[iamoneagain]

So many variables involved. Different rigs, none of which are industry standard ones to begin with, different headphones, different positioning on the rigs, different people doing the measurements, and of course different ears that are listening to the headphones. I see measurements as a general guide for quality control and to see the relative tonal balance, but ultimately I always rely on my own ears to describe how something sounds to me. The FRs can be useful for comparisons when every other variable is the same though, such as the effect of the mantle mesh as well as different pads.

The thing none of those graphs capture is soundstage and punch. The thick pads really open things up while the thin have almost no soundstage. The thick have boomy, punchy bass while the suede is slightly muted. The one graph made the suede and stock almost look the same and there are similarities but don’t sound as close as graph shows. I just went thru all my pads again on the same bassy track and surprisingly ruled out the suede first. Next out was the thin since no soundstage and vocal just a touch too forward. Then going back and forth with the stock and the thick and ended with the thick. They have the best bass, texture and soundstage. I used to think they lost out of mids but it’s that they are layered within that soundstage so not everything is as strong as the stock. Once you adjust to it, the mids sound right and are still strong within the mix. Also adjust the position of the pads fine tunes it. Watched Zach’s video a few times on how to install the pads and where the thick part of pad should sit.

 

[zach915m]

Sprayed some of Fridays sets yesterday:

 

[goldwerger]

Sprayed some of Fridays sets yesterday:

Ash wood…

 

[heliosphann]

The thing none of those graphs capture is soundstage and punch. The thick pads really open things up while the thin have almost no soundstage. The thick have boomy, punchy bass while the suede is slightly muted. The one graph made the suede and stock almost look the same and there are similarities but don’t sound as close as graph shows. I just went thru all my pads again on the same bassy track and surprisingly ruled out the suede first. Next out was the thin since no soundstage and vocal just a touch too forward. Then going back and forth with the stock and the thick and ended with the thick. They have the best bass, texture and soundstage. I used to think they lost out of mids but it’s that they are layered within that soundstage so not everything is as strong as the stock. Once you adjust to it, the mids sound right and are still strong within the mix. Also adjust the position of the pads fine tunes it. Watched Zach’s video a few times on how to install the pads and where the thick part of pad should sit.

I thought the Cowhide pads give them that meatier, thick membrane early ortho bass texture. Very few newer planar headphones can replicate that these days.

 

[betula]

The thing none of those graphs capture is soundstage and punch. The thick pads really open things up while the thin have almost no soundstage. The thick have boomy, punchy bass while the suede is slightly muted. The one graph made the suede and stock almost look the same and there are similarities but don’t sound as close as graph shows. I just went thru all my pads again on the same bassy track and surprisingly ruled out the suede first. Next out was the thin since no soundstage and vocal just a touch too forward. Then going back and forth with the stock and the thick and ended with the thick. They have the best bass, texture and soundstage. I used to think they lost out of mids but it’s that they are layered within that soundstage so not everything is as strong as the stock. Once you adjust to it, the mids sound right and are still strong within the mix. Also adjust the position of the pads fine tunes it. Watched Zach’s video a few times on how to install the pads and where the thick part of pad should sit.

This pretty much mirrors my experience with the earpads. I think, the stock pads in comparison only sound slightly more mid-focused due to the small bass elevation on the thick pads. But I agree with all your points.

 

[iamoneagain]

I thought the Cowhide pads give them that meatier, thick membrane early ortho bass texture. Very few newer planar headphones can replicate that these days.

So those and perforated are the 2 I haven’t tried. Not interested in the perforated since I’ve heard it lose some of that bass punch. The Cowhide sound interesting but heard they lose soundstage. I don’t need the soundstage of the thick but I can’t have less than the stock.

