[YungOmbat]

Lets see if this can compete with susvara and tc ! I been waiting for a ZMF flagship planar for a long time!

nah theres no way

 

[YungOmbat]

Wonder if this is flagship and I wonder the price?

its flagship for zmf but i dont think its gonna compete with totl stuff. iirc price should be in the neighborhood of $3k

 

[yolosauce]

....From the fan ZMF fan club on FB:


I believe this was made collectively by the group admin with some observations from others. Not sure, though. I thought Pierpaolo was in here somewhere?

Interesting chart. I felt the Susvara with Dekoni pads added an unpleasant glare to the treble. I would give the stock Susvara a higher tonal balance rating over the Dekoni pads.

 

[yolosauce]

its flagship for zmf but i dont think its gonna compete with totl stuff. iirc price should be in the neighborhood of $3k

The Caldera definitely competes with other totl planars. If ZMF charged $5k for the Caldera people who only care about price would rate it higher without hearing it.

 

[YungOmbat]

The Caldera definitely competes with other totl planars. If ZMF charged $5k for the Caldera people who only care about price would rate it higher without hearing it.

i havent really heard it but for a first time flagship might be a bit hard to get it right to the same degree as for example hifiman. yeah u do have a point there.

 

[dfiled]

i havent really heard it but for a first time flagship might be a bit hard to get it right to the same degree as for example hifiman. yeah u do have a point there.

Why would you make a judgment about a headphone you've never heard?

 

[trollbearpig]

Does the Caldera maintain the same 'psychedelic' quality I've heard the Atrium has ?

My issue since owning the Caldera is I haven't been able to put it down and have developed 'One More Song' syndrome . It feels like I'm listening to all my favorite songs for the first time.

I'd really love to hear the Atrium to compare though, have heard some beautiful tonal descriptions for it.

 

[DenverW]

i havent really heard it but for a first time flagship might be a bit hard to get it right to the same degree as for example hifiman. yeah u do have a point there.

I’ve heard them as well as the susvara and he1000se. Zmf gets it right.

 

[dfiled]

Well after being disappointed with the slam of the Calderas, I just changed from cowhide to stock lambskin and I'm finding the slam much more prominent with the stock. Seems to be the opposite of most people's experience. Curious.

 

[SlothRock]

Well after being disappointed with the slam of the Calderas, I just changed from cowhide to stock lambskin and I'm finding the slam much more prominent with the stock. Seems to be the opposite of most people's experience. Curious.

One thing I've learned about pad swapping with my ZMF's is you need to try the swaps for yourself and kinda ignore other peoples' reviews. For instance, I 100% preferred the Auteur Lambskin pads on my Atriums and felt they made the bass slam much more effectively than the Universe Lambskins. I was actually kinda disappointed with the Atriums until I changed the pads but most reviews I read said the Universe pads had a lot more slam to their ears - definitely was not the case for me.

 

[joshua1122]

One thing I've learned about pad swapping with my ZMF's is you need to try the swaps for yourself and kinda ignore other peoples' reviews. For instance, I 100% preferred the Auteur Lambskin pads on my Atriums and felt they made the bass slam much more effectively than the Universe Lambskins. I was actually kinda disappointed with the Atriums until I changed the pads but most reviews I read said the Universe pads had a lot more slam to their ears - definitely was not the case for me.

Another thing I've learned is that the rotation of the pads on the cups really makes a difference for me. On the Caldera, I think the pads came out-of-the-box with the seam aligned with the jacks, and that made some dips worse. I rotated them roughly 1/4" towards the front, and I get a better seal, plus less dippy FR. I think it changes the way my ears touch the sides of the cup, so it understandably would be different for everyone's ears. YMMV, but it's made my listening experience better. Some personal experimentation is definitely in order here, so I totally agree with @SlothRock here.

 

[NutritiousNoodles]

its flagship for zmf but i dont think its gonna compete with totl stuff. iirc price should be in the neighborhood of $3k

The Caldera definitely competes with other totl planars. If ZMF charged $5k for the Caldera people who only care about price would rate it higher without hearing it.

You can’t really compare the price of ZMFs to other brands like that. ZMF has a different business model compared to say Audeze or Hifiman. Zach has mentioned, if ZMF were to use distributors like those brands, the caldera would be at least 5k.

 

[wkesquire]

I don't think any planar can really match what dynamics can do for that particular feature. Maybe the 1266, but I'm not wearing those things.

I haven't heard as many TOTL planars as you, but I suspect you are right. And agreed about the 1266, the design and comfort are not for me from my experience (albeit limited) with them. I assume you've heard them with the stock lambskin pads, but which other pads did you roll onto them?

 

[wkesquire]

@dfiled sorry just saw your last post. I had unread posts that hadn't loaded!

 

[yolosauce]

You can’t really compare the price of ZMFs to other brands like that. ZMF has a different business model compared to say Audeze or Hifiman. Zach has mentioned, if ZMF were to use distributors like those brands, the caldera would be at least 5k.

Definitely. I paid $4000 for a brand new Susvara from a dealer so the street prices for totl headphones are closer than people think. I made my comment because I've noticed some people will put a headphone into a higher tier solely based on its price and not how it sounds.