ZMF EIKON & ZMF ATTICUS

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by gbeast, Oct 1, 2016.

  1. MattRG

    MattRG Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2017
    Likes Received:
    235
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Taylorsville, Georgia - USA
    I think I was a little bit hard on the NBM on my initial impressions with the Eikon. As long as the track doesn't include strong and powerful bass the NBM does just fine with the Eikon. The Jot certainly slams harder on the Eikon but the NBM is still nicer to my ears in most of the areas that count. The bass extension is better than I first thought even if the slam suffers a little bit. Long story short, I'm quite satisfied with the NBM and the Eikon for the great majority of the music that I listen to and if I want more slam for EDM I can always use the Jot.

    Edit - And when / if I purchase another tube amp it's not going to be because it is cheap. It will be because it has great synergy with the Eikon, period.
     
  2. Kozic

    Kozic New

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Talking about tube amps I picked up a old cayin HA-1A a couple of weeks ago,it and the Eikon get along very well the instrument separation and the soundstage are better than any other amps I tried so far. I think I understand now what people mean by 3D or holographic when talking about the sound signatures.
     
  3. MattRG

    MattRG Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2017
    Likes Received:
    235
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Taylorsville, Georgia - USA
    Gaming test with the Eikon tonight. I loaded up Nier: Automata and finished up the playthrough with 9S on my PC. On immersive single player stuff like Nier the Eikon is pretty fantastic at delivering all of the sound information that you would want and keeping you right in the middle of the game. The sound isolation is excellent and you do get a bit of that "movie theater bass" for explosions and weapon impacts. The overall sound quality on Nier is very good with the Eikon. Nier features an excellent soundtrack and the music that played during the credits at the end of the 9S playthrough (ending "B" ) was hauntingly beautiful on the Eikon. Crystal clear, melodic and well, musical. I will definitely be taking the Eikon into battle again!
     
  4. mac404

    mac404 Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2017
    Likes Received:
    111
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Minnesota
    I'm still very new here, but I had some opinions about the Mjo2 back on page 20: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...mf-eikon-zmf-atticus.2929/page-20#post-134464. Been listening more and my opinion hasn't changed. At least with the right tubes you get great bass extension and slam (I should put in the LISST again at some point to see how much worse they are...).
     
  5. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,750
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta
    Home Page:
  6. drbobbybones

    drbobbybones New

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2017
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Yeah, this is @gbeast 's review. Very good review--thorough with a lot of detail into his thoughts on each can. We debated the placement in the hierarchy here and there, but that has a lot to do with our own personal preferences.
     
  7. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,750
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta
    Home Page:
    This may seem obvious but just for clarity, both the Eikon and the Atticus had the slightly harder Padauk wood for testing?
     
  8. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,723
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Phoenix
    Home Page:
    ^Yes
     
  9. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,474
    Trophy Points:
    93
    So I got the Modi2u in, the Lyr 2 in (well, I've actually had this one for a week now,) and the ZMF Atticus in today. Aornic was spot on as far as the combo with the Lyr 2 is concerned.

    It seems like the NFB-11 was a terrible amp for both the Eikon and the Atticus. (And, to get a bit head-fi-y with this, the Eikon always seemed to sound like it was missing something on the NFB-11 that was very much there on other amps...like the Decware.) Both of them seem to scale with power, especially the Atticus. The Atticus I have now seems to sound a bit more controlled in the treble (still a lot darker than the Eikon) and the slam (and control) of the bass seems a lot more prevalent with the Lyr 2. The resolve seemed to have gotten quite a bit better as well (which is something I noticed with the Eikon on the Decware.)

    That said, I still think the Eikon, on a technical level, is still a better performer overall (and something more people will like in general.) However, with the addition of the Lyr 2 and subtraction of the entry level chi-fi, I just prefer the tone and timbre of the Atticus quite a bit more. It's a enjoyable headphone for me.
     
  10. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2016
    Likes Received:
    3,988
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    United kingdomland of fish and chips
    How is the sound isolation and especially leakage on the Eikon? I need a closed headphone so I don't disturb others around me but I couldn't find much info on this.
     
  11. PoochZag

    PoochZag The Shadow knows - Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,272
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Boston
    Pretty good, don't let those large vents in the wood fool you. I'd say on par or better than other closed t50 mods like Blackwood, Alpha Dog, Slant...etc. Superior to stuff like th-x00 and many closed portables
     
  12. MrTeaRex

    MrTeaRex His head's not fat, he's my brother!

