ZMF Auteur - An open back ZMF

I kinda agree. It was a hd800 with a better balance.

 

huh?

 

Sorry, I was agreeing with AMW and saying the Utopia was a HD800 with a better balance (and more tonally pleasing.)

Also, Zach is sending me a review pair in October some time. I shall review theemmm.

 

The beauty of sound is in the ear of the beholder.
I think the Utopia sounds really good but it doesn't beat the three Senns at any price point. Also it's below the Pioneer for my taste although I know that's contrary to the general opinion. So given the opinions on Eikon or Atticus I think my wish/hopes are very realistic.

 

I have* heard the Utopia and the HD800 on the same system...I can't agree with you on that. The Utopia has a better balanced sound than the HD800 with the same technicalities. To be fair though, it is way too much at four grand for something that only has one thing over the HD800 (tone,) but that's neither here nor there. It may not have timbre over the HD6x0, but it beats it in every category besides that. I understand saying it doesn't beat the HD800, but the other two Senns? That's kind of reaching in my opinion.

*I edited that.

 

it is hurting me...I want my mommy

 

Had a listen to these yesterday. Show conditions were less than ideal, but they seemed to have a tuning along the lines of a more open/airy version of the Eikon (as opposed to Atticus). Not super open though... Just a bit more airy and balanced whilst retaining good sub bass response. So far I like them, and planning to get some more time with them today. Price is apparently set to be $1800 with a $1600 pre-order. I think I remember that right. I'll correct later today if I'm wrong as that might be the price for the 100 units limited (dark wood?) version. Beer and sake last night. Love these shows.

Edit - Auteur pre-order price $1400 or 1700 depending on finish. Normal price will be 1600 and 1900.

 

So, I got to have a good listen to the Auteur today. Show conditions caveat applies. Amps were a Feliks Elise (loose bass) and a Jotunheim. DAC was Gungnir Multibit.

I really like these. Frequency response wise, to me they sound kind of like an HD800 without the 6khz peak and with more bass. Not as wide stage of course, but pretty airy none the less. Bass is accentuated over the Eikon, similar extension but more mid bass, though not as much as Atticus. Nicely tuned midrange, makes the Eikon sound distinctly forward in the upper mids. More treble extension, though not bright at all.

Auteur will ship with two sets of pads. My impressions are with the "detailed pads" . The other set give it a darker slant, not a subtle difference.

There must be a ton of damping in front of the grills as putting your hands over them makes very little difference.

Show conditions didn't allow for much more, but yeah this is really competitive at the price point imho. Good to see Zac tuning beyond his obvious personal preference sound.

 

Nice. Def curious with so much wood still on the housing and around the driver, how much difference wood types will affect the sound.

 

Indeed. Apparently Zac is going to be doing more varieties of wood going forward, but in limited quantities. The initial option is teak (stock finish) or blackwood (I think that's correct). The latter will be limited to 100 units and priced higher as per my earlier post. Will indeed be interesting to hear any differences.

 

Other than drivers and cups, all parts on this pre-production Auteur are from Eikon. Sonics are final production though. I understand that Auteur will have its own custom build parts for production models. Personally, I prefer this dark grill to the gold bling on the blackwood version (although I also prefer the blackwood itself!). Black grill with blackwood please!

 

I'm a sucker for padauk and bloodwood. Blackwood is awesome too, as is ziricote and black walnut. Lighter woods are nice and all, but they just don't do it for me.

 

I really like aged cherry. That shit gets dark and smooth over time, and just looks fantastic. Might have to ask Zach about that...

 

I'll know this for certain once Zach sends the review unit, but it really seems like, from what I'm reading, the Auteur fixes the big two issues of the Eikon for me: the upper-mids and that last bit of closed-ness. He's also sending the Amethyst with it, so I might end up having to buy that if I end up liking the Auteur a lot. Haha, my poor wallet.

 

Just so long as the upper mids don't sound sucked out. That's what ultimately killed the Elear for me.

 

The upper mids suckout on the Elear totally killed them for me too. I didn't have that feeling with the Auteur. Can't say 100% until I hear them in quiet conditions, but fairly confident the Auteur is more balanced than that.

 

I'm super curious how the Auteur sounds directly out of the Amethyst. My opinion of the amp section of the Amethyst is mixed...

 

I'll let you know. Zach was confident in its amp section, but he also knows I'm not going to use that much. I'm still trying to decide which amp I'm going to buy in February for it, but, as far as the review goes, I'm going to drive it through the Magni 3.

 

If nothing else, it might be a good stepping stone. Then you can use it as just a DAC when you upgrade to the more elite amp.

 

The Amethyst is actually a review unit with the Auteur, so I'll have to give both back when I'm done with them.

Though, if I like it more than the Gungnir Multibit (I personally didn't like the Gungnir Multibit's grey background and the boominess,) I'll be buying the Amethyst in Frebruary with the Auteur.

It's down to figuring which of the couple of TOTL tube amps to pair with it (Kenzie Encore, IHA-1, Zana Deux, Taboo IV) or the Rag/Yggdrasil is the Yggdrasil gets that update to "fix" the grey background.