[YtseJamer]

Hey Guys,
It's been a little bit. I've been enjoying my system immensely thanks to you. Which brings me around to my reason for the post. Once again I need your help. I'm looking for a closed back compliment to my ZMF VC Ltd (leapardwood) . I would like it to also be a closed back, match my existing High impedance amp ( Blue Halo ) and match my 4 pin xlr headphone cables and in the $1000 range.
Any idea's guys?

There's a pair of Atticus available on Canuckaudiomart for $1100 CAD.

 

[Xavilaw]

What'rw your thoughts?

First off the craftmanship in these headphones are absolutely stunning!! I really appreciate wood works and handmade stuff. I feel they are very well designed. I was afraid of the weight, but they feel more comfortable than my Focal Clears.

As for the sound its early for a definite review or shall i say final thoughts (not a reviewer by any means). It's only been a few hours. I bought them (second hand) with the universe lambskin and auteur hybrid. After a couple of tracks with the universe i switched to the hybrids (so easy to change pads, Zach's video is spot on) and have been on since. I'm not completely wowed with its sound signature as of yet. I believe in brain burn in and i know i need more of that.
I haven't used a closed back in many years and never had a decent one. It's not fair to compare to my open backs (Clear OG, Hyland Jupiter among others), its just a different feeling/flavor. There is just something about the tonality that seems that is not quite there, not sure what it is yet. I'm also a believer of different flavors when it comes to headphones and these do fit the role, just need to tweak it to my preferences without trying to be a copy of what I already have.

I had already decided that i wanted to buy the auteur lambskins as they are Zach's favorite and I want to hear that (as the artist intended ). I've read the 615 pages of this thread in the past 2 weeks and some days (since i closed the deal give or take). So now i'm thinking of what other pad should I get. Another limitation is that i'm only able to listen to them through my Jot2 (Burson composer as DaC/pre amp) as i only have an XLR cable. Ordered a forza audio works with a termination i can work with my other amps (G111, M11 DaP).
Yes i know about tubes and that these shine (for most of you) best with a tube amp. I'm considering it, but this was already a big purchase and need some time before getting into another one. In any case i've been eyeing the Feliks Audio Echo MKII (being in EU makes its easier).

I'll be back!!

 

[Barnstormer13]

First off the craftmanship in these headphones are absolutely stunning!! I really appreciate wood works and handmade stuff. I feel they are very well designed. I was afraid of the weight, but they feel more comfortable than my Focal Clears.

As for the sound its early for a definite review or shall i say final thoughts (not a reviewer by any means). It's only been a few hours. I bought them (second hand) with the universe lambskin and auteur hybrid. After a couple of tracks with the universe i switched to the hybrids (so easy to change pads, Zach's video is spot on) and have been on since. I'm not completely wowed with its sound signature as of yet. I believe in brain burn in and i know i need more of that.
I haven't used a closed back in many years and never had a decent one. It's not fair to compare to my open backs (Clear OG, Hyland Jupiter among others), its just a different feeling/flavor. There is just something about the tonality that seems that is not quite there, not sure what it is yet. I'm also a believer of different flavors when it comes to headphones and these do fit the role, just need to tweak it to my preferences without trying to be a copy of what I already have.

I had already decided that i wanted to buy the auteur lambskins as they are Zach's favorite and I want to hear that (as the artist intended ). I've read the 615 pages of this thread in the past 2 weeks and some days (since i closed the deal give or take). So now i'm thinking of what other pad should I get. Another limitation is that i'm only able to listen to them through my Jot2 (Burson composer as DaC/pre amp) as i only have an XLR cable. Ordered a forza audio works with a termination i can work with my other amps (G111, M11 DaP).
Yes i know about tubes and that these shine (for most of you) best with a tube amp. I'm considering it, but this was already a big purchase and need some time before getting into another one. In any case i've been eyeing the Feliks Audio Echo MKII (being in EU makes its easier).

I'll be back!!

You’ll probably find the M11 Dap a little underpowered. I tried my VCs on my M11 pro and found it underwhelming.

