whirlwind
Headphoneus Supremus
Having this great of a pic of all of the grills, the Atrium just draws me in.
ZMF Caldera - New Planar Magnetic from ZMF!
- Thread starter ScornDefeat
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Having this great of a pic of all of the grills, the Atrium just draws me in.
Just got my Tiger Maple Salire stand and think it goes great with the Coffee Gold Caldera. Next up is the Verite Silver cable hopefully by end of the week.
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Tchoupitoulas
500+ Head-Fier
It also looks awesome as a lamp.
Takarajima
100+ Head-Fier
Hi folks,
I've just posted a long(ish?)-term review for Caldera. If interested, please check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zmfheadphones-caldera.26159/review/29961/
Thanks!
I've just posted a long(ish?)-term review for Caldera. If interested, please check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zmfheadphones-caldera.26159/review/29961/
Thanks!
jambaj0e
500+ Head-Fier
I'm actually very interested in the Caldera, but I do want to hear it on my system to see if it will be an upgrade, not a sidegrade to my LCD-3. How were you able to get a demo pair to review?
System-wise, I have the Chord Hugo TT2 DAC to Cayin HA-300 tube amp with Western Electric 300b tubes + Sylvania 6SN7W metal base tubes and the Audeze LCD-3 headphones.
many thanks to the great guys at Zeppelin & Co! they contacted me as soon as it arrived. and because I'm down with the flu and couldn't make it to the shop to pick it up, they offered to arrange a same day courier to have it delivered to me instead.
the cups have a purplish tinge which is visible depending on the lighting condition. most apparent in natural light. lovely finishing on the cups and grilles!
mine came with caldera leather and thin caldera (? not entirely sure); maybe someone could help identify the following pads. would have liked a set of suede pads, so will get a set when Zepp gets them in stock.
ultrarider
New Head-Fier
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Those would be the cowhide pads.
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ah thanks man. so, there are 5 caldera pad variants?
ie caldera perforated (stock pads) and the 4 above?
Takarajima
100+ Head-Fier
I haven't heard LCD3 recently. But I owned LCD-X 2021 for roughly an year, which was a good improvement over pre-fazor LCD3 I heard long ago -- similar driver capability but better tuned (better upper mid and treble tonality, slightly more resolving, etc). And to my ears, Caldera was a lot better than lcd-x in pretty much every single way. I think Caldera is in a completely different league particularly regarding soundstaging (in both size and definitions), resolution, speed, timbre, and bass (delinearation, articulation, and texture).
But one caveat is it's not Audeze sounding but ZMF house sound. So, if you really like LCD-style sounding and want to upgrade without losing that style of presentation, I'd also shortlist LCD4.
PS. I really don't know how I got a demo pair.. but I've been knowing Zach for many years and did reviews on almost all the ZMF moving-coil dynamic headphones before (although most of them are posted in other communities as I joined HF relatively recently). Also, I'm pretty into orthos and have been exploring/reviewing various models in the ortho spectrum for years. I'm highly interested in associating subjective quality to audio measurements, too. So, I guess probably opinions from a person having backgrounds like mine would be regarded as an interesting data point. But I digress.
Yes!ah thanks man. so, there are 5 caldera pad variants?
ie caldera perforated (stock pads) and the 4 above?
NutritiousNoodles
Head-Fier
My walnut salire and stock lambskin pads came yesterday. The walnut is definitely has a more subdued and understated look which lets the caldera shine. The sapwood also makes it all the more unique looking.
As pad rolling goes, the only pads that I haven't tried is the caldera thin. Enjoying the stock lambskin pads atm
. Just some quick notes comparing suede and lambskin. They’re definitely more similar than different.
Feel: Suede feels very soft and velvety. Lambskin is also soft but also has more grip to your ears and feels more secure. Lambskin also traps more heat from you whereas suede is more breathable. For me personally, I prefer the feel of lambskin except on a hot day.
Lambskin: Plosives in vocals are more pronounced on lambskin. Slightly more sub bass. The bass sounds a little bit more planted and textured. Great clarity in layering and rounded soundstage (similar width to depth)
Suede: Slightly more than energy in the treble. More airy sound as a result. Mids are a bit smoother. Also great clarity, but with more stage width.
TLDR; they both sound great and I can do with either of them. The differences in sonic is quite subtle and It comes down to personal preference and source gear. I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
As pad rolling goes, the only pads that I haven't tried is the caldera thin. Enjoying the stock lambskin pads atm
. Just some quick notes comparing suede and lambskin. They’re definitely more similar than different.Feel: Suede feels very soft and velvety. Lambskin is also soft but also has more grip to your ears and feels more secure. Lambskin also traps more heat from you whereas suede is more breathable. For me personally, I prefer the feel of lambskin except on a hot day.
Lambskin: Plosives in vocals are more pronounced on lambskin. Slightly more sub bass. The bass sounds a little bit more planted and textured. Great clarity in layering and rounded soundstage (similar width to depth)
Suede: Slightly more than energy in the treble. More airy sound as a result. Mids are a bit smoother. Also great clarity, but with more stage width.
TLDR; they both sound great and I can do with either of them. The differences in sonic is quite subtle and It comes down to personal preference and source gear. I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
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Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
(insert emoji for "copious drooling")
many thanks to the great guys at Zeppelin & Co! they contacted me as soon as it arrived. and because I'm down with the flu and couldn't make it to the shop to pick it up, they offered to arrange a same day courier to have it delivered to me instead.
the cups have a purplish tinge which is visible depending on the lighting condition. most apparent in natural light. lovely finishing on the cups and grilles!
mine came with caldera leather and thin caldera (? not entirely sure); maybe someone could help identify the following pads. would have liked a set of suede pads, so will get a set when Zepp gets them in stock.
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Which wood / finish is this and how did you get the silver grill? When I ordered mine, there was only the Black or Coffee gold finish options for the grill.
many thanks to the great guys at Zeppelin & Co! they contacted me as soon as it arrived. and because I'm down with the flu and couldn't make it to the shop to pick it up, they offered to arrange a same day courier to have it delivered to me instead.
the cups have a purplish tinge which is visible depending on the lighting condition. most apparent in natural light. lovely finishing on the cups and grilles!
mine came with caldera leather and thin caldera (? not entirely sure); maybe someone could help identify the following pads. would have liked a set of suede pads, so will get a set when Zepp gets them in stock.
this is the Kingwood Ltd. iirc, there wasn't any other option than the silver grille/metalwork for this wood variant.
ColSaulTigh
Headphoneus Supremus
Just to add, the Kingwood were limited in numbers, and appears to be sold out, which is why you don't see them available on ZMF's website. Depending on when @Chronos ordered his(?) they may not have been available.
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