The question really is "Better for what?" There are definitely some that prefer the tonality or the frequency response of the Auteur, but each has their own strengths and "personalities" if you will. Then there's the matter of the chain you'll be playing music on, not to mention the type of music you'll be playing. Different synergies, probably different preferences play a huge part here as well. It all depends upon what you're after.
Tough question to answer and most guys have way more experience than I do. However, I own both the VO and Auteur and I think the staging, detail, and bass extension is greater/more on the Verite Open, but the natural EQ of the Auteur is more to my liking (my opinion, mind you). I think the VO so far, for me, has scooped mids, and a bit too much low end and not quite enough high end without EQ. Could be the pads or it could be that I'm an outlier. Get yourself to a meet up and see if you can hear with your own ears. YMMV.
is it a mindblowing difference, like will i be floored by the verite open since i love the auteur already? or will it be a small noticeable difference?
I've only had my Verite Open for less than a week, so it's likely not proper to draw conclusions just yet. I really need to give these a few weeks and get used to the various pads that I bought, as well. That being said, I'm definitely not blown away by the VO. I am not floored and the reviewers that I viewed/read seemed exponentially more impressed that I am so far. To me, it's a small and noticeable difference. Maybe it will take me a bit of time to really warm up to them, but I like them OK so far. When I A/B with the Auteur, there is a difference and the VO are indeed "better at everything." But I'm not having the zen-like, gates of Heaven, angels singing, out of body experience that others on youtube seemed to experience, LOL.
I owned VO then sold them, a lot of folks here prefer Auteur over VO and nothing wrong with that. It is very subjective, difference folks difference strokes. Listen by your ears not by opinions.
is the detail of the VO amazingly better versus Auteur?
Yes, it is better in detail, but detail is not everything. I like the Auteur overall.
Yeah, I'm going to give these VO some time, but if I don't warm up to them, I'll move them and stick to my Auteur, which I love. Cool to see another FFX Co. member here!
imo Auteur more mid focused HP, great for vocals.... Verite is more rounded and much richer presentation..... better dynamics and details
My feeling is that once you get into Auteur level headphones, for me anyway, things don't really blow me away. I love them both and get annoyed when reviewers go over the top and gush about much of anything. I think one gets less of that in written vs. video reviews. I'd think if I hadn't already spent time with some amazing headphones before owning any ZMF, then yes, I would probably be blown away by any and all of them.
No. Taking the hd800 as comparison. The hd800 to me sounds extremely wide and airy but can feel a bit distant and diffuse and even thin in comparison at times. The verite doesn't come close in terms of stage size but does seem to fill the space more thus doesn't sound nearly as diffuse. Not sure if that makes any sense but at least that's how it sounds like to me. I personally don't get much of a soundstage off headphones so that is not the main selling point for me.
This is brilliant. I never thought of it that way. Very wise perspective and you're right. When one has experienced and gotten used to TOTL things in life, the incremental change or additional quality may be marginal. While notable, the difference may not be "wow." Maybe if I went from Apple ear buds to Verite, that would be the mind-blown experience, but from Auteur to VO is more an incremental shift or a marginal step up.
Do you have any non-suede pads? For the most part, I thought the suede pads strayed too far from the VO's core sound and technical abilities.