 

[yupio]

Hey Guys,
It's been a little bit. I've been enjoying my system immensely thanks to you. Which brings me around to my reason for the post. Once again I need your help. I'm looking for a closed back compliment to my ZMF VC Ltd (leapardwood) . I would like it to also be a closed back, match my existing High impedance amp ( Blue Halo ) and match my 4 pin xlr headphone cables and in the $1000 range.
Any idea's guys?

Though not high impedance but I have a Sony MDR-Z1R which I recommend you to have a listen to. Might suit what you’re looking for. Scales well with good source & power.

 

[Wes S]

Hey Guys,
It's been a little bit. I've been enjoying my system immensely thanks to you. Which brings me around to my reason for the post. Once again I need your help. I'm looking for a closed back compliment to my ZMF VC Ltd (leapardwood) . I would like it to also be a closed back, match my existing High impedance amp ( Blue Halo ) and match my 4 pin xlr headphone cables and in the $1000 range.
Any idea's guys?

ZMF Atticus gets my vote.

 

[soundchaos]

Not to hijack the recommendations, but while the group is at it…I recently picked up a pair of stabilized VC’s and am looking for an open back ZMF to pair with it. Would an auteur or Aeolus be a better choice? I’m a little treble sensitive so looking for something on the warmer end. Thanks!

 

[Monsterzero]

Not to hijack the recommendations, but while the group is at it…I recently picked up a pair of stabilized VC’s and am looking for an open back ZMF to pair with it. Would an auteur or Aeolus be a better choice? I’m a little treble sensitive so looking for something on the warmer end. Thanks!

Aeolus, for sure. The Auteur has a brighter, more neutral tuning. Ive read that some find it too bright( I did not).
The Aeolus is quite warm, fun sounding w/ nice mid bass slam and great ZMF mids.

Also, the VO IMO is a very worthwhile companion to the VC, offering a different enough presentation to the VC to warrant owning both.

 

[Djankie]

I received my Blackwoods a few days ago and boy they look and sound absolutely stunning! Here some pictures:

 

[Rowethren]

They are really pretty! The more African Blackwood VCs I see the more affirmed I feel about buying a pair myself. On the plus side they will match nicely with my Black Rosewood wrist rest which is clearly very important

 

[duranxv]

I haven't seen any "professional" reviews directly compare the VC and Stealth in depth yet.

I'm not a reviewer and I've only been in this hobby since summer 2019, but I'll take a crack at it, in hopes it will help someone with a hard decision to make. And maybe by the end of this, I can make a decision about which one I'll eventually sell.

The Stealth excels at accuracy, realism, and balance. It sticks the Harman target so closely that most folks never need to EQ it, except for a bass shelf which is pretty safe to do. When listening I never have to wonder if a treble peak is due to the headphone or the recording -- it's most often the recording's fault. Another important quality is that distortion is extremely low. In the past with my other cans, I never noticed distortion unless it was purposefully in the mix (electric guitar crunch or vocal processing, etc.) but now swapping back to the Stealth from the VC or the Abyss 1266 TC (a distortion factory) reveals those unwanted resonances and distortion that I tolerated before. The music just sounds super clean, well separated, and effortless to follow. The AMTS metamaterial has potential to be swapped and modified later to customize the tuning, something DCA is known for. It's an exciting prospect, for sure. Detail on the VC is sharp by default but IMO somewhat dependent on pad thickness and ear-to-driver distance. It has more realistic and natural timbre than Stealth (which does a phenomenal job for a planar), but some unevenness in the FR that has been covered in depth here. I will say that I can listen to Stealth at higher volumes than normal for me (up to 88-92 db) for a LOT longer than with the VC, which can get fatiguing at even 85 dB for 20 min or so.

The Stealth's bass gets a lot of flack for having very little punch and slam. One owner called it "limp dick dynamics." Hilarious but kind of true. Apparently a few DCA cans have the same issue so it may be by design; I can't confirm since this is my first DCA product. The bass quality is excellent and faithful in terms of actual instrumental tone, and the quantity in terms of extension and volume/presence is there. Sub-bass rumble is very nice, however, the rest of the bass FR is only heard and not felt. Little, if any, bass air pressure is felt by the ear. Ear positioning within the cups is more important than I would like, and a perfect seal is a must for adequate bass. Glasses off, for sure, and consider shaving those muttonchops.

