[AnyDave]

Definitely going to use "Protein pads are for the adrenaline junkies" in my review now btw

 

[Monsterzero]

Protein are for the adrenaline junkies.

Ya ever noticed that Dog has never been seen in the same room as Michael PS Hayes?!

Too much adrenaline?

 

[heliosphann]

All I can say is thank goodness I'm on @heliosphann good side!
Lord have mercy.

All this pad talk is getting me excited.

 

[erics75]

Protein are for the adrenaline junkies.

Amen!

 

[Karnicopia]

I'm curious what are people's impression of the bass? I think there are two areas of frequency I'm most interested in is if the low end is similar to the AC vs AO and tuned with more low end or if it is still pretty even frequency response like the CO. The second is I think even high end without peaks is harder to achieve in a closed back so just curious if there are more treble peaks in the closed vs the open.

Treble may take more time to distinguish than bass (and measurements or frequency sweeps may be best for that) but I think bass is the one I'm more curious about I felt like the VC and VO were tuned about the same for low end but the AC and AO were pretty different on the low end so curious how the CC is tuned.

 

[ng5921]

I'm curious what are people's impression of the bass? I think there are two areas of frequency I'm most interested in is if the low end is similar to the AC and tuned with more low end or if it is still pretty even frequency response like the CO. The second is I think even high end without peaks is harder to achieve in a closed back so just curious if there are more treble peaks in the closed vs the open.

Treble may take more time to distinguish than bass (and measurements or frequency sweeps may be best for that) but I think bass is the one I'm more curious about I felt like the VC and VO were tuned about the same for low end but the AC and AO were pretty different on the low end so curious how the CC is tuned.

There is definitely reduced treble peaks compared to the Caldera Open. I felt with the Caldera Open I needed to EQ down the 14-16k-ish region, but the CC tuning is perfect in that regard. Cannot comment on bass against VC, haven't had the chance to compare closely to VC. But I do think that the bass and sub-bass is stronger than Caldera Open.

I'll have more to say in my review (hopefully posting next week), but for me, the tuning on the CC is outstanding.

 

[betula]

I'm curious what are people's impression of the bass? I think there are two areas of frequency I'm most interested in is if the low end is similar to the AC vs AO and tuned with more low end or if it is still pretty even frequency response like the CO. The second is I think even high end without peaks is harder to achieve in a closed back so just curious if there are more treble peaks in the closed vs the open.

So far, the CC seems quite evenly tuned, bass is not more emphasised than it is on CO. Also, the whole tuning including treble is more laid back and smoother versus CO, at least with the stock mesh.

 

[idairyou]

So far, the CC seems quite evenly tuned, bass is not more emphasised than it is on CO. Also, the whole tuning including treble is more laid back and smoother versus CO, at least with the stock mesh.

What about resolution and detail.

The same as the CO?

 

[betula]

What about resolution and detail.

The same as the CO?

In stock form it feels like resolution and detail retrieval are a little bit behind the CO, but these are still early days, and I am yet to experiment with different meshes and pads.

 

[ng5921]

In stock form it feels like resolution and detail retrieval are a little bit behind the CO, but these are still early days, and I am yet to experiment with different meshes and pads.

I agree with that

 

[RoThe]

I feel the good detail retrieval on the CO comes a lot from the elevated treble though which I really like after getting used to it. Makes sense to me that it feels a bit worse on the CC when there is less treble in comparison as some people say.

 

[ng5921]

I feel the good detail retrieval on the CO comes a lot from the elevated treble though which I really like after getting used to it. Makes sense to me that it feels a bit worse on the CC when there is less treble in comparison as some people say.

What I’ve found interesting is that despite the lower treble vs Caldera Open, the loss in detail is offset by the sound isolation, allowing you to better focus on the music. Especially if you have any background noise that bleeds into the Caldera Open. A nice trade off I think, since with any significant background noise I hear more detail with the CC vs CO. In a dead silent room, Caldera Open would win though.

 

[zach915m]

What I’ve found interesting is that despite the lower treble vs Caldera Open, the loss in detail is offset by the sound isolation, allowing you to better focus on the music. Especially if you have any background noise that bleeds into the Caldera Open. A nice trade off I think, since with any significant background noise I hear more detail with the CC vs CO. In a dead silent room, Caldera Open would win though.

Sending out a good number of the lighter frontal mesh today to those who are demo'ing the CC - if looking for that snappier/slightly more elevated treble like the CO it would be the ticket.

Generally my tuning preference for closed headphones is slightly darker, I think in the more "pressurized" environment of a closed headphones it helps with ease of listening time, tinnitus, and other general facets of closed vs open headphones.

But yes if you want to go straight DAWG - just take the mesh off and these will be brighter than the Caldera open by a good margin.

 

[vsg28]

Just got notice of the lighter front mesh as well as Caldera Closed seude pads shipping so this is going to be a long review haha. In the meantime, allow me to share these with you:

Don't worry about target adherence, especially since the target changes in the last graph, as much as how it ultimately sounds and is balanced. Note also that it's not easy to get the ear gain region (1-4 kHz) measured perfectly on a rig since you can't tell whether the "ears" in the rig have the headphones on exactly like they would be on your own ears where the sound would be an obvious tell. These are close enough to how I hear the Caldera Closed though!

@AnyDave nice job with that ~12 kHz low pass filter, I think it helps keep the Caldera Closed extremely listenable even for longer listening sessions unlike many closed-back planars that get fatiguing.

 

[SLC1966]

Emotive Clarity! That will probably be the title of my CC review. The emotions are visceral with the CC along with Planar clarity. The ZMF emotions of the notes comes first and foremost before the clarity.

I would agree that from memory the CC is darker than the CO. I spent many hours with my CO but had to sell my CO, Susvara and Utopia OG because I was barely getting any open back listening time due to when I listen and the need to not bleed sound or there was too much ambient noise. Even the AC going on and off bothered me with open back HPs.

I am not sure if it is burn in or brain burn but it has taken about 60 hours of burn in and 10 hours of listening for me to become buddy buddy with the CO. I am hearing it as balanced in signature. Neither the bass (AC for example) nor the treble (CO for example) are the stars. They play a great role along with the mids. I cannot handle V shaped IEMs nor HPs. I am not hearing a V shape. The vocals are present and accounted for in a great way.

I do hear an obvious difference when running the CC with Holo Bliss versus with Ferrum Oor/Hypsos stack. Oor is using Holo May L2 with a Khozmo Passive Pre and Bliss is using May KTE with Serene. Oor gives the CC more clarity and intensity. Too much intensity at first but now with burn in/brain burn is just right. Bliss provides CC with more warmth and texture (darkness).

Here is some audio porn with AC and alone: