[TommehHiFi]

Had quite an amazing VO experience last night, amazing mainly because I never saw it coming.

The Caldera has done what really fine headphones tend to do to me: over a period of time, it took over my audio sensibility & point of view. I have all these amps, and everytime I want to hear one or the other lately, it has been the Caldera I reach for. That headphone has such high resolution combined with so much listenability...it kinda hijacked my ears and made me forget about other headphones.

Hadn't really listened to the silkwood VO much at all for the past 4-5 weeks. Last night on a whim I fired up the Icon Audio HP8 and started listening via the Verite to music which (as it happens) I've been listening to a lot with the Caldera. Suddenly I get an earful of this wonderful high impedance dynamic driver sound--so much tone and texture, a completely different feel from that of the Caldera (or any planar). And just like that, the VO snapped back into focus. "Oh, yeah--I know this sound!" I found myself seduced all over again by the sound of this headphone.

Maybe the best part was the epic soundstaging--so many musical instruments & voices spread out from the far left to far right, a reminder that not every headphone that soundstages well has the ADS (the VO doesn't, and apparently doesn't need it).

The VO has been my favorite headphone for quite awhile now...and apparently it still is.

Haha I'm constantly having this experience with my VC

 

[jonathan c]

Had quite an amazing VO experience last night, amazing mainly because I never saw it coming.

The Caldera has done what really fine headphones tend to do to me: over a period of time, it took over my audio sensibility & point of view. I have all these amps, and everytime I want to hear one or the other lately, it has been the Caldera I reach for. That headphone has such high resolution combined with so much listenability...it kinda hijacked my ears and made me forget about other headphones.

Hadn't really listened to the silkwood VO much at all for the past 4-5 weeks. Last night on a whim I fired up the Icon Audio HP8 and started listening via the Verite to music which (as it happens) I've been listening to a lot with the Caldera. Suddenly I get an earful of this wonderful high impedance dynamic driver sound--so much tone and texture, a completely different feel from that of the Caldera (or any planar). And just like that, the VO snapped back into focus. "Oh, yeah--I know this sound!" I found myself seduced all over again by the sound of this headphone.

Maybe the best part was the epic soundstaging--so many musical instruments & voices spread out from the far left to far right, a reminder that not every headphone that soundstages well has the ADS (the VO doesn't, and apparently doesn't need it).

The VO has been my favorite headphone for quite awhile now...and apparently it still is.

…. return of the prodigal headphoner ….

 

[nieveulv]

My Atrium Open Pad Comparison has been updated to include the Caldera Lambskin Ultra Perforated Pads.

The results might be surprising to some, and others not so much.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zmfheadphones-universe-pads.25839/reviews#review-31765


The Ultra Perf pads will also be added to my Verite Open Comparison at the beginning of next week.

Just give us the rank positionn

 

[cats4cans]

Why has nobody bought my favorite pair of Stabilized VO's yet??? I don't enjoy thinking about buying them 50 times in a single day

I was thinking the same thing, but about a different set. I keep telling myself it would be irresponsible, but I’ve put it in the cart and picked out which extra pads to get 3 times. Just a few clicks away. If only the DAC or knives I’ve been trying to sell would get scooped up, I’d probably have done it already. Because then it’s hobby recycling and not new money and therefore doesn’t count.

 

[Empyah]

Had quite an amazing VO experience last night, amazing mainly because I never saw it coming.

The Caldera has done what really fine headphones tend to do to me: over a period of time, it took over my audio sensibility & point of view. I have all these amps, and everytime I want to hear one or the other lately, it has been the Caldera I reach for. That headphone has such high resolution combined with so much listenability...it kinda hijacked my ears and made me forget about other headphones.

