@zach915m Looking amazing... in terms of availability (the Ltd Atrium Closed) are we talking enough stock to last hours, days or weeks? Really torn between the natural and purple close grain versions. Stunning.
We are moving to a new larger location in January/Feb, right now we're not taking tours or anything but are going to set-up a dedicated listening area and do shop tours/open hours around once every month or so when we get that in place.
Right now we are so out of space and so busy it's hard to accommodate unfortunately which does stink.
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Hah yeah, already have 3 of the flagships in daily rotation. I find detail retrieval and clarity of Caldera the best, which is to be honest expected considering its a planar. Currently its either VC or AO for me, tough call..or maybe wait for the BOKEH stabilized? Choices.
I have/had the AO, AC, VO and VC. VC isn't as wide of a soundstage as VO but is more 3D and holographic. With the VC it felt like having a bubble of visceral sound you could feel around you, almost like wearing a helmet of sound. It was almost like the audio equivalent of wearing a virtual reality headset. The VC also has a sub-bass rumble that the VO doesn't have. The VO is cleaner and more neutral. Frankly I suggest having both. And going with the ironwoods, if you can handle the weight. I had a regular wood VO and found it uninteresting. I just got an ironwood VO (at $2200 it is a steal right now) and I honestly think it is the best headphone I have ever had. It is tight and concise. It has excellent bass, mids that sound right (the upper mids seemed a little recessed on the softer wood) and the treble is great. ConvinceMeAudio is about to release a review on the VO. He already has a review out on the ironwood VC and he thinks it is one of the best headphones he has ever had, and by far the best closeback. Z also reviewed the ironwood VC and came to the same conclusion. I had the standard wood AO for several months and didn't care for it so I sold it. Because of the tuning of the AO, and the slowness of the driver, it is best for genres I don't listen to much of, like folk and acoustic. People say it is good for classical, but I never cared for the AO on any kind of instrumental music. WaveTheory said the AO gets too crowded in the upper mids at certain frequencies to make it good for rock and metal, and I have to agree. ConvinceMeAudio said the AO gets crowded in probably similar frequencies, which he thought negatively impacted some busy orchestral music. My point on all that is the VO/VC is excellent for rock and metal in particular. The Ironwood VO in my experience is good with almost everything, while the VC seemed better with rock and metal. The AO is probably best with folk and acoustic. I also have a hardwood AC and it is really good with almost everything. So the question is just what do you want to listen to.
I have/had the AO, AC, VO and VC. VC isn't as wide of a soundstage as VO but is more 3D and holographic. With the VC it felt like having a bubble of visceral sound you could feel around you, almost like wearing a helmet of sound. It was almost like the audio equivalent of wearing a virtual reality headset. The VC also has a sub-bass rumble that the VO doesn't have. The VO is cleaner and more neutral. Frankly I suggest having both. And going with the ironwoods, if you can handle the weight. I had a regular wood VO and found it uninteresting. I just got an ironwood VO (at $2200 it is a steal right now) and I honestly think it is the best headphone I have ever had. It is tight and concise. It has excellent bass, mids that sound right (the upper mids seemed a little recessed on the softer wood) and the treble is great. ConvinceMeAudio is about to release a review on the VO. He already has a review out on the ironwood VC and he thinks it is one of the best headphones he has ever had, and by far the best closeback. Z also reviewed the ironwood VC and came to the same conclusion. I had the standard wood AO for several months and didn't care for it so I sold it. Because of the tuning of the AO, and the slowness of the driver, it is best for genres I don't listen to much of, like folk and acoustic. People say it is good for classical, but I never cared for the AO on any kind of instrumental music. WaveTheory said the AO gets too crowded in the upper mids at certain frequencies to make it good for rock and metal, and I have to agree. ConvinceMeAudio said the AO gets crowded in probably similar frequencies, which he thought negatively impacted some busy orchestral music. My point on all that is the VO/VC is excellent for rock and metal in particular. The Ironwood VO in my experience is good with almost everything, while the VC seemed better with rock and metal. The AO is probably best with folk and acoustic. I also have a hardwood AC and it is really good with almost everything. So the question is just what do you want to listen to.
Quite a lot of people think the AO is one of, if not the best, ZMF for Rock/Metal. I certainly feel that way (although for a few sub-genres I prefer the Caldera).
Quite a lot of people think the AO is one of, if not the best, ZMF for Rock/Metal. I certainly feel that way (although for a few sub-genres I prefer the Caldera).
Quite a lot of people think the AO is one of, if not the best, ZMF for Rock/Metal. I certainly feel that way (although for a few sub-genres I prefer the Caldera).
