[bryceu]

Is ZMF Verite as comfy as Focal Stellia headphones? Can you wear them for long time with no issues?
Do you know if Verite cans had discounted price at CanJam London?

I bought my Stellia cans at CanJam London. They are super comfy. So much better than audeze!

I've never owned Stellia, but I have owned Elear, Elex, and Clear. I found all these to be comfortable and reasonable weight. Not quite "plush" level due to the pads not being "pillow thick" (think Audeze). Also the clamp force is a bit noticeable since the ear cup openings aren't huge, when wearing glasses and listening for extended periods I would get a bit of discomfort eventually due to the pressure onto my glasses' frame. But all around very wearable headphones.

The Verite is very comfortable, the clamp force can be adjusted to be mild enough not to bother me much even while wearing glasses, and the headband can be adjusted to a point where I have no hot spots on my head.
While my pair (Cocobolo, 553g) is a bit heavier than the Focal Stellia (435g), the silk Verite is only 420g.
The Cocobolo is already comfortable and I think if I shaved ~130g off the weight moving to the silk wood, I would barely notice they are on my head.

*edit: The Stellia has leather pads and they do appear thicker/plusher than the Elear/Elex/Clear pads that I was comparing to.

 

[zach915m]

If weight is a concern - getting black aluminum parts VS any of the other (steel, brass, copper) grille and rod metals will take off a significant amount of weight.

 

[nishan99]

Is ZMF Verite as comfy as Focal Stellia headphones? Can you wear them for long time with no issues?
Do you know if Verite cans had discounted price at CanJam London?

I bought my Stellia cans at CanJam London. They are super comfy. So much better than audeze!

It's more comfortable than the focal elex to me, less clamp force and wider pads.

Focal pads are not for me, they are too narrow so they create more pressure even if the clamp is the same as other pads. Also the head band suspension is a lot better and the clamp force is adjustable. They also swivel more than any focals.

 

[jinxy245]

I've only had the Elear in the past to compare with, but the Verite seems much more comfortable to me. Elear just never felt right on my head...hotspots were a problem as well. Verite doesn't quite pull off the "disappear on my head" trick for me,but there are no comfort issues at all. I'm using the perforated suede pads right now, which increases the comfort even more for me.

 

[mixman]

Other than my HEK’s, my old pair of Silkwood Verite were the most light and comfortable headphones that I have owned, even more comfortable than the Empyrean, which are known for their comfort. My Zircote are a little less light and comfortable, but still more so than most TOTL headphones out there.

 

[tommytakis]

Is ZMF Verite as comfy as Focal Stellia headphones? Can you wear them for long time with no issues?
Do you know if Verite cans had discounted price at CanJam London?

I bought my Stellia cans at CanJam London. They are super comfy. So much better than audeze!

Audezes are on the lower end of the spectrum for comfort, so it doesn't say much if it's more comfortable than Audeze. I find ZMFs more comfortable after adjusting than the Focals due to even weight distribution across the head. Focals have a little hot spot after wearing for couple hours.

 

[Torq]

Is ZMF Verite as comfy as Focal Stellia headphones? Can you wear them for long time with no issues?

While I find Focal's headphones, especially those with leather/lambskin pads, to be extremely comfortable, I find the Vérité even more so.

The Vérité have lower clamping pressure, slightly broader head-band/strap contact area (on a more flexible surface) and larger pad-contact areas. So while they might weigh more than my Stellia or Utopia, depending on wood, they're actually as/more, comfortable for long sessions.

 

[Roasty]

I took delivery of my Verite Ltd cocobolo today. Beautiful headphones, which sound great on first try. I had the pleasure of comparing them with the closed verite..

The closed version are pretty amazing! Smooth crystal clear highs without harshness, and extremely impactful and textured bass. Very nice and well rounded sound. In fact, they sounded more "open" than the open verite.. And soundstage seemed slightly larger too. Not sure if this is because my verite open are not broken in yet. But if that's the sound from the closed, those people with the closed version are really not losing out on anything at all!

So onto my verite open..

They came in a beautiful wooden box. Unfortunately, I actually asked for the Seahorse case.. Not sure why I got the wooden box..

The closed version are heavier, but no less comfy. The closed are truly one of the best closed headphones (if not the best) that I've heard so far.

