ZMF Caldera - New Planar Magnetic from ZMF!
Mar 17, 2023 at 6:09 PM Post #3,737 of 6,891
I'm really happy with my Aged Oak but man, I can't say I am not jealous of the Redheart. I got a bonus at the end of the month, so I may have to get the Redheart Atrium to make myself feel better.
do-it-ben-stiller.gif
 
Mar 17, 2023 at 6:53 PM Post #3,738 of 6,891
I'm really happy with my Aged Oak but man, I can't say I am not jealous of the Redheart. I got a bonus at the end of the month, so I may have to get the Redheart Atrium to make myself feel better.
Persuit your dreams (in this case dream wood).
 
Mar 17, 2023 at 7:01 PM Post #3,739 of 6,891
I've had my Caldera for a week already, for those of you who think the pads hug your face too hard, you can easily adjust the tension from the crescent headband, you can flex one side of the headband a few times and then try the same thing on the other side.

I've found that the most comfortable position for myself is by making pushing the rod adjusters one or two steps up so the headphone is a bit looser and then while on my head, shifting the pads a little bit back to take the tension off your temples and more towards the the backside of your head.

This will ensure that the top of your head is almost floating on the foam ridges of the crescent headband while taking most of the tension and redirecting it elsewhere. Remember to find a sweet spot when adjusting the rod adjusters so that the Calderas aren't TOO loose on your head.
 
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Mar 18, 2023 at 10:03 AM Post #3,740 of 6,891
I’ve taken a week away from head-fi just get a break. In the meantime I’ve gotten really good at pad rolling. Can change both pads in less than 2 minutes. This has greatly given me a better perspective of their differences.

The thick lambskin is just not for me. Can’t listen for more than 10 minutes. Has really nice low end but the mids sound sucked out. Soundstage has this concert hall type effect. There is no magic with these pads.

The suede was my the one I started with and used for first month and half. This is very mid centric. The shimmer of the highs are tamed and the bass isn’t as tight as the stock pads. But what you get is up close vocals that are slightly warm and intimate. However this comes at the cost of clarity, soundstage, tightness and impact. But what you gain is this less than technical emotion experience. The music moves you. The issue is knowing what you’re missing from the stock pad.

So when I first started posting about the Caldera it was all based on the suede sound. So my comments about the lack of technical abilities were based off of that. But even with suede, I loved its sound. However, the stock pad really makes these headphones shine. The sound opens up, better clarity, bass impact, tightness and texture improve, and highs shimmer. The mids still have the magic the suede have but little further away and little brighter. It’s a small sacrifice to pay for the rest of the improvements. The stock is also more revealing, so if have bright setup or harsh recording, will sound worse than suede. But piano or acoustic guitar sound perfect on stock compared to slight muted sound of the suede. Suede also can sound a hint congested compared to stock.
 
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Mar 18, 2023 at 10:11 AM Post #3,741 of 6,891
I’ve taken a week away from head-fi just get a break. In the meantime I’ve gotten really good at pad rolling. Can change both pads in less than 2 minutes. This has greatly given me a better perspective of their differences.

The thick lambskin is just not for me. Can’t listen for more than 10 minutes. Has really nice low end but the mids sound sucked out. Soundstage has this concert hall type effect. There is no magic with these pads.

The suede was my the one I started with and used for first month and half. This is very mid centric. The shimmer of the highs are tamed and the bass isn’t as tight as the stock pads. But what you get is up close vocals that are slightly warm and intimate. However this comes at the cost of clarity, soundstage, tightness and impact. But what you gain is this less than technical emotion experience. The music moves you. The issue is knowing what you’re missing from the stock pad.

So when I first started posting about the Caldera it was all based on the suede sound. So my comments about the lack of technical abilities were based off of that. But even with suede, I loved its sound. However, the stock pad really makes these headphones shine. The sound opens up, better clarity, bass impact, tightness and texture improve, and highs shimmer. The mids still have the magic the suede have but little further away and little brighter. It’s a small sacrifice to pay for the rest of the improvements. The stock is also more revealing, so if have bright setup or harsh recording, will sound worse than suede. But piano or acoustic guitar sound perfect on stock compared to slight muted sound of the suede. Suede also can sound a hint congested compared to stock.

Thanks, others have also felt the same way at the moment, the Stock pads offer the most technicalities and dynamics.

Curious, has anyone tried the BE2 Lambskin Perforated pads on their Caldera?
These pads were deeper than the Verite pads and gave the VO a full balance of depth, decay and dynamics.
The Calderas seem to benefit from a little pad depth but thinner pads bring your ears closer to the magnets which could restore some mids at the cost of clarity and imaging, but I'm sure more can be done with pads to balance out the spectrum while still sounding musical!

