idairyou
1000+ Head-Fier
Suede, Thick and Ultra Perf.
Depending on your treble sensitivity you will want the mantle mesh on the Ultra Perfs.
ZMF Caldera - New Planar Magnetic from ZMF!
- Thread starter ScornDefeat
- Start date
Depending on your treble sensitivity you will want the mantle mesh on the Ultra Perfs.
photobillyli
Head-Fier
The ultra perf, do you mean the lambskin or the suede one?
I saw some posts said the suede one adds bass? But really don't know how the other pads benefit the sound.
idairyou
1000+ Head-Fier
Lambskin.
I don't have the Suede Ultra Perfs so I can't say to increase in bass. The Caldera has plenty of bass on any pads I've tried in my current chain.
THICK PADS are what you are looking for.I'm still new to Caldera, being a TC / OG Utopia daily driver guy for years now I can share some experiences with dealing with harsh / unforging / overly sharp treble ...
For me Caldera is very similar to TC. It has very similar technicalities and style of presentation. Of course the tonality is different, TC is generally cold with recessed mids wile Caldera is a bit warmer (still not a warm hp imo) and with more natural mids ... but apart from that they are very similar. Both super sharp, to the point where you can cut yourself ... and I think that's what many people are experiencing with Caldera.
So ...
TC taught me that treble sharpness is a sign of my system deficiencies, and mostly something called "treble glare". The more refined sounding the system is, the less treble glare it has.
Some transducers will help you hide it (like Susvara or even Utopia to some extent), but some will expose it, highlight it and make your ears bleed.
Steps to take to combat treble glare :
1) Own a refined DAC with a smooth delivery. (Most R2R, Wandla + Hypsos, most high end DACs). When someone says a DAC has a refined treble it means it has all of the details but with no glare.
1a) Try using optical cables, if that makes a difference but you want USB then you need top shelf galvanic isolation. USB worked great on May, on Wandla (even though they say it has full isolation ... ) sadly it sucks.
2) Own an amp that has very smooth and refined treble (like Bliss, tube amps etc).
3) Make sure your power is as clean as possible. (this was a game changer for me) Use good quality power conditioning / regeneration. Use good quality power cables. (AQ Niagra 1200 smooths out the treble a lot).
3a) Upgrade your PSUs for every component including streamers etc., ideally to LPSs if possible.
4) Use cables to fine tune your treble. Good quality coper should reduce the glare (and microdetail :/) while silver can increase it (but uncover microdetail). If your system is already very refined you can use silver for ultime SQ, if not then mask remaining glare with copper.
5) Use good quality tube amps. The better the amp / tube families, the better SQ. Roll tubes to smooth out the treble while maximising SQ. (WE / Elrog 300B + smooth but detailed drivers work really well).
Put it all together and you'll have a good degree of control over your system composition and refinement. You can even overdoit as well and make the system dull, but I guess this won't be a problem for most people
I found thick pads, seam 6pm, and no mesh etc. to give the best SQ so far. Seam next to connectors introduces peakes in the upper midrange and closes off the air frequencies for me.
Good luck. Caldera (just like TC) is unforgiving but it will push you to improve your system. Most pairings that work for TC should more less work for Caldera.
Thick Lambskin and Suede are the most popular overall besides Stock Lambskin
One thing I've increasingly appreciated about the CO is how well it takes EQ. Combining it with specific pads gives a nice level of control over how linear or warm you want the sound can be, while still maintaining the core driver/pad traits. I could happily enjoy the Caldera without EQ, but like anything else I've owned, those adjustments are always a welcome refinement. This is also the kind of headphone you could put a bass shelf on and be quite satisfied.
photobillyli
Head-Fier
I thought the ultra perf is a popular one as it enhances the soundstage. I alomst placed my order on a pair of ultra perf lambskin
Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
Apparently good analog is available on Alpha Centuri.Once in a while I listen directly to good analog and skip DACs and any limitations from that that particular stage. Some good vinyl + SET tubes make for a good listening hour
Seriously, I haven't had a good TT setup since the '80s, and there's no practical way to set that up in my very space-limited home office where all my audio lives. I'd love to hear a good vinyl rig with headphones....
Lyssky
100+ Head-Fier
Excuse me for this semi-related question:
Am I to use Mojo2 as volume control and max out Pietus Maximus volume pot or
Should I increase Mojo2 volume up to around 2V and the control the volume through P.Max analog pot to get the best from the Caldera? Or both ways are valid?
Nowadays I am using Tidal through an iPhone13 so the source is battery driven. Mojo2 is always on smart power mode so not using the battery. P.Max is of course plugged.
I use P.Max at high gain.
Thanks,
Am I to use Mojo2 as volume control and max out Pietus Maximus volume pot or
Should I increase Mojo2 volume up to around 2V and the control the volume through P.Max analog pot to get the best from the Caldera? Or both ways are valid?
Nowadays I am using Tidal through an iPhone13 so the source is battery driven. Mojo2 is always on smart power mode so not using the battery. P.Max is of course plugged.
I use P.Max at high gain.
Thanks,
Last edited:
krude
1000+ Head-Fier
Im not familiar with this amp but Chord has top class volume, I believe its lossless and done in the actual DAC (not via an analogue pre or some other element). I would ask the amp manufacturer about the volume position that produces 0db (no attenuation and no boost), as that should theoretically give you maximum SQ while using Chords volume.
Xcalibur255
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2008
- Posts
- 4,086
- Likes
- 3,202
With each passing year I become more and more convinced that a significant chunk of the treble glare and treble harshness issues many people face are caused in large part by power noise issues, both at the line level and within the home with appliances and switching supplies/dimmers/LEDs injecting their own noise into the local circuits.
Sadly, for decades now this issue has been so divisive with a group of believers and a group of non-believers each screaming at the other that they're fools........ it's very difficult for a person to get to anything that truly feels like truth. My own opinion has been formed very slowly over the better part of 3 decades now, and at this point I have some confidence in my understanding of it, but I totally get why many people just choose to ignore dealing with this aspect of their system and sadly never get to hear the real potential of their system because of it.
Last edited:
Lyssky
100+ Head-Fier
Below chart is shared in the comments of Goldensound's review of Mojo2 at headphones.com. He points out that dark purple (indigo here) is the ideal volume (around 2V) to set Mojo2 for most amps. Then control the volume from the amp. Indeed when I tried to go upper towards 0dB, the amp started clipping, things started getting noticeably harsher.
Conversely, when I set Mojo2 volume to around -40dB and then set P.Max volume pot to max and use Mojo2 as the volume control, it was smoother, I didn't feel much quality loss if any. So I'm a bit confused.
krude
1000+ Head-Fier
That is exactly what I meant, keep amp at 0db (it may not be fully open volume, check with manufacturer) and use Chords volume as it's lossless (does not decrease SQ).Below chart is shared in the comments of Goldensound's review of Mojo2 at headphones.com. He points out that dark purple (indigo here) is the ideal volume (around 2V) to set Mojo2 for most amps. Then control the volume from the amp. Indeed when I tried to go upper towards 0dB, the amp started clipping, things started getting noticeably harsher.
Conversely, when I set Mojo2 volume to around -40dB and then set P.Max volume pot to max and use Mojo2 as the volume control, it was smoother, I didn't feel much quality loss if any. So I'm a bit confused.
What Cameron mentioned is how to set Mojo to line level output, which is not relevant for this case as you want to use Mojos volume instead of inferior quality volume pot in your amp.
Last edited:
It is usually better to have stronger output signal from the DAC and adjust volume on the amp. This way you are getting a 'cleaner' signal to amplify.
Users who are viewing this thread
