ZMF Verite Closed-New Closed Back ZMF Flagship.
Jul 24, 2021 at 1:19 PM Post #7,037 of 12,391
Saga is just a buffer and doesn't have much tubiness at all. Freya+ adds gain and has a whole lot more tubiness.
I use Freya+ as a pre into tube and solid state amps, works great for both.

Ah ok, I was under the impression that the only difference between the Saga and Freya was that Freya has balanced outputs/inputs while the Saga doesn't.
 
Jul 27, 2021 at 8:35 AM Post #7,040 of 12,391
3 months after my order, I'm finally joining the club of VC owners!
What I wasn't sure about was the actual look of these VC Olive. I was worried about it being too yellow or too glossy. It was very difficult to appreciate the finish with the few pictures available online, hence why I decided to take a photo as close as possible to their real appearance (touched up using a calibrated monitor). In the end, they're more light orange-ish than yellow, and not glossy at all, more like a silky smooth satin-matte finish. Silky smooth is what comes to mind when holding them. Olive wood comes out really "soft" when finely sanded. Add to this their buttery smooth mechanic, and they really do feel like a high end product (reminds me of the Empyrean in that sense)

1627387745462.png


What surprised me a bit was the OFC cable. The heatshrink was loose, enabling me to unscrew the jack and look inside. It's not a 4 wires microphone cable but a shielded 3 wires, where they used the shield as a ground wire. Unusual construction in my book by I'll defer to the experts around here to judge.
ZMF OFC.jpg


Sound wise, it's obviously too early to tell but I like what I'm hearing. Punchy, balanced, with a wider presentation than expected. No wow effect in terms of resolution (not really a surprise coming from a Heddphone...) but interestingly, showing striking differences between recordings. I can't put my finger on it but for some reason, I'm hearing differences I've never heard before, and here I'm not talking about micro details, more like the general tone of a recording, call it the sound of the studio or whatever. Overall I have the feeling it sounds "just right". Maybe that's the magic of ZMF that so many were raving about? Tom McRae's first album for example, masterfully recorded IMO, did sound quite different from all my previous experience. At the same time, I felt the lower register was sounding a bit congested but putting more hours on it should fix that.
 
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Jul 27, 2021 at 9:41 AM Post #7,041 of 12,391
Those look stunning @LeMat . I love the parallel lines. I ordered 2.5 months ago. Hoping for a similar look.
Thanks for the extra effort on the calibrated photo.
 
Jul 27, 2021 at 9:47 AM Post #7,042 of 12,391
3 months after my order, I'm finally joining the club of VC owners!
What I wasn't sure about was the actual look of these VC Olive. I was worried about it being too yellow or too glossy. It was very difficult to appreciate the finish with the few pictures available online, hence why I decided to take a photo as close as possible to their real appearance (touched up using a calibrated monitor). In the end, they're more light orange-ish than yellow, and not glossy at all, more like a silky smooth satin-matte finish. Silky smooth is what comes to mine when holding them. Olive wood comes out really "soft" when finely sanded. Add to this their buttery smooth mechanic, and they really do feel like a high end product (reminds me of the Empyrean in that sense)

1627387745462.png

What surprised me a bit was the OFC cable. The heatshrink was loose, enabling me to unscrew the jack and look inside. It's not a 4 wires microphone cable but a shielded 3 wires, where they used the shield as a ground wire. Unusual construction in my book by I'll defer to the experts around here to judge.
ZMF OFC.jpg

Sound wise, it's obviously too early to tell but I like what I'm hearing. Punchy, balanced, with a wider presentation than expected. No wow effect in terms of resolution (not really a surprise coming from a Heddphone...) but interestingly, showing striking differences between recordings. I can't put my finger on it but for some reason, I'm hearing differences I've never heard before, and here I'm not talking about micro details, more like the general tone of a recording, call it the sound of the studio or whatever. Overall I have the feeling it sounds "just right". Maybe that's the magic of ZMF that so many were raving about? Tom McRae's first album for example, masterfully recorded IMO, did sound quite different from all my previous experience. At the same time, I felt the lower register was sounding a bit congested but putting more hours on it should fix that.