Would be interesting to hear what the BE2 lambskin perf pads would sound like on the Caldera's magnet "drivers".
 
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Mar 18, 2023 at 10:16 AM Post #3,742 of 6,891
I’ve taken a week away from head-fi just get a break. In the meantime I’ve gotten really good at pad rolling. Can change both pads in less than 2 minutes. This has greatly given me a better perspective of their differences.

The thick lambskin is just not for me. Can’t listen for more than 10 minutes. Has really nice low end but the mids sound sucked out. Soundstage has this concert hall type effect. There is no magic with these pads.

The suede was my the one I started with and used for first month and half. This is very mid centric. The shimmer of the highs are tamed and the bass isn’t as tight as the stock pads. But what you get is up close vocals that are slightly warm and intimate. However this comes at the cost of clarity, soundstage, tightness and impact. But what you gain is this less than technical emotion experience. The music moves you. The issue is knowing what you’re missing from the stock pad.

So when I first started posting about the Caldera it was all based on the suede sound. So my comments about the lack of technical abilities were based off of that. But even with suede, I loved its sound. However, the stock pad really makes these headphones shine. The sound opens up, better clarity, bass impact, tightness and texture improve, and highs shimmer. The mids still have the magic the suede have but little further away and little brighter. It’s a small sacrifice to pay for the rest of the improvements. The stock is also more revealing, so if have bright setup or harsh recording, will sound worse than suede. But piano or acoustic guitar sound perfect on stock compared to slight muted sound of the suede. Suede also can sound a hint congested compared to stock.
First off, thank you for these insights. I swear I’m dying out here without something to read, so thank you.

What you describe above is very similar to the experience I had pad rolling with the Atrium. Suede, after hearing the leather, just reminds of you what you are missing. I really struggled to get over that and always came back. Something about how the balance of the leather stock was just perfect. Nothing stood out, everything sounded “right” and was super technical. Also the suede, to me on the atrium at least, sounded like the bottom dropped out and the highs sorta stayed in this starting to be peaky in comparison feel. It kinda ruled out all suede or even hybrid pads for the atrium for me.
 
Mar 18, 2023 at 10:58 AM Post #3,743 of 6,891
First off, thank you for these insights. I swear I’m dying out here without something to read, so thank you.

What you describe above is very similar to the experience I had pad rolling with the Atrium. Suede, after hearing the leather, just reminds of you what you are missing. I really struggled to get over that and always came back. Something about how the balance of the leather stock was just perfect. Nothing stood out, everything sounded “right” and was super technical. Also the suede, to me on the atrium at least, sounded like the bottom dropped out and the highs sorta stayed in this starting to be peaky in comparison feel. It kinda ruled out all suede or even hybrid pads for the atrium for me.
The suede is just a more compressed, closer intimate sound on the Caldera. There is no trace of harshness in my system. You also have to turn up the volume to just the right level or the details will be lost. But for some music, the suede sound better than the stock even though I know it’s technically less accurate. It’s hiding some of the sound for this very unique presentation. I could still be very happy sticking with this sound if never bought the stock pads. It’s just I wouldn’t know what the Caldera was fully capable of.

When I switch back to the stock, there is more air and details. But then amazingly there is also more bass that is also very detailed. But all this has a lushness to it. It’s not as in your face as the original Utopia was. So with stock, I’m still lost in the music but I can also focus the speed and details without it being analytical.

I can’t wrap my head around what the thick pads bring? The mids just seem so recessed that if this is how the Caldera was sold, it would be an easy pass. It has better bass control over the suede pad but not over the stock. And the rest of the spectrum sounds worse especially the mids.
 
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Mar 18, 2023 at 1:41 PM Post #3,744 of 6,891
Did some heavy duty comparisons of Susvara vs Caldera recently at an audio show. Some quick takeaways:

* Susvara - Wins out with vocals and strings, lighter on bass impact but has a more natural airy presentation. The vocals sounded truly like the singer was next to me and really had a magic to them I haven't heard elsewhere. For strings when listening to Billy Strings, his plucking speed really shined and you got a sense of his speed and skill where the Calderas it just didn't come through in the same light and have the same magic. I felt like I couldn't get enough of the Susvaras and they were very addicting for certain types of music. The less punchy feel of them also made it feel like it was an easier listen (except for when you hit an 'unlistenable' song, ouch).

* Caldera - Way more heft and weight when it comes to bass, great for electronic music, super punchy and engaging. Much more balanced and forgiving, haven't yet heard a song on these that sounded bad. Caldera really shines with electronic music.

Overall I felt like these headphones would actually be great complements to each other
 
Mar 18, 2023 at 1:47 PM Post #3,745 of 6,891
Caldera - Way more heft and weight when it comes to bass, great for electronic music, super punchy and engaging. Much more balanced and forgiving, haven't yet heard a song on these that sounded bad. Caldera really shines with electronic music.
Interesting. I felt that electronica was the only genre that I listen to frequently where I actually preferred the Susvara over the Caldera.
 
