Here is another opinion. Note that I browse both this and the Headfi forum, and despise any hype bandwagon.
I went to the last London Canjam and had no intention to buy a ZMF headphones, essentially because I find them so damn expensive. Their models are a big hit for those into the look of things, and I am exactly at the opposite side of the spectrum: all I care is sound and comfort and I love cheap looking headphones that weigh little, for example the HD490 Pro.
Having said that, I visited the ZMF stand as I did other times in the past and this time I truly loved this model, the Atrium Closed. I tried to talk myself out of the purchase because of the price tag (comfort is really good despite the weight) and, at the end of my visit, I failed in this effort and surrendered to making that remarkable expense I wanted to avoid. And that is an important point I want to make: I did not try to convince that I loved that headphone, I actually tried to do the opposite. It was very easy to do with the Caldera, which is ok, perhaps more than that, but absolutely overpriced in my view.
I realise that this forum is about objective measurements but, in my view, it focuses excessively on distortion. I am not convinced soundstage can be measured (although some attempt to do so) but that is the main factor why I bough it: it has a marvellous enveloping soundstage that is as close as it gets to an open headphone. Sounds comes truly from all directions, including from the back of the ears, as in my Meze Elite. With that said, I also found the frequency response remarkably pleasant, a great balance in between warmth and definition/resolution which are typically antagonistic traits of a headphone: for example the Denon D9200 I used to have is very detailed, great detail definition, but it sounds quite cold and fatiguing. Somehow in the same way, my Dan Clark Aeon 2 Noire, well-respected in this forum, might have less distortion but also an average soundstage and a neutral-to-cold frequency response that I find less pleasant (inviting to listen) than the Atrium Closed.
At that show I also tried the Dan Clark E3, again another favourite of this forum. Now, this one competes and possibly exceeds the technicalities of the Atrium (and the AHD9200), excellent soundstage, very well defined details, possibly more resolving than the Atrium. It came across as a technical marvel rather than a pleasant auditory device. More a sport car than a Cadillac. Besides being even more expensive than the Atrium Closed (at least at that show), I did not feel that I would have wanted to listen to it for very long (I do not listen rock but I am betting those would be really grating for the ears with that genre).
Long story short, my point is that while I see the value of objective measurements, a live experience may reveal preferences that are diverging from the conclusions you might get from the measurements. That is nothing new, I know, but I wonder how many of those who voted have actually hands on experience with this headphone.
