this truly Stella achievement without charging an astronomical price! 
The CC are it for me too, and are absolutely incredible in every way.The Caldera Closed is the best sounding headphones I have ever heard, I have heard many and still own some, including the HIFIMAN Shangri-la Jr, HE-R10P, HE1000SE, HIFIMAN Edition XS and earlier when I first discovered the magic of plannars the Fostex RP40, My Caldera Open is currently under repairs for some booboo I made so can't do side by side. But I would say the CC is able to retrieve more detail, paints a more holographic image, I bet if reviewers are a bit more objective they will confess it is more detailed than even the HIFIMAN Susvara, because part of detail retrieval to me is the ability to recreate the original performance as closely as possible, but we have all been so excited so long about unfocused artifacts of a recording.
One of the recordings that I found to let one evaluate the CC in one music is the Soundtrack for Kevin Spacy's K-Pax
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/k-pax-edward-shearmur/0004400161922&data=05|02||ce9124e3ced046a4b42808dc7c60b9bc|84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa|1|0|638522002081864156|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0=|0|||&sdata=v3k93aKqPfiqxHixRkn7XdnkERFlW+rs8cfid4AvMfE=&reserved=0
This will quickly reveal what a Sonic Marvel the CC is and Kudos
Absolutely fantastic headphones indeed. Realistic with good timbre and detail retrieval. I would also pick the Caldera (closed or open) over the Susvara, but sayin the CC is more detailed than the Susvara IMO is just a bit misleading. The CC is also a bit behind the CO in this regard, but this doesn't take away anything from the CC's greatness.The Caldera Closed is the best sounding headphones I have ever heard, I have heard many and still own some, including the HIFIMAN Shangri-la Jr, HE-R10P, HE1000SE, HIFIMAN Edition XS and earlier when I first discovered the magic of plannars the Fostex RP40, My Caldera Open is currently under repairs for some booboo I made so can't do side by side. But I would say the CC is able to retrieve more detail, paints a more holographic image, I bet if reviewers are a bit more objective they will confess it is more detailed than even the HIFIMAN Susvara, because part of detail retrieval to me is the ability to recreate the original performance as closely as possible, but we have all been so excited so long about unfocused artifacts of a recording.
One of the recordings that I found to let one evaluate the CC in one music is the Soundtrack for Kevin Spacy's K-Pax
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/k-pax-edward-shearmur/0004400161922&data=05|02||ce9124e3ced046a4b42808dc7c60b9bc|84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa|1|0|638522002081864156|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0=|0|||&sdata=v3k93aKqPfiqxHixRkn7XdnkERFlW+rs8cfid4AvMfE=&reserved=0
This will quickly reveal what a Sonic Marvel the CC is and Kudos
) - the CC has a very full texture, like all ZMF headphones. I do also have the Elite (angled Alcantara pads). They are both very smooth and relaxed listen. The CC is more “weighty” while the Elite is more “delicate”, but they both offer a very smooth listen. The CC have a tad more energy. The Elite with Alcantara space offer great spatial presentation, but the CC have some magic in how holographic the soundstage sounds.Thanks. Looking to trade a 4 month old 1266 TC in mint condition for a CC. So- anyone not happy with CC- please PM me.I’m still on the protein pads (I really should swap soon but I’m having too much fun
CC is thicker and weightier. Elite is lighter and airier.
Weightier? No.
Very helpful. And I get it. The darker slightly wieighier and warmer sound of the CC is due mostly to the dampened treble. In other words- it is not as meaty as a Audeze LCD-4 or 4Z.
