[Leto Dal]

Coming from custom keyboard field, where the market is driven by innovatations in design, sound and haptic feel of the product, I can very much relate to the thing with internet reviewer culture (and to call things by its name, often its the social media influencer culture) and how it can hurt product reception and shape trends that prevent designers from experimenting and taking risks.

Verite Open was my first ZMF and now afer the honeymoon period with Caldera and Atrium Closed, it gets just as much listening time as the other two. To be frankly honest, I never thought I would use three headphones on a regular basis, but each of the headphones does something in a very special way and VO has some very own tuning magic to it that neither Caldera or AC got. All of them compliment each other beautifully and I really cant say there is a definitive flagship among those three.

 

[Pharmaboy]

There is no Verite 2 on the way (at least for the next couple years - I had no R/D on the way for that) - I still love and use the Verite almost every day as my general go-to ZMF - but there's a couple factors at play here:

1. It's 5 years old now and demand on Verite is way down, we have inventory that either needs to get sold or will sit around and not be enjoyed.

2. A huge part of the lack of demand started when a couple prominent reviewers who started their ranking systems and working for companies instead of being independent called the tuning of the Verite "wonky" and hid their original independent positive review of the Verite Open and replaced it with more muted covered under the window of the conglomerate. People started parroting this coverage and it made it a harder headphone to blind buy.

The crazy part about tall this to me is that these same reviewers hold the VC in higher regard, even though they are tuned extremely close to each other and the VO having some strengths VS the VC and vice-versa which are subjective in nature

3. The lack of headphone shows during the pandemic have people less chance to hear the VO - which hasn't helped since the VO often gets the "I'm surprised this is my favorite one based on what I've read on the internet about it" statement.

This isn't to say the Verite isn't a slightly quirky headphone, it's not classically tuned like any other headphone on the market and really doesn't follow the Harman curve or anything else that has become popular since it's release in 2018. But it's definitely a casualty of internet reviewer culture and all that stuff. Which please don't take this as me whining about, we/ZMF has certainly benefitted from that in an equal amount. So there's no gripes here! But hopefully the above helps explain the pricing of the VO, which is part inventory issues, and part that I just really want more people to hear them because I still regard it as one of our very best headphones.

RE: "...I still regard it as one of our very best headphones."

Me, too.

The silkwood Verite Open instantly became my favorite headphone the moment I unboxed it. And it still is despite some stiff competition from other ZMFs, new and old.

Every time I hear the VO, the sound impresses me all over again.

 

[Karnicopia]

That's too bad to hear about reviews hurting the VO it has been my favorite headphone over everything I have bought since and that lasted until the Caldera came and even those two are so close it probably depends on which one I have on my head at any given time. The Caldera has the edge in resolution and speed while still being musical but the Verite brings a lot of the resolution and speed and has a more satisfying weight to the notes and decay so I really love both headphones and I more alternate based on type of music.

The problem IMO is using the word wonky, a wonky midrange would be uneven so it either emphasizes low midrange or high midrange but to me the Verite has a laid back midrange which is a tuning choice a lot of headphones make as I believe this is one of the ways to increase soundstage. It almost seems like there are two primary tunings the midrange focused like the Susvara/Atrium and the laid back midrange like the Abyss/Verite and each tuning works better with different styles of music. With electronic music I greatly appreciate the Verite tuning, with vocal heavy music I prefer the Atrium tuning and overall in general I prefer the Verite tuning.

I think that is why one of the best pieces of advice I've heard with reviews is to find a reviewer with similar preferences to you and unfortunately that takes some time to do you can't just come into the hobby and identify this but over time you just start to put more weight to the reviewers that have similar tastes to you. That's why I find it so valuable when a reviewer just states their preferences in music and headphones.

I also agree about the echo chamber though I think if a reviewer says something different than what everyone else is saying it is perceived that they don't know what they are talking about because everyone else agrees so people assume they all are right. Once the reviewers have an audience I think they are much more afraid of saying something that sounds like they don't know what they are talking about and losing audience than they gain value from saying truly insightful things. I feel like you see this a lot with reviewers not saying much definitively until they can see measurements and then everything they have to say about the sound lines up with the measurements. I think a reviewer on the way up is much more likely to say things that disagree with others because they are trying to stand out and build an audience but once they have an audience they are much more risk adverse and are just trying to keep that audience and not rock the boat.

 

[shafat777]

THIS IS THE ONLY OFFICIAL REVIEW OF THE VO THAT MATTERS ........

ZMF VERITE OPEN = MUSICAL BLISS.

CASE CLOSED.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND FOLKS.

 

[Exekuhtor]

When i think of the term "wonky", i think of something negative. The Kennerton Rögnir Planar had a wonky midrange, voices did sound thinn and metallic. The VO doesn't really have a wonky midrange (for me at least), it's just that voices are pulled back a bit, which is fantastic when you already have intense headphones like the Utopia.

Resolve loved this headphone (and actually EQ'ed up the midrange a bit, something he never does), but all his videos are delisted from his original channel (which is a shame), they're still up, but you need the original link to check them out, you won't find that VO review normally:

 

[robo24]

and the laid back midrange like the Abyss/Verite

Having recently sold the 1266 TC after several months, it's funny how praised it is when for me vocals were so recessed that it often became frustratingly difficult to concentrate on them. Still very impressive heaphones which are a unique experience, but that issue was the main reason I sold them. I shouldn't be annoyed with a $6k headphone every time I use it. ZMF mids have really spoiled me.