Mar 18, 2023 at 2:27 PM Post #3,746 of 6,891
Not to open this can of worms on an unrelated thread, but quality of amplification greatly impacts the bass quality of the Susvara. It can have profound bass in some cases.

That said, I agree completely with the overall take these are highly complementary headphones, offering a contrast between an airy and ethereal vs. physical and weighty presentations. I'm now on the Caldera and there's something about its texture that I always find addictive. I think most users would enjoy both headphones for different reasons (vs. other headphones that are a bit more polarizing).
 
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Mar 18, 2023 at 4:07 PM Post #3,747 of 6,891
The suede is just a more compressed, closer intimate sound on the Caldera.
Since getting my kingwood Caldera, the Caldera slim pads have emerged as my favorite compared to the stock, suede, and cowhide pads. But it's really close for me between all of them, except the cowhide pads, which aren't for me. The stock and slim are very close, but the slim has better punch/slam at the expense of a little soundstage width. This is a tradeoff I'm happy to make, since the imaging of the headphone is outstanding and unchanged to my ears between these two pads.

The suede pads surprised me considerably because I've never enjoyed the suede pads on any other ZMF headphone I've heard--VC, Atrium, or Auteur Classic. I think the sound is more intimate with the suede pads. The stage isn't as wide as the stock, though it's comparable to the slim. But I actually notice more air up top with the suede pads compared to stock and slim. I like the treble with the suede pads. The suede pads offer a softer presentation, i.e., they lack the amount of punch and slam I'd prefer in my daily headphone. Perhaps that means the sound is "more compressed." But I totally agree that there's something very musical about the tuning of the Caldera with the suede pads. Female vocals sound better than I've ever heard them with this combination, but for almost every other kind of music I find myself wanting the slim pads, so those are the pads that live on my Caldera.

Note that these impressions are likely somewhat chain dependent. I initially listened to my Caldera with the WA5 LE as my amp, which I bought explicitly so I could have a tube amp that pairs well with dynamic driver and planar magnetic headphones. My Atrium off WA5 LE? Chef's kiss. Caldera off WA5 LE? Good. But I found that it sounds amazing--like best headphone I ever heard--off my Ferrum Oor+Hypsos stack, so that's almost exclusively how I enjoy the Caldera now.

If I may digress and share an anecdote:

At the start of the pandemic, I began sharing a monthly playlist (or two) and liner notes with a group of friends. Volume 1 was called "I'm Old Fashioned, and I explained that I thought sharing these playlists might be a nice way to maintain a connection as we quarantined for who knows how long. A year in, we were more social, but I kept sharing because the music and the liner notes provided a nice chronicle of my life during the pandemic--my mother passed away, shortly after my wife and I found out that we were having another girl, our family grew, our older daughter started school, etc. These 36 volumes so far are the soundtrack to my life over the past three years. But I'm ready to wrap that project up. For a finale, I've promised the group--now 100 subscribers strong--that I would share a list of my 500 favorite recordings (yes, "recordings" not "songs," so for instance the Bud Powell song "Parisian Thoroughfare" performed by Jaki Byard off the 1969 album The Jaki Byard Experience, and not one of the countless other recordings of that terrific song). To complete the project, I've been re-listening to my favorite albums and older playlists, and the Caldera has brought me on the verge of tears so many times.
 
Mar 18, 2023 at 4:15 PM Post #3,748 of 6,891
the Bud Powell song "Parisian Thoroughfare"

I love your taste.. I used to play this when I was young (I really need to go back to my piano playing days now the kids are all grown up). That is such a wonderful piece.

I've been re-listening to my favorite albums and older playlists, and the Caldera has brought me on the verge of tears so many times

And THAT’S what music is all about 👍👊❤️
 
Mar 18, 2023 at 5:51 PM Post #3,749 of 6,891
Had one of those audio bliss experiences last night with the Caldera (suede pads) and my latest tube roll in the Envy. “The World was Wide Enough” from the Hamilton soundtrack came on and was like never before. The voice was so clear and the detail was such that I could hear every subtle little microvariation in his voice which conveyed more specific emotion than I’ve heard before. The chorus so clear and distinctly placed, while the piano later in the song had such texture as it floated through the center of the soundscape. All just stunning.

It’s all starting to feel pretty end game for me and there doesn’t feel like there is anything left that I’m chasing and hard to imagine how it could get significantly better. Aside from future ZMFs, for the first time since I started the hobby I’m not hoping to hear nor buy other specific gear. My wallet hopes it’s not for awhile but the eventual Caldera Closed will also be in my future.
 

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