[Slim1970]

All EQed

If I would write a complete and comprehensive comparative review between the HE1000SE and the Verite and I just wrote:

"The HE1000SE impress me more but the Verite make me weep more" I think it will be enough written!.

It's without hesitation the best purchase I've made in the last decade. And NO it's not a honeymoon effect, it's been +3 months already.
I am seriously thinking of selling everything else and buy a BIG ASS front end for them.

Yes, one thing Zach’s headphones have is soul. They are the most musically engaging headphones I’ve encountered. Yes, there are other headphones out there that may beat them technically. But Zach’s creations doesn’t lack detail or clarity and they really draw you into the heart of music. This is what makes them so special to my ears. If you really love music, you should have a set or two of ZMF headphones in your collection.

 

[nishan99]

Yes, one thing Zach’s headphones have is soul. They are the most musically engaging headphones I’ve encountered. Yes, there are other headphones out there that may beat them technically. But Zach’s creations doesn’t lack detail or clarity and they really draw you into the heart of music. This is what makes them so special to my ears. If you really love music, you should have a set or two of ZMF headphones in your collection.

Yeah I think every audiophile needs to own a ZMF at some point of his/her journey.

I don't think auditioning them will give them justice, they need some time to be really appreciated.

 

[TonyNewman]

Yeah think every audiophile needs to own a ZMF at some point of his/her journey.

I don't think auditioning them will give them justice, they need some time to be really appreciated.

+1. Yep. Love mine. They do so much right - technical excellence combined with musicality. That's a tough combination to get right.

 

[Marutks]

I have got a new cable with furutech mini xlr connectors. It requires substantial force to unplug them ( more than stock cable ).
I wonder if it is safe to use this cable. Are those mini xlr sockets firmly attached to earcups? I would not want to accidentally pull one out of earcup.

 

[jgwtriode]

Never had any problem with furutech mini xlrs doing that. They are my favorite connector of that type. They are what I use with my Blackwood Auteurs on my Mad Scientest
headphone cables! Love em! Love how solid the connection is!

Merry Listening and some happy new gear,


jgwtriode

 

[Rowethren]

I have got a new cable with furutech mini xlr connectors. It requires substantial force to unplug them ( more than stock cable ).
I wonder if it is safe to use this cable. Are those mini xlr sockets firmly attached to earcups? I would not want to accidentally pull one out of earcup.

I have Furutech mini XLR connectors for both my Verite and Empyrean custom cables and they are definitely a tighter fit than their respective stock cables. I can't say that I feel concerned about it though as they still come in and out relatively smoothly.

 

[mixman]

Has anyone heard the Hybrid pads on the VO yet?

 

[nishan99]

Lovely, very lovely.

 

[bryceu]

In regards to connectors: I’ve found Amphenol mini-xlr connectors on my custom cables to be tighter fitting into ZMF headphones than stock ZMF cables so I think the female connectors Zach uses are on the narrower side. With that said there’s never been an issue with the Amphenols, they fit fine, just snug.

in regards to musicality of the Verite:
The Verite continues to impress me, like others are saying, with its technical ability while remaining soulful and musical. It ended my search for other headphones and has me completely satisfied with where I’m at in this hobby.

 

[Super Angulon]

Anybody has ZMF Verite with Norne Draug3 or Silvergarde S3? How do you prefer this combination?

 

[heliosphann]

ZMF VÉRITÉ CLOSED vs. ZMF VÉRITÉ OPEN​

This is for anyone out there who is having a hard time deciding which ZMF Vérité model to go with, Open or Closed. You’ve already made a good decision by just reading this, as both Vérité models are world class headphones. Still, it’s a difficult choice to decide which one to go with, much like vanilla or chocolate, red pill or blue pill, or Ginger or Mary Ann. Let me make it ridiculously simple for you. Get both! Okay, that’s probably not a reasonable option for a lot of people, but I wouldn’t dismiss it outright if it’s within your means and desires. More on that later…