Hadn't really listened to the silkwood VO much at all for the past 4-5 weeks. Last night on a whim I fired up the Icon Audio HP8 and started listening via the Verite to music which (as it happens) I've been listening to a lot with the Caldera. Suddenly I get an earful of this wonderful high impedance dynamic driver sound--so much tone and texture, a completely different feel from that of the Caldera (or any planar). And just like that, the VO snapped back into focus. "Oh, yeah--I know this sound!" I found myself seduced all over again by the sound of this headphone.

Maybe the best part was the epic soundstaging--so many musical instruments & voices spread out from the far left to far right, a reminder that not every headphone that soundstages well has the ADS (the VO doesn't, and apparently doesn't need it).

The VO has been my favorite headphone for quite awhile now...and apparently it still is.

The same thing happened to me twice already - no headphone has the Verites tone and texture, nothing sounds so colorful and vivid as the Verite.

 

[Empyah]

I am planning to buy dynamic headphones for my feliks audio euforia evo amplifier. I am thinking between zmf atrium and focal utopia 2022. what do you think?
I play games, watch movies, videos, stream, listen to music in all genres. so you need an all-rounder multimedia sound.

Atrium, just to save you 1.5k, owned both, Atrium has a bigger more 3d stage, is more forgiving and slams just as hard as the Utopia but MUCH BIGGER BASS.
The Utopia sounds a bit more open, a bit sharper/more detailed, the Atrium more creamy with softer transients, the Utopia will hit you with Ali's cross and the Atrium with Thors hammer enveloped in a pillow - where the Utopia will give you more room reverb the Atrium will have a more enveloping and better layered stage. The Atrium will make every crappy recording sound good and fun, the Utopia is more picky and will make a few select recordings (solo violins, live Jazz!) sound spectacular, mesmerizing but needs to be driven properly (big boy SET tubes) to get the max out of it.

If you want an in-between get the Verite.

 

[Leto Dal]

Got this Verite earlier this year, unfortunately without documentation. Not entirely sure what wood it is, Sapele? (Which is much darker and differently textured on most pics I seen) or Pomelle Sapele? (which has that 3d „amber“-like grain like this unit). Or something else?

 

[jinxy245]

Not an expert by any means but it kinda looks like the OG silkwood.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Not an expert by any means but it kinda looks like the OG silkwood.

After examining my OG silkwood VO, I don't agree. My silkwood has a very distinctive figure: faint light lines running parallel and about 1/8" apart across each earcup. And there are few if any exposed pores...silkwood is a tight grain wood.

By contrast, these photos show an abundance of explosed, open pores, relative large ones. This is the opposite of fine-grained. And while the color doesn't look much like padauk, those pores sure remind me of padauk.

 

[jinxy245]

I TOLD you I wasn't an expert. Sheesh.

 

[haasaaroni]

I was thinking the same thing, but about a different set. I keep telling myself it would be irresponsible, but I’ve put it in the cart and picked out which extra pads to get 3 times. Just a few clicks away. If only the DAC or knives I’ve been trying to sell would get scooped up, I’d probably have done it already. Because then it’s hobby recycling and not new money and therefore doesn’t count.

Yeah the only two VO pairs left now were my personal 2 favorites...how crazy! But as you said, if there's no recycling, it's not a hobby, it's just a shopping addiction

 

[cats4cans]

Yeah the only two VO pairs left now were my personal 2 favorites...how crazy! But as you said, if there's no recycling, it's not a hobby, it's just a shopping addiction

The other one was my favorite. I have it on good authority that it found a good home though.

On a completely unrelated note, sleep deprivation can impair your judgement as much as alcohol. Also my new combination weight loss and economic plan includes lots of instant ramen with no eating out whatsoever.

 

[Nicolas Yance]

Yeah the only two VO pairs left now were my personal 2 favorites...how crazy! But as you said, if there's no recycling, it's not a hobby, it's just a shopping addiction

Hello everyone, my name is Nicolas and I've a shopping addiction.

 

[unfitstew]

Convince me Audio released his Verite Open review!

 

[unfitstew]

Also yeah the Phantasm and Macadam look great!