Absolutely gorgeous! I ordered mine ten weeks ago from a local dealer, hopefully I'll receive mine soon too.
 
Jul 27, 2021 at 9:56 AM Post #7,043 of 12,391
Those look stunning @LeMat . I love the parallel lines. I ordered 2.5 months ago. Hoping for a similar look.
Thanks for the extra effort on the calibrated photo.
Thanks. I didn't take a picture of the other cup but FYI it looks different. More like concentric circles. I'm not sure why ZMF does that as it doesn't look symmetrical nor seems to come from the same piece of wood but maybe there is a reason I don't get. From where I stand, it doesn't seem complicated to CNC carve cups, and match them based on their respective patterns.
 
Jul 27, 2021 at 11:27 AM Post #7,044 of 12,391
Thanks. I didn't take a picture of the other cup but FYI it looks different. More like concentric circles. I'm not sure why ZMF does that as it doesn't look symmetrical nor seems to come from the same piece of wood but maybe there is a reason I don't get. From where I stand, it doesn't seem complicated to CNC carve cups, and match them based on their respective patterns.
Some buyers, like you and I, appreciate and desire symmetry, and I get the sense that others don't care as much. The uncertainty of what wood pattern I'd receive caused me to delay my purchase for a while, and instead wait around and take shots at the Stabilized releases, because at least in those instances I'd know what I'd be getting.

In an ideal world, ZMF could photo and post the cup pairs on their site, in a manner similar to the Stabilized releases. That way you could select a cup pair you know you'll be happy with. And ideally, then configure the rods, straps, and other accessories during the checkout process.

I know ZMF's production process isn't currently set up this way, and to do so there would be some cost and risk involved for them. But it could be done this way. Plus, if the cups are done by the time the customer can see and select them, then that implies a chunk of the production time has already been incurred and ultimately the customer should have a shorter wait time once they make their purchase.
 
Jul 27, 2021 at 1:54 PM Post #7,045 of 12,391
It's not a 4 wires microphone cable but a shielded 3 wires, where they used the shield as a ground wire. Unusual construction in my book by I'll defer to the experts around here to judge.
Not unusual at all. Standard for almost all TRS terminated cables.
 
Jul 27, 2021 at 2:47 PM Post #7,046 of 12,391
Some buyers, like you and I, appreciate and desire symmetry, and I get the sense that others don't care as much. The uncertainty of what wood pattern I'd receive caused me to delay my purchase for a while, and instead wait around and take shots at the Stabilized releases, because at least in those instances I'd know what I'd be getting.

In an ideal world, ZMF could photo and post the cup pairs on their site, in a manner similar to the Stabilized releases. That way you could select a cup pair you know you'll be happy with. And ideally, then configure the rods, straps, and other accessories during the checkout process.

I know ZMF's production process isn't currently set up this way, and to do so there would be some cost and risk involved for them. But it could be done this way. Plus, if the cups are done by the time the customer can see and select them, then that implies a chunk of the production time has already been incurred and ultimately the customer should have a shorter wait time once they make their purchase.

I guess it's probably best to think about our releases this way - and I've obviously thought long and hard about this to make it work for the price-point we're trying to sell our headphones at. I think the main thing to understand is that we're not a "custom headphone manufacturer" but a "specialized headphone manufacturer." By that I mean that we aren't making headphones for each unique individual, but that we are making unique headphones for different individual potential owners.

1. Stock models - sold with less customizations, is for the owner that is mostly concerned with the sound but wants all the benefits and aesthetics of a solid wood headphone, utilizing more standard woods that have lesser unique characteristics.

2. LTD Editions - One off models made in QTY in batches of wood we buy in semi-bulk. Maybe slightly more customizations and are built to order, but with the caveat that these are production headphones. Many of these models use exotic or denser wood, that like Olive grows in a unique and twisty fashion which will have more natural wood traits like knots, burls, finish checking and such each of which is innate within the species and may be tougher for us to have exact book-matching because much of this wood is tough or impossible to get in thicknesses thicker and 8/4. When we buy wood of this thickness, the blocks are cut down the boards - and with trees that grow like Olive, what makes the grain so beautiful is also what makes book matched looks very hard to come by.

