[RMarks271]

I think gear, preferences etc. play a major part in answering that question...but from what you did say, If you love vocals, I'd wager the Auteur s the safer bet. The vocal region is more present on the Auteur...it's a bit much for my tastes as I prefer vocals a bit more laid back. The Verite just about nails it for me personally, but if vocals are your thing you may be better suited with the Auteur.

A demo is always the best route when possible of course (but it' not always possible I know).

Good luck!

Great, thanks - that's the trouble, it's not really feasible to demo any of the gear, which is why I'm so eager for as much information as I can get.

 

[UntilThen]

I think gear, preferences etc. play a major part in answering that question...but from what you did say, If you love vocals, I'd wager the Auteur s the safer bet. The vocal region is more present on the Auteur...it's a bit much for my tastes as I prefer vocals a bit more laid back. The Verite just about nails it for me personally, but if vocals are your thing you may be better suited with the Auteur.

A demo is always the best route when possible of course (but it' not always possible I know).

Good luck!

I agree that a demo or better still get the headphone back home and live with it for a while with your amp and dac. All 3 of my ZMF headphones were bought blind but they sounded great. It must be some insanity that made me sell off the Eikon and Atticus after having them for a year. Of the 2, I prefer the Eikon because I'm more of a details person. Of the 3, it's the Verite Open as my preferred choice that's for sure.

Haven't heard the Auteur but @Phantaminum seems to love it. From his description, the Auteur seems to be a super HD800 to me. Now being a details person, I could love that .... but honestly I find the Verite's clarity and details more than sufficient for me, plus the texture and organic tone. I use the Verite lambskin flat pads btw.

 

[Phantaminum]

I agree that a demo or better still get the headphone back home and live with it for a while with your amp and dac. All 3 of my ZMF headphones were bought blind but they sounded great. It must be some insanity that made me sell off the Eikon and Atticus after having them for a year. Of the 2, I prefer the Eikon because I'm more of a details person. Of the 3, it's the Verite Open as my preferred choice that's for sure.

Haven't heard the Auteur but @Phantaminum seems to love it. From his description, the Auteur seems to be a super HD800 to me. Now being a details person, I could love that .... but honestly I find the Verite's clarity and details more than sufficient for me, plus the texture and organic tone. I use the Verite lambskin flat pads btw.

I love heck out of the Auteurs. Had to rebuy them after I sold my Teaks to fund the Verite. Once I got the Blackwood I was in love. Its tone and timbre is just that good.

I’ll put it this way - I have to use some very pricey glass to get the tone and timbre of the Verite where I want it on the Apex Teton. Connected to Ultrasonic Studios Oblivion amp (which uses its tubes only for voltage amplification and not to color the sound) the Auteurs sound sublime.

I’ve been arguing with myself if I should put the Teton up for sale again because of the synergy from the Auteur and Oblivion amp.

On the other hand, the Verite is a beast when it comes to small changes in volume gradations and instrumental texture. It resolves up there with the best of them.

 

[RMarks271]

I agree that a demo or better still get the headphone back home and live with it for a while with your amp and dac. All 3 of my ZMF headphones were bought blind but they sounded great. It must be some insanity that made me sell off the Eikon and Atticus after having them for a year. Of the 2, I prefer the Eikon because I'm more of a details person. Of the 3, it's the Verite Open as my preferred choice that's for sure.

Haven't heard the Auteur but @Phantaminum seems to love it. From his description, the Auteur seems to be a super HD800 to me. Now being a details person, I could love that .... but honestly I find the Verite's clarity and details more than sufficient for me, plus the texture and organic tone. I use the Verite lambskin flat pads btw.

And the way you've just described the Verite is exactly what makes me want them - and I'll also be buying blind.

 

[UntilThen]

I love heck out of the Auteurs. Had to rebuy them after I sold my Teaks to fund the Verite. Once I got the Blackwood I was in love. Its tone and timbre is just that good.

I’ll put it this way - I have to use some very pricey glass to get the tone and timbre of the Verite where I want it on the Apex Teton. Connected to Ultrasonic Studios Oblivion amp (which uses its tubes only for voltage amplification and not to color the sound) the Auteurs sound sublime.

I’ve been arguing with myself if I should put the Teton up for sale again because of the synergy from the Auteur and Oblivion amp.

On the other hand, the Verite is a beast when it comes to small changes in volume gradations and instrumental texture. It resolves up there with the best of them.

I am getting an Oblivion for review just before Christmas it seems. It will be interesting to hear how it synergies with Verite and HD800.

 

[bryceu]

Drooling over both the silver grill and brass grill purplehearts. Tons of great b-stock options up on the site as well, and the camphor burl and zebra wood Aeolus/Auteur LTD look great, fun round of offerings.