I love the woodgrain of the cocobolo. I know these are hand-built by Zach and team and I'm sure a lot of love has gone into each of his products. I do wish that the finish would have been spot on perfect; I'm nitpicking, and worst still an OCD guy, so the swirl marks on the varnish, tiny dents and some bumps on the wood are just something I guess I will have to live with. Also, minor blemishes on the metal pieces, but take into account that I am comparing these with the Meze Empyrean which are finished to perfection, Abyss 1266 which are also built immaculately, and the Focal Utopia which just look great all round.

Several small bumps like these.. Probably from the clearcoat/varnish? You can also see the faint blemishes on the metal in this pic.

From slightly further, they do look great.

Am going to listen to these with stock cable for a while, and then swap to a Lavricable Grand Line, then Norne Audio Silvergarde S3, and finally the Danacable Lazuli Reference.

Anyways, I know I'm probably going to get some flak for this post. But I think it's good to share these things. So bombs away!

 

[walakalulu]

I’m sure many members are slightly ocd. Who cares....

 

[LoryWiv]

I took delivery of my Verite Ltd cocobolo today. Beautiful headphones, which sound great on first try. I had the pleasure of comparing them with the closed verite..

The closed version are pretty amazing! Smooth crystal clear highs without harshness, and extremely impactful and textured bass. Very nice and well rounded sound. In fact, they sounded more "open" than the open verite.. And soundstage seemed slightly larger too. Not sure if this is because my verite open are not broken in yet. But if that's the sound from the closed, those people with the closed version are really not losing out on anything at all!

So onto my verite open..

They came in a beautiful wooden box. Unfortunately, I actually asked for the Seahorse case.. Not sure why I got the wooden box..





The closed version are heavier, but no less comfy. The closed are truly one of the best closed headphones (if not the best) that I've heard so far.



I love the woodgrain of the cocobolo. I know these are hand-built by Zach and team and I'm sure a lot of love has gone into each of his products. I do wish that the finish would have been spot on perfect; I'm nitpicking, and worst still an OCD guy, so the swirl marks on the varnish, tiny dents and some bumps on the wood are just something I guess I will have to live with. Also, minor blemishes on the metal pieces, but take into account that I am comparing these with the Meze Empyrean which are finished to perfection, Abyss 1266 which are also built immaculately, and the Focal Utopia which just look great all round.



Several small bumps like these.. Probably from the clearcoat/varnish? You can also see the faint blemishes on the metal in this pic.





From slightly further, they do look great.

Am going to listen to these with stock cable for a while, and then swap to a Lavricable Grand Line, then Norne Audio Silvergarde S3, and finally the Danacable Lazuli Reference.

Anyways, I know I'm probably going to get some flak for this post. But I think it's good to share these things. So bombs away!

We need honest and diverse opinions. ZMF Auteur is my current HF of choice, and I love it. It's hard to tell from the many great reviews of the Verité open and Verité closed thus far if an upgrade or addition is compelling. I myself am often guilty of group-think / momentum bias when assessing gear, and many Verité impressions posted to date seem to echo one another rather than offering something novel. In general, I prefer open cans but of course it may make more sense to complement my Auteurs with a closed back. So your initial impression that stage on VC may be larger than on VO piques my interest, and I look forward to your further impressions with additional burn-in and listening time. Thanks, @Roasty!

 

[nwavesailor]

[QUOTE="Roasty, post: 15277070, member: 23593"]I took delivery of my Verite Ltd cocobolo today. Beautiful headphones, which sound great on first try. I had the pleasure of comparing them with the closed verite..

I love the woodgrain of the cocobolo. I know these are hand-built by Zach and team and I'm sure a lot of love has gone into each of his products. I do wish that the finish would have been spot on perfect; I'm nitpicking, and worst still an OCD guy, so the swirl marks on the varnish, tiny dents and some bumps on the wood are just something I guess I will have to live with. Also, minor blemishes on the metal pieces, but take into account that I am comparing these with the Meze Empyrean which are finished to perfection, Abyss 1266 which are also built immaculately, and the Focal Utopia which just look great all round.

