ZMF EIKON & ZMF ATTICUS

I'm asking for opinions of the people here who explicitly stated that this can works better with certain amps... not exhibiting nervosa.

 

Dont limit yourself to Schiit amps.

 

The Eikon sounds great with the Jot and it's not too expensive. Sounds meh-ish with Vali2 and sounds vailed and muddy with the Cavali Liquid Carbon 2, But I prefer the iCan Pro, with small bass boost, Jot is pretty close though.

 

Stumbled across this last night: http://www.zynsonix.com/Speaker-Amp-to-Headphone-Converter-Box_p_36.html

http://www.diyaudioblog.com/2015/06/speaker-amp-to-headphone-converter-box.html

Not sure what the output impedance would be but I'm curious how it would pair with the upcoming Schiit Vidar.

 

I just sold my Zana Deux S to downsize. It's not worth having an amp of that caliber when I use it for less than an hour or two a month.

 

That is about 2$ in resistors. Might be worth trying to build it yourself and save a whole lot of money.

 

Agreed.

 

I heard the Dennon D5000 Saturday,
and it is one of Dennons best being more natural,
as I owned the D2000 Mark L Mod in past.
It had a lovely "V" shaped woody signature, it still was well behaved large and realistic sounding.

Yet, both the Eikon and the latest Dennon have more resolve in the mids and trebles, and are more true to source.

If you chose the regular finish (not varnish) it glows red with grain lines having depth (not the ones felt, but the visual lines),
wich was a fairly mouth opening shocker of just how beautiful these cups actually are...



My phone could not fully capture the blood red glow at certain angles.
The camera translates the intense red into a brighter pic
and in reality does not look as bright as this,
but instead more red.

Not sure why the camera changes color at different angles.
Although is certainly does look different at different angles wich is eye opening.

The finish is very unique to these headphones to have those physical texture on the cups shine ..

This is straight out the box without aging..(!)

 

Photograph them again after 40 hours.




(Sorry: could not resist )

 

I don't think the Padauk wood will change much in appearance. Cherry models however should get noticeably darker over time. Left is new. Right is two years later. Not my pics, Zach posted these on Headfi to illustrate the change in color over time.

 

Aged looks beautiful!

 

I decided to go with cherry because of how it would age.

 

Maybe I missed that, but I read about the general tonality of the Eikon vs. the Atticus and I am wondering, if the two differ that much, so one or the other should be used for different genres of music? I am listening to all kinds of music genres, maybe electronic a little bit more than other genres, but generally also to rock, classic, jazz, soundstracks, etc. I read for example that the Eikon has a more pronounced sub-bass (maybe good for soundtracks) than the Atticus, which is more about the mid-bass (which would be good for electronic music). Just to talk about the differences in the bass area. On the other hand I read somewhere else, that the Eikon performs well in the other genres as well, but the Atticus would be ideal for some of them. Maybe some of the owners here can describe their experiences in that regard or point me to the right posts to read.

 

I'm hoping to get the LA D5000K I sold back for a week or so, to do an exact comparison to the Eikon!

I also have Cherry, not because of how it will age, but I like the sound of Cherry especially with such a resolved driver. I'm sure paduk has better transients and speed overall but I like the smoother sound of Cherry. My LA D5000k had a hard wood and it was very much a closed back version of my HE 4, similar sound. An I sold it for that reason.

I wouldn't say that one is suited for Genres a,b,c and D better than the other. They have their unique sound signatures, and they both compliment different genres. But having both I can say neither one does bad with any genre. The Atticus is more fun, and the Eikon is a little more transparent/resolving, with a more balanced sound signature. Some people find the Eikon to be "polite" and maybe would prefer the funner sound of the Atticus.

Honestly, the Atticus is really a very direct upgrade to the Fostex TH-X00 Mahogany, I find the two sound signatures similar. Where as the Eikon takes the best of my W1000X and my Th X00 and fuses them into one. I'm starting my direct comparative notes on all 4 of my closed backs tonight. I'll post what I think, song by song as I go along

 

working through my playlist and so far I can say, the Eikon has more balance overall and airy, the Atticus has a beautiful romantic midrange focus, the sound stage is wider on the atticus which compliments nice with the more intimate mid range

 

I listened to both the Cherry and the Padauk extensively before going with the Padauk. Your summary above pretty much, uh, sums it up. I like the more active sound of the Padauk although it can occasionally get a touch strident with the wrong track and amp.

Re darkening of the wood: The Padauk will become more brown over time though it will maintain a reddish hue. The natural Cherry will darken faster than the Padauk but the 'antiqued' look is usually the desired color for the wood.

 

Good to hear, I've got a big enough collection of wood backs I'm happy to know my impression of the wood stands, even with different drivers.

I imagine the Atticus in Paduk would be pretty special, still even the Cherry Eikon can be strident, I noticed that a couple of my amps the mid range got kind of dry and cacophonous, including the .1R output on my Ember and both of my Solid States. Thankfully, the 35R out on the Ember was perfect! That and I upgraded my tube yet again, got rid of my 6sn7W Jan-CHS for a 1940's 6sn7 GT Jan-Chs VT 231, brought out even more detail and better transients overall. A smarter man might have kept the 6sn7W as a good back up... but I didn't

Wrapping up my listening tonight, with some thoughts on how the Atticus changes depending on the amp

As far as how they change with different amps, .1R on my Ember II boosts the bass, gives it more decay and reverb also it kinda sucks out the highs a little. They start to sound kinda flat, the mid range doesn't... gain anything either. The sound overall is... both thicker and thinner... kinda like breaking a sauce, the sound just isn't not as homogeneous or cohesive.

Now High Gain my NFB10ES2, is a bit strident. The Bass though... is QUITE POWERFUL and very IN YOUR FACE. Atticus actually gains a little more sub Bass texture though it loses some control it's more audibly distorted... so yea the sub bass is more textured but not in a good way, low gain is much the same... but with worse highs...

Mid wise though it does better than .1R on the Ember II, I still prefer the Atticus more with the Ember II on 35R, I'll do the Eikon tommorow morning!

 

Anybody have any tips on how to get these headphone to clamp a bit more? I just started listening to the Atticus loaner and I need to resist the urge to bounce my head to the music. These bad boys want to slide off...

...and its tough not to bounce your head listening to these.

 

It would be nice to think people keep things long enough for wood to age, like furniture!

But... varnished wood? I have my doubts that it will change much at all. Now, if it was french-polished...

 

That is a tough one, I might change the sliders a teensy weensy bit, that got me a bit more clamp force

I also gave the Eikon a listen today, with both the .1R & 35R outs on the ember, along side the High and Low Gain on my NFB10ES2

Like the atticus, the .1R on the Ember II makes the Eikon softer, makes the bass bigger and looser, so there's more of it but it lacks texture. The highs also suffer, sounding a little flatter.

Low Gain on the NFB10ES2 is better with the Eikon, the highs aren't as dark as they were on the Atticus X LowGain NFB10ES2, and like the Atticus, the bass is... more POWERFUL it doesn't have the audible distortion but it's again not as texture'd... but it's not... terrible... thought it's a bit harsher sounding, though this is now more of a Tube vs Solid State issue, as the Ember II has that touch of warmth from it's tube stage. How ever, while the NFB10ES2 in High Gain has the same tactility of the Ember II in 35R, it also has less bass texture and just sounds a little lack luster

Really the 35R with my sylvania 6sn7 GT jan-chs vt 231, gives me the best sound! It has the tactility of the NFb10ES2, without it's harshess or POWERFUL one note bass