[reeltime]

I don't think Zach should connect 50 headphones at once and "break them in" wasting electricity and especially space that he could use for other stuff (storage for instance or no necessity to up his rental costs etc. by setting up a burn-in station).

The Verité are already great from the start and after some time you really appreciate what it intentionally does. Just try enjoy that period too.
I have never had a headphone that I disliked first or thought "yeah, well, it's ok" and then liked it much better after some "burn in".

LOL, yeah that's my worst video by far. I think I just got lost a bit. There's a sound check a few videos later where I got a better handle on what they sound like. But I think the data about what the pads do to the sound is fair.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Oh, don't worry. I think you should do more videos actually.

 

[Ficcion2]

Is the silver cable in the image the Verite Silver (Pure 4-wire silver version)?

It’s the hybrid Verite cable.

 

[driftingbunnies]

I don't think Zach should connect 50 headphones at once and "break them in" wasting electricity and especially space that he could use for other stuff (storage for instance or no necessity to up his rental costs etc. by setting up a burn-in station).

The Verité are already great from the start and after some time you really appreciate what they intentionally do. Just try enjoy that period. It's already precious time and those 100 hours amass easily. I have never had a headphone that I disliked first or thought "yeah, well, it's ok" and then liked it much better after some "burn in".

Also, pad options are important to tailor the sound to your liking and not to annoy you. They are also no sign that Zach does not know how the Verité should sound like. He has his preferences but so do you.

I rolled pads for all my Hifiman until I found what I like best for each of them. None of them are similar through the entire OG lineup and none of my options are a 100% hit with other people's ears.

If the burn in does really make that big of a difference, I think it does make sense for Zach to burn in headphones before sending them out because you would want people to experience the best of your product once they receive it. While you might not have experienced the effects of burn in, Zach himself said that he's surprised how much better some of the headphones he's heard from people who have owned them sound compared to when he QC's them in his shop.

There's definitely a balance considering people have been waiting a while for their product and having to wait another 100-200 hrs just for burn in. However, having reviewers and owners listen before burn in when you really want them to listen to the headphones after burn in can lose customers if the sound is really different (generally audiophiles are chasing that small % improvement after all).

 

[Speednut]

Just picked up my pair of Camphor Burl LTD at the postoffice, about 17 weeks after i ordered. Time to kick back with some tunes.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Another recable question, anyone ever tried Arctic cables on Verite?

especially this one: http://arcticcables.com/Catalog.asp?Page=NewShowProd.asp&PRodID=1733908

 

[robo24]

If the burn in does really make that big of a difference, I think it does make sense for Zach to burn in headphones before sending them out because you would want people to experience the best of your product once they receive it. While you might not have experienced the effects of burn in, Zach himself said that he's surprised how much better some of the headphones he's heard from people who have owned them sound compared to when he QC's them in his shop.

There's definitely a balance considering people have been waiting a while for their product and having to wait another 100-200 hrs just for burn in. However, having reviewers and owners listen before burn in when you really want them to listen to the headphones after burn in can lose customers if the sound is really different (generally audiophiles are chasing that small % improvement after all).

Personally I hope he never starts doing that. That would mean they all take a week or more longer to arrive. I'd rather have them sooner and see for myself what changes I can detect, if any. I've been thrilled with how all of my ZMFs sounded when they arrived new.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Personally I hope he never starts doing that. That would mean they all take a week or more longer to arrive. I'd rather have them sooner and see for myself what changes I can detect, if any. I've been thrilled with how all of my ZMFs sounded when they arrived new.

Delayed gratification is often heightened gratification.

The ZMF experience begins with an extended wait on the spreadsheet while obsessing over the precise (yet unknown) date of delivery. Finally the magic headphones arrive! They're gorgeous, stunning--but serious listening will be postponed (for those of us who care about burn-in) for another 100-150 hrs. Then after all that waiting, serious listening finally happens...

"Aaaahh--I needed that!"

(it's worth it every time)

 

[BryanNguyen]

The long wait is over. Burning in now

 

[Sreshta]

I have the Verte.
I would like to the cable upgrades available

Specially would like to know the difference in copper vs silver vs occ

Which would suit VO the best

 

[KPzypher]

The long wait is over. Burning in now

Congratz! Hope you like it. Is that silkwood?

Skip the burn-in and just listen to it. You'll appreciate them either way.

 

[BryanNguyen]

Congratz! Hope you like it. Is that silkwood?

Skip the burn-in and just listen to it. You'll appreciate them either way.

Thanks!!!
It is dark stained silkwood. Only burn-in when I am busy. Have been listening whenever i have time. So far I am amazed with the speed.

 

[Njychen]

Just picked up my pair of Camphor Burl LTD at the postoffice, about 17 weeks after i ordered. Time to kick back with some tunes.

Congrats! Those look beautiful. Is that with dark stain?

 

[Speednut]

Congrats! Those look beautiful. Is that with dark stain?

Thanks.

I told Zach I wanted a natual dark, so i'm guessing that what this is. I don't know, if he gives the light and darker stain versions different treatments.

 

[zach915m]

Thanks.

I told Zach I wanted a natual dark, so i'm guessing that what this is. I don't know, if he gives the light and darker stain versions different treatments.

Concerning stains and how they turn out, we've gotten a few emails about this as well - what we used to do was just allow for an option of "light" (which really is no stain) or "dark" which is stained, but not to a specific degree. There's a lot of factors that change how dark the actual finish comes out, like the cut (rift/quarter etc) of the wood, the wood itself, the specific mix of the stain we use, etc etc. So as with anything natural and handcrafted - there will always be variance. Aside from this, we've seen more demand for truly custom headphones, where the future owner gets to see the wood they will get, pick the finish, etc etc. This is something we never meant to offer but had started to get dangerously close to and allowed some owners to add custom finishing options, and it really created a bottle neck in our production (but was a great learning process for us!), so currently we aren't allowing any custom finishes for new orders aside from what's on the site right now in an effort to get caught up on orders.

In the future headphone purchasing will be mixed into three categories, Stock, LTD and Custom. Custom is a ways away, as we won't be set-up for that for a short while, as we need to figure out how to still be efficient while adding a number of options and making sure it doesn't cost too much to the end owner. But it will also allow us to do more than we've ever done, and make some really unique one-off headphones that we wouldn't otherwise make.

Stock headphones will ship much quicker and will be like any headphone you buy from a manufacturer, and without any custom options and choices. Then LTD editions will have a few options available but less than the Custom headphones.

This will allow us to get headphones out on a faster schedule, and allow us to serve both those looking for great sound as fast as possible, or a special aesthetic and more communication from our end to get the headphones built.

Once we get caught up enough on current orders we have a lot of fun stuff, including a new LTD edition Verite in November. we're really excited about it!