"I am seriously considering the open Verite to (hopefully) compliment the Empy's I already own and really enjoy.
I understand handmade and perfection in any wood product is very difficult. I am, however, a bit surprised to see the these imperfections in the wood cups and grill.
Sure, what they sound like is most important, but if I am considering spending $2500+ I would like a nicer finish. I don't know if Roasty's hp finish is typical or outside of normal ZMF quality, but I'm sure folks here who have Verite hp can chime in.
I'm just another OCD hp owner I suppose!"[/QUOTE]

 

[nishan99]

We need honest and diverse opinions. ZMF Auteur is my current HF of choice, and I love it. It's hard to tell from the many great reviews of the Verité open and Verité closed thus far if an upgrade or addition is compelling. I myself am often guilty of group-think / momentum bias when assessing gear, and many Verité impressions posted to date seem to echo one another rather than offering something novel. In general, I prefer open cans but of course it may make more sense to complement my Auteurs with a closed back. So your initial impression that stage on VC may be larger than on VO piques my interest, and I look forward to your further impressions with additional burn-in and listening time. Thanks, @Roasty!

Great points and this is a general problem of Head-fi "my new toy is awsome!" thing but I do actually believe it's genuine.

I will do a review of the Verite but I need another TOTL to give the review a reference and comparison to other similarly priced headphones. My HE1000se is coming next week so after spending at least a month with them I will do the verite review addressing all the positives and negatives. This thread is just for impressions and talking about the headphones.


But since you asked, here are some negatives for you :
(1) they change SIGNIFICANTLY with burn-in, you need to give them at least +95 hours and the changes includes lesser but tighter bass, bigger stage and better resolution.
(2) The default pads are the universe pads. these pads will give bad impressions to a lot of people. And it's not just because I don't like how they sound, it's because the verite pads is superior in technicalities (resolution and dynamics) so they should be the default ones and if people want another flavor they can try and use the universe pads, so it does not make any sense to me to make the flavor pads the default ones.
(3) Some very small paint chipped at the very end of the yokes. I baby sit them and I don't know how it happened to the 3 out of 4 end of the yokes. Thankfully I do have a matt black paint to deal with this kind of stuff.
(4) It's bothersome to lean back and forward with them because of the weight (ziricote+brass<heaviest combo after coco+brass) but no comfort issues at all.
(5) The wait time for their delivery + burn-in time (totally worth it ❤).
(6) They need some EQ as all my other headphones.

And lastly they are not as open as other open backs but this is not a negative for me, that's why they have their unique and lovely sound (you have the auteur so you can understand that wood sound).

In conclusion I love these headphones a LOT!. All those negatives are just me nitpicking and OCD'ing and my other headphones have as much if not even more and bigger negatives.
Nothing is perfect it's just a matter of which negatives are you okay living with .

As for the positives I can't say anything now because I will sound like a kid with his favorite toy. When the HE1000se comes then I can write a review, I am not qualified now.

 

[jinxy245]

We need honest and diverse opinions. ZMF Auteur is my current HF of choice, and I love it. It's hard to tell from the many great reviews of the Verité open and Verité closed thus far if an upgrade or addition is compelling. I myself am often guilty of group-think / momentum bias when assessing gear, and many Verité impressions posted to date seem to echo one another rather than offering something novel. In general, I prefer open cans but of course it may make more sense to complement my Auteurs with a closed back. So your initial impression that stage on VC may be larger than on VO piques my interest, and I look forward to your further impressions with additional burn-in and listening time. Thanks, @Roasty!

What I'm hearing is a very similar stage for the VO & VC. The VO may even have a slightly wider stage to my ear, but the VC seems to be in a larger venue if that makes sense. VC is definitely the most "open" sounding closed back I've heard to date. The Hype train is hard to avoid these days, I agree. The VO is the closest to my personal preference that I've found though, but of course all these things are subjective. I could easily see myself staying with my Aeolus & being quite happy. The Aeolus isn't inferior for my tastes, but the Verite just ticks a few more boxes for me I think. You may just like the Auteur better overall to...different for sure.

 

[Roasty]

The VO may even have a slightly wider stage to my ear, but the VC seems to be in a larger venue if that makes sense.

This! Exactly what I felt too. The VC feels like it has this reverb and subtle echo which makes it seem like it's playing in a large hall. Whereas with the VO, the walls of the hall have been taken away, but music extends outwards a similar distance.

VC is mighty impressive. It hits the right spots for me. If i had the chance to have listened to both before putting down money, very likely I would have ordered the VC instead.

 

[nwavesailor]

I see that @Roasty has Empy's as well as several (?) ZMF hp's.

I have Ether 2 hp that I never quite warmed up to, will likely sell them and looking for a hp that would compliment my Empy's. I have NOT heard any ZMF hp, but am leaning towards the Verite open version.