ZMF Bokeh Headphone Review

[unpluggged]

For what it’s worth, they did apologise on Head-Fi

Usual damage control. And yes, any publicity is good publicity. At least some people now aware of their existence. Having browsed through their website, I noticed that this shady manufacturer does not even specify its company information and physical location, something that you can find even on most rudimentary web sites of the majority of Chinese manufacturers.

So it's another blacklisted vendor for me.

 

[Chagall]

This again? I get enthusiasm and passion, but some PR lessons are in order.

 

[majingotan]

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

As promised

What headphone(s) do you own ?

From a headphone enthusiast, lover and collector ... (selected part) == Over ears == Hifiman SUSVARA Focal Utopia 2022, Clear OG, Elear Meze Elite Chameleon (limited to 10 pc) Meze Elite Silver Jet Black Meze Empyrean I FInal D8000 Hifiman HE1000V2 Hifiman HE6 "4 screw" Hifiman Sundara, 560V4...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[zerolight]

not everyone loves Bokeh

Buying headphones is a mine field. I can't tell anymore who is giving out positive reviews because of their relationship to the manufacturer vs actually loving it.

The Bokeh wasn't on my radar until I discovered Joshua Vs review of it on YT, and he made it sound spectacular. I find a bunch of other strong reviews too. Then I stumbled on this video last night. Such polar opposites feels odd to me. Can peoples ears be so different.

I'm not really bothered on the Open vs Closed, though I do tend to prefer Open for my use case. I flip flop between Dynamic and Planar too. I found the Aeon a bit brittle sounding but may have been under amped but has me questioning memory of the LCD-2. So I have been considering:

Audeze LCD-2 (owned a pair back in 2017 and loved them, except the then strap which hurt my head - used them with a Mojo).

ZMF Bokeh (based on the positive reviews elsewhere).

DCA Noire X (but would need to add an amp after my Apogee Duet 3, and I didn't love the Aeon X Open/Closed I got from Drop - maybe underamped).

I might just park the Quest for a while - I have a pair of DT880 250ohm that I use for guitar recording but don't enjoy for relaxing to music, and my Airpods Pro 2 which are fine for what they are.

Honestly I was close to flipping a coin between the Bokeh and the LCD-2.

 

[Somafunk]

Can peoples ears be so different.

Yes,

 

[zerolight]

As promised

How is it? You happy? Looks like it might be a little brighter than the closed?

 

[majingotan]

How is it? You happy? Looks like it might be a little brighter than the closed?

Very happy! Much better than closed subjectively speaking. Closed to me sounds too muddy and laid back. It fits my HRTF perfectly so I don't perceive it as bright or peaky, just natural and smooth without any peaks to my personal perception. I would pick the open over closed any day

 

[zerolight]

Yes,

Maybe I should rephrase. How can measurements be so different. Super Reviews measurement seems completely at odds with the other reviewers measurements.

 

[Curupira]

Maybe I should rephrase. How can measurements be so different. Super Reviews measurement seems completely at odds with the other reviewers measurements.

Compensation curves and non standard couplers. Don't take squig results at face value, as most don't show the raw result or don't own genuine 711s or GRAAs 43AGs. You can trust Oratory (43AG), Crinacle (BK 5128 and 43AG) not the old "clone"), Amirm (43AG), Headphones.com (when they are using the 43AG or BK 5128, that is, mostly on @Resolve s reviews) and Sai's from sai.squig.com (43AG). With others, you'll have to filter the compensation's used and the disclosured equipment.

EDIT: Given that we're talking about Over-Ear headphones, these precautions are even more valid as there will be another variable: the ear used itself (literally, the earpiece that simulates a human ear). GRAAS and BK couple (heh) their measuring rigs with ears of their own, but for the "711" couplers reviewers have to default to known solutions like the Kemar KB0066 (which is the one SuperReview uses), but there are other ones, and even clones of the former that aren't 100% compliant to the standard.

 

[Somafunk]

Maybe I should rephrase. How can measurements be so different. Super Reviews measurement seems completely at odds with the other reviewers measurements.

I come back to answer your question but I see curupira has done an excellent appraisal of the potential differences, top work.

 

[zerolight]

Compensation curves and non standard couplers. Don't take squig results at face value, as most don't show the raw result or don't own genuine 711s or GRAAs 43AGs. You can trust Oratory (43AG), Crinacle (BK 5128 and 43AG) not the old "clone"), Amirm (43AG), Headphones.com (when they are using the 43AG or BK 5128, that is, mostly on @Resolve s reviews) and Sai's from sai.squig.com (43AG). With others, you'll have to filter the compensation's used and the disclosured equipment.

View attachment 446796

EDIT: Given that we're talking about Over-Ear headphones, these precautions are even more valid as there will be another variable: the ear used itself (literally, the earpiece that simulates a human ear). GRAAS and BK couple (heh) their measuring rigs with ears of their own, but for the "711" couplers reviewers have to default to known solutions like the Kemar KB0066 (which is the one SuperReview uses), but there are other ones, and even clones of the former that aren't 100% compliant to the standard.

Thanks!

 

[AnyDave]

Compensation curves and non standard couplers. Don't take squig results at face value, as most don't show the raw result or don't own genuine 711s or GRAAs 43AGs. You can trust Oratory (43AG), Crinacle (BK 5128 and 43AG) not the old "clone"), Amirm (43AG), Headphones.com (when they are using the 43AG or BK 5128, that is, mostly on @Resolve s reviews) and Sai's from sai.squig.com (43AG). With others, you'll have to filter the compensation's used and the disclosured equipment.

