ZMF Eikon Measurements and Review

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Mar 17, 2017.

  1. Mshenay

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

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    Felt the need to dig this thread up after I keep hearing the mid range in the TH X00 as really thin but a little quicker than the ZMFs. Well thankfully the CSD's for both did confirm!

    I'm fortunate to have heard both of these quite similar to what I see here. The Atticus's raised 1-2k range compared the Eikon is noticeable, there were just a few tracks where details in this range were more noticeable on the Atticus! I'm also liking the extra energy up top, though I've noticed that the Atticus Spike near 10k right before it dips is pulling out some detail better than the Eikon, though the Eikon still presents, just not in as much focus as it's brother... but we all know that already right

    Like wise, I think even though Tyll thought it lacked the nuances of stuff like the Utopia [which I've only demo'd through one song] he innately liked it, and really just enjoyed it! Personally, I'm not running an OTL Tube, I run a Hybrid with a Sylvania 6sn7GT... I actually settled on the bass light verison of that tube, and I've paired my Eikon with about a cable that... offers better "clarity" or rather sucks out the midrange some. Having gotten a better synergy with the Eikon than just the Stock Cable and an OTL... I can say that I like it! Compared to my HE 4 which forces both micro and macro detail down your throat, I feel the Eikon does well. Presents all the same information but not as... aggressively. Nothings lacking, but the music is the focus... where as with the HE 4... EVERYTHING captured is in focus.

    I'm enjoying my Eikon a lot! An I'm not sending it back lol, and I have the same pair that Tyll did. Though Zach did look it over b4 he shot it my way. But my impression of the Eikon is that it needs some special attention. It's more impressive when you pair it with the right amp, and can be lack luster out of the wrong amp
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2017
  2. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I finally got my hands on an Eikon to test at home thanks to Zach. The last time I heard it, it was an in-development model at RMAF. Here are my impressions and measurements.

    - Really excellent tone. It's a bit warm sounding, a little bit dark (or, rather, doesn't have brightness like most stuff), and yet somehow still very balanced and neutral sounding in its own way. Kinda like an HD650, but without the mid-bass bloat or last octave roll-off and distortion increase.

    - Very resolving, but not the fastest or clearest sounding headphone. Has some hints of softness in the mids and treble, but not in a distracting way like the Elear could be. Make note the HD650 isn't the fastest or clearest sounding headphone around either, albeit not for the exact same reasons, so this isn't a real negative in my mind.

    - Stage is surprisingly large, extended in all directions, and airy. But you can tell it lacks that free, open nature of, well, open headphones. There is a bit of closed cup coloration, but it's mostly mitigated.

    - My only real complaint is there's something, somewhere in the mids or treble, that is a bit glaring and hard sounding to me. It doesn't manifest in all albums either. While it is minor and often minimized by proper fit and position, it is there. And it's really hard for me to put my finger on for some reason.

    - Taking some of these points into consideration, while it is much like a closed HD650 (which is actually quite impressive!), it does not quite have the HD650's level of cohesiveness and balance. Then again, almost no headphones do, and this one gets close while being closed. The Eikon also has some benefits, like cleaner and more balanced bass and isolation.

    - Surprisingly comfortable given the size and weight of the headphone. However, I personally found the weight to be a bit much with extended listening. I am also used to the HD650 and MA900...

    - Seems to work very well from powerful tube amps. Definitely scales. Similar synergy as the HD650 overall, but not on all accounts. For example, the Metrum Amethyst's HP out seems to both sharpen the sound and also make flaws more revealing.

    - Goes without saying, it's a beautiful headphone, and I love the hand-crafted feel! All components feel well designed and very robust. The included case is a very nice touch!

    Overall, possibly one of the best closed headphones I've ever heard, and a damn good headphone regardless of that!

    Measurements

    FR measurements show Zach definitely went for an HD650-like sound. The bass is somewhat elevated and smoothly transitions into the midrange. There is less of a mid-bass hump and more of a very tasteful emphasis in the last 2 or 3 octaves and a smooth transition from there. Good low-end extension.

