I get you, you do seem to have a strongly felt personal bias. Was there ever anything negative that happened to you? If I had a significant negative experience with a brand it would certainly color my opinion of the brand and it's fans.
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ZMF Caldera Headphone Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
That seems particularly true when you factor in how high the prices have climbed.
Sorry. I wasn't ignoring your question. No I have never had a negative experience with any ZMF product or personnel.
I wish I had the patience right now to write a post that attempted to communicate why I have the reaction that I do, but alas, right now I just don't have it in me.
No worries, I was just curious. There's page after page of positive personal experiences and examples of over the top customer service in those threads, I was wondering how that turned into something negative. I mean, it gets a like from GaryH, but that can't be it, right?
It's happened to me in the past. I remember being very anti Harry Potter books before reading them just based on how enthusiastic the existing fan base was. I found it annoying. But, I ended up trying one and liked the series quite a bit. I took it as a lesson learned.
Completely agree. Anything post Alpha Prime I find extremely dull and uninspiring, and I've tried everything aside from the new E3 (which i've heard great things about). It's funny how opinions can differ; I find the DCA stuff to look great and be super comfortable, but sound stale, almost exactly how IXOYE described his feelings on ZMF.
DCA's drivers (4th gen ones like Stealth and Expanse) always felt a little reserved in the attack/authority aspect unless you run them on some amps that reduces that sensation a lot while increasing the lower mids heft. And no it’s not a seating or seal issue since I’ve heard both of them being “properly driven” subjectively and the difference is not easily replicable with an EQ unless you have the measuring gear be exactly the same as your HRTF at the eardrum. I haven’t heard the E3 yet though so I reserve my thoughts on that one.ZMF biocellulose dynamic OTOH slams like a truck but the tuning is pretty unique that it works wonders on one genre but not others for me (infected mushroom for example). They're also sensitive to output impedance of the amp where they don't "come alive" unless your damping factor is within the sweetspot where bass and mids transition are coherent and natural
Anyways, bought myself a CanJam ticket at SoCal so I get to hear the Caldera on different pad tunings and the ZMF Aegis amp on stock JJ tubes
NorthernSoul73
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I still can't believe that Amir hasn't reviewed the Bokeh that ZMF sent in for review many months ago. I think the excuse given some time ago was that there was a backlog, but since many products reviewed since that statement were released after the Bokeh was sent in for review, this statement seems a bit misleading.
Livnmuskoka
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Yes it kind of is. I really like my HD600's with the low bass EQ'd up to flat, the small midbass bump flattened, and the most fatiguing 1khz-4khz about 2db below flat. But I just got some Auteur classic's and even without EQ, the sub bass extension is better, more detail and clarity, and better and farther away soundstage. And more importantly, they have that same great HD600 tone that I won't do without.Yes it is. Call it hd600/650 in wooden enclosure
They are basically super 600's, and that's even without EQ or a balanced XLR cable yet, to get the most out of my bha-1 amp.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #791
I have had a number of issues since the new year which has lowered my productivity. Also, equipment that I purchase or is sent by companies takes lower priority than member supplied gear.
Anyway, the Bokeh review was just published: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/zmf-bokeh-headphone-review.54596/
Hoegaardener70
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The headphone community is very critical of certain, if not all headphone companies except ZMF, which by now operates in a very high price range. What am I missing?
Jimster480
Major Contributor
How have you arrived at that conclusion?
Hoegaardener70
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Well, first of all, I liked Zach when I met him and I respect his work. I also owned the VC and spent 3k+ on it. But see this review alone, the measurements are off and eq is recommended. Nobody seems to mind the slightest. When Amir measured Abyss, people called it a joke and what crap it is because you need to eq the ab-1266tc. The list goes on. Spot the difference …
Jimster480
Major Contributor
As you see here, a mirror did not actually recommend the headphone, and explained that it is required to use EQ, and you would have to determine whether or not it is worth $3,500. However, the abyss headphone that you mentioned costs $6,000, which is basically near double the price, and it also requires EQ.
I personally think that this $3,500 price here is a total joke as I can't really imagine spending this kind of money on headphones in general.
However, when you double this price, and the headphone still does need to have EQ, then I would agree that it is a total joke.
Hoegaardener70
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The tc was just an example, can be used for other headphones as well, such as the Sennheiser hd820 (which btw is excellent as is and super easy to eq but that’s a different story). In any case, each to their own, just my opinion.
It is not only the both are considerably off the Harman curve, but that they have peaks and spikes in the frequency response that makes it difficult to EQ them properly. The Abyss has in addition high distortion. So a double no.
Jimster480
Major Contributor
Was the HD820 reviewed here? I don't remember such a review and upon looking here; I don't specifically see one either.
Hoegaardener70
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Sennheiser HD 820 Review (headphone)
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sennheiser HD 820 closed back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $2,400. The 820 is a very large headphone but feels like and fits well on my head: It comes with two different length cables, both of which are quite...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Did you like the VC? How long did you have it?
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