 

[omega1990]

When i think of the term "wonky", i think of something negative. The Kennerton Rögnir Planar had a wonky midrange, voices did sound thinn and metallic. The VO doesn't really have a wonky midrange (for me at least), it's just that voices are pulled back a bit, which is fantastic when you already have intense headphones like the Utopia.

Resolve loved this headphone (and actually EQ'ed up the midrange a bit, something he never does), but all his videos are delisted from his original channel (which is a shame), they're still up, but you need the original link to check them out, you won't find that VO review normally:

Thanks for finding that video for us

It's interesting to see how reviewers understand things like resolution. Resolve without hesitation said the resolution rivals the utopia, but other reviewers claim the resolution of the verite is not on par with headphones even in the $2k bracket. So who's right?

The verite is more musical than other typical reference audiophile cans. It's so easy to get lost in the music that when compared to headphones that are not as musical we sometimes think it not as resolving. I previously owned an lcd 4 another headphone resolve likes (especially with eq) and one day for whatever reason I decided to compare the lcd 4 to my verite using my audeze king amp. Strangly enough as I was trying to focus more on the technical differences such as resolution, I realized there was really no difference. From what I remember, the lcd 4 was a tiny bit better seperated as planars are good at that, but nothing and I really mean nothing was missing on the verite. The verite also doesn't suffer from the lcd 4 upper mid tonal quirks (if that was even a thing that bothered you). After that I sold the lcd 4 as I enjoyed the verite more even on audezes own amp.

Another time this happend was when Zach lended me his caldera to try out. I compared it to my high end stax setup using my 009s with the mjolnir carbon and the caldera with my cfa3 and it happened again. The caldera was pretty much on par with my 009s on my carbon amp. If there was any difference in resolution, I couldn't tell using very powerful amps and a high end dac like my berkley refernce Dac.

Zach's done a pretty fantastic job of creating flagship headphones that compete with other headphones costing far more in price. The verite may be a bargain in totl perfomance that others are not aware of. I do enjoy the verites most on otl amps since the verite 300ohm impedance works well with tube amps.

 

[Leto Dal]

The whole record sounds pretty much mesmerizing with VO but especially this track. The way Verite renders the vocals and and how natural the instruments sound with VO... Well I am yet to find another headphone that can do this

 

[aloki]

Just curious what aspects of the VO make it your preferred ZMF? I haven't heard it, but I have the VC and I've heard the VO is pretty similar, but a bit leaner in the bass and a bit less intense/in-your-face, more space. As much as I love how the VO look, how it's described compared to the VC make me think I might still prefer the VC and am better served with a second ZMF that's a bit further apart (currently the Classic).

I just love the good balance of physicality, detail, and sense of space. It is just slightly leaner in the bass than the VO but not by much, and I think it has a bit better sub bass and the VC had slightly punchier mid bass. They are still very similarly tuned. The VO for sure has the most unique soundstage I’ve heard. The very first time I played The Last of Us, I thought the my speakers were still engaged because the sound was so far away.

And I do love all of my ZMFs. The Atrium are physical beasts. The Caldera is slightly more detailed. But the VO is the best all rounder with the most unique soundstage.

Also, the first time I heard this song, I got startled when i heard sounds from my back left and right.

But all in all, you can’t go wrong with ZMF. Great quality, sound, aesthetics, and made by a team of wonderful people.

 

[LXMc]

Appreciate the reply! I was wondering one other thing, moreso in relation to the Auteur for those that have [heard] both. I've found despite being an open-back, my Auteur Classic is actually pretty isolating. It's nice at times but now I have the VC when I want isolation and sometimes I have to use my 6XX instead of the Classic just to make sure I can still hear other things. With the slightly larger grill and all the side vents that the Auteur doesn't have, does anyone find the VO lets more sound through?

 

[qboogie]

Having recently sold the 1266 TC after several months, it's funny how praised it is when for me vocals were so recessed that it often became frustratingly difficult to concentrate on them. Still very impressive heaphones which are a unique experience, but that issue was the main reason I sold them. I shouldn't be annoyed with a $6k headphone every time I use it. ZMF mids have really spoiled me.

Can 100% relate to you here on the TC, with a tuning that deserves the wonky description more than any other. Wildly inconsistent in bass (you have to choose between sub-bass and impact, can't achieve both) and mids, even from session to session if the fit is disturbed at all. I sold it for that reason

The VO is my go-to headphone. No fuss there.

 

[swissheadphonelover]

I have always like how the universe pads and now the slightly more linear caldera pads sound on them.

Tried the Caldera ultra perf pads and I love them actually I even prefer these pads over the lambskin universe.
Fantastic soundstage and smoother highs, not a big difference, more a slightly different taste for my beloved verite.

 

[WillieB]

Tried the Caldera ultra perf pads and I love them actually I even prefer these pads over the lambskin universe.
Fantastic soundstage and smoother highs, not a big difference, more a slightly different taste for my beloved verite.

Ok, time to stop procrastinating. Ultra Perf have been ordered. Sounds like they are a great match for VO.

 

[Pharmaboy]

By "Caldera ultra perf" pads, do you mean the stock Caldera pads?

If so, I have them & am not using them on the Caldera. My favorite pads for that are the lambskin thicks.

 

[JerseyD]

By "Caldera ultra perf" pads, do you mean the stock Caldera pads?

If so, I have them & am not using them on the Caldera. My favorite pads for that are the lambskin thicks.

Not Stock... Jumping in here, as I am probably about to buy a set of Caldera Ultra Perf after reading the glowing reviews. See drop-down list of the latest Caldera Pad options: