ZMF New Headphones: Vérité and Aeolus

@purr1n can you say more about what a headphone being "Japanese" entails sonically? Not familiar with that reference.

 

@purr1n Would a Gungnir Multibit -> lyr 3 chain be resolving enough to appreciate the Verite's "super volume gradations"?

Also, I'm not really familiar with how the th-xx sounds, but how would you say it compares to, say, the eikon?

 

The Veritè is the more coloured of the two?

I was not expecting that from previous descriptions.

 

"Japanese Colored"•

 

The "Japanese coloured" while being technically excellent bit is what really excites me, never mind that the Verite is scary pricey. What I like about w-shaped responses is that it sounds marvellously balanced while adding pizzazz and reducing honkiness at the expense of maybe some "shout"; the way the X00 coloured sound was more euphonic than not, an improvement here is super desirable.

I can imagine @purr1n is fanboying the hell out now because I remember a super-resolving X00 was high on the wish list. This might have bumped the Auteur down a space on my audition queue...

Ass parked waiting for measurements and gushing.

 

Ditto. Was in touch with Zach this AM. I'll be sending the Verite back for tweaks. Hope to hear the updates soon! =)

 

Yeah, the wooden HE-560 was awesome. But it cracked...

 

Pre-order 10/16... Shipping?

 

"ASAP - Q1 2019"

 

@purr1n Through your and Julie's assessment thus far, are you noticing particular gear synergies or chains that bring the best out of the Vert? Ex: Does very well with Vali2 or MCHT but scales well to ZDS et al.?

 

Ah yeah:

1. Universe pads: Deeper, warmer, less treble peak, larger 3d stage.

2. Verite pads: Shallower/flatter, tilted a little counter clockwise FR, more treble/zing.

I'm pretty sure you measured the Universe pads. I prefer those, I know @Hands prefers the flatter pads. It's been about 50/50 in user preference for which pad is preferred.

 

Glad the flaming hot train to busan wreck of a thread was set on course again. Here are some impressions. I heard Verite at Marv's yesterday. The good news for ZMF fans is that they conform to the house sound, as you might have hoped/imagined. They are warm and a bit dark. They are fast, have some lifted bass, some cup reverb and sound closed in compared to open cans. They come in a sexy wooden display case / box. Japanese craftmanship at its best. These are not the "one can to rule them all" *unless you already feel the Auteur is one can to rule them all. In that case, these may be, too. My sense is that if you like ZMF house sound, you will like these a lot.

Otoh, If you're looking for a less fucked Utopia or other reference level can, this may not be for you, unless you know you're looking for a complementary can that is warmer and darker and bassier, rather than a direct replacement. I felt this way with both sets of pads, but prefer the shallower set. The pads themselves are f'ing nice. The headphones are comfy unless you have the neck of a titty baby. Since marv mentioned synergy, I would want to try these out of a more neutral and fast amp to compare, we had only the Stratus and EC AF for comparisons yesterday. For context, or for those wanting to discount my impressions, I generally prefer hd800 sdr, hd600, elex, and for planar, he6 code-x and pmx2 tonality, that kind of thing. Will listen to them again soon. Test retest reliability (of impressions) is important.

 

Hey Zach????

Any chance you might be showing up at the Audio Show in Tampa Bay Feb 8-10 next year! Got that weekend off from
work...!