I’ve had my personal Vérité Open (Zircote) for about seven months and I’ve spent the last three months with a loaner Vérité Closed (Manchurian Ash) provided by @zach915m. My listening setup that I primarily used is as follows:

FLAC & TIDAL>Singxer SU-1>Yggdrasil A1>Cavalli Liquid Gold, GOTL and DNA Stratus

Also of note is with the Vérité Open I primarily used the ZMF Vérité Silver cable along with perforated Universe pads and the BE2 (in between) pads. For the Verite Closed, I used a ZMF 2K Copper cable and mainly the Hybrid pads with the Universe pads as a change of pace. I also consider both units to be fully broken in with several hundred hours on both. Of course there are a lot of different factors at play that will influence the end result, including your upstream gear and individual listening preferences. That’s why I always urge a potential buyer to personally demo headphones if at all possible.

“TO C, OR NOT TO C? THAT IS THE QUESTION”​

I’m going to mainly focus on the Vérité Closed in this write up. After all, it’s the new kid on the block, and also the headphone I’ve spent the majority of my listening time with over the last 3 months. The VC is a fully closed headphone that utilizes the exact same beryllium coated PEN driver that the VO uses. You also get the same lightweight magnesium chassis the VO has with your choice of several different hardware options. Monkeypod is the standard wood option for the VC (as of writing this), but Zach periodically does LTD runs of different woods. Take note that the type of wood on the VC will affect the attack/transients according to Zach. I haven't personally heard two different VC’s side by side, but this is consistent with experiences I’ve had with some other closed back wood cup headphones. Plus Zach just might know what he's talking about…

While the VC mostly retains the classic ZMF “house tuning”, it might be Zach’s overall best effort to date. There’s an effortless delivery that I think most people will really enjoy. I’m not personally big on measurements, but I would imagine it’s one of the top measuring closed backs out right now. Bass is robust and slightly elevated, but thanks to the BE coated driver it’s speedy and well controlled. The VC’s closed back design does help boost sub bass over the VO, which certainly makes some genres more appealing with the VC (electronic, hip hop, etc…). Mids like in pretty much every ZMF headphone, are outstanding. I do think the VO gets a slight nod in this area, but not by a large margin. Which pads you decide to go with can slightly alter the placement of the mids (more on that later). Surprisingly despite having a little more top end extension compared to the VO, the VC’s treble seems a tad smoother than it’s open backed counterpart. Personally, I quite enjoy the extra sparkle the VC provides over the VO. However, there is no need to worry if you’d prefer a darker signature on the VC. Pad swapping is an easy way to tweak the signature to your liking, and one of the VC’s biggest advantages. You can certainly pad swap with the VO, but the VC has a few more viable pad choices and I believe the sonic changes are more prevalent. Last year I did a comparison of the VC pads options that you can find here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf...ck-zmf-flagship.911505/page-100#post-15296496

One question many people will no doubt have is, how does the Verite Closed’s soundstage compare to the Verite Open’s? Quite well to say the least. You don’t end up losing much sense of space, which is an impressive achievement. You of course won’t get the opened back airness that the VO provides, but that’s to be expected. I will say that the VO and VC do provide a somewhat different sounding experience. Despite the VC’s soundstage being exceptionally large for a closed back, it’s presentation is much more traditional sounding. Whereas the VO has an almost 3D sounding, holographic delivery. Both still provide exceptional imaging, and I find myself switching between them depending on mood or specific music I want to listen to. For example, I prefer to use the VO when I’m listening to acoustic and vocal heavy music. This is another viable reason why you could justify owning both a VC and VO. Also earpad selection will play a role in soundstage on both Vérité models.

