[heliosphann]

Are the Caldera Closed pads thick? I'd love to see some Caldera Thick variants - ultra perf lambskin and a suede/lamb hybrid would be sweet - particularly for other headphones (Tungsten DS and Atrium Closed, for example).

No, they're not thick pads. I'm not sure thicker pads would be a viable option with the CC due to the way it's tuned with ADS. Might askew the sound a little too much. The AC was also rather picky when it came to pad choices. What say you @zach915m?

 

[vsg28]

The lambskin deep, which is going to be named as "Caldera Thick, Top Perf, Lambskin" is about as thick as it will get for Caldera Closed I guess. On the left below is the hybrid stock pad, on the right is the thick.

 

[heliosphann]

The lambskin deep, which is going to be named as "Caldera Thick, Top Perf, Lambskin" is about as thick as it will get for Caldera Closed I guess. On the left below is the hybrid stock pad, on the right is the thick.

They should be called "Slim Thick"

 

[vsg28]

They should be called "Slim Thick"

That's what they call me on Friday nights.

 

[Cecala]

What kind of power is needed to effortlessly drive the CC?

 

[betula]

What kind of power is needed to effortlessly drive the CC?

Clean. They are not too demanding.

 

[vsg28]

Still can't get over the chatoyance on display here. Two photos I rejected from use in my review but figured I'd share here:

 

[erics75]

What kind of power is needed to effortlessly drive the CC?

Here's some amps I've tried and what I perceive as properly powered vs underpowered.

DNA Stratus - properly powered. Don't need much volume to go loud with crazy good dynamics.

Jotunheim 2 - properly powered. Don't need much volume to go loud with crazy good dynamics.

Midgard - properly powered. Moderate volume to go loud with good dynamics.

Asgard 3 - properly powered. Moderate volume to go loud with good dynamics.

Hagerman Tuba - Borderline between properly powered and underpowered. At 75% or more of volume range, but gets plenty loud with good dynamics. Leans more towards properly powered as telltale signs of underpowering are absent (weak, flubby bass, stridency, weak dynamics).

Vali 2+ - underpowered. High on volume range for moderate volume level, with sonic signs of underpowering, especially when under duress.

Hopefully you've had experience with some of those amps to get an idea where it's at, power-wise. Honestly everything up to the Tuba was in great shape. The Tuba sounds great, but is using a lot of it's range to do so. But i'll say it's adequate as dynamics are still strong and quite good. It's a workhorse type amp, despite it's middling power rating. One of the best sub-$1K tube amps out there IMO. It never fails to come through for me, only really bowing out to the infamous HE6, which most amps do at 3-4 times it's power output.

This weekend if time permits I want to dust off my MZ2 and Kenzie OG2 and see how those fare. The Kenzie should have power to spare, but the MZ2 is questionable. But the Tuba was as well and came through, so hopes are high for the MZ2.

 

[jamato8]

This weekend if time permits I want to dust off my MZ2 and Kenzie OG2 and see how those fare. The Kenzie should have power to spare, but the MZ2 is questionable. But the Tuba was as well and came through, so hopes are high for the MZ2.

The MZ2 should do well. It works well with the Abyss. In fact it was at a show I was doing that a guy tried his Abyss on the MZ2 that he could not believe it could power them so well.

 

[ng5921]

Here's some amps I've tried and what I perceive as properly powered vs underpowered.

DNA Stratus - properly powered. Don't need much volume to go loud with crazy good dynamics.

Jotunheim 2 - properly powered. Don't need much volume to go loud with crazy good dynamics.

Midgard - properly powered. Moderate volume to go loud with good dynamics.

Asgard 3 - properly powered. Moderate volume to go loud with good dynamics.

Hagerman Tuba - Borderline between properly powered and underpowered. At 75% or more of volume range, but gets plenty loud with good dynamics. Leans more towards properly powered as telltale signs of underpowering are absent (weak, flubby bass, stridency, weak dynamics).

Vali 2+ - underpowered. High on volume range for moderate volume level, with sonic signs of underpowering, especially when under duress.

Hopefully you've had experience with some of those amps to get an idea where it's at, power-wise. Honestly everything up to the Tuba was in great shape. The Tuba sounds great, but is using a lot of it's range to do so. But i'll say it's adequate as dynamics are still strong and quite good. It's a workhorse type amp, despite it's middling power rating. One of the best sub-$1K tube amps out there IMO. It never fails to come through for me, only really bowing out to the infamous HE6, which most amps do at 3-4 times it's power output.

This weekend if time permits I want to dust off my MZ2 and Kenzie OG2 and see how those fare. The Kenzie should have power to spare, but the MZ2 is questionable. But the Tuba was as well and came through, so hopes are high for the MZ2.

