Mmm nice, Liquid Gold is the only amp I ever regret selling. I plan to try Verite on a Hugo 2. I'm a bit worried since ZMF cans tend to sound better w/ tubes, but we'll see.
I've driven it right out of the Hugo 2. It sounds great. The Hugo 2 and the ZMF dynamic headphones get along very, very well.
Doing a 3-way comparison between the HD800, Verite and Auteur. Verite is one of the few headphones I've heard where the stage doesn't feel small coming off the HD800. I'd actually say it's closer to the HD800 in size than it is to the Auteur, but it has more body to it so it doesn't feel over-inflated - it has a more realistic weight. Also, I will say there is a noticeable difference in inner resolution between the headphones. You can hear much deeper down inside the instruments with Verite. Once you've listened to Verite for a bit, you can definitely hear instruments hit a bit of a resolution "wall" on HD800 when you try to listen deep inside the individual sounds. Sounds do have a little bit more space to operate on the HD800, but the instruments sound just a bit generic on it after listening to Verite, which can capture so many little micro nuances in the instruments.
So it’s less bright than the HD800 (tick), as fast and detailed as Utopia (tick), improves on Auteur’s stage (tick)...and yet remains warm, full and cohesive like every other ZMF!? What are you doing to us Dave!?!?
I got to hear the Verite already and it is Easily one of the most detailed dynamic hps I have heard. Better micros than the HD800 and maybe more detailed. I felt it wasnt a genre master though in my short time with it. Some songs sounded better than others. The songs that sounded good were realllly good. The amp pairing was important. I wouldnt put your darkest tubes on them nor would I put a slow amp either because it likes to be kept on its heels. I felt the Aficionado was just a little too smooth and boring for it. The balance is romantic and smooth but not like an HD650 either. I will be listening to it tomorrow when I pick up the pair from FEDEX. I did a side by side next to the Utopia and details and micros were on the same level. Utopia pulled more treble details but man the Verite is extremely informative. It’s pretty phenomenal. I didn’t listen for soundstage like others but I felt it was fairly wide.
Very interesting observations. Would you say the Auteur is more of the Goldilocks in the ZMF lineup then?
It means more suitable for a wider range of genres and sounds fairly consistent between different source gear (more the music pairings though). You suggested the Verite isn’t a genre master, so would you say Auteur is more so? I haven’t yet heard a genre the Auteur can’t play well, fwiw (but I don’t listen to metal or heavy rock so can’t say for those).
Well...I am not going to say it does bad at a genre but I just recall it doing some songs better than others. I won’t expound more until I have personal time with them. Those were first impressions so add salt where needed.
Looking forward to your thorough impressions. I'd love to get a sense of how it would do with Jazz (or music with instruments in general).
