[dfiled]

So my wife was able to change each pad in about a minute a piece. I gave up after 5 minutes. Thought I had one in place and then was rotating it to correct position and it came off. I think I just lack coordination. I also learned don’t take both pads off at once because the one cup can rest on the other pad when changing. Otherwise have to be extra careful.

Are you turning them inside out first? Zach has a video where he demonstrates this.

 

[iamoneagain]

Are you turning them inside out first? Zach has a video where he demonstrates this.

Oh shoot, I should have watched the video. I started it and then saw how easy it was to remove and figured easy to put back on.

And for now, I know I definitely prefer suede over the thick. Even though the thick has that extra sub bass, they also remind me of why I sold the L3000, lack of air. But the L3000 had the thick sub bass plus the twangy guitar and euphoric sound of the suede. What it didn’t have was the open soundstage and airiness. The low rumble is nice but not worth losing what makes the suede sound special.

I still might get the original stock pads just to see. I’ll watch the video but probably still have my wife change them.

 

[dfiled]

How is the punchiness/impact of the suedes compared to the stock and/or cowhide?

 

[Kbeau]

How is the punchiness/impact of the suedes compared to the stock and/or cowhide?

I think impact is more with suedes but sub bass isn’t as detailed

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Today, I received my Caldera headphones and I have been listening to them all day totally captivated by its sound. I have only had them for one day, so I need another week to fully vet them. But, I am pretty sure that it is my new favorite headphone. It is certainly in the top 3 and probably no lower than number 2. I have been trying to figure out what is the essence of why they sound so great to me. In the watercooler thread, we were discussing DD and BA timbre in IEMs and the pros and cons of it. I made this post and I realized that it captures what I believe is the super power of the ZMF Caldera and why I love it so much. tl;dr. It has the best instrumental timbre of any headphone or IEM I have ever heard.

Let me know what you think. For headphones, planar magnetic timbre is the analog to Balanced Armature timbre:

Today, I finally received my ZMF Caldera planar magnetic headphones. It has the best instrumental timbre of anything I have heard in headphones or IEMs by a mile. Because of it, I think it is my new number 1 headphone. I still need to do the a/b tests, but it is tentatively the best.

If has better bass timbre than DD because not only does it have the same velvety texture in all frequencies. But, upright bass, cellos and violins sound woody, saxophones, clarinets, oboes sound reedy, trumpets, trombones and french horns sound brassy and cymbals sound correct with the right tsing and it has the resolution of a planar magnetic headphone. When paired with Holo May DTE DAC and Ferrum Orr amp, which have a natural sound to them, this is the best instrumental timbre I have ever heard.

Typically, a DD driver does well with the lower register instruments because the decay is slower and more natural. But, for the highs, you need more resolution. So, a large ensemble of violins needs resolution to sound clean. So, BAs sound great. But, BAs lose that woodiness that real violins have when you hear them live. It sounds too smooth which I describe as glassy. There is a texture to them that is a third dimension that you get with Caldera that is most common with a DD driver, but you are getting it with this planar magnetic resolution. When BA bass has this glassy texture, it sounds wrong to my ear and that is how I hear most BA bass. Mentor is better because UM has implemented technology that simulates DD decay, but to my ear it is not the real thing. I don't even rank it in my top 10 bass responses because of it. We shall see if Storm has figured out how to make a BA driver sound more natural than a great DD driver. ZMF has figured out how to make a planar sound more natural than a DD.

I just wanted to come back to this post now that I have had Caldera for while and have fully vetted it with my desktop systems and compared them against my collection of headphones. The bottom line is that I still love them and they are indeed in the top 3 of my favorite headphones. My favorite set up for Caldera is this one:

Bluesound Node 2i streamer > Holo May KTE dac > Ferrum Orr/Hypsos amp > Norne Silvergarde S4 cable > ZMF Caldera Kingwood > Lambskin thick caldera pads.

The hallmark of my favorite headphones is that many times per year as I listen to them, I think to myself, "I think this is the best headphone I have ever heard." Then, I go on to a/b test them against my other headphones and then I say, "no so fast." This indeed happened when I listened to Caldera. My jazz tracks sounded about the best I have ever heard them. So what do I think now?

Here is my top 3 ranking:

1) STAX SR-X9000
2) ZMF Caldera Kingwood
3) Hifiman Susvara

You could almost say that these are all 1a, 1b, and 1c, since on any given day, I could change my ranking. Here is why I rank them the way I do.

The X9000 is my top ranked headphone because it is my reference headphone. If I were an audio engineer, this is the sound that I think the music is mostly supposed to sound like. It is the most linear and accurate sound to my ear. It has tremendous resolution and extension in both bass and treble. It sounds good with my entire library even with the bassier tracks even though I may prefer a little extra color on those tracks.

