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ZMF Caldera Headphone Review

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 48 27.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 84 47.2%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 29 16.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 17 9.6%

  • Total voters
    178

DenverW

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2023
Messages
34
Likes
23
I get that push back against label thing, and to be fair I don't think I was painting with that wide a brush stroke. Saying that, I stick to my original point, there is absolutely an undercurrent cult like vibe in the ZMF collector community. It is rather evident.

Is it any of my business how others spend their money? Not at all, and I'm not telling anyone else how to go about their business. I am simply stating an opinion I have and I feel that I have expressed it appropriately.
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.
 

IXOYE

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2023
Messages
75
Likes
88
ZMF is all about looks and comfort IMO, but in terms of sound they fall short imo.
 

Benesyed

Active Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2023
Messages
113
Likes
94
Fair enough. I prefer them over my DCA but based on FRC probably not for everyone esp blind buy.
 

A Surfer

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
Messages
1,159
Likes
1,270
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.
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.
 

DenverW

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2023
Messages
34
Likes
23
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.
 

DenverW

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2023
Messages
34
Likes
23
Fair enough. I prefer them over my DCA but based on FRC probably not for everyone esp blind buy.
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.
 

majingotan

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Messages
1,543
Likes
1,831
Location
Laguna, Philippines
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
 
Joined
Jan 19, 2022
Messages
6
Likes
9
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

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2020
Messages
82
Likes
69
Yes it is. Call it hd600/650 in wooden enclosure ;)
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.
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.
 
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