Nov 3, 2024 at 11:31 AM Post #9,632 of 9,725
I'm a new Verite Open owner. This is actually my first ZMF I've owned. I acquired it 2nd hand in a trade and its silkwood with magnesium chassis and rose gold rods and grills. Im torn between whether I like the Be2 lambskin perf or Universe lambskin perf better. I havent made a decision on that yet, but leaning towards the Be2s. I have only briefly tried the Atrium Open and Caldera Closed and Open at a meet-up, which IMO doesn't really tell me much about the sound listening in that type of environment. So I'm not comfortable giving a comparison between the VO and those models.

My other two main headphones that I absolutely love are the LCD-X '21 and HD800s. After about 10hrs of listening to VO I find them a perfect completement to these two headphones. Im finding that I enjoy the VO best on my Bottlehead Crack (no speedball yet, Tungsol 5998 domino plate and reissue Genelax Gold Lion). It seems to really open up even more with this amp.

The LCD-X is my go-to for metal (my primary music genre), hip-hop and EDM. While the Verite doesn't go as deep in the bass as the LCD-X it is overall tighter and more controlled sounding. Where the LCD-X lacks in soundstage and detail, the VO far surpasses it. The LCD-X seems to have more energy, and the VO is a little more relaxed. The VO being lighter makes them easier to listen to for extended listening sessions.

The HD800s with its insane soundstage and imaging is much better that the VO...but I find it maybe is slightly behind in detail to the VO (its close though). The HD800s' lack of bass really makes it very genre-specific whereas the VO so far sounds great in everything. I use my HD800s for jazz, orchestral, OST, and gaming.

So for me, the VO is a great all-rounder, everyday listening headphone that I can just throw on and listen to for hours to a shuffled random playlist of all my favorite songs and not feel like I'm missing something. When I want to get specific with a certain album or genre - then Ill switch to the LCD-X or HD800s.
 
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Nov 3, 2024 at 4:28 PM Post #9,633 of 9,725
What music do you listen to? I would vote Verite for instrumental (jazz and classical) and Auteur Classic for vocals. But that might be just me.
Absolutely this 👆🏻
 
Nov 8, 2024 at 4:01 PM Post #9,634 of 9,725
Just for the sake of curiosity and of course science!!!, I attached a pair of Vented radial mesh (atrium) mesh and slapped on a pair of Caldera ultra perf lambskin pads on my VO and now I cant believe what im hearing.......musical bliss.

I ve been using the caldera ultra perf lamb with my VO for a while now and so far i think its my fav VO pads to date, even better than the BE2 lamb perf. However, I think the VO, in my case, sometimes sounded a bit too harsh in the treble region, mostly with female vocals. I am not sure if its the caldera pads or my Feliks Euforia Evo tube combo or even the VO itself, my treble sensitive ears needed a little taming of the highs. Afrer an eye opening two days at canjam Dallas, I was determined to get more out of my VO with the gears and accesories that i have. So i gave the vented mesh a shot and to my surprise the top end was tamed ever so slightly without affecting other regions of the sound. Now i can enjoy the open, wide sounds of the caldera pads without the sprakly treble of my beloved EVO.

If you have set of vented mesh laying around, give my pad + mesh combo a shot and please let me know what you think.
 
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Nov 14, 2024 at 5:31 AM Post #9,635 of 9,725
Just for the sake of curiosity and of course science!!!, I attached a pair of Vented radial mesh (atrium) mesh and slapped on a pair of Caldera ultra perf lambskin pads on my VO and now I cant believe what im hearing.......musical bliss.

I ve been using the caldera ultra perf lamb with my VO for a while now and so far i think its my fav VO pads to date, even better than the BE2 lamb perf. However, I think the VO, in my case, sometimes sounded a bit too harsh in the treble region, mostly with female vocals. I am not sure if its the caldera pads or my Feliks Euforia Evo tube combo or even the VO itself, my treble sensitive ears needed a little taming of the highs. Afrer an eye opening two days at canjam Dallas, I was determined to get more out of my VO with the gears and accesories that i have. So i gave the vented mesh a shot and to my surprise the top end was tamed ever so slightly without affecting other regions of the sound. Now i can enjoy the open, wide sounds of the caldera pads without the sprakly treble of my beloved EVO.

If you have set of vented mesh laying around, give my pad + mesh combo a shot and please let me know what you think.
Both VO and EVO are neutral tuned, maybe neutral/bright leaning for the VO. But both are also endgame and synergize perfectly. Some warmer tubes may do the trick but best bet would be your DAC or streamer. Holo audio cyan would make a big difference. For streamers: Denafrips arce, holo red, or SOTM would be great. Look into that instead. The caldera pads are a great choice! Too bright can come from jitter (streamer) or DAC.
 
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Nov 18, 2024 at 1:53 PM Post #9,637 of 9,725
Here are the measurements on my ZMF Verite Open, which DMS took at Canjam:

38620b900fb7dbb534691dbb90309133326323f9_2_1380x776.png

Did he use a 4128 or a 5128? The curves will look different depending on which one it is.
 
Nov 18, 2024 at 1:58 PM Post #9,639 of 9,725
Nov 18, 2024 at 2:28 PM Post #9,641 of 9,725
Nov 18, 2024 at 6:16 PM Post #9,642 of 9,725
Magical listening the other night. Reading Alex Van Halen's Brothers inspired me to listen to some earlier Van Halen - something I haven't done in a while - my tastes have changed a bit since high school! Yet, I still appreciate Edward Van Halen's brilliance on the guitar, even more so now than back then. There's a universe exploding in his playing. I listened for hours and got lost in the book and the music.

Also, I just love this Verite Open that I got at CanJam SoCal. I waited a while to get this model and, after I tried different sets in different woods, this redwood burl was my favorite and hit the bullseye. There's just a thing about it that sounded so right to me. Maybe the fast driver with the softer wood? Coming off some harder woods with metal hardware, the lighter wood weight with the black hardware and magnesium chassis feels like total luxury.

It had also been awhile since I had listened to any headphone straight from my Cayin N8ii DAP and it sounded so pleasant yet dynamic, which I'm always reminded of anytime I decide to keep it simple without adding in the Hugo2 and Woo WA8 on top for living room listening. All made for a late evening listening session so simple yet enjoyable.View attachment IMG_1107.jpg
 
Nov 21, 2024 at 1:46 PM Post #9,643 of 9,725
ZMFheadphones ZMF headphones hand-crafts wood headphones in Chicago, USA with special attention to exceptional sound and craftsmanship. Stay updated on ZMFheadphones at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/ZMFheadphones https://twitter.com/ZMFheadphones https://www.instagram.com/zmfheadphones/?hl=en http://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmf-originals/ contactzmf@gmail.com
Nov 21, 2024 at 9:16 PM Post #9,644 of 9,725
Here is some video of tomorrow's drop sets:
 
ZMFheadphones ZMF headphones hand-crafts wood headphones in Chicago, USA with special attention to exceptional sound and craftsmanship. Stay updated on ZMFheadphones at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/ZMFheadphones https://twitter.com/ZMFheadphones https://www.instagram.com/zmfheadphones/?hl=en http://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmf-originals/ contactzmf@gmail.com

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