From an auteur review i posted a month or two ago:
I’ve gone back and forth between these two headphones so many times in the past week that I wouldn’t even be able to keep track if I wanted to.
Bass: My issue with the first Auteur Teak was that the bass wasn’t exactly cutting it for the electronic-focused playlists that I was grooving to at the time. The Vérité, while it still doesn’t have the extension and rumble of some closed-back cans, definitely outdoes the Auteur in impact and bass slam. Auteur is a bit lighter in punch, it doesn’t feel as tight, fast, or textured as the Vérité (though still clearly a notch up on the likes of the HD800 in this case).
Midrange: The two headphones are both like works of art from a tonal perspective, but I would give the edge
just barely to the Auteur in this case. It’s a more coherent sound, filling out the upper midrange dip that is clearly evident in the Vérité. This results in a more immediate sense of clarity in the Auteur, backed by greater sparkle and snap to instruments / vocals. At times, switching back to the Vérité was a bit jarring, as vocals and certain percussion just sounded somewhat spacially confined in comparison. However, the Vérité’s colouration quickly fades and the ears adapt; it somehow becomes very natural after less than a minute of listening. And the result is more engaging, intimate, and ’emotional’ rendition of vocals that the Auteur doesn’t do quite as well. The Vérité also provides more evident texturing to the midrange with cleaner transients, leading to a much blacker background in most tracks.
Treble: I find that the Auteur’s treble feels to be a safer approach, maintaining good linearity and balance to high frequencies. Though the lower treble can sometimes border on being a bit splashy, this is opposed to the Vérité’s being noticeably dipped. Vérité maintains the same level of treble energy as the Auteur with its rebound into the mid and upper treble, just with the very noticeably presence dip that can be a bit jarring to adapt to at first. As a result, the Auteur takes the upper hand in coherency and balance; the Vérité is quicker, cleaner, more precise in treble notes.
Soundstage / Imaging: Though I tend to avoid describing abstract concepts like soundstage, the difference between the two headphones became very clear as I A/B’d the two. The Vérité has an intimately engaging presentation that really throws the listener on-stage in the middle of the music, while the Auteur feels more like attending a live performance from the seats. I hate this audiophile cliché, but it is what it is. The Vérité is much more like an immersive VR presentation, and the Auteur is more like an incredibly large, cinematic IMAX screen presentation. This really is the best way to say it! But for a more traditional description: the Vérité’s imaging is very clear and three-dimensional, with a very immersive black soundstage and fantastic depth. The Auteur’s soundstage is noticeably larger, wider, and more spacious, though with less depth. I found myself swapping between the two, but zoning out and getting lost in the music with the Vérité more often.
