ZMF Atticus Review (Headphone)

[amirm]

Many audiophiles appear to be purchasing headphones based upon looks first, then price (the higher the better), and finally YouTube recommendations. It’s great that you’re shining some light on this nonsense. Hopefully some of these boutique companies will come around and start producing objectively better headphones due to your testing, Amir.

Thanks. Can't tell you many times I saw the cups on these headphones and wanted to get a pair!

 

[imagidominc]

Zmf has the prettiest headphones imo… but yikes, the freq response is all over the place. I hope his other headphones fare better.

 

[imagidominc]

it really seems to me as I read all these reviews that I should just stick with my HD 600s, lmao

I own both an Elex and a HD800, and I love them both, despite their flaws. But my fav headphone is my HD600. It just has the *perfect* tone for me.
Expensive headphones are nice but they are demanding divas that always need a lot of attention and fiddling around with EQ to be happy.

 

[AVKS]

How can all of these headphones sound bad? It's a little hard to believe.

It has been a wild west in headphones until Harman did its research but many companies still ignore that. Also, there is this notion that "beats" made billions with bass so let's boost the bass and we will sell a lot. The faulty review loop that exists in headphones doesn't help drive proper design either.

My speaker preference is pretty close to Harman's curve, with perhaps a bit sharper downward slope, but as a single data point I find their headphone target pretty meh - too much upper mids and treble. I guess I'm in their 'bit more bass' crew, but I really don't want any more treble and would prefer less. My Harman-esque reference is the Aeon Flow Closed RT that sounds pretty decent on its own (LG V30 Quad DAC, no filter, into a THX 789) but positively grating after listening to something like the LCD-2 closed, which has its own issues but doesn't dig at my ears like the AF can do at times.

Point being that I wonder how many people are like me and fall into one Harman target group but not the other. I bet it's a good number.

 

[DanTheMan]

it really seems to me as I read all these reviews that I should just stick with my HD 600s, lmao

I keep saying that same thing only it’s the HD650. It’s like taking a walk around the block: you just end up where you started.

 

[Zensō]

I keep saying that same thing only it’s the HD650. It’s like taking a walk around the block: you just end up where you started.

600, 650, 660S, 58x, 6XX, they’re all subtle variations on the same theme. I happen to slightly prefer the 660 but could be equally happy with any of the above.

 

[deafenears]

There's a lot of hype around ZMF headphones. Would be good to get a few other models reviewed/measured as well. Didn't ZMF reach out to you to arrange for some others?

 

[Tks]

It has been a wild west in headphones until Harman did its research but many companies still ignore that. Also, there is this notion that "beats" made billions with bass so let's boost the bass and we will sell a lot. The faulty review loop that exists in headphones doesn't help drive proper design either.

I actually wouldnt fault them for bass boosts. If they werent just stupid upper bass honkyness while also delivering a busted rest of the FR + THD following similar suit.

At least with a bass boost, you can have it lowered and a headphone would be fine. Heck even if it wasnt lowered it woulf cater to a large community of bassheads.

But sound profiles like this ZMF? Fail.

Beats actually sound pretty good these days after the Apple acquisition.

 

[amirm]

There's a lot of hype around ZMF headphones. Would be good to get a few other models reviewed/measured as well. Didn't ZMF reach out to you to arrange for some others?

They did. Unfortunately they never followed through with sending me anything. I sent them a reminder a couple of months ago and I think they said they were busy or something. Still, nothing arrived. Shame is that I shut down other members wanting to send me their headphones.

 

[amirm]

My speaker preference is pretty close to Harman's curve, with perhaps a bit sharper downward slope, but as a single data point I find their headphone target pretty meh - too much upper mids and treble. I guess I'm in their 'bit more bass' crew, but I really don't want any more treble and would prefer less. My Harman-esque reference is the Aeon Flow Closed RT that sounds pretty decent on its own (LG V30 Quad DAC, no filter, into a THX 789) but positively grating after listening to something like the LCD-2 closed, which has its own issues but doesn't dig at my ears like the AF can do at times.

Point being that I wonder how many people are like me and fall into one Harman target group but not the other. I bet it's a good number.

I don't know how you have achieved Harman target on any headphone as out of the box, no headphone achieves that. Some come close but not exact. If you used equalization that is determined by the accuracy of the measurement and approach toward eq.

The Harman target I use does not at all have grating highs as I am very sensitive to it. Indeed I am OK if the response exceeds it a bit. Its bass response in sub-bass though is right on the money. Sadly I think few people ever experience that because if they did, they would not want to be without it!

