ZMF Atrium Closed Headphone Review

[Robbo99999]

I don't know what it is, but if ever I see a review coming with a pic of a closed back headphone with wooden cups I just intuitively know it's gonna be a stinker! (I'm not sure where that idea comes from).

EDIT: and lol to Amir's quote here in the spoiler, that's not exactly an advertisement for the headphone to be reliable or easy to place on your own head:

EDIT #2: and had to vote this headphone real low because of it's very high price combined with poor performance on almost all metrics.

EDIT #3: Anyone know if the wood cups are removable? You could at least remove them, turn them upsidedown and use them as a little ceremonial drinking cup or maybe ashtray, maybe they could be upcycled!?!? Maybe you could collect your tears in them & gulp them down each day!

 

[unpluggged]

Grossly overpriced as a sound reproduction device yes, but trash, no

If they measure and sound like trash, it is trash, no matter how much does it cost or how fancy is the casing.

 

[A Surfer]

If they measure and sound like trash, it is trash, no matter how much does it cost or how fancy is the casing.

Those don't measure like trash really. They certainly aren't great, but trash does not fit for me. If it is trash for you, no problem, each to their own.

And clearly many people like how they sound. By the way, have you actually heard them for any length of time?

 

[Rusk Reeder]

You might want to to setup a database of your headphone measurements and make them part of this greater database here: https://squig.link/headphones/

However it might take some doing.

 

[unpluggged]

By the way, have you actually heard them for any length of time?

Of course not, and I have no interest in looking out for them on purpose. But when I'm near the local store that stocks them and has them for demo, I'll give them a listen, just to be fair. And they are significantly more expensive in my location, around USD4000.

BTW, I have yet to find a headphone that would convince me to replace my old and trusty Sennheiser HD 6XX, which sounds just right to me with EQ to Oratory1990's target. There are good-sounding phones, sure, but none of them made me want to put out the money. The same goes for IEMs. The Blessing 3 with a touch of EQ turned out to be my endgame IEM, even when I tried out some higher-end models. I just don't feel that great deal of a difference, if any, compared to the expense I'd need to bear. So EQ is the best investment we can make in this hobby: it turns good speakers and phones into exceptional ones.

 

[Multicore]

It is very obvious that the company has its own ideas of what tonality people like.
...
we need to stomp our feet and get companies to either follow the research or prove the research is wrong. Creating random response in such an expensive headphone

To me it seems you're saying the ZMF Atrium 2k FR dip and distortion peaks were a design goal.

In December Floyd Toole opened the thread A Broad Discussion of Speakers with Major Audio Luminaries with the sentence

It is resonances that are mainly responsible for lack of neutrality in loudspeakers, so the first task for competent speaker designers is to minimize them.

(which I assume is also the case in the design of headphones.) The way Floyd emphasizes this point is striking, heavy with implications. At the same time we have seen from your measurements that not all speaker and headphone designers accomplish this task despite its primacy.

We don't know how the ZMF Atrium ended up with its characteristic peaks/dips. Deliberate engineering toward this characteristic as a goal is certainly a possibility, although I can think of a number of other stories that could just as well account for it. We don't know. But its fair to say that in the end ZMF puts its name on the product knowing that measurement enthusiasts like you will take a look at it, describe it and opine and presumably they are ok with that. So I don't think there's any need to worry about foot stomping. There are a lot of nice headphone options to choose from in the under 2500 range.

 

[A Surfer]

Of course not, and I have no interest in looking out for them on purpose....

To be fair, you may wish to consider not saying something sounds like trash if you haven't actually heard it.

I am probably one of the most critical of the ZMF pricing structure so not trying to defend the brand, simply defending objectivity.

 

[DSJR]

Some older male folks appear to be less tolerant of frequencies in the lower kHz, rather than simply more sensitive to these frequencies when younger, if that makes any sense. This headphone may well have a nice 'mellow tone' without hint of screech for these people able to afford such confections. Just sayin'.......

 

[greggo1545]

I have the older brother of the Atrium Closed, the Eikons. Ended up selling them, regretting it, and repurchasing them. They are beautiful. I couldn’t live with them as my only headphone since they have that veil but they are great when I need a closed back. The bass is so dynamic and hits hard. It feels like the music is spaced out a bit too so it doesn’t sound cramped or congested like other closed backs (Stellia). Bottom line is that it’s a fun headphone. It also has the 1.8 dip but it doesn’t bother me since it’s a headphone I use in rotation and it allows the bass to really shine. I’ll have to try and get a pair of the Stealth to compare the two.

