Wow that's some view... That last pic is good too
How do your colleagues react to The zmfs?
The reception has been illuminating actually.
Everyone has a comment when they see the pelican case. Once I tell them what’s in it, a few people have said “oh what’s your source, amp, etc.” I’ve met a few audiophiles this way—one guy (a huge vintage vinyl collector) who is mainly into speakers but has the Utopia for when he can’t listen on speakers, and others who used to be bigger into the hobby but have had to pare down their collections. For those who wouldn’t call themselves audiophiles, they are often excited to give them a trial. They are always blown away by the sound. Unfortunately, they are also blown away by the price. I kid you not, the number of people who have upgraded from earbuds to Sony XM4s or one of the over ear Bose models because I inspired them to get something “better” is substantial. The convenience of ANC and the clear step up from earbuds is good enough for most folks, but I never would have thought that letting people demo my ZMFs would steer even more people to Bose, Sony, and Apple. I found that fascinating.
I’ve tried to convince a couple friends to do a simple, relatively inexpensive Schiit stack and the Sennheiser 6XX or something like that. The cost isn’t drastically different from the AirPods Pro Max, and from what I’ve heard (albeit on higher end gear) the sound quality from that set up would be so much better than that of any of the ANC headphones. But I’ve thus far failed as a salesman!
Over the weekend someone asked for an album recommendation to try out his new Bose headphones. I’m not sure which headphones he is upgrading from, but I agreed to play the game. I sent him two album recommendations (one classic (Thriller) and one 2022 release (Caprisongs) and a chart of factors to consider when evaluating the headphones (i.e., “objective” factors like frequency response and subjective factors like soundstage, micro dynamics, etc.). He loved the chart but called it “nutty.” Haha
So, there are also those who are like those headphones are cool; I can certainly hear a difference, though I’m not exactly sure how to describe it; but this hobby is intimidating, etc.