View attachment 446796

EDIT: Given that we're talking about Over-Ear headphones, these precautions are even more valid as there will be another variable: the ear used itself (literally, the earpiece that simulates a human ear). GRAAS and BK couple (heh) their measuring rigs with ears of their own, but for the "711" couplers reviewers have to default to known solutions like the Kemar KB0066 (which is the one SuperReview uses), but there are other ones, and even clones of the former that aren't 100% compliant to the standard.

All good info, and I'd like to add a few things:

1.) Headphone Position: For headphones, position in relation to the pinna can result in different measurements. Typically, there is room for it to be slid forward, back, up, or down and and that can all affect the frequency response. That, coupled with the fact that there is no one standard position, can result in fairly different measurements.

2.) Pad Issues. There are obvious things such as not getting a seal. There's also the fact that some reviewers don't mention which pads they are using, and that can vary the measurements. The less obvious thing is the age of the pad. With age, the foam in some pads may be less resilient which could result in the headphone driver being closer to the head, resulting in a change in frequency response. I would assume that most reviews have newer pads, but it can be a variable, particularly if the headphone sample is an older one. Also, variability in the pad construction can factor into it as well.

3.) Test Rigs. This adds onto the above post, but there is variability even between known, qualified test fixtures. I have two GRAS 45CAs (one with RA0045 and one with RA0402 High Frequency ear simulators), a B&K 4128 and a B&K 5128. The B&K 5128 obviously measures quite different than the other three, but there are differences between the 45CAs/4128 as well that is a reminder that one does need to be a bit cautious when analyzing frequency response measurements of a single headphone on a single rig. And for every test rig that I have, there are other pinna options as well as other choices that can result in a different result.

Measurements are really important (I couldn't do design work without them), but it is important to understand that there are a LOT of variables at play here. Amongst them, are the individual headphone unit variability (drivers, pads, etc), test system variability (ear simulator, head and torso used, pinna, etc), positioning differences, calibration of the test system, and the skill of the person doing the test. There's also the variability in ear canal resonance, the HRTF and how a headphone physically fits on an individual. So, by all means review the measurements (I certainly do), but it's also best to listen if that's a possibility. There's no guarantee that something that works for one person will work for another, and vice versa. Which is why you may see a positive review in one place and a negative review in another. There's no getting around individual preference.

 

[zerolight]

How are the Bokeh Closed with glasses. Does the seal easily get broken. I’d not really considered that - I’ve been using Open headphones in some guise for about 13 years.

 

[archerious]

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the ZMF Bokeh closed back headphone. It is was sent to me by the company and costs US $1,100.
View attachment 370515
Typical of other ZMF headphones, it has a gorgeous wood construction. They are chunky for lack of a better descriptor but were comfortable for me to wear.

Typical of many headphones in this category, there are a number of options for pads and with or without mesh. The configuration I tested is (per owner), " Caldera Thin Hybrid Pads, top perf only." This review was initiated after testing of the ZMF Caldera review where company proposed testing this headphone as being closer to "Harman" target.

I was surprised and pleased to see frequency response measurements for three different configurations in the box.

If you are not familiar with my measurements, please watch this video:

ZMF Bokeh Headphone Measurements
Company shows a video where it shows that measurements are variable due to rotational angle of the pads. To test for that, I rotated the headphone on my GRAS 45CA to four different configurations:
View attachment 370516
As expected, there are differences in higher frequencies but below that, it is negligible. So I ran with one seating:
View attachment 370517
I ran the measurements by Zach (company owner) and he sees differences between this and what they have. There are however differences in measurement settings with mine being higher resolution and as such, showing more variations than he sees. In my view, correlation is pretty good with his test in the context of variability of headphone testing.

Going with what we have, it is nice to see bass that is close to what we (I) like to see instead of flat response. There is shortfall in treble though and a narrow notch. Zach says that the removal of mesh could help with the former but it was not an easy thing to do so I didn't try.

Relative difference is rather complex for designing EQ by eye but I will try as you see in the follow up section:
View attachment 370519

Distortion at 94 dBSPL is non issue but does rise above that in mid frequencies which I like to not see:
View attachment 370520
View attachment 370521

Group delay is clean showing lack of internal reflections:
View attachment 370522

Impedance is medium to low meaning it is mostly sensitive to amount of current from the amp rather than voltage:
View attachment 370523

Sensitivity is quite good which means this should be an easy to drive headphone:
View attachment 370524

ZMF Bokeh Headphone Listening Tests and Equalization
First listen impression was non offensive sound which is good in my book. I started by adding EQ to high frequencies first:
View attachment 370525
That quickly showed that without it, the sound was quite dull with essentially no spatial effects. There was just enough bass but I felt it could have more so put that shelf in there. And added a dip for the extra energy in upper bass. Now the bass was impressive. Note that I deviated from measurements in setting the 6 KHz lower as to avoid extra brightness.

I then sat back and listened. The sound was excellent now on every reference track I have. Bass was thunderous and clean as was the rest of the response. Spatial qualities were improved good bit and I really, really enjoyed the sound. So much so that I am listening to it while typing this.

Conclusions
First, let's acknowledge the great response from the company to send me a headphone to test after the contentious discussions we had on the Caldera. The Bokeh with the included pad does remedy bass response (for the most part). The treble response however is recessed which stands out even more given the extra bass. I rather have that than the other way around, with exaggerated highs which can be annoying. With equalization, performance becomes excellent and when combined with the nice, premium look of the headphone, makes for an excellent package.

I am going to recommend the ZMF Bokeh as tested with equalization.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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The review says recommended but the Master Audio Review Index says no on recommended.