[Nostoi]

Olé ! it looks like a cult with its guru ! wait for a reliable and well informed answer, if you don't know there is no need to try to divert, it doesn't make sense. No attack on my part, just need to know exactly what this aspect of things is, and then make my choices according to my conscience. Maybe everything is fine, and that's what I want.

Ease down, eco-warrior. I'm sure you'll get your reliable and well-informed answer in time.

 

[LeMat]

That’s true. ZMF must have taken care of sourcing woods from reliable places. However I feel Carpooling, spending few nights without AC will help environment more

And if I may chime in, I would be less concerned about the wood than other elements. As successful as ZMF is, I don't think they're using forest quantity, merely a couple of trees. The furniture business is using far more. The most detrimental aspect of this 'hobby" is most likely streaming which draws a lot of electricity on the servers side.

 

[dougq]

I have both and enjoy them equally. The TH900 has a more in-yer-face bass, with a more visceral sense of impact and slam. The VC bass is more subtle, though no less lacking - it's textured, with excellent extension and outstanding detail. More natural, you might say, but not exactly linear flat. VC is a step-up on a technical front, yes. Again, they excel at natural detail retrieval rather than artificially boosted detail. Staging is actually not dissimilar. TH900 has a very good sense of space and airiness, which is also true of the VC. The main thing with the VC is they're very amp dependent - you need a TOTL amp to drive them properly. So be prepared to invest in that if you go down that route.

Zmf states the specs required to drive them and it’s some hard to reach totl barrier. I have heard them on a variety of sources and they sounded great (and virtually the same).

 

[Nostoi]

Zmf states the specs required to drive them and it’s some hard to reach totl barrier. I have heard them on a variety of sources and they sounded great (and virtually the same).

It's not so much about specs nor even raw power - they're audible and driven to sufficient volume on my Chord Mojo. Does the Mojo do the VC justice? Not in the slightest. It's about speed, accuracy, dynamics, precision, and clean (transparent) power. I've also tried the VC on a variety of amps, and have only heard a few amps that do them justice. Your ears might be more charitable than mine, however.

 

[dougq]

It's not so much about specs nor even raw power - they're audible and driven to sufficient volume on my Chord Mojo. Does the Mojo do the VC justice? Not in the slightest. It's about speed, accuracy, dynamics, precision, and clean (transparent) power. I've also tried the VC on a variety of amps, and have only heard a few amps that do them justice. Your ears might be more charitable than mine, however.

a 100 heresy will delivery all of that. 300mw will max out the driver. It’s all about specs. A 100 heresy will drive it completely transparent and clean.

 

[Nostoi]

a 100 heresy will delivery all of that. 300mw will max out the driver. It’s all about specs. A 100 heresy will drive it completely transparent and clean.

I don't do Schiit, but if it works for you, enjoy.

 

[dougq]

I don't do Schiit, but if it works for you, enjoy.

It’s a point. There are many just as clean, powerful, and transparent in that price range up to 1K+ And if your requirement is clean transparent and powerful enough to max out the driver then those solid states will give you all the vc can provide in that context

 

[Nostoi]

It’s a point. There are many just as clean, powerful, and transparent in that price range up to 1K+ And if your requirement is clean transparent and powerful enough to max out the driver then those solid states will give you all the vc can provide in that context

I have a Sparkos Lab Aries, which I'm more than happy with and would recommend it to anyone looking for a high-end SS amp, especially for the VC.

If the Schiit does as a decent job, then bravo - you saved yourself around $2400/$2900 (depending on model).

 

[dougq]

I have a Sparkos Lab Aries, which I'm more than happy with and would recommend it to anyone looking for a high-end SS amp, especially for the VC.

If the Schiit does as a decent job, then bravo - you saved yourself around $2400/$2900 (depending on model).

That looks like a beast. I need desk space so for now I stick to my rme adi 2 dac fs

 

[Nostoi]

That looks like a beast. I need desk space so for now I stick to my rme adi 2 dac fs

Beastly in performance? Yes. Beast in terms of size? Not that much larger than an old VHS unit.

