[Beagle]

My status hasn't changed in weeks...getting discouraged (or is it anxious?). But the cups are dry I'm sure.

 

[zach915m]

  My status hasn't changed in weeks...

 
I typically can finish about 5-6 headphones a week or like 1 per day.  I have been generally working 6-7 day weeks to get as many of these out as fast as possible, but certainly taking pre-orders before the headphone was 100% finalized has created more of a backlog.  I hope to have all order's currently in the queue (as shown on the order sheet) shipped by the end of October as a month's worth of headphones is about 25 sets for me.  My main focus right now is getting the Omni pre-orders out, as I decided not to attend RMAF to concentrate on production.
 
One day I will be a larger business, with a higher rate of production and more "amazon like" turnaround, but for now I am truly flattered by the interest in the Omni and I'm humbled that everyone has stuck with me through my perceveration over the tuning which delayed shipment a couple weeks.  Thank you!
 

 

 

[Beagle]

Thank you. I will be patient. October is not far off. But so anxious to hear the Omni...

 

[Schopenhauer]

I've been listening to the Omni all week. I hope to have my impression up by tomorrow or Monday. I like what I hear.

 

[grizzlybeast]

Wood have you been listening with bud?

 

[gixxerwimp]

I believe Schopenhauer has the NA tour unit which is Cherry, as is the unit I have.

 

[Schopenhauer]

Following impressions are based on listening with the GO450 as DAC, Leckerton UHA-6S.MkII as amp (high-gain implemented), and Spotify in offline mode as source since I’m currently without internet at my place. Because the UHA-6S.MkII served as my amp, I used the single-ended stock cable that came with the Omni. While the stock balanced cable would’ve worked with my EF-6, I’ve already packed that up so I can list it in the classifieds. The UHA-6S.MkII is my current reference amp for a reason. I prefer it to the EF-6 on several counts. My current reference headphone is the LCD-2.2. I also have an HE-500, HD800, Mad Dog and stock T50RP on hand. My taste in music leans toward the electronic, save for EDM – there are exceptions – and brostep.
 
Some non-sound related impressions. Weight seems right. I’m used to planars, however, so YMMV. Not too heavy but substantial-feeling, like you’re holding something that’ll last. Heirloom quality if taken care of. And you might want to heirloom them: These things are beautiful. Omnis arrived in lambskin; I switched to leather. Pads are plush but not overly so. I didn’t notice any sonic differences between the sets of pads. My primary interest was comfort. I’ll let others speak about “pad rolling”.
 
Overall, the comfort on these is outstanding. Easily on a par with the Alpha Dog, Paradox Slant and ZMF x Vibro. There’s a slight issue with getting the left cup to seal on my head. My head could be to blame, though, as I encounter this issue with other headphones. That said, it might be slightly more persistent with the Omni + cowhide pads. The lambskin pads seal perfectly. Strangely, of all the headphones I’ve tried, I think the LCD-2.2 might fit my head the best, with the possible exception of the HD800.
 
Omni is less isolating than the other T50RP mods I’ve heard. This isn’t surprising given its semi-open construction. Depending on the track playing, I could hold short, to-the-point conversations with a friend while we were listening together; he was wearing the HD800. I’m sure we were moderately yelling at each other. Also, the Omni soaks up a lot of power. I can max out the volume on my iPhone 6 without pain. It’s near or at the limit of comfortable but I can do it. This isn’t the case with, say, the LCD-2.2.
 
A few remarks on tonality.  While I wouldn’t say the Omni is a basshead headphone, the bass is excellent in quality and extension. When compared with the LCD-2.2, I have the sense of a slight recession in the mids. Voices seem a vaguely farther away. I’m not saying that the Omni has recessed mids; I’m saying that voices seem closer with the LCD-2.2, and perhaps fuller, more textured. An upshot is that the Omni is, from I’ve heard, completely free of glare in the high midrange, viz. in 5k-6k. The T50RP driver is supposed to have a tendency for glare. I could detect it on occasion with the Alpha Dog, though it was hardly enough count against that headphone. If you’re sensitive to glare in the high midrange, you needn’t worry about the Omni. The treble is relaxed without being rolled-off. There’s plenty of definition at 10k.
 