    You can see some dips in the response, one just below 2KHz and the other between 6-8KHz. These don't stand out in any sort of immediate way, but you might hear certain instruments sound like some of their details are a bit softer than usual. The treble able that is also a bit subdued but is not as dark sounding as this might suggest. However, a bit more emphasis around 8-10KHz certainly would not hurt.

    I'm still not able to figure out what that glare was that I heard. Could it be the area between 3-6KHz? If you follow the overall curve of the response, that area does stick out a bit. Or, if you take a step back, perhaps the same concept from 400Hz-6KHz, which would stand out if the curve followed more of a straight path from 200-300Hz to 10KHz? The rough areas in the treble are low enough that I would hear them as roughness, not a glare necessarily (and you can hear it a tiny bit). It's a mystery to me what I heard based on this!

    ZMF Eikon Left FR.png


    The Eikon performed very well on my setup (1KHz at 90dB). Everything seems well controlled and hits the limits of my mic. Not much more to say. I am unsure why I did not get a spike in the midrange like other results.

    ZMF Eikon Left THD.png


    CSD looks fairly good. I think that glare I heard is most likely a resonance in that ~1.8KHz dip. While not the usual sharp null with associated razor-sharp ringing, as seem in many headphones, there does seem to be some additional resonance in that area. It's not sharp, and it doesn't extend forever, but that glare I heard might be that. It's very unlike the usual peaks and sharp ringing I'm not fond of. And while the 5-10KHz area doesn't decay immediately, it's fairly clean and should be of no concern.

    ZMF Eikon Left CSD.PNG
     
  3. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I liked that review a lot. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and do measurements!
     
  4. Mshenay

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

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    I feel you on that ringing, I notice it in a small handful of songs... it's not bad, matching with the right amp mitigates it a bit but never fully nullifies it

    Still thank you for adding your measurements and impressions!
     
  5. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    So I got to try the Eikon as well. Thanks to @MrButchi for making it happen and @IceUul for delivering it.
    Frankly, based on measurements and some early reports I had no interest in trying these.
    Ahh, good things usually find the way.

    These headphones are among 3 best headphones I have tried (up there with HD800M and HD650M/K).
    I have not tried Utopia, Auteur or the Klipsch HP-3 that might rearrange the list.


    Much has been said already about these, so I will offer my view on things that I don't completely agree on or have something to add.

    Gear: diy Soekris, Metrum Amethyst, EC 2A3, 2 x diy JLHoods, Laconic NBM, Jotunheim. Comparison to HD800M, HD650M, Slants, LCD-2 (no veil no fazor).

    Negatives:
    • Where there is a lot of bass and percussion content mixed together, especially acoustic bass, like most metal and even some orchestra, the sound 'saturates'. I don't want to say it gets confusing or 'sticking together', like it often happens in low-mid fi systems, it's different. The content can still be made out, only these busy passages get a bit thick and swollen. Probably reason why the Eikon didn't go well with Psalm and @k4rstar. This is why these sound bassier with some music than the fr plot suggests. These do not sound disturbingly bassy to me with electronica or something with simple bass tunes.
    • There is some minor scratchiness in higher registers, along the lines what @Hands heard. Probably some tiny peaks or something. Hardly bothering on it's own, only coming from HD800M or HD650M it is noticeable that Eikon is rough up top.
    • Personally I would like it to swing with less effort in bass. There is some confusion in what slam and macrodynamics are, at least to me. I say the HD800 still has better macrodynamics than these, because HD800 has this effortlessness, or degree of liberty in bass that most headphones lack. HE-6 also has this sort of unrestricted swing in bass, but it doesn't have the scale. Eikon has the scale, but it doesn't swing as freely. HD800 lacks quantity and sounds flimsy below 30-40 Hz.
    • I feel like the Eikons are a bit over damped. They kill off the transient trail a bit too early. This is probably why they sound less effortless in bass than HD800, too. Also might be why they don't dig into plankton as easily as HD800. I get that this is necessary evil to tame the internal resonances and get pleasant tonality.
    Positives:
    • This is possibly the first headphone I have tried that can outdo HD800 in transient attack and being not compressed in scale at the same time, unlike all planars I have heard. The driver in those really is better at few things than what's in HD800. I agree with @Marvey that this is 'faster' headphone than either of the Senns or even other dynamic headphones wielding PET or TPE membrane I have tried. The ending of transient is not as natural as with Senns though. - Their transient behaviour is unique. These have this firm grip over transient events, not just fast like even LCD-2 can be (and then die off all too sudden). Transients are clean and firm. The sound of a heavy log of wood hitting another log kind of transient. This is probably the biocellulose driver, although the cups and damping probably play a role here too. Acoustic drums sound great out of these, unless there is tons of other bass instruments leading the drums.
    • While the headstage with these is generally quite expansive, they lack height projection. Feels like on recording venue is always having low ceiling, yet the other ways imaging and projection is great.
    • The bass sounds big. Despite not being as effortless as I'd like, the bass is coherent and solid. HD650 sounds like 8 inch bass driver vs 12 inch of Eikon in comparison. Even HD800 does not compete in this.
    Other thoughts:
    • I'd like more clamp on the bottom of the pads and less on top. Even so I can wield them many hours without discomfort.
    • The tuning or freq response is not super neutral to me, I think even with less busy bass (as described above) these still have 3-4 dB too much bass. Surprisingly the slightly dark tuning from mids on didn't bother me at all, they have good clarity, not much veil, imo.
    • I don't hear or understand the 2nd H peak in the mids. The 'swollenness' described above perhaps comes partly of this, but I think it has more to do with being closed design.
    • A headphone that hand reaches for. Not so with most cans laying next to modded HD800.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2017
  6. IceUul

