[heliosphann]

What would you call the AC king of in terms on genre? I’m on the fence on owning one given I already have AO and Caldera and don’t listen to bass-heavy genres.

They're pretty great all-rounders, but modern pop, electronic/EDM and hip-hop is what they really excel at. For years, I listened to modded Fostex TH-900's for electronic music. They don't get used much now that I have an AC.

I see you have a VC, which is probably the best fit for what you listen to.

 

[Monsterzero]

I'm looking for some advice from those who have tried/own both Caldera and Atrium (open). I currently have an atrium closed on order and am looking to get an open ZMF to go with it. I mainly listen to electronic/EDM and rock. Would the Caldera or Atrium be better complement to the AC? Is there a lot of overlap between AO and AC? Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated!

Another vote for Caldera. The AO is great with rock, but i'm not crazy about it for electronica, whereas I can listen to pretty much every genre with the Caldera.

 

[chrisnyc75]

I mainly listen to electronic/EDM and rock. Would the Caldera or Atrium be better complement to the AC?

My take: Atrium has more bass; Caldera has better bass. Also, as a fellow electronica enthusiast, I am of the opinion that planar bass suits electronic music particularly well.

 

[silverfox44]

Thanks all! This is really helpful. Sounds like Caldera is the way to go. Any recommendations on which pads I should order with it?

 

[idairyou]

Thanks all! This is really helpful. Sounds like Caldera is the way to go. Any recommendations on which pads I should order with it?

Ultra Perf, suede, and thick.

 

[goldwerger]

I'm looking for some advice from those who have tried/own both Caldera and Atrium (open). I currently have an atrium closed on order and am looking to get an open ZMF to go with it. I mainly listen to electronic/EDM and rock. Would the Caldera or Atrium be better complement to the AC? Is there a lot of overlap between AO and AC? Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated!

I have all of them and can only echo what others have offered above - if you already have the AC, I would choose the Caldera as an open complemetn for it - you'll get the max diversity of both use case and sound profiles. In fact, if anyone would ask my recommendation for 2 ZMF heapdhones to own in a collection, I'd recommend the AC + Caldera (and, if someone asked for a recommendation for solely only 1 ZMF headphones to own, I'd likely recommend the AO).

 

[chrisnyc75]

Thanks all! This is really helpful. Sounds like Caldera is the way to go. Any recommendations on which pads I should order with it?

Just order them all right up front. You'll end up doing it anyway, trust me.

Thicker is warmer, thinner is brighter. And suede is just different.

 

[ng5921]

Thanks all! This is really helpful. Sounds like Caldera is the way to go. Any recommendations on which pads I should order with it?

My favorite pads that I switch between are the suedes and caldera thick! Also consider getting a mantle mesh.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

After countless hours lurking in the thread, today I am officially joining the Caldera owners club . Couldn't be happier with how my Caldera looks! This one is called "Dusk"

 

[djentbat]

Is the there a pad that boosts the sub bass more on the caldera? It sounds so good but I wish it was raised up a little bit more

 

[tawmizzzz]

For those with the mantle mesh-are the stickers meant to be barely adhesive? I think I managed to have it stay on while I fumbled around putting on the thick pads, but multiple times I found the black mesh sliding around or off, requiring me to realign and reapply pressure.

Either way, initial impressions are good. Surprisingly I find the soundstage width larger with the thick pads with a touch more organic timbre across the FR. It does not seem to sacrifice technicalities in any meaningful way, and just shaves off a bit off the shouty upper-mids for a more linear presentation.

 

[idairyou]

For those with the mantle mesh-are the stickers meant to be barely adhesive? I think I managed to have it stay on while I fumbled around putting on the thick pads, but multiple times I found the black mesh sliding around or off, requiring me to realign and reapply pressure.

Either way, initial impressions are good. Surprisingly I find the soundstage width larger with the thick pads with a touch more organic timbre across the FR. It does not seem to sacrifice technicalities in any meaningful way, and just shaves off a bit off the shouty upper-mids for a more linear presentation.

I do believe the mesh is made that way so you can put it on and take it off a few times. I assume so you can mesh roll.

 

[tawmizzzz]

I do believe the mesh is made that way so you can put it on and take it off a few times. I assume so you can mesh roll.

Thanks-I figured. I wasn't expecting it to get crazy glued onto the diaphragm, but a bit more adhesiveness would have saved me nearly 15-30 minutes between that and still perfecting putting on the new ear pads.

I was listening to some Pantera and even Darkwave genre the other night, and Calderas are truly sublime for grunge, gruff stuff.

 

[idairyou]

Thanks-I figured. I wasn't expecting it to get crazy glued onto the diaphragm, but a bit more adhesiveness would have saved me nearly 15-30 minutes between that and still perfecting putting on the new ear pads.

I was listening to some Pantera and even Darkwave genre the other night, and Calderas are truly sublime for grunge, gruff stuff.

It's a great set of cans, that for me plays very well with all genres, for me at least. While I prefer it on my Bliss, it also sounds excellent on tubes. It's the one ZMF where I change out pads every 2 weeks between my 3 favorites, unlike the AO where I have found my favorite pad and stick with it.

I'm not as sensitive to brightness or peaky treble so I've never needed the mantle mesh.

 

[heliosphann]

Is the there a pad that boosts the sub bass more on the caldera? It sounds so good but I wish it was raised up a little bit more

Thick pads, but only slightly.

Stock Caldera Pads: Solid, Thick Caldera Pads: Dotted