Very much agreed. I need to use my Verite Open more though. Whenever I think of using it I usually just grab my VC. Possibly because the VC is a more fun headphone.
He already has a review out on the ironwood VC and he thinks it is one of the best headphones he has ever had, and by far the best closeback. Z also reviewed the ironwood VC and came to the same conclusion….
Interesting! I have an African Blackwood VC that to me is phenomenal with jazz as well as a fair amount of rock, but for music with significant sub-bassi always go biocellulose driver (Eikon, AC in my future).
Desert Ironwood is rated at 3260 lb/sq ft on the Janka scale, with African Blackwood at 3,670 lb/sq ft, so presumably similar in effect on the sound.
My only objection to my VC is with music that has poorer recording quality or harsher upper mids and highs- that can bother me where the Eikon is more forgiving… something I’ve read the AC also can be.
But the snappiness and high transient speed of the VC with African Blackwood is pretty mind-bending at times.
Quite a lot of people think the AO is one of, if not the best, ZMF for Rock/Metal. I certainly feel that way (although for a few sub-genres I prefer the Caldera).
Interesting. Part of the issue is that the Atrium drivers are slower than the Verite drivers. This is why the AO is good for slower and more lush music, but rock and metal are very quick and aggressive. I'm sure the AO is fine for rock and metal, I just don't think that is its specialty. The Verite drivers are very quick, which is why they should be a better match for rock and metal. Also, the AO tuning is more mid focused, which is why people consider it to have a similar focus as the HD6XX, but few consider the HD6XX an optimal fit for rock/metal. The hardwood AC I have is much better for rock and metal than the AO I used to have, since its tuning is more V-shaped, and the hard wood causes the transients to decay quicker, but even then I would say the VO/VC are better for rock and metal since their driver is so much quicker.
Interesting. Part of the issue is that the Atrium drivers are slower** than the Verite drivers. This is why the AO is good for slower and more lush music, but rock and metal are very quick and aggressive. I'm sure the AO is fine for rock and metal, I just don't think that is its specialty. The Verite drivers are very quick** , which is why they should be a better match for rock and metal. Also, the AO tuning is more mid focused, which is why people consider it to have a similar focus as the HD6XX, but few consider the HD6XX an optimal fit for rock/metal. The hardwood AC I have is much better for rock and metal than the AO I used to have, since its tuning is more V-shaped, and the hard wood causes the transients to decay quicker, but even then I would say the VO/VC are better for rock and metal since their driver is so much quicker.
** Are the drivers in Atrium actually moving more slowly than those of Verite? Or is it that Verite, with its beryllium deposit coating on the drivers, has a higher modulus of reflection and rigidity - thus ‘accelerating’ transients?
Interesting! I have an African Blackwood VC that to me is phenomenal with jazz as well as a fair amount of rock, but for music with significant sub-bassi always go biocellulose driver (Eikon, AC in my future).
Desert Ironwood is rated at 3260 lb/sq ft on the Janka scale, with African Blackwood at 3,670 lb/sq ft, so presumably similar in effect on the sound.
My only objection to my VC is with music that has poorer recording quality or harsher upper mids and highs- that can bother me where the Eikon is more forgiving… something I’ve read the AC also can be.
But the snappiness and high transient speed of the VC with African Blackwood is pretty mind-bending at times.
There is a youtube video where Metal571 compared an ironwood and blackwood VO back-to-back. You would expect the blackwood to be a bit more aggressive since it is a bit denser, but Metal571 said the blackwood was actually much smoother, and the ironwood was the most aggressive. Zach said he originally went with the blackwood for his T50 mods because of its smoothness. I have seen other reviewers of blackwood and ironwood ZMFs say things consistent with this. So that would then make sense why your blackwood VC is really good for jazz. I have a hardwood AC and it is really good with subbass and rock/metal. If you get a AC in the future, realize that the hardwood AC causes the subbass to decay much quicker, which tames the subbass. I have seen a number of people think the soft wood AC has too much subbass for genres with a lot of busy transients, though this can be tammed with suede pads. So if you want bassier music on the AC, go with softwood. If you want to listen to music with more tranisients, like rock or metal, and don't want to be depenent on suede pads, go with the hardwood.
** Are the drivers in Atrium actually moving more slowly than those of Verite? Or is it that Verite, with its beryllium deposit coating on the drivers, has a higher modulus of reflection and rigidity - thus ‘accelerating’ transients?
I'm not sure exactly what is going on, but the Verite drivers are much quicker. Sound decays far quicker, and so it is very concise and sometimes even aggressive compared to the Atrium, which is very lush in comparison. It probably has something to do with the fact that beryllium is super-light, being only number 4 on the periodic table.
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… my order will be in by the 5th Nov at the latest 