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    Few impressions about Eikon i got from loaner program.

    First it seems to have one of the best closed back headphone out there. I have tried Paradox Slants and LCD-XC before from top line headphones.

    Tried it with Yggdrassil, EHHA rev.A and Studio T, compared it against HD650 and HD800. Scales pretty good when you upgrade your other stuff, so it would be good choice for high end closed back setup. Sounds more detailed and better on high end setup than Paradox Slants which i use at my office rig. Sound leakage is about same, but you get more out of it. Still i would not connect this headphones to cheap amp, would be waste of good headphones.
    I still prefer open-back headphones like HD650 and HD800, mostly about more detail and bigger soundstage. For quality and strong bass i would prefer Eikon over other headphones.

    Also forget to say, that LCD-XC is highly not recommended headphones. These too headphones cannot even compared, LCD-XC would be good to connect to your portable player and listen some MP3-s there.
     
  7. PacoTaco

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    While I agree with it having less detail and a smaller soundstage than the HD800, I'm not sure I agree that it has a smaller soundstage and less detail than the HD650. I have the HD580 (which has the same technicalities and soundstage as the HD650) with the Eikon right now and tested it with a HD600 back when I reviewed the Eikon last year, and I would say the Eikon has slightly more detail and a slightly bigger soundstage than either of those two. I wouldn't say it compares to the HD800 in those areas (and honestly, even the Auteur doesn't though it gets closer than you'd think,) but it does trump the HD650 in those two areas. That said, the HD580, while having a smaller soundstage (and, honestly, it is smaller than most open headphones,) does have a less congestion than the Eikon does. But, that's a closed-back issue.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2017
  8. IceUul

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    @PacoTaco

    What setup did you use for listening?
     
  9. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    It should be noted that @IceUul 's setups both throw massive soundstage with even HD650.
    This particular Ehha does largest soundstage of anything out of the world of super SET amplifiers I have tried.
    That said, I also listened to Eikons at IceUul's place and should note that everything that Yggdrasil and Studio can do Eikon can't follow as well as HD800 or even HD650 at few areas. Eikon simply doesn't do plankton as well, can't dig as deep into reverbs and image trails. This would not be obvious with anything less than big boy SET and Yggdrasil.
    Eikon's headstage still felt a bit bigger to me out of my EC than that of HD650M, especially deeper.
    Some perceive the lack of openness as claustrophobic, I think this is the case here. Eikon has more going on in terms of dimensional projections, more solid room so to speak, but it has this 'being in a room' feeling where you can feel the headstage ending. HD650 has less going on in terms of projecting images in length, but there are no borders to headstage.
    [​IMG]
     
  10. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

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    Back when I reviewed it, it was NFB-11 -> Decware CSP3. Right now, it's the Metrum Amethyst -> Amps and Sounds Kenzie w/ upgraded caps.

