[pkcpga]

One of the greatest. But..

Now enough time has passed to write some lines on the cans.

ZMF Verite Closed

Shou Sugi ban Manchurian Ash burst


The looks
Most angels – perfect.
Specific angels – horrible.
Selling a set of can for the price of a small village needs to be perfect. They who do not agree has lower expectations than me. Light untreated parts of the dark looking can showing thru is unacceptable. Fix the small detail and the can reaches 10/10 on looks.
ZMF is not a six year old kid selling cookies and earning her first bucks. With multiple employees and sales at the million per year we need to have expectations on that level. Sure – small business but surely able to meet high expectations on all details.
Without the fix I can stop thinking of a drawing from kindergarten were happy parents saying falsely “oh, that is reaaally beautiful..”.

Comfort
Suede straps and headband looks really awful in my taste. But comfort is 10/10.
The leather is so much nicer but with many hours per week comfort is important. More important than we think in most cases.
I guess I stay with the suede strap even if my eyes are bleeding.

Sound
Nothing to fuss about. They are one of the few up at the top.
Vocals are stunningly good! Vocals are for me 80% of the total in listening to music.
They do vocals the way I want them. (to understand MY taste - Hifiman Edition X V2 has superb vocals as well. But a tad to dark/warm/lush in general.)
Some might like the tuning and other not, probably most people will enjoy them. Not the most “airy” so if that is your cup of tea maybe look elsewhere.
Works well for most music – for classic/symphony I do prefer open backs but that is like 3 % of my total listening time. The other 97 % works really well on VC. As said – vocals are as good as it gets.
Golden ears are for others, some might hear thing I do not. I like the old saying “use equipment to listen to music, do not use music to listen to equipment..”.
With these cans I listen to the music with joy - with a smile on my face.
9-10 of 10 is probably what most will give them. Me too.

Closed back vs. open back
Sure, open back Focals has a other feeling with them. Better? I do not know.
For me it is like a “I do not care if THESE cans are closed or open – they sound really good”.
Listening late at night with family members trying to sleep and/or having kids running around always gives the upper hand to closed back. Finding a good closed back is for many individuals more useful than same sound quality on open back.

Pads
One thing that I feel gets way to much attention on ZMF cans. All this talk about different sound signatures and so on like it is some kind of a holy ZMF grail to be able to swap pads. Come on – that is for all cans and has been for many years. The pads are way(!) to expensive from many manufacturer.

Measurement
I really would like this can to have a go with Amir.
To see the measurement and after that say “oh, that is a good curve and should sound this good” OR “oh, that curve looks bad but I don´t care cause the sound good”.

Is this the greatest?
Maybe. I think our personal taste is more of the verdict than facts.
Given the price it should be up there. And it really is.

Do I recommend them?
If money is no issue – buy them.
If 4 000 euros (for me with taxes to Sweden) is “a lot” then there are other can for you.
If you are looking for an end game closed back and feel that saving up a year or two is worth the wait – then start saving.
For you in the US (lower price) – a no brainer, buy if you can afford them.

A final question
Is there any DAP out there that can justify the VC´s on the move?
Sure it needs to be a day without rain and maybe it is a really bad idea to use them on the move but has anyone tried it?

I’ve used my VC’s with my Fiio m15, but only to sit outside on my deck. The m15 powers them well in over ear mode with low gain, definitely not as well as the pendant but still enjoyable. I’ve also tried the mojo with the VC’s, liked the m15 better with the VC’s, but both powered it. Mojo with the VC seems to get muddy in the bass region for my personal taste.

 

[DAPpower]

DAPs that have good driving power to my knowledge are the Astell&Kern KANN Cube, KANN Alpha, Fiio M15 and the iBasso DX220 MAX.

I personally use the M15 and I use them in Over Ear Mode with high gain and it drives my HD600, 650 and Verite quite nicely, still not as dynamic as a desktop Amp but maybe as well as a mid-level priced desktop dac/amp.

 

[Ciggavelli]

DAPs that have good driving power to my knowledge are the Astell&Kern KANN Cube, KANN Alpha, Fiio M15 and the iBasso DX220 MAX.

I personally use the M15 and I use them in Over Ear Mode with high gain and it drives my HD600, 650 and Verite quite nicely, still not as dynamic as a desktop Amp but maybe as well as a mid-level priced desktop dac/amp.

Strong user name to post correlation

 

[Hamlap]

Guys, I currently use my speaker amp to drive my VC. Would they benefit from a something like a Singxer SA-1 Class A headphone amp? I know my speaker amp, the Van Medevoort MA220, has a pretty nice headphone output. Just not much I can find about them. Drives them to hurting my ears, but that's not the point.

 

[Monsterzero]

Guys, I currently use my speaker amp to drive my VC. Would they benefit from a something like a Singxer SA-1 Class A headphone amp? I know my speaker amp, the Van Medevoort MA220, has a pretty nice headphone output. Just not much I can find about them. Drives them to hurting my ears, but that's not the point.

If I were to upgrade my amp section for the VC I'd grab an OTL amp.

