[L0rdGwyn]

I was a little late to the party on the VC, I actually got the Atrium around the same time. I love the Atrium so much, my VC has admittedly been very neglected. BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! I have been listening to it pretty much nonstop for the past week with the big OTL. Listening to some Autechre, man this is a great headphone, why didn't anyone tell me??

 

[heliosphann]

I was a little late to the party on the VC, I actually got the Atrium around the same time. I love the Atrium so much, my VC has admittedly been very neglected. BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! I have been listening to it pretty much nonstop for the past week with the big OTL. Listening to some Autechre, man this is a great headphone, why didn't anyone tell me??

What period of Autechre? I'm big on their mid 90's to mid 2000's output.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

What period of Autechre? I'm big on their mid 90's to mid 2000's output.

That's basically what I'm listening to! Tri Repetae, LP5, Amber, Confield...

 

[heliosphann]

That's basically what I'm listening to! Tri Repetae, LP5, Amber, Confield...

NICE! IMO that's their magic run. Also the EP's are great from around then.

 

[mikem1062]

I might be cranking the volume up more than I usually would due to the more relaxed aspects of the sound signature (noting the VC is also pretty punchy/dynamic at times!).

I find I punch up the volume on my Mojo (v1) to try to help the VCs "sound better" - to get more bass, to try to bring some clarity to confusion in the mids, etc. - but likely all due to the Mojo's amp/output just not really matching up with the VCs well. On the other amps (with a lot more capability/power for 300ohm headphones) I don't find myself feeling the need to do that. That's not to say I don't turn up the volume on the other amps - I do - but it's more of the "Damn, these sound glorious! Let's take them to 11!" type of thing.

Just pointing out that you might find it easier, or more pleasant, listening at a lower volume when the VCs are driven by something a bit more powerful, something that gets a better handle on the VC's drivers. If the lower volume might help hold off the fatigue/tinnitus.

 

[whirlwind]

I was a little late to the party on the VC, I actually got the Atrium around the same time. I love the Atrium so much, my VC has admittedly been very neglected. BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! I have been listening to it pretty much nonstop for the past week with the big OTL. Listening to some Autechre, man this is a great headphone, why didn't anyone tell me??

Great pic!

The VC is my favorite ZMF that I have had the pleasure of listening to.

 

[gonintendo]

I was a little late to the party on the VC, I actually got the Atrium around the same time. I love the Atrium so much, my VC has admittedly been very neglected. BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! I have been listening to it pretty much nonstop for the past week with the big OTL. Listening to some Autechre, man this is a great headphone, why didn't anyone tell me??

I hadn’t listened to my VC in a while since getting the atrium as well, and now that I’m between atrium sets (sold my stock set for some cocobolo), I’ve been listening to the VCs a lot more. I’ve made a few big changes to my system since the last time I listened to them (better power conditioning, new nos dac, tube rolling) and have been absolutely delighted by the synergy. They’ve gone from “a great closed back that’s better than lots of open backs” to easily one of the best (non-live) music experiences I’ve had. They’re a can that will truly reward you for providing them a good signal chain (more so than the atrium in my opinion, but that’s just because those sound great on damn near everything)

 

[AcousticMatt]

I hadn’t listened to my VC in a while since getting the atrium as well, and now that I’m between atrium sets (sold my stock set for some cocobolo), I’ve been listening to the VCs a lot more. I’ve made a few big changes to my system since the last time I listened to them (better power conditioning, new nos dac, tube rolling) and have been absolutely delighted by the synergy. They’ve gone from “a great closed back that’s better than lots of open backs” to easily one of the best (non-live) music experiences I’ve had. They’re a can that will truly reward you for providing them a good signal chain (more so than the atrium in my opinion, but that’s just because those sound great on damn near everything)

This was nice to read. I ended up getting a Woo WA23 this past weekend at CanJam (did not expect to use my entire budget for an amp, but alas, it was the golden one!) and have been listening on Atriums as well as some other non ZMF headphones and am real excited to hear it on my VCs once they're in. The Atriums keeps sounding like they're burning in by the hour to me, which is interesting... I've never had a headphone do that.

 

[Zachik]

The VC is my favorite ZMF that I have had the pleasure of listening to.

Your opinion might change, once you audition Caldera on your EL3N amp!
Just saying...

 

[whirlwind]

Your opinion might change, once you audition Caldera on your EL3N amp!
Just saying...

Yes it may, I am hoping the Caldera can surpass the LCD-4

 

[Altes]

the VC became an entirely new animal when I went wywires Platinum. Really can't listen to them on anything else

what other cables have you tried with the VC that the wywires platinum clearly beats?

 

[curvz]

Sad to say, I have plenty of experience not just with tinnitus (that really messes with this hobby), but also migraine. I had the VC on loan for a couple weeks w/the VO, when it first launched. I've come to a few conclusions about my situation. Some of them may pertain to you:

1. Some of the fatigue/tinnitus issue you speak of could be due to bright/edgy tonality of audio gear. At least for me, it comes on more quickly if I listen to relatively bright things, whether headphones or electronics
2. Obviously some headphones are brighter than others. The VC is not an especially bright headphone, but it is very incisive and dynamic, which sometimes lead to the same discomfort, at least for me
   • For me an electronic culprit is delta-sigma DACs. These tend to give me low-level sonic annoyance and aggravation. When I switched over the R2R and NOS DACs, that issue went away
3. Excessive volume is also an obvious culprit. Some of us listen to music at rather high volumes. It sounds great & feels good, at least for awhile. With tinnitus, simply moderating the volume somewhat can get you more listening time
4. I found I can listen longer & w/less discomfort to open-back headphones than closed-backs. The former generally have a more relazed, open vibe than closed backs (I know this doesn't help you with the VC)
5. I also found I can listen longer & with less discomfort to planar headphones vs dynamics. I suspect that has to do the low distortion and rather different note propagation mechanism of planars.