    This may be something I have to mess with once I get a Yggdrasil (or Holo Spring DAC) + IHA-1 next year. I agree with the part about the soundstage. This wasn't as much of an issue with the Atticus, but it seems like the issues the Eikon has are caused by the closed-back. The Auteur, so far, has been a weirdly large jump in some areas the Eikon was falling behind in despite being the same driver. That lack of openness with the Eikon caused some issues whenever a song got incredibly active (as in, parts of the sound start blending together a bit more than they should) that the Auteur just doesn't have.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2017
  11. stratocaster

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    Tried the Eikon loaner (out of Modi Multibit and Jot), and I must say I quite like it. It has this warm tonality and relaxed highs, which on the other hand provide quite good detail and resolution. There is just a bit too much (mid) bass energy for my liking. Used my Loki with it (see below plot) and have been enjoying it that way, really. It has a nice soundstage for a closed can and is giving me a surprisingly nice listening experience.

    eikon.jpg
     
  12. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Posting my impressions now instead of when I send them away because I'm not sure if I get what these are about, so I'm looking for some of your feedback.

    Overall my impressions are more in line with @Psalmanazar and @HitmanFluffy.

    When I first got these and listened to them with the pads that were installed (Ori Protein?) I couldn't get it at all. Shouty, overly warm and super rough in the upper mids and treble. The midrange was one of the worst I ever heard. The RE-262 without EQ with its 1.7kHz peak I can stand, but the upper midrange on these made me nauseous pretty much immediately. It's not even that the upper midrange stood out particularly, but it just sounded so wrong. This is even without songs that highlighted the issue like the new Julien Baker album. I first listened to The Package by A Perfect Circle and I had to stop before finishing the song. The shout and general roughness in the upper midrange and treble sounded like sandpaper on my eardrums.
    The Eikon Lambskin pads (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is what they are) are noticeably better to my ears. While they highlight the lower treble roughness and also the unevenness in the lower mids, they seem to mask the upper midrange issues quite well to the point where I can stand listening to them. I wonder if this is due to them being Eikon pads or the material. They also seem a bit less bassy, especially with my glasses. Seal makes a huge difference with these and I preferred them with the glasses to get rid of some of that warmth. The Protein pads seem to get a better seal with the glasses, which is a bad thing in my book.

    All of the following impressions are with my glasses and with the Eikon Lambskin(?) pads:
    • Channel imbalance. This is persistent even after swapping the pads. I haven't measured them yet, but vocals are too far to the left. Seems relatively narrowband though. Bet the left channel measures better than the right. At least a couple db in the midrange.
    • Very closed sounding. Yes, they are closed headphones with decent isolation and very little leakage, but my RE-262s and UERMs sound more open
    • Despite the grain and roughnes transients sound overdamped
    • Staging not too bad. Better than HD600 by a bit; not even close to HD800. I kinda prefer my in-ears for staging
    • Doesn't handle high volumes well at all. Bass distortion seems on the level of the HD600 or slightly worse, but midrange distortion is worse than all of my headphones and subjectively also higher than my speakers. All the stuff that I listen to nowadays is clearer (RE-262 (with EQ), my speakers, HD800)
    • The region between the lower midrange and the midrange seems elevated. Bet it's that 500Hz bump on Hands' measurements. I always trust Hands' measurements the most
    • The bass is weird. The pads seem to have some sort of resonance in the bass region. The bass itself seems to extend quite well, but doesn't have the best slam or impact. Putting my hands on the cups clears up the bass (and midrange) noticeably.
    • Bass extension seems similar to my speakers, but slower/fatter and more distorted. Not on the level of my UERM or the RE-262, but far better than the HD800.
    • Upper midrange and treble is far rougher than HD600 or HD800. Also relative to the midrange slightly brighter than my HD800.
    • The rough treble in a way acts as a sharpening filter for transients.
    • Doesn't seem to scale nearly as well as HD600, let alone HD800. The difference between my Vali and the Ragnarok is pretty small on these. The Vali actually has a better synergy here.
    • The midrange thing... there's just something wrong about the midrange. Vocals don't sound "complete" for what it's worth. Very frustrating. Bet it's the 1-2kHz dip + ringing + distortion. Doesn't sound like a regular dip, it sounds like a narrow suckout with ringing right before it.* Still hurts my head, but you sort of get used to it after a while... until you listen to something that doesn't have it. I didn't expect this to be an issue originally based on the impressions, but I bet this is the same thing @Hands talked about. Also has to do with the imbalance
    • There's also some very noticeable reverby thing that blurs the whole midrange presentation.
    • Macrodynamics seem pretty good, but microdynamics not as good as HD800 or even HD600.
    • Seems very limited in overall resolution. Would be interesting to compare against B2 or RE-262/272, but I doubt it's better.

