[gonintendo]

Can you give Vicarious by Tool a listen for me on the Caldera? How tactile do the intro guitars feel (first 40 seconds)? And does the brief drum solo at 2:40 sound compressed at all?

I ask about the tactility because the LCD-5 has that in spades. And once you get used to headphones that move air so precisely that sounds feel like they're physically hitting your ear, you can't go back. The drum portion I ask about because most more affordable headphones can't render each drum hit - it just sounds blurred together. Hell, even the Meze Elite can't render it well to my ear.

I couldn’t resist sneaking a listen in before bed. I tried the following pads all at around 78db on my handheld spl meter, and out of my Cayin iha6:

Stock lamb:
Intro: sound is somewhat tactile. Stage is fairly 3D, and everything is evenly spaced in the mix. Cymbals are maybe slightly forward.
Drum solo: not compressed sounding, the the crack and reverb of the drum are emphasized slightly more over the thwack if that makes sense lol

Stock suede:
Intro: sound is less tactile. Stage is more 3D, and everything is still evenly spaced in the mix. Nothing is really forward
Drum solo: not compressed sounding, the the crack and reverb of the drum are more in line with the thwack

Cow:
Intro: sound is most tactile. Stage is a bit more intimate, and guitars are a bit more panned to either side
Drum solo: least compressed sounding, the thwack is a bit more emphasized over the crack and reverb of the drum
Mids on these pads are the most recessed so keep that in mind.

I enjoyed the track quite a bit on the two leather pads, the suede is a bit less engaging for me. The lambskin is more of a technical audiophile sound with great separation, the cowhide is more in your face and fun. I think I like the suede better for accoustic/vocal centered music vs rock/metal.

I really think anyone who’s into metal should give the cowhide pads a shot

 

[MetalBox]

AC, VC and Atrium?

Yes. And I ordered the Caldera Kingwood.

 

[George Hincapie]

Yes. And I ordered the Caldera Kingwood.

Very nice! Congratulations. A beautiful amp you have also!

 

[gonintendo]

The cowhide pads are really special, I’m hesitant to say anything definitively while stuff is still breaking in but these are shaping up to be a favorite for me. Their tactility is so addictive!

 

[Kbeau]

Years ago I used to let them sit overnight or longer, some users who didn't believe in burn in didnt appreciate the longer wait time and as we grew it started hamstringing shipping times and production. I do think our dynamic headphones benefit a lot from burn in, the jury is out on planars. Right now we just play them enough to make sure everything is working correctly.

The Caldera is the one headphone we make where I don't have an absolute clear preference. On most headphones my anatomy has me choose the auteur pads over universe as a typical use, but for the Caldera I have used each pad pretty happily for extended periods of time as it seems the overall character isn't as effected as much as with the dynamics. Though the thin and thick definitely take them further towards warm/neutral. On most days I have used the stock though by defacto of what's on the set at my desk.

Thanks for the info! Very comfy pads for sure

 

[shafat777]

With all these pad talks, I can't help but resist the urge to order some additional pads with my caldera. So far I got the stock pads along with cowhide pads. Granted I don't have my caldera yet (just ordered yesterday) I was thinking maybe I should order at least one more set. What do you guys recommend? Suede?

 

[TheFrator]

Cow:
Intro: sound is most tactile. Stage is a bit more intimate, and guitars are a bit more panned to either side
Drum solo: least compressed sounding, the thwack is a bit more emphasized over the crack and reverb of the drum
Mids on these pads are the most recessed so keep that in mind.

Thank you for the analysis! I know the LCD-5 has a unique pad shape and I read the Caldera pads are similar (i.e. they're thicker at the back of the ear so the driver is pointed right into your ear canal). I don't know what type of leather the 5's pad uses but it's real leather so it tracks with your assessment of the Lamb and Cowhide pads being more tactile than Suede.

 

[wkesquire]

Yes. And I ordered the Caldera Kingwood.

We’ve got the same lineup! Different woods aside from Atrium and Caldera. Beautiful amp!

 

[NutritiousNoodles]

I think I like the suede better for accoustic/vocal centered music

That is great to hear as that’s more aligned with my music. I’ve got the suede, cowhide, thick lambskin pads coming in, will probably post pad impressions here if people are interested about those three.

 

[NutritiousNoodles]

With all these pad talks, I can't help but resist the urge to order some additional pads with my caldera. So far I got the stock pads along with cowhide pads. Granted I don't have my caldera yet (just ordered yesterday) I was thinking maybe I should order at least one more set. What do you guys recommend? Suede?

I would give those two a good listen before considering how to tweak it. But suede is always a good choice…

 

[gonintendo]

Thank you for the analysis! I know the LCD-5 has a unique pad shape and I read the Caldera pads are similar (i.e. they're thicker at the back of the ear so the driver is pointed right into your ear canal). I don't know what type of leather the 5's pad uses but it's real leather so it tracks with your assessment of the Lamb and Cowhide pads being more tactile than Suede.

I’d love to try the LCD-5 at some point, I think Audezes are great. The caldera is the most resolving headphone I’ve heard at this point so it’s hard to say if it’ll live up to your tactility expectations. It is something that I value a lot as well, as it’s hard to let go of it when you’ve felt the real instruments create sound in real life. The most tactile personal audio device I’ve heard to me is actually an IEM, the sennheiser IE600. The caldera is more tactile in certain ways and less in others, it’s hard to describe. (The bass on the caldera is maybe a bit less tactile but the mids and highs are more. The bass is a bit boosted on the IE600 so that kind of makes sense)

What I find unique about the caldera is that that tactile feeling isn’t limited to some frequency bands. Like some headphones have really textile bass but not mids or highs, or vice versa. One of my favorite headphones for the money, the LCD-2F, has great tactility for sub bass and for certain parts of the mids (they do the “thwack” of drums great, but not so much the crack), but then some frequencies don’t have it quite as much (guitars don’t have as much bite as I want). Caldera isn't overly in your face with the tactile-ness but it does it consistently for a lot of sounds and I think that’s really cool.

 

[heliosphann]

With all these pad talks, I can't help but resist the urge to order some additional pads with my caldera. So far I got the stock pads along with cowhide pads. Granted I don't have my caldera yet (just ordered yesterday) I was thinking maybe I should order at least one more set. What do you guys recommend? Suede?

Yes. Those along with the Stock/Cowhide will give you a good range.

The cowhide pads are really special, I’m hesitant to say anything definitively while stuff is still breaking in but these are shaping up to be a favorite for me. Their tactility is so addictive!

It's almost like I'm hearing an echo of myself.

 

[Since1991]

I might be ordering one of the Kingwood LTDs soon. Where do I choose grille and rod colors, or is it random?

 

[joshua1122]

I might be ordering one of the Kingwood LTDs soon. Where do I choose grille and rod colors, or is it random?

First run of Kingwood is restricted to the configuration as pictured. Zach has said there will be configurable LTD editions early next year.

 

[Since1991]

First run of Kingwood is restricted to the configuration as pictured. Zach has said there will be configurable LTD editions early next year.

I see, so it's all going to be stainless grille and rod? I actually prefer that anyway.