I was fortunate enough to be able to compare Verite of different woods one year. So far I've tried 4 different types: silk, cocobolo, ziricote, and pheasantwood. The latter three I was able to hear back-to-back at canjam. My first encounter with Verite was at Upscale Audio in La Verne, CA. Off of memory and the notes I took, first thing I noticed when I heard Silk was its warmth. It was the warmest sounding, and yet the cleanest sounding of the three other headphones I had for comparison at the time: Aeolus, Auteur, and LCD2C. Next thing I noticed was how it had an ability to project crisp images in a 3D-like manner that I haven't heard from other headphones previously. With a little more clockwise turn on the pot, qualities I enjoyed from Auteur and Aeolus were also present. Verite brought the sparkle from Auteur and the fun from Aeolus. Verite's superior detail retrieval to the other headphones was clearly evident at this point and became more apparent the longer I listened. The word I used to describe Verite in my notes was "addicting".
As an aside for those who are interested, I believe I heard the Verite on a Pathos Inpol amp. Regrettably, I could not recall the DAC or streamer it was connected to.
Fast forward to canjam. I had the opportunity to hear Verite in 3 different types of hardwoods. Now, as a disclaimer, I'm the type of person that will seek out "the last 5%", meaning the tiniest changes to the sound can
potentially impact my overall experience with something. I'm totally "that guy" when it comes to preferences on woods, cables, pads, amps and DACs to achieve the sound I like (unfortunately, I'm limited by my general lack of funds). Please temper your expectations appropriately as I am critiquing with a microscope (if you will).
Just like Silk, the hardwoods retain the crisp 3D-like imaging with the added benefit (imo) of less decay, quicker transient response, and more impact. These differences do not make the hardwood variants wildly different from their stock counterpart as they all share the same overall tonality, but when seeking out the "last percent", the "minor" differences are important enough and weigh heavily on the purchase decision. Ziracote was the first of the three I heard and it touted the aforementioned qualities and served as my baseline for the hardwood variants. Cocobolo was the next one I heard. It was an instant favorite for me. It added a hint of treble sparkle over the comparatively darker Ziracote. Not to mention, the beauty of Cocobolo hath taken for itself another casualty so to speak. Pheasantwood was the most interesting in that it had the widest soundstage of the three. Left to right image distinction was prominent comparatively. However, it was a little too wide for me and thus not have the imaging consistency of the former woods to my ears.
It's been a couple years since I've last heard a VO. I am excited, however, because I pulled the trigger on a Desert Ironwood set. This will be the fifth variant I will have heard and I can't wait to get them on my head.
Here's some pictures I took on my Verite journey.