    Other stuff:
    • I like how the cable sounds. Comparing the XLR to TRS adapter I made from the HD800 and HD600 cable with the one that was in the box I prefer the Eikon adapter. The HD800 cable by far sounds the worst. Overly sharp. The HD600 cable is somewhat grainy and limp-dick sounding while the Eikon cable sounds the warmest and smoothest. The Eikon cable would be a far better synergy for both the HD600 and HD800 than their stock cables. The HD600 cable might be a better synergy for the Eikon tonally, but the Eikon cable seems the best technically.
    • The cable is short. It didn't really bother me, but I wish it was longer.
    • They're heavy and have a ton of clamp. In addition to that the top part of the headband puts pressure on the top of my head despite the suspension strap. I tried to bend it to mitigate the issue, but the top part should be a bit longer ideally.
    • I thought the grain was going to be matched on the left and right cup? Right cup is vertical, left cup is horizontal. WTF? Otherwise they look beautiful.


    Overall I'd easily take my HD600, B2, and RE-262 (even without the EQ that I use) over these. I think you can get a RE-262/B2 (your choice) and HD800 for the price of one of these.
    Because of the midrange weirdness listening to the Eikon is very unfulfilling. It kind of makes me sad in a way, but not the good way. Like you know it's not supposed to sound like that. Music is supposed to be more colorful than that.


    *I think it might be the cylinder behind the driver causing this. Either that or the magnet design is crappy, but I think that'd create issues higher up... like in the lower and mid-treble.


    EDIT: Reformatted
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2017
  13. zach915m

    zach915m MOT: ZMF Headphones

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    ^^^^^^It sounds to me like there might be something wrong with that headphone honestly. I'd be happy to look at them and at least make sure they are in line with stock tuning before they go to the next person.

    Unfortunately this is pretty normal for a tour where a headphone gets shipped around all over the place, it usually needs a little love at some point during the tour for one reason or another.

    Send me a PM or email and we can work it out.

    EDIT: Also I know you guys were doing a US tour as well, it's probably best we check that set out as well just to make sure everything is smooth with both sets.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2017
  14. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Given the channel imbalance, yes. I'll report back with measurements in a few hours to see if anything else seems wrong. Apart from the channel imbalance I don't think my impressions are so far out of the ordinary. Just not my cup of tea.
     
  15. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Make sure of the following:

    1. Hair isn't getting in the way. Should be short and even on both sides.
    2. Head isn't lumpy or asymmetrical. Use a sander as needed to shape head.
    3. No glasses. Glasses are for nerds.
    4. Make sure the pads are lined up exactly on each channel.
    5. Pads take a good 10-15 minutes to warm up and conform our beautiful, ugly heads.
    6. Adjust headband for more clamp if needed.

    They are pretty picky when dialing in channel balance. If all of the above apply, have Zach look at them as he suggested.
     
  16. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    This was the best channel matching I could get with that pair: Moving the pads a couple millimeters changed the measurement so they are super sensitive to placement. I would say this is very good channel matching.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    That looks similar to what I have right now. I'll give it a few more hours since I haven't taken measurements in a long time and need to compare against a few of my references to make sure my measurements are accurate. Actually given how compressed the scale is on your plots I'm not sure if I'm not getting better matching right now. That's not what I'd call good or even acceptable matching, though.

    Yep, I noticed this too subjectively. Better seal with warm pads.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2017
  18. zach915m

    zach915m MOT: ZMF Headphones

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    Hey man! I sent you a PM - just want to start a convo with you to get this set worked out for the tour!
     
