[iamoneagain]

I 1000% agree with everything said here, with the exception of the last sentence. Own both! YOLO

Well if money was no object, then sure, I wouldn’t have sold the Utopia. I’d also still own my Audio Technica L3000, Grado PS-1, and original RS-1 for sentimental reasons. Maybe even the HD650 since it was my first audiophile headphone back in the day. It was also my first disappointment with audiophile headphones since it didn’t enjoy them for rock music.

 

[JGreen08]

Thank you all for your advice! Sounds like the Caldera may be in my future. I’d like to say it won’t happen soon, bbuuutttt I literally just bought a whole Ferrum stack after getting a good deal on the Oor and Hypsos. I was shocked at how large of an improvement it made to the Clear and now the hunt for an end game headphone has resumed.

 

[Yodamanjaro]

I sold my SR-009S along with some top tier IEMs for a Caldera. Hoping I'm able to get one I really like in a couple of weeks.

 

[Ciggavelli]

I prefer the Calderas over the Utopia 22. The Caldera has the smoother sound. All of the different FR sounds mix together so well. It does that better than pretty much any of my headphones. The Utopias are sharp (though the 2020 version is brighter and sharper). I'd sell the Utopias way before the Calderas.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I prefer the Calderas over the Utopia 22. The Caldera has the smoother sound. All of the different FR sounds mix together so well. It does that better than pretty much any of my headphones. The Utopias are sharp (though the 2020 version is brighter and sharper). I'd sell the Utopias way before the Calderas.

Pretty similar to my findings a few months ago. Although as you say, the 2022 Utopia is quite a bit smoother than the original. But I think the Caldera is a bit more elaborative in its sound, slightly more expansive and definitely more textured, while trading blow for blow with its bass presentation (although the Utopia's bass visceral impact [not subbass] is really unique and a wow factor at least for me).

I only sold the Caldera because I already had the vintage L3000, which has a lot of similarities. I think the Caldera is ZMF's greatest accomplishment (just imo, varies by person obviously) and really fun to own.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Pretty similar to my findings a few months ago. Although as you say, the 2022 Utopia is quite a bit smoother than the original. But I think the Caldera is a bit more elaborative in its sound, slightly more expansive and definitely more textured, while trading blow for blow with its bass presentation (although the Utopia's bass visceral impact [not subbass] is really unique and a wow factor at least for me).

I only sold the Caldera because I already had the vintage L3000, which has a lot of similarities. I think the Caldera is ZMF's greatest accomplishment (just imo, varies by person obviously) and really fun to own.

I agree. I think the Caldera is ZMF’s greatest accomplishment. It’s a big improve over the VC sound. The AC is better than the VC too. It appears Zach is getting better with each new pair of headphones, which is always great to see. No side grades, or just tweaking the same driver. Maybe they’ll do an estat next, though I don’t think the ZMF house sound will translate easily to an estat. It’s be another CRBN (which I’m finally going to sell) or Corona. Perhaps ZMF can add their own touch. I just hope they don’t veil the treble

 

[goldwerger]

Thank you all for your advice! Sounds like the Caldera may be in my future. I’d like to say it won’t happen soon, bbuuutttt I literally just bought a whole Ferrum stack after getting a good deal on the Oor and Hypsos. I was shocked at how large of an improvement it made to the Clear and now the hunt for an end game headphone has resumed.

That’s a great stack and will serve you well with the Caldera when you are ready..

 

[iamoneagain]

Thank you all for your advice! Sounds like the Caldera may be in my future. I’d like to say it won’t happen soon, bbuuutttt I literally just bought a whole Ferrum stack after getting a good deal on the Oor and Hypsos. I was shocked at how large of an improvement it made to the Clear and now the hunt for an end game headphone has resumed.

As I mentioned that Ferrum stack was my favorite combo with the Caldera at CanJam. I didn’t get to hear them out of the Silver Fox and Holo Bliss though. It wasn’t like the Ferrum clearly shined anbove anything else I heard, it’s just that it locked in everything I love about the Caldera. It’s kept the groove going, it had tight, punchy bass that was very controlled and the clarity was there but with warmth. It just did everything right for me. I did hear more clarity on other setups but currently that’s not what I look for anymore. It’s the overall sound and balance. Kind of how I feel about the Caldera as a whole. Others have bigger soundstage, clarity or harder punch but the Caldera puts it all together in just the right mix. And even have pad swapping to tailor the sound even further. I finally settled on stock and no longer play around with the pads.

 

[betula]

As I mentioned that Ferrum stack was my favorite combo with the Caldera at CanJam. I didn’t get to hear them out of the Silver Fox and Holo Bliss though. It wasn’t like the Ferrum clearly shined anbove anything else I heard, it’s just that it locked in everything I love about the Caldera. It’s kept the groove going, it had tight, punchy bass that was very controlled and the clarity was there but with warmth. It just did everything right for me. I did hear more clarity on other setups but currently that’s not what I look for anymore. It’s the overall sound and balance. Kind of how I feel about the Caldera as a whole. Others have bigger soundstage, clarity or harder punch but the Caldera puts it all together in just the right mix. And even have more ad swapping to tailor the sound even further. I finally settled on stock and no longer play around with the pads.

I found the Ferrum stack 'good enough' but didn't really impress me at all. Neither did the HPA4 stack. The Holo May/Bliss was a different story, the Caldera really shines on that one. Compared to the Ferrum and HPA4 stack I actually prefer my cheaper home combo of (upgraded) Pegasus DAC with HA-3A (selected NOS tubes).

 

[Leto Dal]

May/Bliss combo with ZMFs made lots of my audio gear including my ever growing tube collection with ha-3a obsolete, for better or worse.

 

[iamoneagain]

May/Bliss combo with ZMFs made lots of my audio gear including my ever growing tube collection with ha-3a obsolete, for better or worse.

The issue is that stack is huge. I have a living room setup and there would be no place to put that. Liked that the Ferrum has a small footprint. I probably should have hung around the ZMF room a little longer just to try it. Maybe next year I can see how the Caldera Closed sounds on it

 

[idairyou]

The issue is that stack is huge. I have a living room setup and there would be no place to put that. Liked that the Ferrum has a small footprint. I probably should have hung around the ZMF room a little longer just to try it. Maybe next year I can see how the Caldera Closed sounds on it

Yeah, I have two desks in an L shape and the Holo Audio Spring 3, Bliss, and HA-300MKII take up one desk. If you are tight on space, you can't go wrong with the Oor/Hypsos, and the Hypsos powers the Wandla as well.

 

[JGreen08]

Oh I wish I had the space for the May/Bliss combo! My desk has literally just enough space for the Ferrum stack. Maybe once I upgrade my living situation, I’ll get Holo combo hahaha. For now, next up is the Caldera.

 

[Lyssky]

The thing is that Caldera is just like Zach and his team in the way that it performs its duty remarkably and excels at it not leaving a trace of uncovered speck of the song I'm listening to. This is indeed making me proud to own this headphone and I'm not to stop talking about something that is a decent example of its kind which I call an inspiration.

 

[msq123]

my problem with cowhide is imaging become too "close" and blunt the bite on treble/upper mid (not in good way for my preference).

Did you try it with mantle mesh? I am sensitive to energy in treble too and for that reason didn't enjoy cowhide initially but its a lot more fun after mantle mesh. reminds me a bit of my experience with BE2 on VOs.