-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
ZMF Bokeh Headphone Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
So ZMF is now selling a new limited edition of this headphone. They're certainly unique looking. But for a company known for premium hand-made wood headphones to release a model made out of plywood...that almost seems like they're having a laugh at their fanbase.
Hey!!! Sorry I haven't had more time to post about this, I saw you over at head-fi too - if you have questions please PM me directly anywhere or email our support team through the site. I think we can probably be more helpful through direct communication, we also have a lot of video on our processes on our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ZMFheadphones/videos
Anyways - I found SpectraPly last year when looking for a premium option and then finally was able to meet The Cousineau Family who makes SpectraPly at IWF woodworking fair this year in Atlanta. Here's a link to the stuff: https://www.cwp-usa.com/collections/spectraply-panels
Here's the quick bullet points on SpectraPly:
SpectraPly CWP is a dyed birch veneer laminate product from Cousineau Wood Products(CWP-USA):
- Description: A premium grade, dyed birch laminate with a variety of color patterns and excellent bond strength
- Uses: Used worldwide for many things like pepper mills, bottle stoppers, baseball bats, and rifle stocks
- Eco-friendly: Made in the USA
In contrast Black Limba is $15 a board foot, BUT that's deceiving because we have much less waste with the SpectraPly as it comes always in the same size so processing is easier and wastage is less, so I was able to offer it at the same price.
It's really beautiful and vibrant stuff, and I think many will prefer the sound of the harderwood without adding weight, not to mention the cool looking vibrant colors.
So please don't think of it as some kind of corner being cut, it's absolutely real wood just processed to be more stable and to look really cool. Cheap plywood is not made the same way at all.
Some ZMF fanatics love Stabilized resins more than real wood! I don’t see any cutting corners here IMHO. At the end of the day, if it passes Zach’s tuning/QC criteria, you will be getting quality.
PS, I did try the Bokeh Open at CanJam SoCal and absolutely liked it. Love the Harman ish bass elevation but with tasteful deviations from mids and treble with that headphones! Can’t wait to order mine when December comes
PS, I did try the Bokeh Open at CanJam SoCal and absolutely liked it. Love the Harman ish bass elevation but with tasteful deviations from mids and treble with that headphones! Can’t wait to order mine when December comes
Oh I know. The stabilized sets are gorgeous and I was strongly considering a stabilized Bokeh set if I can catch one when they drop in a few weeks. I'm in the market for something exotic and unique as I'm retiring from the Air Force in a few months.Some ZMF fanatics love Stabilized resins more than real wood! I don’t see any cutting corners here IMHO. At the end of the day, if it passes Zach’s tuning/QC criteria, you will be getting quality.
PS, I did try the Bokeh Open at CanJam SoCal and absolutely liked it. Love the Harman ish bass elevation but with tasteful deviations from mids and treble with that headphones! Can’t wait to order mine when December comes
Forward me the email in question directly: [email protected]
I'll figure out what happened! It may have been in the middle of our move, but I'll make sure it gets answered.
I do think asking these questions on the forums would be more productive than any conjecture as to our intent.
Thank you!
Last edited:
Well...I'm currently listening to a pair of stabilized resin Bokehs that just arrived, putting them through their places in the first listening session I've had with them.
The thing that stands out to me listening to these, with subjective sighted listening impressions, is very positive. It's remarkably easy to forget that these are closed-backs. The thing I really don't like about a lot of closed-back headphones is that feeling of claustrophobia...that these just don't have. I'm not going to say the soundstage is incredibly wide, but it's at least got room to breathe.
This is just my 2c after about 45 minutes with them.
Sorry, haven't taken any pictures yet.
The thing that stands out to me listening to these, with subjective sighted listening impressions, is very positive. It's remarkably easy to forget that these are closed-backs. The thing I really don't like about a lot of closed-back headphones is that feeling of claustrophobia...that these just don't have. I'm not going to say the soundstage is incredibly wide, but it's at least got room to breathe.
This is just my 2c after about 45 minutes with them.
Sorry, haven't taken any pictures yet.
ryaneagon
Member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2022
- Messages
- 49
- Likes
- 25
I'm interested in these headphones. I currently have a set of Focal Clear and an assortment of IEM's which are usually my go-to over the Clear. I honestly don't enjoy the Focal Clear, in short, they lack thickness, punch, and fullness. I rotate between UM Mest MKII, (custom) 64 Audio A12t (custom), and Thieaudio monarch mk3. The MEST are my favorite of the bunch, as they are the most fun and engaging, and play well with all music even poor production. I'm looking for headphones with similar characteristics. I was hoping to get some opinions. Demoing these would be the best way, maybe I'll look into this. Cheers.
solderdude
Grand Contributor
I would say ... EQ the Focal but chances are you run into clipping issues at a bit higher listening levels.
Focal also has closed headphones with thickness/punch/fullness b.t.w.
Focal also has closed headphones with thickness/punch/fullness b.t.w.
can anyone comment on the Bokeh regarding isolation?
i am looking for something that has really good isolation as all my current closed backs are severly lacking in this department.
i am looking for something that has really good isolation as all my current closed backs are severly lacking in this department.
not everyone loves Bokeh
edging towards the NoireX
I’m new here. Long time lurker trying to use measurements to determine whether or not a given headphone can take a hefty subbass EQ. Does the THD graph show this well? These don’t look like they measure very well for that metric below about 400 hz. I saw something similar on the DCA E3 graph. Anecdotally, I found someone that said ifi XBass distorts terribly and is unusable with those headphones—do these THD measurements support that notion? Conversely, the caldera THD shows basically no distortion anywhere, even at 114 dB, so I should be able to EQ the shit out of the bass on a caldera without issue right? Is a THD graph the definitive way I can tell if a headphone can take a bass EQ or not? If so, I will be forever grateful because I seem to be in a small minority of people (albeit maybe not here) that think most headphones are anemic in the bass region without a hefty EQ. I just add about 10 dB to 20 Hz using a Loki and that seems to fill everything out nicely without impacting the lower mids.
unpluggged
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2023
- Messages
- 1,030
- Likes
- 1,274
The funniest thing that I had never heard of this purported "manufacturer" before seeing Mark's review. Now I see that I had not missed much, just another hyped business that sells crappy gear and behaves like a spoiled teenager when in turns out that not everyone is falling for their gesheft practices.
For what it’s worth, they did apologise on Head-Fi
Attachments
Similar threads