 

[AngryTank]

Olé ! it looks like a cult with its guru ! wait for a reliable and well informed answer, if you don't know there is no need to try to divert, it doesn't make sense. No attack on my part, just need to know exactly what this aspect of things is, and then make my choices according to my conscience. Maybe everything is fine, and that's what I want.

Well Zach has stated that certain endangered woods he can only buy if they have verifiable proof that the wood was from a naturally collapsed tree. I think that statement alone is more than enough to say that he does at least know about where and how the wood is sourced.

 

[Bassic Needs]

a 100 heresy will delivery all of that. 300mw will max out the driver. It’s all about specs. A 100 heresy will drive it completely transparent and clean.

Are you speaking from a position of experience or theory?
If experience, which expensive amps have you A/B'd with the Heresy and found them to be equivalent?

 

[Barnstormer13]

all these woods scare me! and I don't listen with my eyes .... but it's true that this headphone seems very attractive.

A lot of rare and "exotic" woods

Do you know if the origin of the wood is verified? Their origin and if they are exploited in a responsible and ecological way is important, isn't it?

Our toys and hobbies will have more flavour if they don't participate in the destruction of the environment.

Sorry for the unpleasant touch, but I would like to know if the effort is made.

Thank you for that!

Excellent question. You’re going to pick up some heat for this one (because no one likes to think their beautiful whatever is contributing to the destruction of the environment) but the moral thing to do is ask.

What ZMF says on their website is they only purchase wood through accredited dealers. I don’t know what that actually means, but I’m pretty sure @zach915m will be along shortly to explain it.

If you still have concerns after that but want a pair of headphones made of renewable materials, consider maple, cherry, or other species that are sustainability grown and harvested with renewable protein leather earpads and headstrap.

 

[Astral Abyss]

Beastly in performance? Yes. Beast in terms of size? Not that much larger than an old VHS unit.

Ah, Seasons in the Abyss, one of my favorite Slayer albums. Nice setup you've got there.

 

[breckstar]

It’s all about specs.

Specs are only as good as the test. And if you don't know what the test was, what value do the results give you? If I want a certain result, I can manufacture a test to give me that result. Typically, the specs given by the manufacturer's are not accurate to real world scenario. Tests are done in lab conditions. This could be using perfect conditioned power, single tone test signals, etc. These methods do not accurately translate to music being played where the entire frequency response has energy.

Some examples with the Heresy:

Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 2.8W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 2.4W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 1.6W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 410mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 215mW RMS per channel

We get the load impedance (16 ohm) and the power out (2.8Wrms). We could do math and get the voltage RMS which should be 6.69 Vrms. What is the frequency/frequencies of the signal? It is not said. What are the other conditions of the test? This could be a 1kHz 0dBm signal from a signal generator. If that were the case, this tells use the power output and load impedance at one single frequency. This doesn't tell us anything about 20-999 Hz, 1001-20,000 Hz. How useful is that result then?

THD+N:
High Gain: Less than 0.0014% (-97dB) at 1V RMS into 32 ohms
Low Gain: Less than 0.0002% (-113dB) at 1V RMS into 32 ohms

We just calculated the max Vrms was 6.69 into 16 ohms. Since this measurement is in 32 ohm, lets do the math again. Vrms(32ohm)=8.76 Vrms. Interesting. This test was done at 1 Vrms. Most people won't be running their Heresy at max volume, but more than likely are using more than 1 Vrms. To me, this is useless information. If my average listening level is 4-5 Vrms, I would prefer to know what the THD+N is at 4-5 Vrms. That would more accurately tell me something about how I am using the Heresy. But again, we don't have any other test conditions. What frequency is the signal? What is the source for the signal?

So, specs do matter. But the context for the spec matters much more. There is a lot of information not given to us, which makes the information given less valuable. My $0.02. Hopefully someone found this enjoyable.