Tyll also noted the Eikons for that 1.8 dip. He still enjoyed them even in comparison with the Mr. Speakers (DCA) Ethers. They just fit a different need.

 

[Cogito]

Are these $2,500 or $25.00? What a joke.

 

[yo!]

Some older male folks appear to be less tolerant of frequencies in the lower kHz, rather than simply more sensitive to these frequencies when younger, if that makes any sense. This headphone may well have a nice 'mellow tone' without hint of screech for these people able to afford such confections. Just sayin'.......

If you want a mellow sound tuning you notch it out around 3k and for hearing loss you push 8k and above. Non of the less, the marketing video give hints about the competence and engineering skills of the makers.

Such earphones are bought to be shown off on a stand, not to have the best sound possible. Poor people, the rich.

 

[Curupira]

closed back headphone with wooden cups I just intuitively know it's gonna be a stinker!

They're a nightmare to deal with unless you get lucky with the fibers or damp it just right. Even the success cases like Fiio's FT1 and E-MU Teaks are marred by great unit variation due to differences from the material (literally, it's an organic material, each cut is different).

The fact that they're closed also doesn't help, as closed cans have inherent problems with treble reproduction.

 

[A Surfer]

I do not for a second believe that the type of wood imparts any audible sonic qualities due to the actual wood. I have no doubt that the shape and or size of the chamber matters though.

I have always gotten the sense that people who believe the wood choice matters in headphone cups look at violins and other instruments designed to reverberate and make an assumption that the same principles apply to wooden headphone cups.

 

[jhwalker]

I do not for a second believe that the type of wood imparts any audible sonic qualities due to the actual wood. I have no doubt that the shape and or size of the chamber matters though.

I have always gotten the sense that people who believe the wood choice matters in headphone cups look at violins and other instruments designed to reverberate and make an assumption that the same principles apply to wooden headphone cups.

I really don't understand your statement - SURELY, the material a headphone is made from makes a difference in the ultimate sound?

Thought experiment here: one headphone made of (say) aluminum and one of soft plastic - they will surely sound different. I mean, it's pretty obvious. Maybe different types of wood will not change the sound THAT much, but a very hard wood vs. a soft wood WILL change the sound and I'd expect in measurable ways.

What makes you contend it would NOT?

Sorry, not trying to be confrontational, just sounds counterintuitive (to me, at least) that the material would not make a difference in the sound, even if it's fairly minor.

 

[Herbert Shooler]

Great work another Chord Dave,Susvara moment....keep smashing the myths Amir!

 

[Curupira]

I do not for a second believe that the type of wood imparts any audible sonic qualities due to the actual wood. I have no doubt that the shape and or size of the chamber matters though.

Density and surface texture matter, and the shape itself is influenced by the hardness of the wood (although this isn't relevant in this ceteris paribus, it is when designing the chamber beforehand). More reflective surfaces like plastic will impart a very different sound than more porous material like wood, as they often do in speaker cabinets.

Of course, this doesn't imply that we can predict tangible audio differences by judging the wood used, a headphone that uses pinewood, but is neatly engineered and measured, will sound better than a free floating driver inside an ebony cup. My point was that QC gets harder with organic materials because they can have different properties while looking the same. For instance, there is a range of density inside the same wood material. Coming from mr. Gemini's search:

Ebony is the densest, with a density of 1.03 to 1.30 g/cm³ (64-81 lb/ft³), making it denser than water and very strong and durable. Mahogany, depending on the type, can range from 0.55 to 0.85 g/cm³ (34-53 lb/ft³), with some varieties being denser than others. Pine is the least dense of the three, with an average density of 0.37 to 0.66 g/cm³ (23-41 lb/ft³)

 

[GeekyBastard]

$2,500 for this? Must be a scam, right?

 

[Carlos E. Ramirez]

There are audio companies that only care about the appearance of the product.

 

[DSJR]

There are audio companies that only care about the appearance of the product.

And you know something, B&O weren't really one of them, believe it or not, as the products fitted a far wider brief and a lot of research, tech as well as visuals, went into them back in the good old bad old days

 

[majingotan]

The 1.8 KHz resonance might just be an anomaly with the wood choice of that unit. Then again, I preferred the sonics of the cheapest ZMF Bokeh Open over Atrium Closed myself