[zach915m]

I have had so many TOTL planars including LCD-5, Susvara, Expanse, Elites etc etc. and I am just astounded at the quality and pure realism/feeling of being there this headphone achieves in comparison to others. (Closest being Susvara's) My first wow moment in audio were the Arya V2's and since then I've heard good, or even great; but the Calderas brought back that wow factor and has me enjoying music in a new light again. Thank you for these headphones they are truly special.

One of the tracks the sold me the most is Ixtapa - Rodrigo y Gabriela Live in Japan. The whole track is wonderful but the best part on the caldera to me is 1.13 -2.08ish just blew me away.

Those R/G recording are really amazing - so appreciative of your post stuff like this really makes my day. Going to listen more to some live stuff per your suggestion too!

Someone in this thread earlier described the Caldera bass to be approaching 1266 level, however I actually think the bass is only a little above neutral and if anything it needs more subbass. Was this person’s impressions way off or do I just need more time with the Caldera? I’m on stock lambskin pads and haven’t tried the slim cowhide yet. I actually think the Expanse has way more subbass. I am coming from Denon d7000. My amp is the Cayin iha6 and source is Cayin N8ii DAP

It sounds like you might be talking more about tuning than quality of the bass. The actual tuning (dB level) can be perceived extremely differently by different people based on chain, listening level, music selection etc. There's no right and wrong when it comes to "to harman or not to harman." A harman tuned headphone will always have more subbass vs one that isn't tuned to harman, and any open headphone tuned to harman may have resistors or other DSP's etc etc in place to achieve that result. There is no right or wrong here.

My only gripe with harman being used for high end headphones, is that we're using the finest materials, amps, transducers, amps/transformers etc here, and the harman is a general guide for the general listener. I typically make many decisions that are very specific based on the ecosystem that I've created with each ZMF which includes the ADS system, new magnet shapes and all that. And this stuff changes greatly based on the headphone design within each ZMF model. I've found that each driver and system needs to be tuned unto itself to sound the best *to me.* This almost never ends up being in a spot that is specific to any particular curve or dB level per frequency. I'm going to talk a lot about this when the Atrium closed comes out soon!

This is a long way of saying this; the Caldera has ruler flat bass response. it not boosted, or rolled off. Just like the headphone system in the Caldera, you personal ecosystem which includes your preferences will differ vs others here, and we often will see this in the bass and treble areas for many reasons, but that's to be expected, and the fun of it!

just got my ultra short adaptors from Sean @ Affinity. took a while as he had to order in the Furutech mini xlr plugs. he had Amphenol and Rean plugs but I don't really like those.

popped the adaptors onto the Caldera and hooked up the DHC Prion4 and am having a simply wonderful late night listening session. stock cable goes back into the case for good. I find the Prion4 adds some low end and blunts the edges a bit, and makes for a great pairing with the Caldera on suede pads.

Helllll yeah! Love my Prion!

 

[WillieB]

Ok all this discussion about humidity got me to order a $8 small humidity meter to put next to my headphones…

https://a.co/d/iDhhjqK

I have two of the Levoit smart humidifiers. I'm in the south so it's not a problem in summer, but in winter when the heat pump is in heat mode, it can really dry the air out. These units come on and off as needed. All you have to do is fill the tanks if you use filtered water and run them in cool mist mode. If you go this route, go ahead and get one of their smart air purifiers as well. The cool mist humidifiers put a certain amount of particulate in the air from the minerals in the water. The purifier will help with that.

 

[goldwerger]

I have two of the Levoit smart humidifiers. I'm in the south so it's not a problem in summer, but in winter when the heat pump is in heat mode, it can really dry the air out. These units come on and off as needed.

any noise from these units?

 

[Pharmaboy]

any noise from these units?

THD? Or just plain noise?

 

[goldwerger]

THD? Or just plain noise?

just wondering if having this around is audible, nothing more fancy..

 

[WillieB]

just wondering if having this around is audible, nothing more fancy..

They make very little sound. They circulate just enough air through to push the mist out the top. I don't have them where I listen, they are in another room, but I could sleep right beside them if need be. One of mine is the hybrid model, though, and if it's in hybrid mode(heated humidification) you may hear a muffled bubbling sound, but only if you're right beside it.

 

[goldwerger]

They make very little sound. They circulate just enough air through to push the mist out the top. I don't have them where I listen, they are in another room, but I could sleep right beside them if need be. One of mine is the hybrid model, though, and if it's in hybrid mode(heated humidification) you may hear a muffled bubbling sound, but only if you're right beside it.

Thanks, appreciated! it's a thought....

Now that we have put power conditioning, tube rolling, power cables, heapdhone cables, pads rolling, preamping, interconnects, not to mention headphones and amps (just as an after thought)... I am comforted to have one more item to obssess about...

Next.. WiFi interference! Chew on that!!!


(seriously, I'll be looking into this, probably good for the humans in the room as well, not that I would optimize for them)

 

[Saberpunch]

Hey @zach915m , sorry for asking this question when I know your pretty busy getting ready for NYC CanJam, but I'm just really curious. I know the Caldera is a fantastic all-rounder headphone that is fantastic in all genres. But, with your background of being a fan of the wooden guitar (I think that's what I remember what I heard), what specific genres you had in mind when creating the Caldera? If you could list a couple of songs you had in mind when creating the Caldera, that would be cool too. This question just popped into my head when I was listening to Their Satanic Majesties Request by Roling Stone and I just randomly thought about ZMF headphones (I know, that's pretty weird lol).