  19. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    I should say that with pleather pads and especially angled, I've seen MUCH worse matching with other pads and headphones. I'm sure they are closer matched than my measurements show but they aren't perfectly matched.
     
  20. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Alright, I know it took way longer than "a few hours", but the Eikon was a real bitch to measure. I've never had a headphone that was so inconsistent based on how I measured it and it took forever to get just remotely accurate measurements. Taking these FR measurements took me way longer than it should have and even then I don't have accurate distortion measurements yet.

    For starters, here's the frequency response with my usual in-ear method. This is with the Lambskin pads and with two different pads, like you'd listen to it normally. The left and right pad are a little different and this was the combination that had the best matching subjectively and also measurably. It was incredibly hard for me to get a good seal on the right ear for me for some reason, so it's likely that the imbalance was slightly greater when I listened to it.
    This is also with my glasses on, which is how I listened to it. Without you'd get 2-3db more bass.
    As usual I referenced the measurements to about 2.83Vrms (I measured at around 90db). Almost 5db more efficient than the HD800 below 1.5kHz, considering the impedance is about the same (haven't measured it though)

    ZMF Eikon Lambskin (in-ear frequency response) (controlled leakage to get bass under control):
    ZMF Eikon in-ear.png
    Using the same pad on the left and right side I was able to get much better channel matching than this, but this was incredibly hard to achieve and I basically cherry-picked the best measurements, so in reality the matching is likely worse than that. (frequency response attached)

    As you can see the 20Hz-1.5kHz region looks pretty linear. It does sound warmer and bassier than this, but I think that's mainly because everything above 1.5kHz is shelved down. The RE-262 is similar in this regard, so I don't think the measurements are off.
    In hindsight the FR is quite a bit warmer and less bassy than I described. I dunno WTF I was talking about when I said it had more treble than the HD800. Subjectively the 5kHz spike is there when listening to sweeps, so I attribute it to that, but the rest of the treble is definitely shelved. Although the 9-12kHz region does sound elevated compared to the rest of the treble region subjectively, so it's not quite as shelved. I think the rough treble texture made it sound brighter.

    ZMF Eikon coupler frequency response:
    ZMF Eikon v2 + v1 coupler.png
    I never get a good seal with closed headphones with my "v1" type coupler, so this is the FR merged from a V2 and a V1 type measurement. Graphs merged at around 500Hz.
    This to me is a much better compromise than using the v2 type coupler which allows you to get a good seal with every headphone. The v2 measurement (not pictured) looked horribly shelved with a massive 5kHz spike, which is not representative of the headphone itself IMO. There is a 5kHz spike on the head, but since it's an ear resonance I don't think it's as bothersome subjectively. Above 5kHz I tend to focus more on the V1 measurements than the in-ear measurements.
    The V1 type measurement is actually pretty close to the in-ear method above 500Hz in this case. That's not the case with an HD800 (or most headphones for that matter), but with this headphone it is.

    I also measured the response with the microphone 1mm away from the driver to get a sense of the inherent driver response and matching. (Frequency response attached). There's a bit of a 4kHz bump and of course the feature at 1.5kHz. I also got a null at 7khz which vanished with more distance to the driver. I do feel there's a bit of an imbalance at 3-4kHz subjectively, but otherwise they seem quite well matched.


    EDIT: Forgot to attach the Ori Protein vs Eikon Lambskin pad comparison. I picked the measurements that I felt were most representative subjectively, which means I got a bit of a better seal with the Ori pads on purpose. What bothered me with the Ori pads was the elevated 500Hz-1.5kHz region resulting in terrible shout/honk. The measurements don't show why I feel the Lambskin pads sound brighter, but they do. Pads have less of an effect with coupler measurements, so I didn't try to measure it on my V1 coupler.

    Also let me know what else to measure. I'm trying to get distortion measurements, but the state of my measurement mics is pretty sad right now, so not sure if I can get more accurate measurements than Marvey. These will go back to Zach in a few days so he can check them. I don't think they're defective, it's just that the pads could be better matched. Most of the imbalance would go away with better pad matching. Maybe some of the back damping moved changing the 1-2kHz region, but that's just a guess. Could be a driver thing, too.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Nov 12, 2017

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