[robo24]

Thanks Zach - that helps a lot

What Zach said is definitely how I perceive them. Vocals are more forward on the Caldera for me than either of the Verites. I'd prefer vocals on the Caldera even if they weren't as forward because the clarity and detail make me hear more nuance.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Just got my Caldera. Are the two best pads for this can the ones that come with it?

Any other recommendations?- specifically for Rock...

I find the stock pads to bright in the treble. How do I thicken things up and reduce the highs a bit?

 

[iamoneagain]

I find the stock pads to bright in the treble. How do I thicken things up and reduce the highs a bit?

The thick pad might be for you. Gives more sub bass, brings down the highs and smidge of the mids compared to the suede.

Zach said the pads should be posted on his website sometime this week.

 

[goldwerger]

I find the stock pads to bright in the treble. How do I thicken things up and reduce the highs a bit?

Another option to try is the cowhide pads. They are definitely darker than the stock pads, and if you find the stock too than bright, then these are worth a try.

 

[greyforest]

I find the stock pads to bright in the treble. How do I thicken things up and reduce the highs a bit?

the stock cable have this bright characteristic

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I love my VO and VC, and am thinking about the Caldera. My hesitation is that I am a vocal freak - the mids are very important to me. Looking for some feedback from Caldera owners - do you find the mids recessed to the point where you are missing out on the vocals? Maybe something like the LCD-5 would be a better fit for me? (Heresy, I know). Any thoughts?

As a long time Verite Open user, and most of playlist consist of Vocal as the "star of the show", I enjoy Caldera's midrange section more than Verite. It's more transparent, richer in texture and micro detail, more liquid at upper mid/low treble area while still provide full body sound (house sound of ZMF).

I already sold my LCD-5.

The other alternative of Planar to have great Midrange would be Meze Elite and Hifiman Susvara. However, if you want to stick with ZMF's character, Caldera it is.

 

[zach915m]

I find the stock pads to bright in the treble. How do I thicken things up and reduce the highs a bit?

Burn them in a bit - try an amp with slightly higher OI or different character (Caldera does change a lot with amping) - and pads. If none of those get you to where you want to be you can email us for titan mesh that we can sell you.

The thick pad might be for you. Gives more sub bass, brings down the highs and smidge of the mids compared to the suede.

Zach said the pads should be posted on his website sometime this week.

https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/pads/products/calderapads

They're up!

 

[Leto Dal]

Burn them in a bit - try an amp with slightly higher OI or different character (Caldera does change a lot with amping) - and pads. If none of those get you to where you want to be you can email us for titan mesh that we can sell you.


https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/pads/products/calderapads

They're up!

Any particular amp you prefer personally? How bright is HA-3A with stock tubes driving Caldera?

 

[chesebert]

I don’t think deliberately running low damping value in order to have a certain sound is a good idea. You want to do your best to perfectly control the diaphragm. If your cans sound bad that’s the problem with the cans not the amp. Low damping value just means your driver oscillates (slow decay) from one voltage to another.

Just add tone control?

 

[zach915m]

Any particular amp you prefer personally? How bright is HA-3A with stock tubes driving Caldera?

Is not so much any particular amp - as that each amp brings out different personalities in the Caldera, more-so than I was expecting given its lower impedance @60 ohms vs our dynamic headphones. A prime example would be how different a Violectric sounds from a Headamp GSX MK II. The GSX sounds fast, punchy lean and quick while the Violectric sounds full, meaty, heavy and organic. They are both lower impedance amps but sounds totally different with Caldera to my ear.

And then yes we have some users who even use the Cayin amps on high impedance because that's their preference, and @Sajid Amit and @goldwerger had similar positive experiences on higher impedance OTL amps with Caldera.

Point being, there's no right or wrong in audio - it's about finding your personal preferences.

I do like the HA-3A quite a lot, the stock tubes are a touch leaner than my preferred Fivre 6V6 tubes which you can find here: https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/6v6g-cv509-fivre-nos-boxed-valvetube/

The Cayin amps give you a lot of options, if I had to pick one that had the most adaptable sound I'd probably pick the HA-6A - as the Ultra-Linear and Triode modes along with the choice to change between EL34 and KT88 gets you a lot of really nice choices. It also has more over-head in power for planars, although the HA-3A is great and drives Caldera beautifully.

 

[Monsterzero]

Any particular amp you prefer personally? How bright is HA-3A with stock tubes driving Caldera?

I'm using the Cayin IHA 6 and it's a fantastic pairing. The Nitsch Piety, a tiny little amp based on the Schiit Magni, isn't a very good match unfortunately, but is wonderful with ZMF dynamics, especially the Verites. Go figure.

the Violectric sounds full, meaty, heavy and organic.

that sounds like a pairing I'd enjoy!

 

[tedacura1]

Is not so much any particular amp - as that each amp brings out different personalities in the Caldera, more-so than I was expecting given its lower impedance @60 ohms vs our dynamic headphones. A prime example would be how different a Violectric sounds from a Headamp GSX MK II. The GSX sounds fast, punchy lean and quick while the Violectric sounds full, meaty, heavy and organic. They are both lower impedance amps but sounds totally different with Caldera to my ear.