ZMF Caldera is the flavor I like most. My favorite flavor of ice cream is Baskin Robbins chocolate fudge. That's what ZMF Caldera is to me. It is a little darker than neutral especially with the leather pads, but I like the darker tones even with jazz music that is supposed to be more bright. For classical and jazz, I prefer the stock Caldera pads because it has the largest sound stage, but it is too bass light to be an all arounder. So, my favorite pads in general and what I will keep on the Caldera are the lambskin thick Caldera pads. This makes it sound great with my entire library even though the sound is a bit darker/warmer and the stage is more intimate. This is because I also have the ZMF Atrium on the same headphone stand and when I want more stage size, I switch to that headphone.

Hifiman Susvara has the best mids of any headphone I own. Since mids are wear emotion is carried, Susvara has a very special place in my heart. I probably have the most viscerally positive reaction with these headphones. They are great all around headphones, too, as they can play my entire library, but the mids is where these are special. So, the only reason the others are slightly higher ranked is that they extend better for a more accurate presentation to my ear.

All 3 are great headphones and on any given day could easily switch spots. But, I believe in rankings and this is how I rank them.

The other thing that I have determined is that headphones have different optimal set ups. I think I am just going to be willing to live with that idea and keep that in mind when I make future purchases. These 3 headphones rank this high in my systems due to what I own. If I owned a Woo Audio WA33. I would probably rank the Abyss 1266 Phi TC as my number 1 headphone. When I heard that pairing, I thought it was the best thing I had ever heard to that point. When I heard my Verite Closed headphones on a Primaluna EVO 400 Integrated amp, I thought that was the best I had ever heard that headphone.

So, it is worth noting what my pairings were for the other set ups.

I found that my Susvara really love Ampsandsound tube amps. In fact, I own one in part because I did shoot out at CanJam Socal 2021 and the Rockwell won for me for Susvara and Verite Closed.

For my X9000:

Bluesound node 2i > Chord Hugo Mscaler > Chord Hugo TT2 > Mjolnir KGSSHV Carbon > STAX-SR X9000


For Susvara:

Bluesound node 2i > Chord Hugo Mscaler > Chord Hugo TT2 > Ampsandsound Rockwell 16 ohm tap > Norne Vykari > Hifiman Susvara

 

[iamoneagain]

I think impact is more with suedes but sub bass isn’t as detailed

So does the stock lose any of the fun of the suede? Sound like it might give it the most technical performance. The thick seemed to move even further from that sound with much to like. Just a touch too far my tastes. Maybe if there was another pad in between. But the suede seems perfect for my tastes.

 

[wkesquire]

How is the punchiness/impact of the suedes compared to the stock and/or cowhide?

I find the suedes less punchy compared to the stock (and also the slim). The cowhide pads clearly weren’t for me on first listen. I had them in for maybe two days. I swap between suede and slim (both of which I love) often, but I should give the cowhide pads another shot for a week. Like you, I have my questions about burn-in (especially for a planar), BUT I definitely believe the brain acclimates to a certain sound signature over time. So I may not have given the cowhide pads enough time.

My Calderas are back with me now after spending a week with a friend. And I’m looking forward to having more quality time with them the rest of this holiday week.

(I sound like a dad talking about his children.)

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I find the suedes less punchy compared to the stock (and also the slim). The cowhide pads clearly weren’t for me on first listen. I had them in for maybe two days. I swap between suede and slim (both of which I love) often, but I should give the cowhide pads another shot for a week. Like you, I have my questions about burn-in (especially for a planar), BUT I definitely believe the brain acclimates to a certain sound signature over time. So I may not have given the cowhide pads enough time.

My Calderas are back with me now after spending a week with a friend. And I’m looking forward to having more quality time with them the rest of this holiday week.

(I sound like a dad talking about his children.)

I agree. I find the leather pads in general to have more punchiness.

 

[Dawgfish]

I find the suedes less punchy compared to the stock (and also the slim). The cowhide pads clearly weren’t for me on first listen. I had them in for maybe two days. I swap between suede and slim (both of which I love) often, but I should give the cowhide pads another shot for a week. Like you, I have my questions about burn-in (especially for a planar), BUT I definitely believe the brain acclimates to a certain sound signature over time. So I may not have given the cowhide pads enough time.

My Calderas are back with me now after spending a week with a friend. And I’m looking forward to having more quality time with them the rest of this holiday week.

(I sound like a dad talking about his children.)

No worries I'm taking good care of one of your "children" that has left the house. Its definitely getting a lot of listening time and love.

 

[Sharppain]

I'm about 100 hours in and they're starting to settle down and soften up Still a little honky sounding, but some of that is probably my needing to swap back out of the slim pads.

! ! !

 

[Sharppain]

Kennerton has such an easy system for pad swapping. The earpads mount essentially the same as for ZMFs, but there's a small opening/cut on the inner rim, allowing the lip of the earpad to move on to the right track. Then simply rotating the earpad in the right direction gets it all set up. It takes about 15 seconds. I'm surprised ZMF did not think of it or copy it (since surely not patented).

Of course, in my case the funny part is that I ended up using ZMF pads with the Kennerton.

That small cut was introduced years ago by Beyerdynamic.