    Anti-SBAF PSYOPS Banned
    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    908
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    In my experience, this is accurate. The Eikon isolate better and leak less than the TH900/TH-X00. However, they don't isolate as well and leak more than better portables like the PM-3.
     
  13. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2016
    Likes Received:
    3,988
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    United kingdomland of fish and chips
    Thank you both for the info. Order placed and now the long wait begins. It will be interesting to see how they perform with the 120ohm output on the Stratus. I'm secretly hoping these will be an upgraded HD650
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2017
  14. khragon

    khragon Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2015
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Which on did you order? I think both are mor sensitive than HD650, so 120ohm output maybe a bit noisy.
     
  15. MattRG

    MattRG Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2017
    Likes Received:
    235
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Taylorsville, Georgia - USA
    I find the isolation to be excellent. I don't listen to music at ear-splitting volume levels but at my normal volume if I put the cups together on my Eikon I can't hear any music coming out at all. And when I am wearing them I can't hear anything going on around me either. This is one of the reasons I like the Eikon so much for movie watching and gaming; they have strong bass, excellent clarity and superior isolation.
     
  16. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

    Contributor Banned
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    63
    So I got the Atticus and Eikon review units tonight, the very same pair that Tyll got apparently. An while I don't usually read reviews prior to doing my own... after spending an hour with the Christmas bell top end on the Eikon, I read over Tyll's thoughts and I wholeheartedly agree that these sound better with a higher output resistance. Switching from .1 to 35 on my Ember II made a BIG different, especially in the highs! Thank GAWD I got some nice BRIGHT Sylvania tubes too, and thank GAWD I got the Ember II, even on High Gain my Audio GD NFB10ES2 didn't cut it with the Eikon...

    Still though I'm impressed :3, the real question is how well these two compare again'st my TH X00 and W1000X, I don't think it'll be much of a comparison really but I'll give my home pair a sure fire shot! An if they don't measure up, I'll most likely sell one or both,

    with regards to the isolation, it's very good. I keep a fan running my room and I can't hear it or my wife with the volume up around 80dbs, lower than that though and I can hear my fan a little
     
  17. TurbinoZ100000

    TurbinoZ100000 Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2017
    Likes Received:
    96
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Finland
    Home Page:
    Have you had a chance for similar experimentation with the Atticus?
     
  18. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,474
    Trophy Points:
    93
    I'm not the guy you're asking, but I found the Eikon does better with the higher output resistances (like the Decware Zach has) of OTLs while the Atticus enjoys lowers resistances of Hybrid amps (like the Lyr 2) or lower-resistance OTLs (like the Valhalla 2.) Atticus actually scales incredibly well with higher powered amps and sounds very different using the Lyr 2 than it did with the NFB-11.
     
  19. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

    Contributor Banned
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    63
    I have not but I will try my best to do some experimenting with it tonight as well! I have both units, I should also mention I have a REALLY BRIGHT/Thin sounding Cable from BTG Audio [Pretty Half Sleeve OFC Copper Braid], I used to use it with my W1000X, but I found it sounded horrible with that headphone, though with the Eikon/Atticus it's a beautiful match up, brightens up their treble nicely to my ears

    But as @PacoTaco suggested a higher output resistance helps, I like to follow the 1/8th rule, and shame on me for not remembering that before I read over tyll's thoughts. But my Ember II has a 35R output setting that is 3/16th's of the 300 Ohm impedance on the two headphones, and it gave me a noticeable improvement on the Eikon

    But I'll give the Atticus a listen with it tonight, and let you know
     
  20. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

    Contributor Banned
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    63
    I can confirm! With my NFB10ES2 SS on High Gain, I had a little bit of Christmas treble, moving to the .1R output on ember, was again... soft jingle bells high hats, and with 35R out on the Ember II, the high end on the Atticus cleared up, like the Eikon did

    Also, I compared the Atticus voulme matched to the TH X00 with a few metal songs, and while I still prefer the Top end of the TH X00 better, I found the Atticus was more or less a some what direct darker step up,

    But overall the Atticus has the a more controlled bass, where as the TH X00 makes the Kick drum a little... bloated and doesn't quite have the same sweetness to the mids either, with a touch of emphasis on the high hats, while I prefer a brighter top end! I find the Atticus to have the better overall sound, at least for listening to Metallica, Plus as I push closer to 87 88dBs the TH X00 get's a little fatigue, and I personally like to enjoy my Metal at 90 dBs, and only for an hour at a time

    this was a volume matched comparison, out of the same amp [different R Output though ofc]

    I'll have more details later this week
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2017

Share This Page