On a side note, this is first time I’ve been blown away from a headphone in a while and it’s the Apple AirPod Pro 2. Got them for my son’s birthday. They’re just fine for music listening. Not blown away by that. I wouldn’t listen to anything I’ve said about other headphones if I were. It’s when I tired Spatial Audio with head tracking with my Apple TV and just used Empire Strike Back for my test. Even my wife couldn’t believe the sound wasn’t coming from the room itself. It’s how it makes the direction of the main sound like it’s coming from the tv no matter how you turn your head and the surround sound and bass are so realistic. Figured this would be gimmicky but it’s not. Now for music, I haven’t given it a try but really think this would only work with a live concert or techno music where I’d sacrifice lossless for the surround experience. Anyway, I know completely off topic but haven’t had the eye opening experience since I first got the Caldera.

 

[heliosphann]

So those and perforated are the 2 I haven’t tried. Not interested in the perforated since I’ve heard it lose some of that bass punch. The Cowhide sound interesting but heard they lose soundstage. I don’t need the soundstage of the thick but I can’t have less than the stock.

On a side note, this is first time I’ve been blown away from a headphone in a while and it’s the Apple AirPod Pro 2. Got them for my son’s birthday. They’re just fine for music listening. Not blown away by that. I wouldn’t listen to anything I’ve said about other headphones if I were. It’s when I tired Spatial Audio with head tracking with my Apple TV and just used Empire Strike Back for my test. Even my wife couldn’t believe the sound wasn’t coming from the room itself. It’s how it makes the direction of the main sound like it’s coming from the tv no matter how you turn your head and the surround sound and bass are so realistic. Figured this would be gimmicky but it’s not. Now for music, I haven’t given it a try but really think this would only work with a live concert or techno music where I’d sacrifice lossless for the surround experience. Anyway, I know completely off topic but haven’t had the eye opening experience since I first got the Caldera.

The Cowhide pads do have tradeoffs, but so do pretty much all pads. Here's my abbreviated writeup I did last year. I should be getting my own personal pair soon, and I plan on updating and expanding my comparison to included the Thick and Ultra Perf pads.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-caldera-new-planar-magnetic-from-zmf.964836/post-17254005

 

[iamoneagain]

The Cowhide pads do have tradeoffs, but so do pretty much all pads. Here's my abbreviated writeup I did last year. I should be getting my own personal pair soon, and I plan on updating and expanding my comparison to included the Thick and Ultra Perf pads.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-caldera-new-planar-magnetic-from-zmf.964836/post-17254005

Based off this I may added them as a Christmas present to myself.

Currently out of all the pads I’ve owned, I’ve spent the least time with the thins. I’m not really a fan of swapping pads and try to find the one I’m most happiest with. But after a while I started to wonder if missing out and will go thru testing again. Suede sounds great on first listen but I’m a bit of a bass head and the suede fall short here. The thick definitely win on bass on all fronts; quantify, quality, impact, and texture. It’s the mids that I have a hard time with. The stock sound better on first listen but that’s just because it’s not spread out. Mostly hits you left and right. The thick still has twangy electric guitar but because there is more depth, the mids don’t all hit at same volume. So really need to try stock and thick for an extended time to see what feels right. But still seems after a week of wearing the thick I ended up wanting to hear the more direct mids of the stock. And the stock bass is almost as good. So really miss out on increased soundstage. So yes, all tradeoffs.

Edit: It already happen. Listening to The Jam “In the City” and it’s actually the vocals that are too recessed with the thick pads. I throw the stock back on and the vocals now sound great but also the guitars have so much more bite and excitement. The bass is still tight and punchy and might be at same level but not as prominent since the mids are not recessed. I think I’m finally done with pad swapping other than trying the cowhide. Might put the others up for sale.

 

[leylandi]

https://www.headfonia.com/zmf-caldera-review/

 

[iamoneagain]

https://www.headfonia.com/zmf-caldera-review/

I was with you for most of this article. I did notice a few grammatical and spelling errors but that’s not my issue. It’s this part:

“The best amplifier discovery at the latest CanJam SoCal show for me was the Austrian Audio Full Score One, especially with the TTT engaged. With the Caldera you without the TTT function get the typical headphone sound while the TTT tech immerses you more into the music.”