Swapping amps and cables improved bass quantity, but still only a little slam is achieved. I wonder if putting AMTS between the ear and driver prevents that sound pressure wave from reaching the ear. Not as important with chamber music or acoustic stuff, but for modern pop and electronic/hiphop, this may be a total deal breaker. The VC delivers bass perfectly - slam, punch, texture, in good proportion to the rest of the mix - and can be tuned further with pad swaps. Sometimes I will remember to take my glasses off, and am totally shocked by how much better the bass gets on the VC. For the rest of the FR, due to reasons listed above about distortion handling, Stealth takes the cake. The VC comes closest to my preferred mids presentation with the Auteur hybrid pads, but there is a perceived blunting of transients as a tradeoff. Some have mentioned it before on here, and I agree.

So, which is the more "open" closed back can????
The Stealth, by a tad, but hear me out. Its stage width stretches very wide, which I believe is a product of its insane resolving capabilities and lack of distortion, and not so much its physical cup size/volume as is the case in most closed backs. In fact, if you look at the Stealth cups you'll see that they're peculiarly in relief, or concave if you will. If anything the cup volume is minimized. So I'm led to believe that it mostly achieves this by virtue of its driver, FR handling and AMTS.
Putting the headphones on, your head feels like it's in a recording booth lined with egg carton foam, except the room is enormous. As I mentioned above, ear position within the cup requires some thought to get a balanced center image, and I have to fiddle with it more often than I prefer to.

Depending on the pad used, the VC stage is probably as wide but by DEFAULT has superior depth and height. I'm presuming angled drivers, large cup dimensions, and inherent resonance due to wood type probably contribute to this effect. The VC's holography still cannot be beat, and is by far its most impressive technical attribute.

The Stealth's industrial design is phenomenal, and has to be held to really understand how densely packed with tech it is (the temperature of its titanium/aluminum frame is also cool to the touch, which imbues a sense of futurism to it). It feels like it can take a bullet and probably keep playing. Dan Clark says the materials, from the vegan leather to the drivers themselves, are meant to last a lifetime. Right on. It's a lot lighter than my leopardwood VC and doesn't give me a hotspot (I'm curious about a co-pilot pad since folks are talking about all the new options). No point in comparing aesthetics, since this is personal. ZMF makes works of art. The Sapele cups are just *chef's kiss* and not to mention those stabilized sets, my goodness.

The last piece covers the overall emotional connection to the music. I have an emotional connection to both my Verites. I chose the wood and the hardware material and color. Though there are others like it, my VC was made for me, and I can one day imagining giving them as a gift to my favorite son (the other gets my 99 Classics). The ZMF house tuning feels careful, a little warm but quite balanced. It's the headphone equivalent of coming home to a crusty bread bowl filled with hot chowder after hours of shoveling snow. I never used to understand what reviewers meant when describing headphones as "romantic," but now I do partially understand. My interpretation is how emotionally engaged and immersed in the music I become, thinking less about technicalities and the physics of sound and its moving pieces. Sometimes I'll admit that I care less about artistry and music, and more about how the transducers are beaming it into my head. When I'm feeling a need to reconnect to music, I reach for my VC, but even when I'm not already in that mood, I find that the VC will actually PUT me in that mood. For some reason, I don't get that with the Stealth. Maybe because the Stealth is indestructible and from the future, and the VC is very much of the now. Its paint and wood polish have already started to fade; the wood cups will accumulate nicks and scars, and one day they'll crumble away totally. I care about my VC -- like, actually have sentimental feelings for them -- and that makes the music it conveys just that bit sweeter.

Hope this helps someone. I know it did for me. I'm happy to report that I'll be keeping my VC for now.

I'll wait to see what Dan Clark has in store with an open design and possibly different AMTS mods before I sell the Stealth though. Stay tuned.

Great review! I laughed at "limp dick dynamics" - I think I'm going to steal that from now on, lol.

Makes me glad I decided to get a Kennerton Rognir instead of the DCA Stealth. Once I get my Rognir, I will post impressions on how it compares vs the VC with tubes and without tubes.