 

[chrisnyc75]

I have two of the Levoit smart humidifiers. I'm in the south so it's not a problem in summer, but in winter when the heat pump is in heat mode, it can really dry the air out. These units come on and off as needed. All you have to do is fill the tanks if you use filtered water and run them in cool mist mode. If you go this route, go ahead and get one of their smart air purifiers as well. The cool mist humidifiers put a certain amount of particulate in the air from the minerals in the water. The purifier will help with that.

fwiw, I too live in a varied climate in an apartment where in winter it gets bone dry in my apartment. Even with a humidifier running, the humidity level never measures more than 35%, and without the humidifier the humidity level hovers somewhere around 20. My VO has lived in this environment for 3 winters with no ill effect.

 

[zach915m]

Hey @zach915m , sorry for asking this question when I know your pretty busy getting ready for NYC CanJam, but I'm just really curious. I know the Caldera is a fantastic all-rounder headphone that is fantastic in all genres. But, with your background of being a fan of the wooden guitar (I think that's what I remember what I heard), what specific genres you had in mind when creating the Caldera? If you could list a couple of songs you had in mind when creating the Caldera, that would be cool too. This question just popped into my head when I was listening to Their Satanic Majesties Request by Roling Stone and I just randomly thought about ZMF headphones (I know, that's pretty weird lol).

Well, my taste in music is so so all over the place without any specific genre, and it takes me so long to finish a headphone that I really listen on many different rigs and locations/environments and to a wide array of music.

Maybe I'll write down my process at some point at it does seem to be repeating itself a bit the last few headphones, but generally each headphone takes 1.5 to 3 years if I have the driver designed, and if I don't than longer. The Caldera the driver took 5 years and then the acoustic design 6 months because in the meantime I worked on atrium whose tech than crossed over to the Caldera magnet tech.

Anyways - I usually use iTunes nowadays as I thi k the algorithm works best for fun music listening and was a suggestion from. @warrenpchi

I also have tidal, qobuz, Spotify etc and use them all.

I think generally my algo is a mix of blues (Lincoln Durham) , folk (Gillian Welch) , old time (Jake Blount) , edm (odezsa or whethan) , dubstep (big gigantic) , classic rock (bad company) , progressive instrumental (Jon Hopkins).

 

[Saberpunch]

Well, my taste in music is so so all over the place without any specific genre, and it takes me so long to finish a headphone that I really listen on many different rigs and locations/environments and to a wide array of music.

Maybe I'll write down my process at some point at it does seem to be repeating itself a bit the last few headphones, but generally each headphone takes 1.5 to 3 years if I have the driver designed, and if I don't than longer. The Caldera the driver took 5 years and then the acoustic design 6 months because in the meantime I worked on atrium whose tech than crossed over to the Caldera magnet tech.

Anyways - I usually use iTunes nowadays as I thi k the algorithm works best for fun music listening and was a suggestion from. @warrenpchi

I also have tidal, qobuz, Spotify etc and use them all.

I think generally my algo is a mix of blues (Lincoln Durham) , folk (Gillian Welch) , old time (Jake Blount) , edm (odezsa or whethan) , dubstep (big gigantic) , classic rock (bad company) , progressive instrumental (Jon Hopkins).

That's really interesting! Maybe that's 1 of the reason why the Caldera is so amazing with multiple genres. I use Itunes and Qobuz and had used Tidal and Amazon Music in the past. Itunes do have the best algorithm for discovering music besides Spotify and Roon Radio out of all the streaming services.

I think writing down your process on your website will be a great read or even doing Youtube video of how you get in the mindset of making a headphone would be interesting. I appreciate the response, looking forward to your new project with the Close-back Atrium. I hope you have fun at CanJam NY!

 

[goldwerger]

Eureka (aka "Roon") put this in my listening feed... there are a couple of beautiful covers in this vocal album, now playing beautifully on my Caldera.. sharing the joy

 

[Alenotta]

Pad wise, you might want to try both the cowhide and thick pads, the latter purportedly increase bass levels (though I haven’t tried them)

The caldera sounds wonderful and punchy on a good solid state amp, but I do find it has a more texture bass and deeper sub-bass on a good tube amp.

I actually just got my cowhide and thick pads in the mail today. They both sound fantastic. Someone said they normally had favorites with other ZMF, but not Caldera. That is my experience too. The thick didn't strike me as a ton of extra bass from the stock pad, but the bass does hit a little different. A bit more boomy and thick, but not more tactical necessarily. A little less perceived punch in the lower mids? I think the thick pads smooth things out. The pad has a bit more of an angle on the driver. The back of the pad is thicker, but the front is similar to stock.

The Cowhide pads have a really interesting flavor. I have to sit with them for a while to try to describe it. Having your ears closer to the driver is always a fun change. The bass impact is nice. Damn I wasn't trying to get the thin ones too, but now I'm interested. These have more effect on the mids than swapping between thick and stock.

I still like Zach's choice for stock pads. They are the best all-rounders for me, but these other ones area all great too. I'll write up a true comparison at some point for anyone contemplating pads.

 

[goldwerger]

I still like Zach's choice for stock pads. They are the best all-rounders for me, but these other ones area all great too. I'll write up a true comparison at some point for anyone contemplating pads.

Thanks for sharing.. Looking forward to your writeup!

 

[Alenotta]

Wow had to try the new pads on the Verité Closed sitting here too. The thick pads sound do some nice smoothing to the VC for me. Check it out if you happen to have both sitting nearby.