ZMF Verite Closed vs Focal Stellia
i recently received the ZMF VC in leopardwood. the shop that distributes ZMF locally was also kind enough to loan me their Focal Stellia; usually they don't allow home auditions, but in view of the current COVID19 situation, they're trialing something new. i've had the Stellia with me for about 5 days now, and have done roughly 2 hours a day of quick a/b comparisons between the VC and Stellia. i have to return the Stellia next Monday. Let me preface by saying to please remember that the following are my own opinions, and that listening is subjective, and that some of it is dependent on your own system and equipment as well as your music preference. Having said that, feel free to criticise and comment!
Listening was done with two systems, playing from Roon+Tidal:
system A: Cambridge Audio CXN v2 (does internal upsampling to 384Khz) > Benchmark DAC3b > Benchmark HPA4
system B: NUC > HQPlayer upsampling to PCM 384Khz (sinc M + LNS15) > Singxer SU-6 > IIS hdmi > Holo Spring 2 Wild Edition > Woo Audio 22 (WE421A power tubes + Mullard ECC35 drivers + WE422a rectifier)
Headphones config:
Stellia + stock cables (both single ended and balanced XLR). I didnt have any aftermarket cable for the Stellia.
ZMF VC leopardwood + Auteur leather pads and with the single ended stock cable + Arctic Cables silver series balanced XLR
i apologize if the following reads quite disjointed and incongruent. tried to take as many mental notes as i could, but i'm not very good at organizing my thoughts.
BUILD
The Stellia is similar in build quality to the Utopia. Premium quality materials through and through.
As with Utopia, there is slight creak when the yokes are moved in the hand, but no creaking when on the head.
The leather ear pads are nicely textured. They're soft, but not as soft as the pads on the Utopia.
I dislike the stock Stellia cable; flat wire in a cloth outer. It feels solid, but i get annoyed for eg if they're rolled up and you try to unroll it, and it just stays kinked and refuses to unravel. quite possibly the worst cable ergonomics wise that i've used...
ZMF VC, my set were finished to perfection. lovely wood choice for this limited run, with amazing grain. Zero creaking. Everything feels solid to touch and there is a nice heft to the headphones when holding them. One thing i dont really like is that the cups can spin around full circle, like Grados.
The Stellia is lighter and feels more comfortable on the head. There is a bit of a clamping sensation with the VC especially just below the ear. Perhaps i will need to stretch the headband a bit more. I do not feel any hotspots or clamping with the Stellia.
There is a sensation of more "space" in the cups with the Stellia. The VC feel more "closed in".
My ears and side of face get warm and a bit sweaty quite fast with the VC leather pads. I stay near the equator, so listening in a non-airconditioned room is almost impossible. It feels less uncomfortable with the Stellia pads.
Stellia feels like a premium continental car from Mercedes/BMW. It exudes the sensation of a product with consistent build, from a quality manufacturing line, with precision execution.
ZMF VC feels like an artisan piece from a master craftsman. You can almost feel the hours of dedication and handwork that has gone into shaping and finishing the cups and assembling all the pieces together.
SOUND
With regards to sound, i found it surprising that the VC and Stellia were like polar opposites. to me, they share very very very few similarities soundwise.
VC sound fuller/thicker all round. there is music filling all the spaces. The VC sounds more relaxed and warm.
in contrast, the Stellia has more "air", more apparent instrument separation. you can feel the space in between the notes and elements of the music.
Stellia imaging has pinpoint accuracy. the Stellia sound like a "faster" headphone.
VC soundstage is wider than Stellia. not ultra wide, but wide enough. not as wide as say, Empyrean. nonetheless, very impressed with the soundstage on the VC, especially given the closed configuration.
the VC has much more bass and mid bass than Stellia. It has good low end extension and decent sub-bass; a bit more sub-bass and low rumble would be nice; hoping this will improve further with more play time.
aside from the amount of bass, the bass impact/ear drum thumping sensation is also stronger and more focused with VC than Stellia.