 

[Sharppain]

Come on, how could burn-in possibly make sense, especially for a planar magnetic headphone?

Yeee, man, you said it! Planar and burn-in!

 

[NutritiousNoodles]

I just wanted to come back to this post now that I have had Caldera for while and have fully vetted it with my desktop systems and compared them against my collection of headphones. The bottom line is that I still love them and they are indeed in the top 3 of my favorite headphones. My favorite set up for Caldera is this one:

Bluesound Node 2i streamer > Holo May KTE dac > Ferrum Orr/Hypsos amp > Norne Silvergarde S4 cable > ZMF Caldera Kingwood > Lambskin thick caldera pads.

The hallmark of my favorite headphones is that many times per year as I listen to them, I think to myself, "I think this is the best headphone I have ever heard." Then, I go on to a/b test them against my other headphones and then I say, "no so fast." This indeed happened when I listened to Caldera. My jazz tracks sounded about the best I have ever heard them. So what do I think now?

Here is my top 3 ranking:

1) STAX SR-X9000
2) ZMF Caldera Kingwood
3) Hifiman Susvara

You could almost say that these are all 1a, 1b, and 1c, since on any given day, I could change my ranking. Here is why I rank them the way I do.

The X9000 is my top ranked headphone because it is my reference headphone. If I were an audio engineer, this is the sound that I think the music is mostly supposed to sound like. It is the most linear and accurate sound to my ear. It has tremendous resolution and extension in both bass and treble. It sounds good with my entire library even with the bassier tracks even though I may prefer a little extra color on those tracks.

ZMF Caldera is the flavor I like most. My favorite flavor of ice cream is Baskin Robbins chocolate fudge. That's what ZMF Caldera is to me. It is a little darker than neutral especially with the leather pads, but I like the darker tones even with jazz music that is supposed to be more bright. For classical and jazz, I prefer the stock Caldera pads because it has the largest sound stage, but it is too bass light to be an all arounder. So, my favorite pads in general and what I will keep on the Caldera are the lambskin thick Caldera pads. This makes it sound great with my entire library even though the sound is a bit darker/warmer and the stage is more intimate. This is because I also have the ZMF Atrium on the same headphone stand and when I want more stage size, I switch to that headphone.

Hifiman Susvara has the best mids of any headphone I own. Since mids are wear emotion is carried, Susvara has a very special place in my heart. I probably have the most viscerally positive reaction with these headphones. They are great all around headphones, too, as they can play my entire library, but the mids is where these are special. So, the only reason the others are slightly higher ranked is that they extend better for a more accurate presentation to my ear.

All 3 are great headphones and on any given day could easily switch spots. But, I believe in rankings and this is how I rank them.

The other thing that I have determined is that headphones have different optimal set ups. I think I am just going to be willing to live with that idea and keep that in mind when I make future purchases. These 3 headphones rank this high in my systems due to what I own. If I owned a Woo Audio WA33. I would probably rank the Abyss 1266 Phi TC as my number 1 headphone. When I heard that pairing, I thought it was the best thing I had ever heard to that point. When I heard my Verite Closed headphones on a Primaluna EVO 400 Integrated amp, I thought that was the best I had ever heard that headphone.

So, it is worth noting what my pairings were for the other set ups.

I found that my Susvara really love Ampsandsound tube amps. In fact, I own one in part because I did shoot out at CanJam Socal 2021 and the Rockwell won for me for Susvara and Verite Closed.

For my X9000:

Bluesound node 2i > Chord Hugo Mscaler > Chord Hugo TT2 > Mjolnir KGSSHV Carbon > STAX-SR X9000


For Susvara:

Bluesound node 2i > Chord Hugo Mscaler > Chord Hugo TT2 > Ampsandsound Rockwell 16 ohm tap > Norne Vykari > Hifiman Susvara

Excellent post. From all the Oor + calderas owners here, it really sounds like the Oor is the next priority for audition for me . Time to save up for this…

 

[wkesquire]

From all the Oor + calderas owners here, it really sounds like the Oor is the next priority for audition for me

The Oor pops up so frequently in the classifieds. I’ve wondered why isn’t everyone loving the amp, and I guess it’s mostly a synergy thing. I’m sure there are Caldera owners who feel differently than I or @HiFiHawaii808 do about how well the Oor drives it. But I got a WA5 LE with upgraded parts and I’ve rolled some amazing tubes into it, and I can’t say I like the Caldera off that amp more than I like it off the Oor + Hypsos. I think the pairing is a match made in heaven. So when I see the Oor in the classifieds, I want to tell the seller give it another chance, buy a Caldera first!

Now the Atrium on the other hand… the best I’ve heard it is off a Stellaris, but my WA5 setup gets it 95% there and for the price, I’m stoked about that.

 

[wkesquire]

No worries I'm taking good care of one of your "children" that has left the house. Its definitely getting a lot of listening time and love.

just noticed the new profile pic. they look amazing! glad you are enjoying them and happy they've found a good home.