I honestly have a hard time imagining a headphone better than the Auteur (I guess my only other TOTL comparison is the HD800s, which did have some soundstage/treble pros)...anyone have some quick thoughts on Auteur vs Verite they would be willing to share? Pros and cons of either would be appreciated. I would probably keep both anyway as my Auteur is really special to me and a really unique offering, but some impressions from Auteur owners that made the jump would be appreciated.

I was just feeling content with my Auteur/Eikon combo, but having a hard time passing up a purpleheart ZMF offering.

I don't own Auteur (Teak) any longer as I sold it to fund the Verite Cocobolo Open. My summary would be:
Auteur (Auteur Lamb pads) more relaxed/stepped back stage, more linear response, more realistic timbre, outer limit of stage more defined.
Verite (Verite Lamb pads) more forward, superior speed, better imaging, more resolving, tighter bass response, more open.

 

[RMarks271]

I don't own Auteur (Teak) any longer as I sold it to fund the Verite Cocobolo Open. My summary would be:
Auteur (Auteur Lamb pads) more relaxed/stepped back stage, more linear response, more realistic timbre, outer limit of stage more defined.
Verite (Verite Lamb pads) more forward, superior speed, better imaging, more resolving, tighter bass response, more open.

You've said the Auteur has a better defined outer-stage - does the Verite have good staging, even if not as good as the Auteur?

 

[RMarks271]

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.

Absolutely brilliant comparison - thank you.

Although you say the Auteur has the wider soundstage, or more defined width, does the Verite have 'some' width to it? The 3D aspect is great, but I'm also looking for some width to envision instruments across the stage.

 

[bryceu]

You've said the Auteur has a better defined outer-stage - does the Verite have good staging, even if not as good as the Auteur?

The Verite staging is incredible, and the imaging is as well. The Auteur I can hear the outer limit of the the stage because I can hear it reverberating off the more closed-in cup design. Does that make sense?

 

[RMarks271]

The Verite staging is incredible, and the imaging is as well. The Auteur I can hear the outer limit of the the stage because I can hear it reverberating off the more closed-in cup design. Does that make sense?

Absolutely - I'm looking forward to getting a pair in the (hopefully) near future!

 

[bryceu]

Imaging ROCK SOLID!
verite lambskin pads

Thank you for this. Killer track. This drum imaging on the VO V-lamb is some of the best I've heard. Got any more drum recommendations?

And yea Lambskin Verite pads all the way. I had just put on the Universe Suede pads and threw on Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms and I was really disappointed with the sound. No air to breath, congested, claustrophobic almost. Putting the Verite lambskins back on brought everything into the open and cleared up everything.

 

[bryceu]

This is one of my favorites for fun imaging.

 

[bryceu]

These are fun too.

 

[jawks]

Hi everyone! I just received my silkwood Verite open over the weekend and am looking forward to joining in on some of these discussions! I haven't listened to them long enough to be able to make any confident impressions, but my initial thoughts were very positive. They are noticeably lighter and do have a different sound that my teak Auteur, as I've read in my reviews. I listened to both using my Decware CSP2 OTL as well as my iFi iDSD Pro. The Auteur sounds wonderful and very balanced out of the CSP2, but for some reason, this was not a good of a pairing with the Verite. Treble seemed rolled off and distant, and I felt like something was lacking in the sound. Then I hooked up the Verite to the iDSD Pro and used the tube mode and wow, did the sound open up and I could hear what I was not hearing from the CSP2. I have to say I was a bit surprised by this, because I thought that the CSP2 would pair just as well with the Verite as it did with the Auteur. I realize that the Verite and Auteur have different sound signatures, but I was not expecting such a different response out of an OTL amp. Anyone else have a similar experience?

 

[Phantaminum]

Hi everyone! I just received my silkwood Verite open over the weekend and am looking forward to joining in on some of these discussions! I haven't listened to them long enough to be able to make any confident impressions, but my initial thoughts were very positive. They are noticeably lighter and do have a different sound that my teak Auteur, as I've read in my reviews. I listened to both using my Decware CSP2 OTL as well as my iFi iDSD Pro. The Auteur sounds wonderful and very balanced out of the CSP2, but for some reason, this was not a good of a pairing with the Verite. Treble seemed rolled off and distant, and I felt like something was lacking in the sound. Then I hooked up the Verite to the iDSD Pro and used the tube mode and wow, did the sound open up and I could hear what I was not hearing from the CSP2. I have to say I was a bit surprised by this, because I thought that the CSP2 would pair just as well with the Verite as it did with the Auteur. I realize that the Verite and Auteur have different sound signatures, but I was not expecting such a different response out of an OTL amp. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Give the Verite some time for it to open up its lungs. Takes about 150 hours before it really settles in and the sound sig changes. You’ll notice a significant difference from when you received them to after burn in.