Question/Recommendation on ZMF Atrium open?

I almost pulled the trigger on these just out of pure curiosity. I don’t know what type of sound I enjoy. I know I hated the meze 99 classics and didn’t enjoy the modhouse argon’s mkiii ( im aware they are closed backs). I listen to a wide variety of music but my current kick is classic rock. My gear :
Bifrost 2 OG
Midgard
Pietus Maximus
Focal clear og
Arya stealth
Hd6xx
I love the sound of all three and rotate depending on what I’m in the mood for. Focal initial impressions were meh since I was maining the Arya’s for a little bit but over time the focals really grew on me and I find them on my head most often. I read great things about the atrium open and just curious on others people’s experiences with them.

 

There are a couple other threads you could have asked this in, and the Atrium thread specifically has some comparisons to the OG Clear. Granted the Pietus Maximus and Midgard are newer, but maybe some talk about how those specifically work with the Atrium could be generated in those threads?

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/the-all-purpose-advice-thread-part-2.12149/

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...rium-headphone-review-and-measurements.12125/

(FWIW I got to demo the Atrium in store and was... whelmed. Evidently it's one of the more demanding headphones in terms of source and amp matching which explains my lack of effusive praise for it, so pretty smart call checking in first. Heck, an owner says that even cables make for alarmingly large changes relative to other headphones. No bueno for the neurotic, haha)

 

Thank you for your response. I've been enjoying lurking around here for a few months now and appreciate the insights shared by all of you. There is a lot of value in what you all do here compared to other forums like Head-fi or ASR.

Regarding whether to post in the ZMF Atrium thread, I thought it was a little tricky to determine the best place for specific inquiries since maybe this is more of an advice oriented question.

As far as canjam in socal, I know its happening sometime in September so ill likely be attending with the hopes to demo some headphones that look interesting to me.

One thing I've come to realize in this hobby is the importance of trusting your own ears and preferences. Take for example the meze 99 classics. Despite fairly positive reviews from forums and videos I thought they sounded horrible. Bloated bass that bled into everything. I remember thinking they sounded like blown speakers. But I've also gotten great recommendations from videos and from forums like SBAF.

The Modhouse Argons also offer an interesting case study. While they had their merits, I found them lacking in certain aspects, particularly in their presentation of midrange and treble. It's fascinating how different headphones can provide vastly different experiences, even when they're highly regarded by others.

Anyway thank you again. You all may have saved me 3k of potential regret. I'll definitely take the more patient route and wait for CanJam this year to demo some stuff.

 

No need to shamelessly plug as I started there first when I started researching ZMF's lineup. Thank you for your response. I think you all definitely had me pump the brakes a little. As I was about to hit the buy button I told myself to go back in here to read further and thought I should post an advice thread question to get some updated responses. I dont buy anything ever because of FOMO. I just get that weird brain worm in this hobby that makes me just curious. Curiosity is so expensive. I see a video or read about some headphones and think to myself "do they really sound that different or better" then xyz?" I sit and ruminate on that thought while going through forums and I get tired of reading and just buy lol. The only purchases in headphones I have not enjoyed were the 99 classics and Modhouse Argons werent terrble they were just different. Anyways thank you again. I will continue the lurking.

 

Don't worry, I'm also someone who disliked the Meze 99 Classics despite my adoring the Klipsch HP-3s (point of comparison being they're both bass cannons). The Meze was a fun sorta thing with great macrodetail and technicalities up to snuff for 2010s pop, but it lacked real nuance and was very hard sounding, rather fatiguing at anything above modest volumes. I get why it was so popular, but it's not for me. Maybe the 109s are a step up, I know some on here love that thing, but I've yet to get ears on a pair.

I get that the forum had (has?) a reputation for enforcing relatively high signal-to-noise ratio with respect to gear discussions with any deviation therefrom leading to dogpiling and fun-poking, but it's always grand to have new folks chiming in when they mean to engage sincerely. You've got some great gear already, would be grand to hear your thoughts on them all even if you might feel you've yet to establish baselines-- the fact of the matter is it's impossible for fora like this to avoid devolving into echo chambers, never mind that some chambers strive more towards generativity than others, and I think we need more folk talking about known gear beacause different perspectives on the same is always going to be valuable.

... this reminds me that I have a few drafts I've been too lazy to format into proper posts. crap.


Cheers!