[kobinski]

They arrived this afternoon.







VERY good first impressions (couldn't be otherwise either ). With the OOR/HYPSOS combo they are simply out of this world, but with the ACRO —for the moment, I have only listened to the CALDERA with these two amps and for a couple of hours—? If I had only had the ACRO and had acquired the CALDERA in the first place, I probably wouldn't have gone any further.... (although we already know that I would have been wrong... ) Better than the SUSVARA? I wouldn't dare to say. But I'd take the CALDERA a hundred times against eighty if I had to choose (I accept slaps: I'll put up with them). And not only because the SUSVARA require a nuclear power plant to move them well. Better than the LCD-5? Here I think I wouldn't hesitate: a hundred times against ten (I'm not a fan of the LCD-5s: at the time I preferred the MM-500s; rare that one is). And what about the CHARYBDIS? Well, on a par, more or less. IMHO, obviously.

However, over the next few days I will be clarifying these first notes. For the moment, very impressed. Normal.

 

[elig63]

They arrived this afternoon.

When did you order them?

 

[Leto Dal]

A crosspost from Susvara thread that some people found informative. Got a Susvara two days ago and have few notes comparing it to Caldera =)

Sound-wise both are very different beasts. I own Caldera for about a year at this point and its my daily driver, have Susvara in my chain for less than 24h, so take the notes with a grain of salt - its a new toy for me.

Caldera is super easy to drive, while it scales very well you can get great results from a dap. For Susvara well you know the situation. I am comparing atm both on my Holo Bliss / May stack.

I can confidently say, Susvara is strictly speaking technically a level above Caldera. The stage is larger, there is much more air, the detail retrieval is higher, the overall tuning is very well balanced, there is enough of everything, warmth, bass, slam, depth, treble. It works almost with every gernre damn well. On Holo Bliss with May its a perfect headphone to my ear. Caldera has some microdetail retrieval perks and colorations that you will not find on Susvara though.

Caldera is less leaned back, there is a lot more energy to it and it will slam more. In the same time its more intimate since the stage is smaller (its not small by any means but smaller compared to Susvara), the instruments are more present, with more body and feel closer to you. Drums, violins, celos, strings, all will feel closer, bit more real, more textured and 3-dimensional. The vocals are more euphonic and closer. Apart of the instrument body, the overal microdetail and macrodetail is still a good bit lower on Caldera, which you will probably notice only in direct comperision. You will notice immidiatly though that the instruments are a fair bit more further away and therefor less defined on Susvara.
Still what you will want to grab Susvara for, is its airy clean as a glas presentation, the endlessly wide and deep stage, where you forget you wear a headphone and sit back and space away to the music. With Caldera you still can relax, but often you will want to dance

To me both headphones are perfect complimentaries. While Susvara is more resolving, both have superb technicalities and will immerse you in the music just in different ways. Caldera is explosive, more intimate, closer and arguably more realistic for instrumental music with more euphonic vocals. Susvaras presentation is more laid back, larger, ethereal, analytical, airy and balanced.

 

[kobinski]

When did you order them?

They came to me through the Spanish distributor. I live in Spain. I am in the testing phase...

 

[kobinski]

A crosspost from Susvara thread that some people found informative. Got a Susvara two days ago and have few notes comparing it to Caldera =)

Sound-wise both are very different beasts. I own Caldera for about a year at this point and its my daily driver, have Susvara in my chain for less than 24h, so take the notes with grain of salt - its a new toy for me.

Caldera is super easy to drive, while it scales very well you can get great results from a dap. For Susvara well you know the situation. I am comparing atm both on my Holo Bliss / May stack.

I can confidently say, Susvara is strictly speaking technically a level above Caldera. The stage is larger, there is much more air, the detail retrieval is higher, the overall tuning is very well balanced, there is enough of everything, warmth, bass, slam, depth, treble. It works almost with every gernre damn well. On Holo Bliss with May its a perfect headphone to my ear. Caldera has some microdetail retrieval perks and colorations that you will not find on Susvara though.

Caldera is less leaned back, there is a lot more energy to it and it will slam more. In the same time its more intimate since the stage is smaller (its not small by any means but smaller compared to Susvara), the instruments are more present, with more body and feel closer to you. Drums, violins, celos, strings, all will feel closer, bit more real, more textured and 3-dimensional. The vocals are more euphonic and closer. Apart of the instrument body, the overal microdetail and macrodetail is still a good bit lower on Caldera, which you will probably notice only in direct comperision. You will notice immidiatly though that the instruments are bit fair bit more further away and therefor less defined on Susvara.
Still what you will want to grab Susvara for, is its airy clean as a glas presentation, the endlessly wide and deep stage, where you forget you wear a headphone and sit back and space away to the music. With Caldera you still can relax, but often you will want to dance

To me both headphones are perfect complimentaries. While Susvara is more resolving, both have superb technicalities and will immerse you in the music just in different ways. Caldera is explosive, more intimate, closer and arguably more realistic for instrumental music with more euphonic vocals. Susvaras presentation is more laid back, larger, ethereal, analytical, airy and balanced.

