[DeweyCH]

Ugh, the Mehrbachs have ruined other headphones. I had a bit of a penny drop moment earlier today, where I went back to some of my other nice headphones, and man, the vocals are just disappointing. Figured I'd try my 6XXs (first audiophile headphones I bought) with my Crack, since they're such an iconic pairing, after several months of listening almost exclusively to my VCs and Auteurs. Detail is nice, but there's so much missing. Vocals sound tinny, bass is clear but meh... it's amazing how much of a difference there is between good audiophile headphones and great ones... and how much more obvious that difference is going from great to good than vise versa.

Edit to add: my favorite track for getting a quick listen to headphones is "All You Need is Love" because of the cello and backing harmonies. I look for a nice, visceral growl to the cello and to feel like the backup vocals are, for lack of a better word, "real." Nothing tops the VC that I've tried so far. The Auteur comes excruciatingly close. Such a ridiculous combination of clarity and musicality.

 

[DeweyCH]

Follow-up pad question... I've rolled solid Auteur, Universe and BE2 pads on my VCs, and currently have hybrid BE2s installed. Reading the pad sonics, it looks like a pair of solid Verite pads are the choice for max brightness/detail; I'll keep flipping through earlier posts on this incredibly well-discussed topic, but does anyone have a quick review of the jump from BE2 hybrids to Verite lambskins? I listen to a ton of classic and alt rock and love nothing more than picking out all the different instruments individually from songs I've been listening to my entire life.

 

[PointyFox]

The Verite pads are the most shallow pads. They seem to be brighter but they also make the soundstage a lot closer which I didn't like.

 

[alavenue]

Has anyone paired their VC with Fiio M15? Curious if they pair well together or not

I Just ordered a VC and I'm really excited. Ordered the wywires Platinum cable as well. I travel alot so currently my portable amp/dacs are the Fiio m15 and dethonrey honey H1 (more power but not as resolving as m15). Also considering the woo wa8 however I'm a little hesitant.

 

[Tubewin]

Ugh, the Mehrbachs have ruined other headphones. I had a bit of a penny drop moment earlier today, where I went back to some of my other nice headphones, and man, the vocals are just disappointing. Figured I'd try my 6XXs (first audiophile headphones I bought) with my Crack, since they're such an iconic pairing, after several months of listening almost exclusively to my VCs and Auteurs. Detail is nice, but there's so much missing. Vocals sound tinny, bass is clear but meh... it's amazing how much of a difference there is between good audiophile headphones and great ones... and how much more obvious that difference is going from great to good than vise versa.

Edit to add: my favorite track for getting a quick listen to headphones is "All You Need is Love" because of the cello and backing harmonies. I look for a nice, visceral growl to the cello and to feel like the backup vocals are, for lack of a better word, "real." Nothing tops the VC that I've tried so far. The Auteur comes excruciatingly close. Such a ridiculous combination of clarity and musicality.

Yeah, I have had similar impressions. It imparts something to vocals that none of my other headphones are able to replicate. It has got to be the wood ear cups among other things.

 

[arftech]

Ugh. I can't figure out which pads are which (first world problems). I want to mark them up under the flap with a white garment marker, but... I also want to mark them up right. Anyone care to help me identify which is which?



Sorry 'bout the mess. This is a combo of Eikon, Auteur, BE2 and Universe. I thiiiiiiiink they go Universe, Auteur, Eikon and BE2 from left to right... was hoping someone could confirm. Or correct. Either way. Thank you!

I don’t understand why ZMF don’t identify which is which on the pads because it can get perplexing.

 

[Galapac]

Has anyone paired their VC with Fiio M15? Curious if they pair well together or not

I Just ordered a VC and I'm really excited. Ordered the wywires Platinum cable as well. I travel alot so currently my portable amp/dacs are the Fiio m15 and dethonrey honey H1 (more power but not as resolving as m15). Also considering the woo wa8 however I'm a little hesitant.

