[robo24]

Question for those of you with a few ZMF cans: I have a leopardwood Verite Closed and absolutely love it! I find myself needing a more open option as well because my wife says it is too difficult to get my attention when listening to the Verite. I can't swing a VO and don't intend to get rid of the VC so I am trying to decide on an open set to pair with my VC. I have been reading up on the Auteur and think it would be a great open complement at a lower price point. How "open sounding" are they? Are you able to hear outside noise like someone talking when listening at a moderate volume?

I'm also open to other suggestions as I am not dead set on the Auteur (searching the used market and waiting on b-stock or new wood announcements), but would love to hear from people who have experience with the Auteur and VC.

I've had my VC only a few weeks so that's mostly what I've been using lately. Before that the Auteur got most of my use. I think they're open enough that you'll hear other sounds though they aren't as open as the 6XX and other completely open designs. I'd actually recommend it over the VO since you have the VC. I also think the Auteur is more different than the VC than the Aeolus is.

 

[LoryWiv]

Thanks for the detailed reply, great to hear from someone who has experienced most of the lineup! From my reading it sounds like I will prefer the Auteur and I love the build as well. Normally I would be looking to try them out first, but I made a blind purchase of the VC and couldn't be happier.

I have been happily using the Auteur as my primary HP for 18 months and they are goldilocks...sound great with all of my sources, isolate just enough that I can enjoy them with dishwasher on, other moderate ambient noise and pretend I didn't hear my wife when desired (not that I would do that). Seriously though, at moderate listening volumes you should be able to hear someone speak directly to you in the same room.

 

[jjflemin]

I have been happily using the Auteur as my primary HP for 18 months and they are goldilocks...sound great with all of my sources, isolate just enough that I can enjoy them with dishwasher on, other moderate ambient noise and pretend I didn't hear my wife when desired (not that I would do that).. Seriously though, at moderate listening volumes you should be able to hear someone speak directly to you in the same room.

I've had my VC only a few weeks so that's mostly what I've been using lately. Before that the Auteur got most of my use. I think they're open enough that you'll hear other sounds though they aren't as open as the 6XX and other completely open designs. I'd actually recommend it over the VO since you have the VC. I also think the Auteur is more different than the VC than the Aeolus is.

Thanks so much to the both of you. Definitely making my decision easier. Sounds like the VC and Auteur will be perfect for me.

 

[saidentary]

Does anyone have a DAC pairing that they really like in their chain with the VCs?

I’m considering moving away from my Chord gear and thinking a warmer Dac would go nicely with the VC’s.

Well, this may not be in the same league as Chord gear, but the VC sound awesome (essentially perfect for headphones, to my ears anyway) through my Arcam irDAC. But I think that's probably more a function of the VC than the DAC. Nevertheless, it is regarded as good DAC.
As a default, "safe" answer, I would say this: Ask Zach Mehrbach. As far as I can tell based on my personal experience (and that of many others), he's totally honest, even if that means recommending a product he doesn't sell. But, here's the other great thing: He absolutely, positively knows what the hell he's talking about. He made cable recommendations for me that, to my ears, were dead spot on. Maybe it sounds like a cop-out to say, "ask Zach" but as far as I'm concerned, he's firmly established himself as credible source for audiophiles with questions about headphones and what will make them sound their best. I could be wrong, but I'm not.

 

[saidentary]

I did the same thing (blind purchase of the VC) and feel the exact same way: couldn't be happier. It's a nice place to be, isn't it?

 

[Junglebook3]

About to A/B my Focal Stellia vs. a Verite Closed in Monkeypod - any reason a Schiit Magni / Modi wouldn't properly power the VC, or otherwise reach their full potential?

 

[MrCypruz]

About to A/B my Focal Stellia vs. a Verite Closed in Monkeypod - any reason a Schiit Magni / Modi wouldn't properly power the VC, or otherwise reach their full potential?

Sorry for not answering to your question, I don’t have the Magni/Modi so I don’t know the answer but will leave my summarized impressions of both cans:

Completely different beasts imho, they’re different enough that I decided to keep both.