To add to this:

Schiit Mjolnir 3 - properly powered, doesn't need much volume to achieve loud volume and excellent dynamics
HeadAmp GS-X Mini - properly powered, doesn't need much volume to achieve loud volume and excellent dynamics
ZMF Pendant SE - Properly powered, plenty of volume and great dynamics around 12 o'clock on the volume pot

Although in my review I focused solely on the Mjolnir 3, I think the ZMF Pendant SE is actually my favorite pairing with the Caldera Closed. Beautiful synergy.

 

[jamato8]

I would enjoy comparing the CC to my Sony R-10.

 

[zach915m]

The lambskin deep, which is going to be named as "Caldera Thick, Top Perf, Lambskin" is about as thick as it will get for Caldera Closed I guess. On the left below is the hybrid stock pad, on the right is the thick.

The Caldera Thick pads are the same thickness across all variants of the Caldera Thick pads and at about 30mm thick are the deepest I like to go with them. So anyways, there isn't a thicker option available and if looking for depth the Caldera Thick Lamb, top perf only is the way to go and option to choose as the secondary pad for the CC.

 

[erics75]

The CC continues to burn in and the treble seems to be most affected, in a good way. It's mellowing out a bit, not quite as sharp and biting as it was out of the box. Still has that strong planar treble presentation, but it's just a touch more relaxed now.

I really love the mids on the CC. The more time I spend with it, the more i'm appreciating how good these mids are. Male vocals are really good, really really good. Bowie, Idol, Mercury, Rogers, etc all sound so good. More forward than the AC, and about as forward as the Bokeh, which also has amazing mids. The CC mids are a touch thinner than those models, but really clear and nuanced. It's a nice contrast between sets, hearing them more lush and colored with the AC/Bokeh, or more detailed and nuanced with the CC.

This headphone is coming on strong for me. Out of the box I liked it quite a bit, but now i'm starting to really fall for it. Also helps the Tuba amp is more engaging and less strident than the Jot 2 I started with. Still messing with pads, i'm honestly at a loss for which set i prefer most. I'm currently back on the stock hybrid pads. They soften the treble more vs the other pads which have leather sidewalls inside. The leather inner walls give a more aggressive character to the treble vs the hybrid. But now that the treble is relaxing from break in i am appreciating the other pads much more. I'll give the protein pads another run to finish the day.

 

[jandrese]

I have just tried the thinner felt mesh: yes! Betula approves!
This is definitely a step closer to the CO sound.
I can imagine, some hardcore Atrium/Atticus/Eikon fans would prefer the thicker mesh, but for me as someone who is in love with his CO (with thick pads, no mesh), it seems the thinner felt is what I prefer.
I tried the CC without mesh too; it is not completely unlistenable, but certainly becomes imbalanced with too much brightness in the treble.
Regarding the 3 pairs of pads I have at hand, so far it is a tossup between the full leather and the hybrid depending on the music genres. Both pads have advantages and compromises. I am least keen on the full suede pads. These are great for some very mid-centric music but take away too much from bass and treble focus/dynamics.
With my most listened genres I probably lean towards thin mesh/leather pads combo, but it is still early days to proclaim an ultimate winner combination.
Definitely all 3 pairs of pads have a tuning purpose here which I can see, as opposed to the thin pads on the CO which I disliked.
Enjoying the journey so far.

The frequency response graphs posted earlier showed more bass energy from the bottom past 200 Hz using the suede pads over the hybrid pads--is this the opposite of what you are perceiving?

Based also only on the published frequency response the thinner mesh should have a bit more treble energy in total but also smoother response across the treble--what is your experience with this?

Thanks

 

[betula]

The frequency response graphs posted earlier showed more bass energy from the bottom past 200 Hz using the suede pads over the hybrid pads--is this the opposite of what you are perceiving?

Based also only on the published frequency response the thinner mesh should have a bit more treble energy in total but also smoother response across the treble--what is your experience with this?

Thanks

I need to do more testing; these were just quick first impressions. I was focusing more on bass impact and perceived energy instead of bass quantity. I was looking for that dynamic punchiness I love in the CO. So far, the closest to that experience is thinner mesh with leather pads. The hybrid pads already have a 'softer' feeling to bass and the suede pads increase that softened feeling further which is not my personal preference.
Basically, I was a bit surprised how different the CC sounds compared to the CO, and I guess I am trying to bring it closer to what I am used to.

With the thinner mesh there is a little more treble energy, but to me it is actually not the 'energy' that I feel increased the most, but brightness. Treble does not become bothering from a 'too energetic' point of view, but it is more like shining a spotlight to the treble. With the thinner mesh there is more light thrown at the treble, but it is still not out of balance compared to the 'darker' lower frequency range. With no mesh the brightness becomes so much, it just falls out of balance compared to the lower frequencies.

But it is a work in progress, so nothing set in stone yet. Experimenting.