ZMF Verite Open
Mar 2, 2019 at 7:23 PM Post #1,486 of 9,496
Dark vs. not dark is one of the audiophile terms I am not sure I understand correctly. I know by now that I prefer sound that is smoother, warm and has some extra bass (vs. neutral)...
How would YOU define dark headphones?

Dark to me is rolled of treble and closed in, in my noisy Meet listening I found both the Verite and Aeolus to be rich (musical, full tone, tonal accuracy) sounding, with the former having better technicalities.
 
Mar 2, 2019 at 9:36 PM Post #1,487 of 9,496
Dark vs. not dark is one of the audiophile terms I am not sure I understand correctly. I know by now that I prefer sound that is smoother, warm and has some extra bass (vs. neutral)...
How would YOU define dark headphones?

Im not good at putting into words how to properly describe "dark".I know it when I hear it. I heard it on my pre-fazor LCD-2. I heard it on an old Yamaha planar from the early days.
On some songs the Verite leans into that territory,then on other stuff, like JJ Cale or ELO or Steely Dan,it sounds like anything but dark.....

It produces a sound that is hard to properly put into words that do justice to it.
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 5:24 AM Post #1,488 of 9,496
Dark vs. not dark is one of the audiophile terms I am not sure I understand correctly. I know by now that I prefer sound that is smoother, warm and has some extra bass (vs. neutral)...
How would YOU define dark headphones?

Recessed treble presence, perfect example the LCD2C.
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 11:05 AM Post #1,489 of 9,496
Wanted to comment on the burn in.

Initially, I didn’t know what to think about the Verite sound signature. I was used to the more neutral Auteurs and how it presented music without any part of the FR feeling recessed or glaringly up front. Well, maybe the treble with the Auteur pads but the Eikon pads took the edge off.

After burning them in it’s settled in quite nicely. It went from feeling like certain parts of the FR were recessed to now almost all none. Very detailed but almost a darkish nature to them. Then one day to another the treble really opened up. I’d say that I may have mentally burn them in but I’ve been listening to the HEK V2 for a better part of the week and going back to the Verite sounded right. Auteurs ended up going on sale because of it.
 
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Mar 3, 2019 at 11:58 AM Post #1,490 of 9,496
Wanted to comment on the burn in.

Initially, I didn’t know what to think about the Verite sound signature. I was used to the more neutral Auteurs and how it presented music without any part of the FR feeling recessed or glaringly up front. Well, maybe the treble with the Auteur pads but the Eikon pads took the edge off.

After burning them in it’s settled in quite nicely. It went from feeling like certain parts of the FR were recessed to now almost all none. Very detailed but almost a darkish nature to them. Then one day to another the treble really opened up. I’d say that I may have mentally burn them in but I’ve been listening to the HEK V2 for a better part of the week and going back to the Verite sounded right. Auteurs ended up going on sale because of it.
Interesting. Given your collections, what are you going to do with HEKv2? Are you going to resell them or upgrade to HEKse or just keep them as HEKv2?
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 12:23 PM Post #1,491 of 9,496
Recessed treble presence, perfect example the LCD2C.
Got to admit I have never auditioned the LCD2C... :astonished:
Gotta try it. Maybe I will finally learn how "dark" sounds like!
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 12:43 PM Post #1,495 of 9,496
btw how do you remove/change pads? Do you just pull off the Universal pads? How do they attach? I'm a little nervous about tugging at them.

Getting them off is easy. Getting them back on is a bit of a PITA,but this video helps a lot.

 
Mar 3, 2019 at 1:00 PM Post #1,496 of 9,496
Interesting. Given your collections, what are you going to do with HEKv2? Are you going to resell them or upgrade to HEKse or just keep them as HEKv2?

I’ve been asking myself the same question. After a few days of head time with the HEK V2, I find the HEX V2 and Ananda more in line with my taste. The HEK V2 is technically a better headphone than its younger siblings. It’s the treble I find too bright and it doesn’t have the sub bass weight I was looking for. I hear the SE improves on these but I think I’ll end up putting them up for sale.