 

[PenguinMusic]

Hi,
Reading all this about headphones, I really wish I could live for weeks without my beloved Oppo PM-1 to send it in for measurements.
I'd be really curious about how it measures, given I think it sound pretty good :-(

Of course, fear of being disappointed may also explain that I am reluctant to send it

 

[saich]

not sure if this has been discussed before, but it may be a good idea to measure the FR again after EQ to see if the headphones take EQ effectively

 

[amirm]

Reading all this about headphones, I really wish I could live for weeks without my beloved Oppo PM-1 to send it in for measurements.

An Oppo PM-3 is being sent in for review if that is of any comfort.

 

[PenguinMusic]

An Oppo PM-3 is being sent in for review if that is of any comfort.

Hi amirm,

Good to know.

Let's see how that one performs even though I fear about disappointment.

PM-3 and PM-1 are quite different things I think. PM-3 is closed back, PM-1 is open-back.

I've had the PM-3 and it was good, but something was bothering me... Cannot remember exactly what it was.
But for sure after 30 minutes of listening, I can remember it got pretty hot in the earpad :-(

Regards.

 

[AVKS]

I don't know how you have achieved Harman target on any headphone as out of the box, no headphone achieves that. Some come close but not exact. If you used equalization that is determined by the accuracy of the measurement and approach toward eq.

The Harman target I use does not at all have grating highs as I am very sensitive to it. Indeed I am OK if the response exceeds it a bit. Its bass response in sub-bass though is right on the money. Sadly I think few people ever experience that because if they did, they would not want to be without it!

Agreed that nothing is right on that target out of the box, which is why I personally consider it Harman-esque as an OOTB starting point. The RTs seem in the neighborhood though, using Oratory1990s measurements as a reference. Interestingly, again referencing Oratory the Aeon Noires appear very close.

 

[PeteL]

Beats told you what they were about from day 1,all about the beat and they didn't lie.

Beats original advertising was all about : "hear music the way the artist intended it" with many POP artists involved with reference to "Studio". Dre was all out telling the world basically that this signature ressemble how the music was heard by him when in the studio, but he was selling a horrible boomy mess. They got better with time but in the beginning it was all marketing. He didn't told us what they were about.

 

[Thomas_A]

How can all of these headphones sound bad? It's a little hard to believe.

IMO, there are only a few headphones on the current market that are acceptable. Most sound like crap. Amir will most likely find less than one in ten that are acceptable without EQ.

 

[xarkkon]

Looks exactly like the same outcome as Crinacle's measurements and review: "Bloated bass with wonky midrange, a killer combination"

What a pity, such a beautiful looking pair but no way I'm going to buy a pair now...

Hopefully ZMF has something better. The measurements for Verite Closed and Auteur look a little better than this.

 

[solderdude]

my emphasis

ZMF's most "fun" headphone with a punchy mid bass, smooth forward mids and present but non-obtrusive treble.

INCLUDES:

• ZMF Atticus Camphor wood TPE Driver Headphone
• ZMF Ori Pads (Vegan Suede or Lambskin)
• Lambskin or Vegan Suede headband padding

punchy mid bass: see elevated 150Hz area. note that 'punchy' can also be described as 'rubbery bass, muddy, warmth, slam'. Although some of the descriptors are in combination with other things, depend on the amount of 'lift' and BW of the lift.

smooth forward mids: forward sound is in the 1kHz - 3kHz range where this one has a dip. Such a dip results in descriptions like: 'lush, laid-back, romantic, sweet. the opposite of 'forward'
On a website that sells these I found the following more accurate description: This model has full impactful bass, lush mids, and smooth resolving treble.

Of course this area is likely to become different when using one of the supplied pads, alas we will not know.

present but non-obtrusive treble and smooth resolving treble is quite likely given the smooth and even treble response on the right level (ignore the 10kHz dip it is not there)

I believe this seimi-closed model is designed for folks that want a wooden headphone with comfortable padding and a sound with a pleasant colour (warmth), laid-back and smooth treble that can be used with OTL tube amps and desktop amps and it looks like Zach M achieved that specific sound without having to resort to tone controls.
It was not his attention/goal to design something close to Harman or any other standard. Of course one can disagree about what a pleasant tonal character is.

 

[LearningToSmile]

It's not as bad as I worried it could possibly be(I've heard some... uncharitable rumors about ZMF headphones). Nothing here that makes it appealing at the price, but at least not enough to write off ZMF altogether. I'd like to see other models measured. Still, what IS going on at 1.8kHz?