In a nutshell Stellia has better clarity and overall resolution, more linear sounding, a tad emphasized bass and more bass impact/slam, more intimate and a tad more congested.

VC (with Auteur pads) is the king of soundstage in closed back cans, it projects a wide and big sound a truly out of the head experience for closed back - simply unreal. It also has a tad bass boost but with less slam than the Stellia, a bit recessed mids also similarly to the Stellia, it’s overall more fun to listen to and less fatiguing than the Stellia, but loses by a small margin on overall technicalities and correctness of the sound presentation to my ears. Love the VC on a good tube amp - super duper fun!

 

[Roasty]

Sorry for not answering to your question, I don’t have the Magni/Modi so I don’t know the answer but will leave my summarized impressions of both cans:

Completely different beasts imho, they’re different enough that I decided to keep both.

In a nutshell Stellia has better clarity and overall resolution, more linear sounding, a tad emphasized bass and more bass impact/slam, more intimate and a tad more congested.

VC (with Auteur pads) is the king of soundstage in closed back cans, it projects a wide and big sound a truly out of the head experience for closed back - simply unreal. It also has a tad bass boost but with less slam than the Stellia, a bit recessed mids also similarly to the Stellia, it’s overall more fun to listen to and less fatiguing than the Stellia, but loses by a small margin on overall technicalities and correctness of the sound presentation to my ears. Love the VC on a good tube amp - super duper fun!

I wrote a similar comparison recently on the Stellia thread. I agree, VC on a tube amp is amazing! Am waiting for the next Ltd edition VC to see if it will be 3rd time lucky for me.

 

[zach915m]

^^^ For those interested in getting a tonally (frequency response) accurate sound from the V closed vs the fun out of your head sound the stock auteur pads provide, we just got solid Be-2 pads in. These sit nicely between the universe pads and verite solid pads for a linear sound with just enough oomph to my ears. They lend a similar sound (but with a touch more warmth) to what Herb Reichert wrote about in his Verite review when he used mostly Verite pads: https://www.stereophile.com/content...-zmf-hagerman-headphones-headphone-amplifiers

And to what he wrote about regarding the Verite in his LTA Zotl 10 review: https://www.stereophile.com/content...r-tube-audio-z10e-integrated-amplifier-page-2

 

[qboogie]

Ooh, BE2 pads have been my go-to for the VO. These might do the trick

 

[davesa]

I expected to see a whole bunch of new VC owners chiming in this week, since it seems like a bunch were shipped out, including mine. I have been enjoying the Auteurs I purchased here on Head-Fi while waiting the 11 weeks for mine to arrive. They are Camphor Burl LTD - I ordered just a day or two before the pictures of the VC LTD hit the site and there was a spike in orders.

I ordered the Seahorse case, since my Auteurs had the wood box, so now I have one of each. I thought it would be good to have a way to transport them if I took them on vacation or to a meet up someday. Nobody even seems to talk about storing all the boxes for their different headphones... starting to need some extra space somewhere... but I guess that is a good problem to have.

So unlike buying a set from a a member here and getting to see exactly what they look like I thought I would order directly from ZMF, which relys on a bit of luck on what you might get. Do you get an awesome pair like Nostoi got? Does one cup look a lot different than the other?

Well when I I first pulled them out I sort of thought " Awww I didn't get any burls " but on a bit closer examination they are there, they are just on the sides or top. Sort of like like A-cup burls, there but just not as pronounced as others .

The one thing I did notice is that the cups are balanced - they look similar left and right. The other thing I noticed that the wood has amazing chatoyancy - which is a fancy word that means it shimmers and changes the color and depth of the grain as you move it in the light. That is one thing that you can't really capture in pictures, you would need some good natural light and a video. You eye picks up on it easily though. I have one area in the finish that is a little sketchy. I have a picture of it that I will include.

So I popped a cable in and tried them out - sound great so far, with some pronounced bass. They sound amazing on my LTA Z10e - very engaging. I only have few hours of listening in so far. I still have the Auteur solid pads that came mounted on them. Excited to try the Universal pads as well. My Auteurs came with two styles of perforated pads - one suede, one lambskin, so now I have a nice variety to experiment with. I am running the Eikon perforated suede currently on the Auteurs ( i think ) - I wish there was a label, or color code or something to identify which is which more easily.