Stellia bass is tight, but is severely lacking in amount. I did not get an enjoyable low end from the Stellia from both my systems. you know how when you play songs that you know have this super cool bass line that comes up, but when that bass line finally starts to play, with the Stellia i was thinking, hey where the heck is the bass? The bass notes are there, but they just sound like tap tap tap.. i was rather disappointed.
VC highs were harsh at first listen, but after burning in, the highs are much better. In comparison to the Stellia, the VC details are still there but the highs do sound rolled off.
The Stellia is great if you enjoy ultra-detail. It feels like you can hear lip smacking and the pieces of left over meat between the teeth rubbing on the singers gums kind of detail. However, Stellia feels too skewed to upper mids and highs. To me, the upper mids and highs are too exaggerated. Almost like there is an intense sharpening filter applied to the upper bands. It sounds glaring and too bright with the single ended cable, but is slightly improved with the balanced cable. There is tonnes of clarity and detail (even more so than Utopia), but to me, it is a bit too much. I can imagine getting fatigued fast, and this is further worsened by the comparative lack in bass and mid bass. Stellia presentation in effect, becomes much more forward and in your face.
although slightly rolled off in the high end, i prefer the VC presentation over the Stellia.
VC to me has a more balanced presentation. VC mids are thick and luscious. There is more "body" in the VC mids than Stellia mids. Female vocals sound amazing with the VC.
VC isolates better than the Stellia. i can hear my screaming kids less with the VC than Stellia. this is a good thing.
The VC sounded much much better with my Woo Audio 22 than the HPA4. The sound i get feels more natural, flowing, and organic. the soundstage feels wider and surprisingly, the highs felt clearer and more distinct; i was expecting the highs to be dulled but i was wrong. For what it's worth, it sounds more "musical". The tubes took whatever the VC had and made them sound better. If you have the VC with a solid state amp, i think you owe it to yourself to try it with a good tube amp.
The Stellia sounded slightly better with the WA22 and there was a slight increase in amount of bass, but really not much. WA22 didnt do much else for the sound with Stellia.
Neither Stellia or VC sounded all that great with my GSX Mini... the mini + VC sounded bloated; the bass lost its punchiness and the highs were even less detailed. mini + Stellia sounded slightly less forward and highs were tamed, but it did nothing for the bass. i find the GSX mini is quite finicky with headphones.. i dont like mini + Empy, but i do like mini + Utopia and mini + Abyss 1266.
TL/DR
in my opinion:
Stellia has crazy amounts of clarity, detail, and airiness, with a much more forward presentation. The highs feel overpowering; not so good if you are sensitive to treble. Feels like a faster headphone with pinpoint accuracy and a sense of immediacy. Stellia is lacking in bass and mid bass.
ZMF VC has a more balanced presentation. Has much more bass/mid bass than Stellia, with luscious thick mids, and a certain richness to the sound. VC is more relaxed in comparison. Highs are a little rolled off. Comparatively less air/space and clarity. VC sounds better with a tube amp.
With the Stellia it felt like i was analyzing music, with the VC i was enjoying it.
additional notes:
Stellia is not a closed back Utopia. Utopia remains detailed without being harsh/bright. Utopia soundstage is wider. Utopia feels more effortless and transparent. Overall better balanced presentation. Utopia has much better bass than Stellia.
after selling my previous monkeypod VC, I was close to buying a Stellia; deal did not go through because of exorbitant delivery fees. after having some time with the Stellia and VC, i'm relieved that i decided to go with VC again.
i experienced an echoey reverb sensation with monkeypod VC. thankfully, i do not hear this with leopardwood.
ultimately the VC and Stellia are closed back headphones and they are great choices if you need a closed config in your setup eg in the office or late night listening without wanting to disturb anyone else. but i get a better overall sound with open backed headphones like the empy, utopia, abyss 1266 tc phi.