I actually came away with the complete opposite opinion. I thought the Caldera just sounded awful out of this amp. The mids and highs felt completely recessed. It’s possible that was a result of switching quickly from the Composer, which has a very clean and slightly bright signature. But I did listen for a little bit and my impression remained the same. It was the worst I’ve heard the Caldera. Right after I plugged them into the Ferrum stack and all my love was back. I know we all hear different, so I’ll consider this just a difference of opinion but I wouldn’t recommend that combo to anyone. But I’m not a reviewer, so no one has to listen to my opinion except me.

Sorry, think this comes off as rude. It’s just when I was at CanJam and tested my Caldera on all different amps, the Full Score One stood out as the only one I wouldn’t pair the Caldera with that day. Everything else was pretty good to amazing. So just shocked me that you came away with it being a good pairing. And I’m not even 100% sure it’s that great of paring with its own Composer reading some of early reviews. I found that switch mostly made things just sound sharper on the leading edges. But for me, this was all based on quick meet impressions, so perhaps at home with more time spent, I might possibly come away with a different opinion.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I was with you for most of this article. I did notice a few grammatical and spelling errors but that’s not my issue. It’s this part:

“The best amplifier discovery at the latest CanJam SoCal show for me was the Austrian Audio Full Score One, especially with the TTT engaged. With the Caldera you without the TTT function get the typical headphone sound while the TTT tech immerses you more into the music.”

I actually came away with the complete opposite opinion. I thought the Caldera just sounded awful out of this amp. The mids and highs felt completely recessed. It’s possible that was a result of switching quickly from the Composer, which has a very clean and slightly bright signature. But I did listen for a little bit and my impression remained the same. It was the worst I’ve heard the Caldera. Right after I plugged them into the Ferrum stack and all my love was back. I know we all hear different, so I’ll consider this just a difference of opinion but I wouldn’t recommend that combo to anyone. But I’m not a reviewer, so no one has to listen to my opinion except me.

Sorry, think this comes off as rude. It’s just when I was at CanJam and tested my Caldera on all different amps, the Full Score One stood out as the only one I wouldn’t pair the Caldera with that day. Everything else was pretty good to amazing. So just shocked me that you came away with it being a good pairing. And I’m not even 100% sure it’s that great of paring with its own Composer reading some of early reviews. I found that switch mostly made things just sound sharper on the leading edges. But for me, this was all based on quick meet impressions, so perhaps at home with more time spent, I might possibly come away with a different opinion.

Well people taste may extremely vary indeed.

In my case, the best amp I ever heard with Caldera so far is Feliks Envy. Even with standard tube it's already really great. Additional Elrog 300B Mo enhanced the experience even further.

I never heard WA33 JPS Elite though or Viva Egoista 845 though.

 

[jlbrach]

this is why I take most peoples subjective statements regarding their gear with a grain of salt...it isnt that I do not think people absolutely think they are giving an objective view but the truth is there are so many variables...what associated gear do you use?...what music do you listen to?...how is your hearing etc etc...for me I used an accumulation of reviews as my guide...if enough people say the same thing I take it seriously

 

[zach915m]

I was with you for most of this article. I did notice a few grammatical and spelling errors but that’s not my issue. It’s this part:

“The best amplifier discovery at the latest CanJam SoCal show for me was the Austrian Audio Full Score One, especially with the TTT engaged. With the Caldera you without the TTT function get the typical headphone sound while the TTT tech immerses you more into the music.”

I actually came away with the complete opposite opinion. I thought the Caldera just sounded awful out of this amp. The mids and highs felt completely recessed. It’s possible that was a result of switching quickly from the Composer, which has a very clean and slightly bright signature. But I did listen for a little bit and my impression remained the same. It was the worst I’ve heard the Caldera. Right after I plugged them into the Ferrum stack and all my love was back. I know we all hear different, so I’ll consider this just a difference of opinion but I wouldn’t recommend that combo to anyone. But I’m not a reviewer, so no one has to listen to my opinion except me.