 

[qboogie]

Maybe that's unpolished wax? I would ask @zach915m

 

[zach915m]

Maybe that's unpolished wax? I would ask @zach915m

Remember with burl headphones there are a plethora of divots, gouges, voids etc etc. It's not a wood for anyone who wants a glass smooth factory (think electric guitar with 1/8 inch of plastic on it) finish although that sometimes can happen. I always honor the wood, and will fill small divots, but if there's a feature of the wood I let it hold true to show the natural qualities, instead of filling it to show the true nature of the solid block of wood used for each cup.

I love the individual characteristics of each wood and what makes them different, so while we pore fill, wax fill, and seal the cups before finishing, we don't put a layer of epoxy or plastic type finish to "cover" the wood and make a perfectly smooth surface.

Edit: There's a pragmatic reason for not doing this as well, as wood covered with those finished won't adjust and "breathe" as needed over time, it allows the wood to move with the ever changing humidity of the environment and not affect the sound or aesthetic in the long run.

Lastly, if you're not sure about something with your headphones or product, or think there may be an issue, I am happy to respond publicly here, but we try to be responsive through email as well. The ZMF Guide is also a great please for owners to start: https://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmf-guide

Along with the FAQ on our website: https://www.zmfheadphones.com/headphone-faq

 

[jaboki]

I expected to see a whole bunch of new VC owners chiming in this week, since it seems like a bunch were shipped out, including mine. I have been enjoying the Auteurs I purchased here on Head-Fi while waiting the 11 weeks for mine to arrive. They are Camphor Burl LTD - I ordered just a day or two before the pictures of the VC LTD hit the site and there was a spike in orders.

I ordered the Seahorse case, since my Auteurs had the wood box, so now I have one of each. I thought it would be good to have a way to transport them if I took them on vacation or to a meet up someday. Nobody even seems to talk about storing all the boxes for their different headphones... starting to need some extra space somewhere... but I guess that is a good problem to have.

So unlike buying a set from a a member here and getting to see exactly what they look like I thought I would order directly from ZMF, which relys on a bit of luck on what you might get. Do you get an awesome pair like Nostoi got? Does one cup look a lot different than the other?

Well when I I first pulled them out I sort of thought " Awww I didn't get any burls " but on a bit closer examination they are there, they are just on the sides or top. Sort of like like A-cup burls, there but just not as pronounced as others .

The one thing I did notice is that the cups are balanced - they look similar left and right. The other thing I noticed that the wood has amazing chatoyancy - which is a fancy word that means it shimmers and changes the color and depth of the grain as you move it in the light. That is one thing that you can't really capture in pictures, you would need some good natural light and a video. You eye picks up on it easily though. I have one area in the finish that is a little sketchy. I have a picture of it that I will include.

So I popped a cable in and tried them out - sound great so far, with some pronounced bass. They sound amazing on my LTA Z10e - very engaging. I only have few hours of listening in so far. I still have the Auteur solid pads that came mounted on them. Excited to try the Universal pads as well. My Auteurs came with two styles of perforated pads - one suede, one lambskin, so now I have a nice variety to experiment with. I am running the Eikon perforated suede currently on the Auteurs ( i think ) - I wish there was a label, or color code or something to identify which is which more easily.

These look awesome!

 

[robo24]

^^^ For those interested in getting a tonally (frequency response) accurate sound from the V closed vs the fun out of your head sound the stock auteur pads provide, we just got solid Be-2 pads in. These sit nicely between the universe pads and verite solid pads for a linear sound with just enough oomph to my ears. They lend a similar sound (but with a touch more warmth) to what Herb Reichert wrote about in his Verite review when he used mostly Verite pads: https://www.stereophile.com/content...-zmf-hagerman-headphones-headphone-amplifiers

And to what he wrote about regarding the Verite in his LTA Zotl 10 review: https://www.stereophile.com/content...r-tube-audio-z10e-integrated-amplifier-page-2

Will there be a suede version of this Be-2?