I’m on a mission to have one TOTL dynamic (Verite) and one TOTL planar (tbd). Then I’m going to settle in for the long haul.
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 1:10 PM Post #1,497 of 9,496
Wanted to comment on the burn in.

Initially, I didn’t know what to think about the Verite sound signature. I was used to the more neutral Auteurs and how it presented music without any part of the FR feeling recessed or glaringly up front. Well, maybe the treble with the Auteur pads but the Eikon pads took the edge off.

After burning them in it’s settled in quite nicely. It went from feeling like certain parts of the FR were recessed to now almost all none. Very detailed but almost a darkish nature to them. Then one day to another the treble really opened up. I’d say that I may have mentally burn them in but I’ve been listening to the HEK V2 for a better part of the week and going back to the Verite sounded right. Auteurs ended up going on sale because of it.

The burn in stuff with Verite has been interesting for me too - with our other headphones I've found 150 hours is somewhat around the point the headphones feel liquid and effortless. The Verite I lumped into this category as some of the chassis of the driver is similar to the auteur driver, but after having to keep a few sets for shows lately, and getting to hear @pippen99's and a couple other well used Verite's at the Louisville meet yesterday, I definitely think verite needs around 300 hours to be fully burned in. The burned in headphones definitely have a maturity, liquidity, more forward nature and "pop" to the sound and resolve that a new set doesn't have. I'm a firm believer that burn in mechanical and that it's the totality of the parts working together as a whole.

The spreadsheet is completely misleading. I was at pending for months and they suddenly were shipped without going through any of the intermediate phases.

I'm trying to do my best with the spreadsheets - we shipped 35 sets last week and are getting close to being caught up with the Verite. I expect around 15 more to ship this week.
 
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Mar 3, 2019 at 1:27 PM Post #1,498 of 9,496
I’ve been asking myself the same question. After a few days of head time with the HEK V2, I find the HEX V2 and Ananda more in line with my taste. The HEK V2 is technically a better headphone than its younger siblings. It’s the treble I find too bright and it doesn’t have the sub bass weight I was looking for. I hear the SE improves on these but I think I’ll end up putting them up for sale.

I’m on a mission to have one TOTL dynamic (Verite) and one TOTL planar (tbd). Then I’m going to settle in for the long haul.

I see that point. I just checked Tyll's eq profile on hekv2, and he put about -2.5db around 8k. On hex (not v2), he did the opposite, by adding about 2db around 8k. Hope hekse stands just around the middle ground.
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 1:35 PM Post #1,499 of 9,496
Been listening to the Verite nearly non stop all weekend. I really love how they do a great job of surrounding you with the audio vs my Utopias which felt so narrow and 2 sided (they're still great don't get me wrong. I love them but just couldn't get over the narrow nature of them).

Listening most of today and last night on the Benchmark 3 instead of the Yggdrasil. I still give the edge to the Yggdrasil with these cans whereas the Utopias shined more on the Benchmark. Something about Yggdrasil's sound signature just compliments them better.

This is a minor thing, but I also appreciate the very small isolation they have compared to most open backs. Makes it so I don't have to immediately switch to closed backs the second theres something going on near by. I'll give Utopias the win for details and clarity, but the Verites a win for everything else especially in the staging/immersiveness department.
 
Mar 3, 2019 at 1:40 PM Post #1,500 of 9,496
These are some great headphones. Once I got the headband adjusted, they fit great and do not feel like 400+ grams. Started out with the thicker pads that were installed, swapped to the universe pads and haven't looked back. I have the pheasant wood, which is gorgeous in person. The pictures absolutely do not do it justice.

One nitpick, my left adjusting rod was really hard to move. I loosed up the screw a 1/4 turn and that seemed to help. Still not smooth by any means, but will probably get better with time. Other than that I am really happy with these headphones. Absolutely love the sound stage and the speed.
 

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