I agree almost completely with your description of both. It is like this. The Caldera are very special. They don't stand out in anything, like many other TOTLs. But you don't miss anything either. Hence they are hugely addictive. With the CALDERA it's hard to stop and think: "how good are these headphones". Rather, "how good this music is". Still, my impression is that they scale with tube amps. In particular, connected to the Feliks Euforia they are some of the best I've ever heard.

 

[Leto Dal]

Interesting, didn’t thought Caldera would work well with an OTL amp.

I think Caldera does a lot of stand out things, on the first listen it might be not that apparent, but body the 3-dimensionality and weight of the instruments are unique. Same goes for euphoric dynamic driver - like vocals. The rest of detail retrieval is still very high, just not Susvara / totl e-stat high, which is a fine trade off for me. Unfortunately my Caldera is going to my brother who wanted to avoid waittime, will need a new one soon.
Stsbilised would be awesome if anyone is selling

 

[betula]

The Caldera are very special. They don't stand out in anything, like many other TOTLs. But you don't miss anything either.

I think the Caldera stands out in weight, body, textural information, organic & lifelike timbre, dynamic/exciting sound and good, punchy bass versus many other TOTLs. Instrument separation is also top-notch.

Interesting, didn’t thought Caldera would work well with an OTL amp.

I haven't tried the Caldera on the Euforia, but on some other OTLs the sound to me was just too warm and hazy lacking dynamics. On TC tube amps though they can sing!

 

[kobinski]

Yes, it is surprising that they work with the FELIKS. However, the EUFORIA is a somewhat particular OTL. I don't know how it does it, but it works. And well. Maybe I have this impression because I listen mainly to classical music... which doesn't usually provide exaggerated bass or sub-bass.

NB: when I said they don't excel at anything I was referring to their coherence —how they integrate the different elements of the music. Obviously, they are not mediocre headphones...

 

[DAPpower]

I would also say that the Caldera does stand out compared to other planars, it's literally a dynamic and planar hybrid. You get the best of both worlds and ZMF organic flavor in the mix.

The soundstage depth is just right for me, I don't like ultra wide soundstages that sound artificial and there is such a body and weight to the Caldera that appeals to fun and dynamic music genres. I have also enjoyed genres like Rock, Jazz and even Classical on the Caldera.
I've said this before but EDM is sublime on the Caldera.

Comparisons between the Caldera and Susvara is sumed up very well in this great video here,

 

[jlbrach]

I would also say that the Caldera does stand out compared to other planars, it's literally a dynamic and planar hybrid. You get the best of both worlds and ZMF organic flavor in the mix.

The soundstage depth is just right for me, I don't like ultra wide soundstages that sound artificial and there is such a body and weight to the Caldera that appeals to fun and dynamic music genres. I have also enjoyed genres like Rock, Jazz and even Classical on the Caldera.
I've said this before but EDM is sublime on the Caldera.

Comparisons between the Caldera and Susvara is sumed up very well in this great video here,

I think the discussion of price is silly because the susvara is an older HP that can be had for far less than retail these days and in fact in the used market is about the cost of the caldera...I also think that if the caldera were to be priced at say 4500 it wouldnt have done nearly as well...the truth is in very short order all the TOTL HP's end up about the same price in the used market...the susvara and abyss both sell for something in the range of mid 3000's and even the Sol P which I think retails for what I think is an absurd 6900 goes for mid 3000s in the used market....

 

[betula]

I think the discussion of price is silly because the susvara is an older HP that can be had for far less than retail these days and in fact in the used market is about the cost of the caldera...I also think that if the caldera were to be priced at say 4500 it wouldnt have done nearly as well...the truth is in very short order all the TOTL HP's end up about the same price in the used market...the susvara and abyss both sell for something in the range of mid 3000's and even the Sol P which I think retails for what I think is an absurd 6900 goes for mid 3000s in the used market....

I agree, it doesn't really mean much if a TOTL's RRP is $4k or $6k. And you are correct, almost all of them drop to $3K-$3.5K second-hand. I have seen a Susvara going for $3K. Stealth and Elite even for less. Second-hand Calderas are an absolute bargain for the sound you get. (Also, you can bump up the price of a new Caldera nicely with all the custom options.)

 

[psy472]

I’m waiting on reviews on the Caldera closed back before I jump on the Calderas. Also, can ZMF create like a buy 2 Caldera discount deal? If you have open and closed sold as a pair with like say $500 off?

 

[Lyssky]

She's lava.

 

[ng5921]

She's lava.

They really look like glowing lava!

 

[AcousticMatt]

She's lava.

Beeeeeutiful! What wood is that? Man, the red Calderas have their own kind of awesome going on.

Looking forward to hearing the Caldera Closed at CanJam next month! A closed back version of my favorite headphone? Can't wait!