[ECKHUAAA]

The rumor is that Caldera Closed (in some iteration) will be available for demo next weekend at CanJam NYC. I think @zach915m stated it should be available for purchase in April or May.

I'm definitely planning on checking it out at CanJam, and will report my impressions in the associated thread.

Thanks

 

[zach915m]

Thanks

Yep Yep Yep Caldera Closed will be at CanJam NYC. Make sure to listen to it on @L0rdGwyn 's Aegis' that we are bringing. It's the THING!

Also some new LTDs for Caldera out tomorrow:


Also the stock model is getting a new look:



Check out the full thread for info on everything else too: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf...ule-for-caldera-closed-and-bokeh-open.971900/

 

[Honeypot]

So many AO and AC praises. I can't get to choose. I was trying to save for the envy, but in the end I think I will have to pick both headphones instead. Is it a wise move? Probably not.. omg my money
Now I have the caldera lambskin pads and the thick pads.
Considering I get to choose two for each headphones, which one to get?
Considering I would like AO for soundstage, warm and relaxed and the AC for visceral sub bass while keeping some soundstage.
The AO is recommended with universe lambskin perforated.

 

[Leto Dal]

Might be selling my beloved stabilised AO soon, due to baby coming and needing to downgrade my collection after all the excess To me it was arguably one of the best looking stab AOs last November, so feel free to reach out. Will have to settle with AC since its my only closed back.

But to be honest you cant go wrong with neither, both are absolutely superb offering things that are difficult to find with any other headphone I know.

 

[JackarlTwo]

Might be selling my beloved stabilised AO soon, due to baby coming and needing to downgrade my collection after all the excess To me it was arguably one of the best looking stab AOs last November, so feel free to reach out. Will have to settle with AC since its my only closed back.

But to be honest you cant go wrong with neither, both are absolutely superb offering things that are difficult to find with any other headphone I know.

With a baby and all you probably want to keep a closed back in your collection

 

[idairyou]

Might be selling my beloved stabilised AO soon, due to baby coming and needing to downgrade my collection after all the excess To me it was arguably one of the best looking stab AOs last November, so feel free to reach out. Will have to settle with AC since its my only closed back.

But to be honest you cant go wrong with neither, both are absolutely superb offering things that are difficult to find with any other headphone I know.

I'm selling a few headphones as well, but for different reasons.

A few of them are just not being used anymore.

 

[Leto Dal]

With a baby and all you probably want to keep a closed back in your collection

Yep slowly transitioning to IEMs and eying Caldera Closed heheh

 

[JackarlTwo]

So many AO and AC praises. I can't get to choose. I was trying to save for the envy, but in the end I think I will have to pick both headphones instead. Is it a wise move? Probably not.. omg my money
Now I have the caldera lambskin pads and the thick pads.
Considering I get to choose two for each headphones, which one to get?
Considering I would like AO for soundstage, warm and relaxed and the AC for visceral sub bass while keeping some soundstage.
The AO is recommended with universe lambskin perforated.

They both would complement each other nicely. They share some traits but are still pretty different. If you do end up getting both you could always sell the other if you like one more than the other! For AO the Universe lambskin is great. The Caldera Ultra Perforated pad is even better for the large/ wide soundstage.

 

[goldwerger]

Amp rolling this evening with the Caldera, ending this evening with what, unfailingly, remains my favorite driver, the Decware/ZMF OTL as pre into the Decware Taboo.

For a bit of a flamenco departure, listening to this song, rendered exquisitely by the Caldera. Acoustic guitars so beautifully rendered alognside the lead female vocal. What a treat!

A wonderful start for the weekend

 

[Honeypot]

Hmm. I wouldn't like to keep up with this topic since this is the caldera thread. But I couldn't find a frequency response graph coming from same source from caldera, atrium open and closed.
I know fr it's not everything but I'd like to compare.
If anybody knows a source comparing the three with same scale. Would be wonderful

Thanks everyone and have a beautiful day

 

[wizzman121]

Hmm. I wouldn't like to keep up with this topic since this is the caldera thread. But I couldn't find a frequency response graph coming from same source from caldera, atrium open and closed.
I know fr it's not everything but I'd like to compare.
If anybody knows a source comparing the three with same scale. Would be wonderful

Thanks everyone and have a beautiful day

ZMF has these right on their website.

 

[jmanpd]

I first heard the Caldera (several Calderas on several amps) at the ZMF room in CanJam NYC a year ago. I quickly formed the impression of a high resolution but also musical planar. It seemed a bit honest in the upper mids, but I knew the only way I could assess this was to get one for myself, which I did a couple months later.

The mantle mesh (if memory serves) was just becoming available as an option last spring. I'm reasonably sure most if not all the Calderas at the ZMF booth had the stock mesh. When I learned of the mantle mesh, I asked that it be installed on my new coffee stained oak Caldera instead of the stock mesh. So I never actually compared stock vs mantle mesh.

I ordered 4 sets of pads w/this headphone: stock; thin cowhide; suedes; and lambskin thicks. In my review posted on Head-Fi, I compared the sound of all 4 sets and landed on the lambskin thicks as my favorite (by a wide margin).

My conclusions from all this, in answer to your question:

• Apparently the mantle mesh did for me, exactly what it was designed to do--slightly bring down the level of the upper midrange, and make that portion of the frequencies smoother. I think I heard that smoothness after burn-in was done.
• Choice of pads makes a larger, more immediately audible difference in the sound. As I am quite treble averse (translation: averse to "flat" frequency headphones whose upper midrange and treble sound unnaturally bright and insistent compared to music IRL), the thicks instantly locked in the best sound for me, as described in my review.
• Net/net: IMO, the mantle mesh + lambskin thick pads push the Caldera's sound the most toward a full body sound and least brightness (exactly what I wanted).

Even so, the Caldera still has very high resolution, great bass, great dynamics, and sensational soundstaging. Those things really aren't altered by the frequency response tweaks discussed above.

+1 for combo of Thick pads + mantle mesh. For anyone who felt the Calderas were peaky/bright. These absolutely smooth it out. Still maintains everything else as @Pharmaboy mentioned.

Perfect combo

 

[Pharmaboy]

Amp rolling

Thank you for giving this a name.

(I do it all the time)

 

[goldwerger]

Thank you for giving this a name.

(I do it all the time)

you and I brother..

TM was made here. Let history markt his moment

 

[Pharmaboy]

you and I brother..

TM was made here. Let history markt his moment

And it's not just

It's also system rolling (here, at least), which in my case builds off amp rolling. There are two systems in this home office (about 7 feet apart):

​

Main system: DAC (MHDT Labs Orchid) + DDC + two or sometimes three amps (currently V281 & Icon Audio HP8, with the V281 serving as preamp) + electronic crossover + class D amp + speakers (KEF 103.2s) + sub (JLAudio e110)​

​

Side system: DAC (Metrum Onyx) + DDC + Wells Milo + Liquid Carbon v2​

​

I often use a given pair of headphones (usually the Caldera) to hear one system, then the other: in effect, amp rolling and system rolling simultaneously.

Today I plan to amp roll across systems: swap the Wells Milo with the Icon Audio HP8. I've never heard the Milo with the Orchid, or the HP8 with the Onyx. Now I'll be able to.

This is a lot like a pig rolling in s***t (hint: I'm the pig).