3. Super LTD/Stabilized/One-Off - These are build to "spec" headphones that are pre built to show the aesthetics and build from more expensive materials like Burl, Stabilized wood, etc etc. You will see more of these in the future with specialized blocks that we procure, and the amount of them will be less than we're able to offer than most. They will be pictured when the different between sets is enough to warrant it, and also to show the unique-ness of the higher priced wood and unit to unit variation.

In a perfect world we will have a custom shop some-day - it's something we'd love to do but also something we don't have the efficiency to tackle right now. Maybe one day!

As a last note - we use premium solid materials - all the wood comes from solid blocks, the metal is the highest grade, and we use all natural vegetarian tan leather. This can create more natural variation than other types of methods, but I find it's what makes our headphones so fun to own and listen to.

Thanks again for the comments I totally agree that in a perfect world we could do more, and I promise you we're doing our very best and our team is working incredibly hard to get headphones of the utmost quality out the door!

I am working on a video that shows the production process, I hope to have that done later this summer.
 
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ZMFheadphones ZMF headphones hand-crafts wood headphones in Chicago, USA with special attention to exceptional sound and craftsmanship. Stay updated on ZMFheadphones at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/ZMFheadphones https://twitter.com/ZMFheadphones https://www.instagram.com/zmfheadphones/?hl=en http://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmf-originals/ contactzmf@gmail.com
Jul 27, 2021 at 5:29 PM Post #7,047 of 12,391
Even more stunning... Just want to say thank you to Bevin and Zach for assisting me throughout my order! You guys went above and beyond. I absolutely love the way this set came out! The headphone connector housing is completely matching, the QC box is checked, and the cosmetic blemish is no where to be seen. Bevin guided me through out the entire process and tirelessly maintained correspondence! ZMF is top notch. The wood is giving me Sistine Chapel vibes and I adore it.



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IMG_2291.jpg


IMG_2278(1).jpg


IMG_2277.jpg



Welcoming the VC's to the family.
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Jul 27, 2021 at 5:43 PM Post #7,048 of 12,391
Even more stunning... Just want to say thank you to Bevin and Zach for assisting me throughout my order! You guys went above and beyond. I absolutely love the way this set came out! The headphone connector housing is completely matching, the QC box is checked, and the cosmetic blemish is no where to be seen. Bevin guided me through out the entire process and tirelessly maintained correspondence! ZMF is top notch. The wood is giving me Sistine Chapel vibes and I adore it.



IMG_2289.jpgIMG_2291.jpgIMG_2277.jpg

Your living space has a very ZMF vibe as well! Really like the "mise-en-scene."

👍👍👍😎😎😎🤗
 
ZMFheadphones ZMF headphones hand-crafts wood headphones in Chicago, USA with special attention to exceptional sound and craftsmanship. Stay updated on ZMFheadphones at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/ZMFheadphones https://twitter.com/ZMFheadphones https://www.instagram.com/zmfheadphones/?hl=en http://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmf-originals/ contactzmf@gmail.com
Jul 27, 2021 at 11:41 PM Post #7,049 of 12,391
Your living space has a very ZMF vibe as well! Really like the "mise-en-scene."

👍👍👍😎😎😎🤗
Thanks Zach, the sound though... it's so good... I've put the Be2 Suede's on there and I'm blown away, even with no burn in... Suede was the way to go, at least for me. Things are not looking too good for my Stellia's :frowning2:.
 
Jul 28, 2021 at 1:52 AM Post #7,050 of 12,391
Thanks Zach, the sound though... it's so good... I've put the Be2 Suede's on there and I'm blown away, even with no burn in... Suede was the way to go, at least for me. Things are not looking too good for my Stellia's :frowning2:.

It’s the sound that makes VC the fine instrument it is. As much as this forum talks about wood and accessories, it might not be obvious that the sound justifies the price and wait more than the wood (IMHO). Not that I don’t appreciate the nice wood. I do, a lot.

I had an opportunity to audition the Stellia a couple years ago. Excellent headphone, but I suspect it will need regular dusting from now on.
 
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