I have used many of my vintage solid state receivers from the 1970s to drive my VC and they all sound wonderful. Great control of the bass, musical, yada yada.
When switching to my Glenn OTL the most obvious differences (to me) is the imaging become more distinct, and staging improves in all directions.

If your amp uses an in-line resistor in the HP out you should be golden. If it uses an op-amp, well then, I'd be looking long and hard for an OTL. You might look for a contact number for the company that made that amp, and if theyre out of business I'd suggest calling a local vintage audio repair shop and see if the know which method your amp uses to drive headphones.

 

[Hamlap]

If I were to upgrade my amp section for the VC I'd grab an OTL amp.

I have used many of my vintage solid state receivers from the 1970s to drive my VC and they all sound wonderful. Great control of the bass, musical, yada yada.
When switching to my Glenn OTL the most obvious differences (to me) is the imaging become more distinct, and staging improves in all directions.

If your amp uses an in-line resistor in the HP out you should be golden. If it uses an op-amp, well then, I'd be looking long and hard for an OTL. You might look for a contact number for the company that made that amp, and if theyre out of business I'd suggest calling a local vintage audio repair shop and see if the know which method your amp uses to drive headphones.

Well, I just did this. The person making these, told me that the headphone output had it's own seperate line. So I think I'm good. I like the sound that comes out of the amp. Only thing: no use for the two balanced cables that came with my VC for now.

As for tubes: I have the Darkvoice on the way from drop. I know it's not the best tube amp there is, but it's my first in the journey

 

[Zekerish]

I’ve used my VC’s with my Fiio m15, but only to sit outside on my deck. The m15 powers them well in over ear mode with low gain, definitely not as well as the pendant but still enjoyable. I’ve also tried the mojo with the VC’s, liked the m15 better with the VC’s, but both powered it. Mojo with the VC seems to get muddy in the bass region for my personal taste.

I have been using them with my HiBy R8 to good use for short outside listenings and have enjoyed it. Mostly use that for my Odins but sometimes you want what you want. The turbo mode helps a lot but it definitely does not reahc to the heights of the VC on my Pendant.

 

[Hamlap]

For owners of verite , with Burson 3XP , silence, no background noise A colleague from the forum, had a problem with his more expensive brother. Headphones and a burson make a nice couple.

Excuse the translator

Do you still like this combination? I am considering getting a Soloist 3XP for the VC.

 

[Àedhàn Cassiel]

Anyone know the cheapest way to get a cable with a boom mic that (unlike the ZMF one) has a 6.35mm plug? Or that connects to the cable I have? There has to be some kind of third party Audeze connector adapter thing somewhere.

 

[jjflemin]

Anyone know the cheapest way to get a cable with a boom mic that (unlike the ZMF one) has a 6.35mm plug? Or that connects to the cable I have? There has to be some kind of third party Audeze connector adapter thing somewhere.

Most 1/4 in connectors aren't able to carry a mic signal. Do you have a plan to get the mic signal to and from your source? Audeze sells a mic cable, but it is very thing and I found it low quality. It also uses the same adaptors and the mini-XLR plugs on Audeze headohones face a different direction so the Audeze mic sticks straight out to the side rather than straight in front of your face.

 

[Àedhàn Cassiel]

Most 1/4 in connectors aren't able to carry a mic signal. Do you have a plan to get the mic signal to and from your source?

To work on desktop do they have to be plugged straight in the right port on the chassis? A 3.5mm plug on an amp connected by USB wouldn't work either?

 

[jjflemin]

To work on desktop do they have to be plugged straight in the right port on the chassis? A 3.5mm plug on an amp connected by USB wouldn't work either?

Most amps aren't designed to send/receive a mic signal in addition to the source audio which is why they all call for a splitter. The most recommended solutions if you don't want to use a dedicated cable would be to get something like a modmic or a desktop mic. I personally use a modmic with my VC, but plan to get a desktop mic at some point so I'm not dealing with an extra cable.

 

[vonBaron]

I listen to VC Leopardwood now, I prefer them more than Camphor Burl so much that I don't feel the need to change the pads from Universe to Be2.

 

[maszynista1987]

Do you still like this combination? I am considering getting a Soloist 3XP for the VC.

I had both the 3xp and then the 3xr and liked them both. Burson 3xr was overall better than the xp version, if you have the opportunity to buy the full version not much more expensive, it is worth the extra money.
The xp version was quiet , unfortunately the 3xr you can hear a slight noise.
I currently have a feliks euforia ... It is good to have for example Burson c3 as a dac and a great transistor and tube to complement it
Sorry for the translator.

 

[Hamlap]

I had both the 3xp and then the 3xr and liked them both. Burson 3xr was overall better than the xp version, if you have the opportunity to buy the full version not much more expensive, it is worth the extra money.
The xp version was quiet , unfortunately the 3xr you can hear a slight noise.
I currently have a feliks euforia ... It is good to have for example Burson c3 as a dac and a great transistor and tube to complement it
Sorry for the translator.

Thanks! I van get the 3XP for €750. So I guess that's a really nice deal