So, the Verite Closed has been with me for some weeks now, and I think I could share some impressions. Here we go!
The Headphone arrived in the usual ZMF hard plastic case, with the Solid Auteur Lamb pads on and the Universe Lamb on the side. The wood is Sapele and I think it looks amazing. I will take some actual good pictures with my DSLR, for now here is one from my iPhone.
The build is the same as my Aeolus, even tho the metal parts that connects the rods from the yolks and the headband feels a bit different (I also wonder if they can be bought separately by themself to change them, as the right one has a little white spot on it. Maybe they can be bought in different colours/material too?)
Anyway, with the Auteur Lamb I found the balance off: I know that the brain needs time to adjust to a new signature and so I went on with the listening, but... something was off.
Initially I didn't want to analyze the situation with A/B, so after like 10 hours if listening, which was enjoyable but not convincing, especially in the voices and piano presentation, I was a bit discouraged. So, one night I put the Universe Lamb on, even tho I did not like the Universe Lamb Perforated on my Aeolus very much, compared to the Uni Suede.
I enjoyed that listening session, a lot!
One track that really felt different in the voice presentation was New Grass from Talk Talk (which is a great track to test headphones voice presentation):
With the Auteur Lamb pads, Mark Hollis voice had the Verite incredible details, every nuances was there, but it was somewhat hollow and bodiless. The guitars and every sound in that departments was also a bit shouty. I was worried about some reviews and report I heard about the Verite Closed sounding hollow.
With the Universe Lamb it was way more enjoyable: more balanced and tonally accurate. There was still a bit of those characteristics, which can sound a little hollow on high register male voices like Mark Hollis and Jeff Buckley, but the details and the general presentation make up for it. Phew!
So, fast forward 3 weeks and since I was trying to decide if I had to order a new pair of pads I switched back to the Auteur Lamb to do some testing: they still didn't work for me. Another track that really explicit this is Shaun Martin Yellow Jacket:
Around 1 minute mark there are some piano chords and single notes that felt shouty with the Auteur pads. I literally had to turn the volume down (and I'm not a loud listener). So I tried to listen to the same track at the same volume (the one who was upsetting with the Auteur) whilst changing to the Universe Lamb and voila! there was zero shoutiness and zero upsetting stuff going on.
It's honestly mind blowing how much of a difference those pads make that I think it is not possible to be just about the pads itself. Maybe the Auteur pads don't couple well with my head shape? Maybe that pair is defective?
With the Universe Lamb pads I would describe the Verite Closed sound to be highly detailed and amazingly spacious: the treated room analogy from some posts ago was spot on. The tonal balance is good, it is warm with good clarity and great separation.
Listening to the whole In Rainbows album from Radiohead a couple days ago: it felt like being in the same studio room with them, getting every details in a non fatiguing way.
If I had a takeaway for the Verite Closed VS the HE1000 Stealth: the former is being 1 meter from the band playing in a treated studio room, all sounds and details are at reach. The HE1000 Stealth is like being in an arena in the front row.
I'm going to do a hefty review of this Beaty in some month on my YT channel, gonna decide other pads to buy and try on for the review (and for my enjoyment). It would be great to get them on loan for a comparison and informative video, too bad I live in Europe
Would love to hear from someone who had direct experience with the Auteur Hybrid if they could work on me considering I did not like the lamb one, or maybe going for the suede. As for now I'm torn between the Uni Suede or the Uni Hybrid (considering I have to buy from the other side of Europe, since the local distributor is not selling pads anymore here and so it's very hard to get them...).