 

[dangusyra]

I got my new tube amp today :-D. For now I mainly used my Cayin HA-1A MK2 and ZDT Jr. for my VC and Aeolus. Since both are not the best match - especially for VC - I decided to look for a better suited amp. Since I've limited desk space, the available choice of mid- to high-end tube amps isn't really that big. First I wanted to go with a Quicksilver Audio amp but unfortunately that's not possible since I'm in Europe and they don't offer a 230V version of the amp.
Then by accident I stumbled across the Auris Eutepre and it turned out to be a pretty interesting amp. Since a pretty high noise floor on my Cayin was my main problem with VC I wasn't looking for a super powerful amp. After finding a pretty good deal to a dealer in Italy a few days ago I can call one mine since today .
My first impressions are very positive. I feel like the Euterpe unlocked the VC to a completely new level to me. Everything that would be harsh or peaky on my other amps sound very pleasant and more detailed at the same time. The vocal range is much more prominent in the mix. That's a point I'm very happy about since that was one of the few gripes I sometimes had with VC that the vocals could sound a bit subdued or too far in the background. Now it's one cohesive arrangement from top to bottom and I have a hard time to take a break from listening to music. Like I said - first and early impressions but it's been a while since I had goose bumps or had to chuckle so many times in one day just from listening to music. And I think that's best result imaginable

Did I mention that they look absolutely beautiful together?

Hi, I see you do have(had?) Singxer sa-1 amp. Did you try this one with VC? What was your impression, does Auris work better? Thank you!

 

[Bkido]

Hi, I see you do have(had?) Singxer sa-1 amp. Did you try this one with VC? What was your impression, does Auris work better? Thank you!

Hey. I think the Singxer SA-1 is definitely one of the nicer solid state options for VC. It sounds very powerful, reaches very low but still has a nice liveliness to the sound. It's my preferred option for music with a lot of sub bass since this is the one area where the Auris can't keep up with the Singxer. For everything else the Auris - which unfortunately is currently being replaced by the manufacturer because of a defect on the volume pod - transforms the VC into another headphone for me in the best way possible. Nothing sounds harsh on it, the peak around 6k disappears and at the same time it emphasises the vocal region around 2k which really helps the vocal to integrate better into the mix. The staging and imaging with the Auris is also more expansive and more "all around you". Still details can be positioned with pin point accuracy. Sometimes the Auris feels like cheating since everything sounds so nice and cohesive with star dust sprinkled all over it . The Singxer is definitely changing the sound less and is more true to the source. Very enjoyable for sure. But I think that I have 3 tube amps and 1 solid state amp shows my preference

 

[dangusyra]

Hey. I think the Singxer SA-1 is definitely one of the nicer solid state options for VC. It sounds very powerful, reaches very low but still has a nice liveliness to the sound. It's my preferred option for music with a lot of sub bass since this is the one area where the Auris can't keep up with the Singxer. For everything else the Auris - which unfortunately is currently being replaced by the manufacturer because of a defect on the volume pod - transforms the VC into another headphone for me in the best way possible. Nothing sounds harsh on it, the peak around 6k disappears and at the same time it emphasises the vocal region around 2k which really helps the vocal to integrate better into the mix. The staging and imaging with the Auris is also more expansive and more "all around you". Still details can be positioned with pin point accuracy. Sometimes the Auris feels like cheating since everything sounds so nice and cohesive on it with star dust sprinkled all over it . The Singxer is definitely changing the sound less and is more true to the source. Very enjoyable for sure. But I think that I have 3 tube amps and 1 solid state amp shows my preference

Thank you for prompt replay and comparing it to Auris. I keeping eye on SA-1, it looks like go option for VC.

 

[duranxv]

Hi, I see you do have(had?) Singxer sa-1 amp. Did you try this one with VC? What was your impression, does Auris work better? Thank you!

What's your budget for a solid state amp? There's definitely better options for the VC on the solid state side, but it depends on what you're willing to shell out

 

[Marutks]

There's definitely better options for the VC on the solid state side, but it depends on what you're willing to shell out

Better options are Niimbus US5 , Violectric 550 and Ferrum OOR.