Sorry, think this comes off as rude. It’s just when I was at CanJam and tested my Caldera on all different amps, the Full Score One stood out as the only one I wouldn’t pair the Caldera with that day. Everything else was pretty good to amazing. So just shocked me that you came away with it being a good pairing. And I’m not even 100% sure it’s that great of paring with its own Composer reading some of early reviews. I found that switch mostly made things just sound sharper on the leading edges. But for me, this was all based on quick meet impressions, so perhaps at home with more time spent, I might possibly come away with a different opinion.

Well people taste may extremely vary indeed.

In my case, the best amp I ever heard with Caldera so far is Feliks Envy. Even with standard tube it's already really great. Additional Elrog 300B Mo enhanced the experience even further.

I never heard WA33 JPS Elite though or Viva Egoista 845 though.

Yeah I absolutely love the Envy - it's amazing with Caldera, or really anything we throw at it. I have swapped the tubes out and all that, FWIW.

 

[MN8372]

Hi all,

Loving my new Caldera Redheart (purchased from MIniDisc in Aus). My first ZMF headphone.

It won’t replace my Susvaras but probably will replace my LCD5’s.

I really liked (and still like) the LCD5’s as a counterpoint to the Susvaras. The LCD5’s have a darker treble and greater solidity and punch but with a similar level of detail retrieval to the Susvaras.

The Calderas are different to the LCD5’s (and probably closer to the Susvaras in many ways). The Calderas are a much more well rounded headphone than the LCD5’s (which are a great headphone but a bit unusual in many ways with the forward mids/dark treble/insane detail and small soundstage). I fully understand why the LCD5’s divide opinion so much. They work well for me (especially with Mitch’s convolution filters) but I’m not sensitive to forward mids and I actually like the darker treble. I hear some people describe the LCD 5 as a bright headphone. That can only be because of the forward mids because in the treble they are really quite dark. My main complaint is they are a little uncomfortable with the strong clamp…

But the Calderas are just so “right” In comparison to the LCD5. For a start they are comfortable to wear (maybe a shade behind the Susvaras in that respect). A lovely natural tone and even handed throughout the frequency range. Very well tuned. Bass is good. Maybe not as much sub-bass as Susvara but much punchier mid bass. Mid’s are clear and natural sounding. Not as transparent as Susvara but more natural and organic with more “thickness”. Treble is very good too. Again lacking the airiness of the Susvaras but feels more natural. My main complaint is that I think the Calderas are a little prone to sibilance (much more so than the LCD5’s and, surprisingly, a bit more so than the Susvaras).

But overall I actually prefer the tuning of the Calderas to the Susvara. I think they strike a better balance between airiness/transparency versus solidity/punch/natural tone. I’m sure that is deliberate on Zach’s part.

Not sure about relative detail retrieval. Susvara “feels“ more detailed due to its tuning. I’m just not sure it actually is. The Calderas are insanely detailed and have real technical chops. But I will never sell my Susvaras because on a high powered amplifier (like my CFA3) with the volume turned up really loud on a well recorded album they really start to sing. There’s a “live” almost electrifying feeling I get when the Susvaras are turned up to max which is quite intoxicating. Not quite sure how to describe it. At lower volume levels and on weaker amps they sound thin and boring. The Calderas are just much easier to drive and more consistent across a range of equipment and music.

I‘m currently using the Noir Hybrid HPC cable from my LCD5’s with the Calderas but have an Arctic Cables Sonoro on order which I understand pairs well with Calderas. I’ve also ordered the mantle mesh and thick lambskin pads just to play with. Not that I have any issues with the sound as it is with stock pads but keen to experiment and see if I can minimise that slight tendency to sibilance without altering the overall performance and tuning. It’s great that we have these options.

Can’t wait for my 300B tube pre-amp to arrive in the next few weeks from Supratek - I suspect it will mesh beautifully with the Calderas.

 

[zach915m]

Caldera and other Stabilized and Resin are up:

https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/zmf-november