Some thoughts on technicalities. The HD800 is better at representing vast and distant sounds than is the Omni. That’s an obscure claim. It has to do with what might be termed the delicacy* of a headphone. Vast, distant sounds are fragile and rich in information; it’s easy for this information – perhaps in the form of the felt texture of the sound – to get smoothed out, dulled. Of course, excellent treble resolution – e.g., in the “air” frequencies – contributes to this ability to represent vast distances, and the HD800’s treble resolution is unmatched in my experience. Let me give a concrete example. The synths – if that is what they are – that come in at 0:35 on Clark’s “There’s a Distance in You” from his eponymous album. (The significance of the title in the present context isn’t lost on me. This is an excellent track for testing a phone’s ability to render the timbre of vast distances. It’s also the shortest seven minute track I’ve heard.) With the HD800, you can hear how far away those synths really are. They’re not just quiet; they’re way off in the distance. This technicality might come at the cost of tonality: The HD800, while world class in treble resolution, is an almost unbearably bright headphone. I should point out that the low-end aspects of “There’s a Distance in You” sound much better on the Omnis.
 
Soundstaging and imaging are first-rate for a (semi)closed headphone. Among the headphones I have on hand, I would put the Omni between the LCD-2.2 and the Mad Dog with respect to width. The overall effect isn’t exactly holographic, but I suspect it’s difficult to get holographic imaging with (semi)closed headphones.
 
Greater bass impact/slam than my LCD-2.2 and HE-500, and greater than my friend’s Mad Dog. Given that I haven’t had the Alpha Dog and the Paradox Slant for several months now, I’ll forego a detailed comparison here. Suffice it to say, I don’t think the Omni is outshone by either. Bass impact/slam is only one aspect of an overall excellent transient response. This is a fast headphone. The transients aren’t as quick as with the HD800, but then, the Omni is a thicker-, fuller-sounding headphone.
 
Thanks again to Zach for putting this tour together! I’m honored to have been given the chance to listen to ZMF’s new flagship. It’s a solid piece of craftsmanship with a smooth, defined signature. 

 

[Schopenhauer]

Wood have you been listening with bud?

My unit was cherry. 

 

[ThePianoMan]

^ thanks for the impressions!

Btw just curious, but do you mean the small portable leckerton and HFM's big EF-6 amp?

Isn't that a price difference of like... $1200?
Just curious that those are indeed the amps you're talking about.

 

[Flyleaf]

Thank you for the review !!
Just need to hear some impressions on the Walnut one .

 

[Schopenhauer]

^ thanks for the impressions!

Btw just curious, but do you mean the small portable leckerton and HFM's big EF-6 amp?

Isn't that a price difference of like... $1200?
Just curious that those are indeed the amps you're talking about.

Those are the right amps. Actually, the difference is probably closer to $1300.

 

[ThePianoMan]

Those are the right amps. Actually, the difference is probably closer to $1300.

Did you not like the EF-6?
I'm just curious, I've never heard either amp.

 

[Schopenhauer]

 

Those are the right amps. Actually, the difference is probably closer to $1300.

Did you not like the EF-6?
I'm just curious, I've never heard either amp.

My Leck has the OPA627A. I originally got it to drive more efficient dynamic cans. However, I realized that it pairs excellently with planars. More than enough power - on high gain, and even low - to make all of the planars I've tried sing. What's more, I've used it to drive the LCD-2.2 and HE-500 at the same time with a Y-splitter to great effect. But I'm a bit more relaxed than others when it comes to amping. 
 
I liked the EF-6 fine. In fact, I thought it was an excellent sounding amplifier. What I don't like about it is that you cannot dial in the volume finely. It seems to have three usable volume settings: (1) Not loud enough; (2) Is this loud enough?; and (3) Too loud. You can never get it exactly right. The Leck doesn't have this problem. What's more, it's seemingly indiscernible from the EF-6 in blind testing. So it sounds excellent. Given that it's around $1300 cheaper and 23.75lbs lighter, I'm happy with having the Leck by itself. 

 

[gangnamstyle]

Hey I am considering the Omni vs Alpha Prime and the HE-560. Could anybody do a comparison with the Alpha Prime? Thanks a lot

 

[Stillhart]

Hey I am considering the Omni vs Alpha Prime and the HE-560. Could anybody do a comparison with the Alpha Prime? Thanks a lot

 
My memory of the AP was that it's pretty bright.  HE-560 is also slightly on the bright side of neutral.  The Omni is warm.  
 
They're very different, so you're going to want to figure out what sort of tonality you want.