I have exactly that setup...M15 with Platinum Wywires and they power the VC and VO very well. They will not go the extreme of say a desktop amp but as long as you have the high gain and headphone settings on it powers well. Just know in that mode that the M15 gets pretty warm and the battery drains faster but you can go portable with that setup for sure.
Once you get the VC let me know if you agree.

 

[Tubewin]

I don’t understand why ZMF don’t identify which is which on the pads because it can get perplexing.

Just buy another set of each . Yeah that sucks. I have done the same thing before, so I took a tape measure and tried to see which pad goes where using the zmf website listed dimensions as a reference. Good luck.

 

[intedinator]

I don’t understand why ZMF don’t identify which is which on the pads because it can get perplexing.

At one point, I thought Zach had mentioned on the forums or in YouTube interviews that ZMF was going to label the inside flap. I didn’t see a label in the pads that came with my VC, so I marked them myself before I could get them mixed up. @zach915m, any plans here?

 

[raindownthunda]

At one point, I thought Zach had mentioned on the forums or in YouTube interviews that ZMF was going to label the inside flap. I didn’t see a label in the pads that came with my VC, so I marked them myself before I could get them mixed up. @zach915m, any plans here?

FWIW here is an easy/inexpensive way I have found to keep track of my collection of ZMF pads without needing to mark them in any way. Standard size sticky notes fit snugly inside the inner band:

 

[robo24]

I use a black sharpie on the lip part with an A, E, B, U. It holds up well, disappears once installed, but is relatively easy to see once off in good lighting. They can all be left or right so that's not something I've marked on them.

 

[zach915m]

At one point, I thought Zach had mentioned on the forums or in YouTube interviews that ZMF was going to label the inside flap. I didn’t see a label in the pads that came with my VC, so I marked them myself before I could get them mixed up. @zach915m, any plans here?

The stickers were hard for people to find - so we ended up designing fancy-ish zip pouches with printed labels on them which earpads will be shipped in soon when not send on a headphone. Then you can write whatever you want on the pouch or leave as labeled with the pads that came in them. We should be rolling those out shortly and will have them on the site-a-la-carte as well.

 

[erics75]

The stickers were hard for people to find - so we ended up designing fancy-ish zip pouches with printed labels on them which earpads will be shipped in soon when not send on a headphone. Then you can write whatever you want on the pouch or leave as labeled with the pads that came in them. We should be rolling those out shortly and will have them on the site-a-la-carte as well.

Zach, i'm still holding out hope you'll make an exotic wood storage box for your pads like this. each drawer can hold a pair, and labels can be added to the front for easy reference. my vote for wood choices would be burnt ash, cocobolo, bocote, and blackwood. come on @zach915m make it!

 

[BigTonkotsu]

I am having an extremely difficult time deciding between the Verite Open and Closed. I have read through countless reviews, and, unfortunately, I am unable to audition both of them to make a final decision. I would be running them through both solid state and tube amplifiers, and isolation isn't necessary but potentially preferred because my PC can be loud (GPU/CPU go brrrr). At the same time, I tend to prefer wider soundstage, but also like the concept of the more present bass and mids of the Closed. I guess my question is what is the larger differentiator between the two: is there a greater difference in soundstage or sound signature between the Closed and Open? If it is soundstage, I suppose the Open would be preferred. If it is signature, go for the more "exciting" Closed?

Genres I listen to:
Electronica
Rock (Alt, Radiohead, Classic, more Radiohead)
Metal
Hip Hop(Tribe, De La Soul, MF Doom, Beastie Boys, Wu Tang)
Jazz (occasionally)
Classical (occasionally)

 

[johnnypaddock]

I personally would recommend the VC in your case. I think the slightly more forward sound signature might be better suited for your preferred types of music, with the added isolation being a nice bonus. When it comes to soundstage the VO is more diffuse, slightly more spacious with sounds coming from all over the place. It's awesome. The stage on the VC might be slightly smaller but it's really well defined and easier to pinpoint the placement of instruments, if that matters to you.

If I had to keep one it would be the VC, but both are fantastic and the differences are subtle.