Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
(pharmaboy spits sunflower seeds in dugout)
ZMF Caldera - New Planar Magnetic from ZMF!
- Thread starter ScornDefeat
- Start date
Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
"Pillows on The Dirt" (famous lost Hemingway story)
thefitz
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 22, 2015
- Posts
- 2,198
- Likes
- 1,041
I am firmly on Team Mantle Mesh and Stock Pads. I still want to test the hybrid and pleather BOKEH pads, as well as both thin Caldera pads, but I really like what I hear.
Yes, the mantle mesh dampens treble, but 1) nowhere near the extent of the thick pads, and 2) it actually raises the treble in some spots, making the treble response flatter overall.
There were definite positive qualities without the mantle mesh, but the 'SSSS' sounds were too stabby at any volume and I had to listen at a lower volume overall. With the mantle mesh and stock pads, I can crank it a little bit and really get into it.
If you're for EQing, the stock pads and mantle mesh combo allows for very simple wide-ranging EQs instead of a dozen narrow bands. Perhaps a high shelf and low shelf to taste.
Yes, the mantle mesh dampens treble, but 1) nowhere near the extent of the thick pads, and 2) it actually raises the treble in some spots, making the treble response flatter overall.
There were definite positive qualities without the mantle mesh, but the 'SSSS' sounds were too stabby at any volume and I had to listen at a lower volume overall. With the mantle mesh and stock pads, I can crank it a little bit and really get into it.
If you're for EQing, the stock pads and mantle mesh combo allows for very simple wide-ranging EQs instead of a dozen narrow bands. Perhaps a high shelf and low shelf to taste.
Interesting to see these radically different choices. It must come down to ear anatomy. To me the mantle mesh with stock pads dampens treble a lot more than the thick pads without the mesh.
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
So giving the thick pads one last try but this time with a little EQ. I can probably fine tune it more but already liking this setting since give it just a little more bite in the mids.
Frequency: 2500 Hz
Gain: 2.7 dB
Q: 2.3
For the most part I’ve always liked the improvements the thick brings with more sub bass, soundstage and layering. It was just that little dip in mids from the stock that always caused me to go back to stock. I use roon, so applying EQ is easy but normally don’t like using it because worried about a loss in quality. However, the Caldera takes kindly to EQ and does not distort or lose fidelity, so shouldn’t be a problem. See if I last more than a few days with thick now.
Threw on a 2nd band for the other dip
Freq: 3500
Gain: 1.5
Q; 4
On quick pad switch the mids sound pretty close to stock now but now I have a meatier and bigger sound.
Frequency: 2500 Hz
Gain: 2.7 dB
Q: 2.3
For the most part I’ve always liked the improvements the thick brings with more sub bass, soundstage and layering. It was just that little dip in mids from the stock that always caused me to go back to stock. I use roon, so applying EQ is easy but normally don’t like using it because worried about a loss in quality. However, the Caldera takes kindly to EQ and does not distort or lose fidelity, so shouldn’t be a problem. See if I last more than a few days with thick now.
Threw on a 2nd band for the other dip
Freq: 3500
Gain: 1.5
Q; 4
On quick pad switch the mids sound pretty close to stock now but now I have a meatier and bigger sound.
Last edited:
Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
I am among the most treble-averse here. But that doesn't mean I'm resolution-averse. And what I found with the Caldera Open was so much resolution, more than any planar I'd lived with until now. True, I probably traded away a couple % of resolution to gain the smoothness and freedom from "edgy" sound that the mantle mesh + thick pads bring ... if so, the tradeoff was totally worth it. The sound of the Caldera Open is now completely locked in for me, and it's still one of the most resolving headphones I've ever heard.
Getting the tonality dialed in like this also frees me to enjoy other attributes of this headphone, names the spectacular soundstaging, epic bass, and faithful-to-the-music timbre of instruments and voices.
It makes you wonder if we experience the same degree of variance in respect of our other sensory systems. I might just be high though.
The degree of variance we experience is different for all individuals and true for all senses.
It's scary how loud you can listen to these headphones with the thick pads in. It's butter at "your ears are begging you to turn the ****ing volume down" levels.
I’m team stock as well, but I haven’t tried the mantle mesh. The siblance hasn’t gotten to much at all. Only on certain songs, and if I’m listening for more than like 3 hours a day lol
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2016
- Posts
- 1,774
- Likes
- 1,920
Has anyone compared Caldera to Tungsten? What was the outcome?
This guy cracks me up. As someone who has grown up in a different country and made the US his home (nearly 3 decades now_, baseball seems as weird to me today as it was the day I arrive. I think he perfectly summed it up
Last edited:
Caldera is a super great headphone for the price, and if someone tells you they don't scale has no idea.
I've just been to an open day / audition day on the 22nd, together with the Immanis, Immanis was definitely on another level in terms of many aspects, but Caldera was still holding its own in terms of its own presentation of the sound.
I've just been to an open day / audition day on the 22nd, together with the Immanis, Immanis was definitely on another level in terms of many aspects, but Caldera was still holding its own in terms of its own presentation of the sound.
Users who are viewing this thread