And then yes we have some users who even use the Cayin amps on high impedance because that's their preference, and @Sajid Amit and @goldwerger had similar positive experiences on higher impedance OTL amps with Caldera.

Point being, there's no right or wrong in audio - it's about finding your personal preferences.

I do like the HA-3A quite a lot, the stock tubes are a touch leaner than my preferred Fivre 6V6 tubes which you can find here: https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/6v6g-cv509-fivre-nos-boxed-valvetube/

The Cayin amps give you a lot of options, if I had to pick one that had the most adaptable sound I'd probably pick the HA-6A - as the Ultra-Linear and Triode modes along with the choice to change between EL34 and KT88 gets you a lot of really nice choices. It also has more over-head in power for planars, although the HA-3A is great and drives Caldera beautifully.

Can you tell me which particular model of the Violectric you are talking about? Thanks in advance.

 

[Leto Dal]

Is not so much any particular amp - as that each amp brings out different personalities in the Caldera, more-so than I was expecting given its lower impedance @60 ohms vs our dynamic headphones. A prime example would be how different a Violectric sounds from a Headamp GSX MK II. The GSX sounds fast, punchy lean and quick while the Violectric sounds full, meaty, heavy and organic. They are both lower impedance amps but sounds totally different with Caldera to my ear.

And then yes we have some users who even use the Cayin amps on high impedance because that's their preference, and @Sajid Amit and @goldwerger had similar positive experiences on higher impedance OTL amps with Caldera.

Point being, there's no right or wrong in audio - it's about finding your personal preferences.

I do like the HA-3A quite a lot, the stock tubes are a touch leaner than my preferred Fivre 6V6 tubes which you can find here: https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/6v6g-cv509-fivre-nos-boxed-valvetube/

The Cayin amps give you a lot of options, if I had to pick one that had the most adaptable sound I'd probably pick the HA-6A - as the Ultra-Linear and Triode modes along with the choice to change between EL34 and KT88 gets you a lot of really nice choices. It also has more over-head in power for planars, although the HA-3A is great and drivers Caldera beautifully.

Thanks for the elaborate reply. I ended up sending back my Euforia Evo OTL to run Calderas properly, so good value option was HA-3A, while I am getting some cash together this year to get Feliks Envy. Will make a small write down when Caldera finally comes in. And thanks, will check the solid state amps you mentioned and the tubes. Which Violectric?
Too much to explore

I'm using the Cayin IHA 6 and it's a fantastic pairing. The Nitsch Piety, a tiny little amp based on the Schiit Magni, isn't a very good match unfortunately, but is wonderful with ZMF dynamics, especially the Verites. Go figure.

that sounds like a pairing I'd enjoy!

Yeah was considering IHA-6 but already got a burson soloist around and really want to run a ZMF planar on tubes

 

[goldwerger]

Is not so much any particular amp - as that each amp brings out different personalities in the Caldera, more-so than I was expecting given its lower impedance @60 ohms vs our dynamic headphones. A prime example would be how different a Violectric sounds from a Headamp GSX MK II. The GSX sounds fast, punchy lean and quick while the Violectric sounds full, meaty, heavy and organic. They are both lower impedance amps but sounds totally different with Caldera to my ear.

And then yes we have some users who even use the Cayin amps on high impedance because that's their preference, and @Sajid Amit and @goldwerger had similar positive experiences on higher impedance OTL amps with Caldera.

Point being, there's no right or wrong in audio - it's about finding your personal preferences.

I do like the HA-3A quite a lot, the stock tubes are a touch leaner than my preferred Fivre 6V6 tubes which you can find here: https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/6v6g-cv509-fivre-nos-boxed-valvetube/

The Cayin amps give you a lot of options, if I had to pick one that had the most adaptable sound I'd probably pick the HA-6A - as the Ultra-Linear and Triode modes along with the choice to change between EL34 and KT88 gets you a lot of really nice choices. It also has more over-head in power for planars, although the HA-3A is great and drives Caldera beautifully.

@Leto Dal I've tried the Caldera with 6 amps so far (a veriety of SS, TC, OTL, and power amps). I've found the following:

1. The Caldera really doesn't need a lot power to sound great -- so your starting point can be modest if needed
2. The Caldera really does scale (extremely) well with better amplificaiton -- so upgrades are well rewarded
3. They are influenced by amp character more than the average headphone -- if you can demo or get a reasonable return policy, awesome
4. Depending on chain and taste: if you want to got for a single amp that will play Caldera and other headphones -- consider a quality TC tube amp, which can give you powerful clean amplificaiton + ablity to tube roll to taste -- lots of info and amp recommendation on "The (Un)Official Amp Thread For ZMF Headphones" thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-un-official-amp-thread-for-zmf-headphones.965309/

 

[Monsterzero]

Yeah was considering IHA-6 but already got a burson soloist around and really want to run a ZMF planar on tubes

I totally understand that. The best I've heard the Caldera sound was when I paired it up with the upcoming DIY Aegis amp, which is a TC tube amp. It expanded the stage considerably and hit quite hard and gave the mids a very liquid quality.

For me personally, I prefer a solid state amp for planar headphones.