Beyond those details, the #1 piece of advice I can give is to pay attention to your subtle feelings of discomfort. Once that starts, take off the headphones and do it again another. I've never managed to "listen through" my discomfort to the point where it vanishes and everything is OK.

Thanks very much for sharing your experiences, they are very similar to mine.

I've also been thinking planar headphones simply work better with my tinnitus than dynamic drivers do. I had many issues with the Utopia and have actually been very happy I traded those in for a pair of LCD-5, even though those themselves aren't particularly warm headphones they have been fine for me. This also reminded me I should probably stop ogling the new Utopia.

Unfortunately the pickings are slim when it comes to high-end planar closed-backs. The Stealth and HifiMan HE-R10 aren't for me I think, so that made the VC the obvious choice. While it hasn't been bad, I prefer wearing my planar open-backs as the VC do cause some fatigue (even right now and with warmer pads). If Zach comes with a closed back version of his new Caldera though, I really don't see any way in which I could not buy that.

One thing that I do that does ease my mind a lot (though doesn't help with fatigue), is measure my listening volume from time to time to make sure I'm still safe. It's a peace of mind thing. GoldenSound has short video on his YouTube channel here that shows you how to do that properly and easily.

 

[gonintendo]

Thanks very much for sharing your experiences, they are very similar to mine.

I've also been thinking planar headphones simply work better with my tinnitus than dynamic drivers do. I had many issues with the Utopia and have actually been very happy I traded those in for a pair of LCD-5, even though those themselves aren't particularly warm headphones they have been fine for me. This also reminded me I should probably stop ogling the new Utopia.

Unfortunately the pickings are slim when it comes to high-end planar closed-backs. The Stealth and HifiMan HE-R10 aren't for me I think, so that made the VC the obvious choice. While it hasn't been bad, I prefer wearing my planar open-backs as the VC do cause some fatigue (even right now and with warmer pads). If Zach comes with a closed back version of his new Caldera though, I really don't see any way in which I could not buy that.

One thing that I do that does ease my mind a lot (though doesn't help with fatigue), is measure my listening volume from time to time to make sure I'm still safe. It's a peace of mind thing. GoldenSound has short video on his YouTube channel here that shows you how to do that properly and easily.

I’ve had my fair share of planars that trigger my tinnitus (HE6SE, Aeon 2/noire) though some of the least fatiguing headphones I’ve used are also planars (LCD-2, which I’d say are fairly “dynamic” even!) so I wonder if a lot of it still has to do with tuning. Atrium also is quite “dynamic” and is a very easy listen for me. The VC is a bit more fatiguing but still listenable for me, especially on a tube amp. Agree about the listening volume thing, especially with closed backs.

 

[qua2k]

If Zach comes with a closed back version of his new Caldera though, I really don't see any way in which I could not buy that.

He says Caldera closed back will be next year a long with a closed back Atrium. I am right there with you re the closed back Caldera though.

 

[llamaluv]

I wrote up a summary of my ~two-week impressions of my Verite Open to some pals over PM, which I'm just going to go ahead and copy-paste here, why not:

The Verite Closed is naturally what I've been listening to lately, and have listening to it continuously since I got it. It took a long time to burn in (currently at 200+ hours).​

​

The main thing is that it has tons of personality, and so I get why it would have such a strong following. It's BIG-sounding, and with a large soundstage. Sounds more dynamic than any planar to me, so that's a huge plus. Bass is wet and reverbey and the sub-bass is very quick to make its presence known. It's also a little muddy like with some stand-up bass, but I feel like that can't be helped, all things considered. Treble is somewhat raised, which gives it a subjective "V-shaped" character somewhat.​

​

Upper-mids are not offensive to me this time around (unlike with the Verite Open earlier), so that's good, since for me that ends up being the biggest deal-breaker.​

​

Also sounds surprisingly good/un-boring on solid state due the enveloping character of the bass, and quickness of the drivers (unlike my experience with the Atrium).​

​

Imaging is not the greatest, but it's fun in so many other ways that I don't feel like that gets in the way all that much. Resolution is hard for me to generalize but it's easily the best dynamic ZMF I've heard in terms of resolution, though I think the Atrium is a better balanced headphone, less polarizing, and more 'reference'-sounding.​

What else do I want to add... I've been doing most of my listening with the Bartok into the Cayin HA-300, and very much like what the Cayin is doing for it. The "tube bloom" in the midrange on the medium or high output impedance setting is very nice, and not overdone. I'm also pleasantly surprised by its synergy with the Bricasti M3h out of its headphone-out, which makes it sound no less spacious, but with more bite.

In terms of genres of music, I'm almost always enjoying the VC with acoustic jazz, which is most of what I listen to. I like the way lower registers of the piano are conveyed with the weight and impact that it's actually supposed to have, for instance.

Also almost always enjoying it with any modern or electronic stuff with lots of filled-in bass and reverb and everything. But am somewhat mixed on some metal and electric guitar-based material, where the extra energy in the upper-mids sounds too much to me too much of the time (I'm on the stock Auteur solid lambskin pads, with Universe solid lambskin incoming).

And on cables, I was initially using a Superconductor cable (with an AffinityAdapters adapter), which had done great with the Atrium by expanding its soundstage, adding an extra level of resolution and refinement, and also making it sound more neutral. But it turns out I like the more "conventional" copper Norne Drausk on the VC for sounding more immediate, intimate, and also warmer.