The most obvious choice to select the Vérité Closed over the Vérité Open is the isolation it provides. Some of you might have this as a requirement, and VC does provide quite excellent isolation. This is especially so when using solid pads, as suede and hybrid varieties will leak slightly. The other benefit of the VC being an almost completely closed design (it does have one vent), is the breathtaking wood cups! As fantastic as the VO looks with it’s wood cup/grill combination, it’s hard to compete with that huge chunk of glorious wood treated by Zach and Co. Alas, this feature does come with a price as it will generally add extra weight to the headphone. The weight difference will vary depending on the hardware and wood you chose for both the VC and VO. I weighed my test units and the VO came in at 545 grams, while the VC was 569 grams. What surprised me was how small that disparity was. When I swap out the VC for my VO, I can immediately tell the weight difference. Most likely this is because the majority of the weight of the VC is contributed to the solid wood cups. Where my VO has heavier stainless steel hardware (as opposed to the aluminum rods on the VC) and denser wood in it’s smaller cups. That being said, the 100+ hours I wore the Ash VC I never once felt fatigued by it.

BOSOM BUDDIES OR PERFECT STRANGERS?
​

This beautiful Manchurian Ash Vérité Closed will head back to Zach, but I plan on replacing it ASAP with my own unit. And yes, that will leave me with a pair of VC’s AND VO’s. I’ve touched briefly on whether or not it’s worth owning both Verite models, and I believe it is under the right circumstances. With the multitude of pad options, both headphones can be altered enough sonically to provide a different enough listening experience. Even more so when you factor in their open/closed attributes. And as you probably already know with ZMF headphones, you are getting a handcrafted heirloom quality piece as opposed to a mass produced product.

On the other hand, there is the issue of cost. Both models are rather on the expensive side, and just one headphone might be a stretch for some people. This brings up what that extra money could be used for, in particular a better chain if needed. While both Verite’s perform well on a wide range of amps/dacs, I’ve found they do scale well with higher end gear. Most notably both the VC and VO LOVE tubes. Both SET and OTL amps seem to further bring these already great headphones to life. I’ve also found that the speedy BE driver in the Verite’s pairs well with a powerful SS amp. I would also consider getting a good quality DAC to maximise the capabilities of a flagship caliber headphone.

“THIS IS THE END, BEAUTIFUL FRIEND”
​

I hope that I’ve helped answer some of your questions regarding the Vérité Open vs Vérité Closed. You really can’t go wrong with either of these amazing offerings from ZMF. Hopefully you can (or already have) add a Vérité Open or Vérité Closed to your listening setup. If you have any additional questions feel free to reply to this post or PM me directly. Cheers!

 

[nwavesailor]

Anybody has ZMF Verite with Norne Draug3 or Silvergarde S3? How do you prefer this combination?

I just received the VO (I'm at about 8-10 hours) and I do have the Silvergarde S3. I don't know that I can comment on this combo, vs. the stock cables, with so little time on the VO.
I do like what I am hearing however!

 

[pippen99]

I have both the Silver Verite and Silvergarde S3. The Silver Verite is a fine cable, well constructed and clearly much better sounding than stock. The Silvergarde S3 is simply a better sounding cable. Trevor makes the perhaps the best cables around and the Silvergarde is his top of the line. I believe the Silvergarde will make any headphone better. That being said I have a DHC Prion4 that lives on my LCD-4 that is stupid crazy good and it should be at 4 times the price of the Silvergarde. Someone should give me a good shaking but then we all probably would not be in this hobby if that would do any good.

 

[meomap]

@zach915m,

Hi, do you swap to a different connector for any customer's request?
Perhaps, a female LEMO connector inside the VO or VC.
I have DHC Comp4 silver for my Utopia.

 

[Super Angulon]

I have both the Silver Verite and Silvergarde S3. The Silver Verite is a fine cable, well constructed and clearly much better sounding than stock. The Silvergarde S3 is simply a better sounding cable. Trevor makes the perhaps the best cables around and the Silvergarde is his top of the line. I believe the Silvergarde will make any headphone better. That being said I have a DHC Prion4 that lives on my LCD-4 that is stupid crazy good and it should be at 4 times the price of the Silvergarde. Someone should give me a good shaking but then we all probably would not be in this hobby if that would do any good.

What is the different sound-wise between verite and s3 cable in you opinion?