TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
ouchhh
What do you think is missing from your current set up? Also what type of music genres usually you listen to?
ZMF November // 2023 // MEGATHREAD!
- Thread starter zach915m
- Start date
ouchhh
What do you think is missing from your current set up? Also what type of music genres usually you listen to?
xTelepathetic
New Head-Fier
To me it sounds flat and boring. It is missing some depth, some pizazz. It feels soulless.It seems this way across all headphones- not just the Caldera. As for generes, I listen to anything but country. EDM, alt, indie, pop, rap, etc
I recommend a good solid state amp vs tube amps for the Caldera being it is a planar driven HP. Especially with modern electronic, heavy beat type music. But I'm not discounting some folks here have found good tube amp pairings. I generally find solid state works better on planars. My favorite combo with the Caldera at this time is the Bifrost 2/64 multibit DAC paired to the Violectric V222. Another nice pairing I like is the Geshelli J2 with the JDS Labs/ZMF Homage collaboration.
Last edited:
So these are just my thoughts, but, if all your headphones sound flat and boring (looking at your signature), it's not something you're going to fix by tossing more money at DACs and amplifiers. The issue lies somewhere else. Either there's something wrong with your playback source configuration (be it PC+streaming software or something else), or there's something else going on. Sure, you could try a good solid state amp since that's missing from your setup, but I doubt that will fix your issue across the board.
Many people do feel this way, but many of us have also had really good results with Caldera + OTC tubes. OTL (like Elise) will probably not work so well, but OTC amps work just fine with moderate impedance/sensitivity planars. Caldera sounds beautiful on DNA Stellaris to my ears.
If you find Caldera "flat and boring" it sounds like a punchy dynamic is what you crave. Try Utopia, or Clear if you want to spend a little less for something very similar. Even TOTL planars like Caldera don't really come close to the dynamic engagement you get from a TOTL dynamic. You'll lose some sub-bass extension, but gain significant "slam". Beyond that, Caldera isn't known for being particularly amp/source picky, so if you aren't satisfied with its sound on your current chain it's not likely you will gain much by spending on new source/amp gear.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2008
- Posts
- 4,116
- Likes
- 25,328
Could be worth trying the different impedance puts of the IHA6 as well, the single ended puts that are higher impedance will sound great with Caldera.
And yeah also tey a different source, and update firmware in the dac as well as try somehow getting to the DAC with spdif vs USB, sometimes USB issues can cause a veil.
And yeah also tey a different source, and update firmware in the dac as well as try somehow getting to the DAC with spdif vs USB, sometimes USB issues can cause a veil.
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2008
- Posts
- 4,116
- Likes
- 25,328
Just a quick note of two things -
1. We have a decware 120v in stock as well as 230v. They usually don't stay around long when we get them.
2. The Ash LTD will be coming down shortly as we will be turning over the LTD editions later this month.
Hope everyone is well, if you haven't gotten your ZMF November/December headphone it will be going out this week and Bokeh production is in high gear.
1. We have a decware 120v in stock as well as 230v. They usually don't stay around long when we get them.
2. The Ash LTD will be coming down shortly as we will be turning over the LTD editions later this month.
Hope everyone is well, if you haven't gotten your ZMF November/December headphone it will be going out this week and Bokeh production is in high gear.
OnlySoMany
500+ Head-Fier
I sound like a broken record, but Chord dacs paired with tubes always is a great pairing. I've had quite a few DACs in my time, and always land back at their gear.
Transforming sound has to do with so many things. Just the dac probably won't fix it, but it can help.
Start at source, then power cables/conditioning, then dac, then amp, then headphone cable. I don't care what anyone says, it all matters.
Did not really knew where to put this, but I ordered this in parallel to the November sale. 
What did I order? A DIY cable kit and was a bit surprised how tiny the coffe gold splitter is.
So while I am waiting for a new bigger splitter I was wondering what I could do with the tiny one and came up with this solution (for now).
Only the people in the know will decipher the logo.
P.S. @zach915m: May be ZMF should come up with some jewellery merchandise stuff.
This could also probably help with the Misses when buying yet another ZMF headphone (o-tone Misses Daiyama: Another!!??).
What did I order? A DIY cable kit and was a bit surprised how tiny the coffe gold splitter is.
So while I am waiting for a new bigger splitter I was wondering what I could do with the tiny one and came up with this solution (for now).
Only the people in the know will decipher the logo.
P.S. @zach915m: May be ZMF should come up with some jewellery merchandise stuff.
This could also probably help with the Misses when buying yet another ZMF headphone (o-tone Misses Daiyama: Another!!??).
Last edited:
OnlySoMany
500+ Head-Fier
A few weeks ago I asked Zach about a custom copper cable, that was a higher awg than their standard offerings or the 2k copper. I wanted an upgraded copper cable to chill out some of my high output amps vs the silver or hybrid cables. Just received in the mail a few minutes ago. I'll get some better images shortly.
From my understanding, Zach is going to be adding these "enhanced" cables to their site soon for sale to all, but I'll leave that to him to explain. Very excited, it turned out beautiful!
2k Copper, Double AWG
8ft Length
Rose Gold Connectors
I will post some listening impressions shortly. Anyone looking for a cable upgrade should strongly consider ZMF vs Arctic, Kimber, etc.
Compared to standard 2k copper.
From my understanding, Zach is going to be adding these "enhanced" cables to their site soon for sale to all, but I'll leave that to him to explain. Very excited, it turned out beautiful!
2k Copper, Double AWG
8ft Length
Rose Gold Connectors
I will post some listening impressions shortly. Anyone looking for a cable upgrade should strongly consider ZMF vs Arctic, Kimber, etc.
Compared to standard 2k copper.
Wow, that is a gorgeous cableA few weeks ago I asked Zach about a custom copper cable, that was a higher awg than their standard offerings or the 2k copper. I wanted an upgraded copper cable to chill out some of my high output amps vs the silver or hybrid cables. Just received in the mail a few minutes ago. I'll get some better images shortly.
From my understanding, Zach is going to be adding these "enhanced" cables to their site soon for sale to all, but I'll leave that to him to explain. Very excited, it turned out beautiful!
2k Copper, Double AWG
8ft Length
Rose Gold Connectors
I will post some listening impressions shortly. Anyone looking for a cable upgrade should strongly consider ZMF vs Arctic, Kimber, etc.
Compared to standard 2k copper.
Those are beautiful. Arguably prettier than my current Verite Silver haha
OnlySoMany
500+ Head-Fier
From what I understand, he may be offering a double awg Verite Silver as well since they can do the braids. They will have a day one buyer if/when they do
Again, I'll leave it to Zach to explain how and when he plans to roll this out. I did ask for his permission to post these images, as I reached out to him personally and respectfully wanted to make sure he was OK with me sharing them.
I personally love the idea of having ZMF be a one stop shop for premium cables and headphones, vs having to go to other suppliers. Their customer service is also off the charts.
Very happy customer.
Tbf if you are into cables and expect them to change the sound signature, I advice to look for a studio with a decade or so of research in this segment. There some really talented guys who spent a lot of time with cables and cables only. ZMF is a headphone company imho. To me the ZMF cables are first and foremost a cosmetic thing (and a beautiful one) and are mostly rather random in their overall sonic signature and argueably very similar.
Users who are viewing this thread
