I am just now starting to consider getting into ZMF headphones and this was an amazing review and explanation of your experience. Thank you for taking the time to lay it out so well for us.
Zach is such a nice guy, i once mailed with him about some ZMF Earpads i wanted to buy for my TH900mk2 mod and he was super friendly and helpful :) Also using a perforated pad for a closed back headphone destroyed the sound of every headphone on which i tried it out so far :D this should prove how good that unique dampening system must be.
That's awesome! He and the team are amazing people. Truly passionate about what they produce and they are carving their own unique lineup in the market which is awesome
@@GadgetryTech already layed my eyes on Verite and Atrium Open, slowly saving some money for one of them, but they are hella expensive here in Germany due to tax. Maybe i'll have one of them on my ears by the end of this year :)
Looking forward to the review on the DSHA-3FN. I own the AC (Olive Wood) and that is one of the amps I am thinking about getting. You're right there is something very special with the AC that I haven't found with another headphones.
Awesome!! The DHSA-3FN is the best amp I've heard the AC on so far. I did recently work on getting two other similarly priced amps ordered for delivery to have the final comparison though. They arrive in a week or two. More to come!
Finally someone gets it. Metal is the hardest genre to get right. I think for technical genres without much bass, breakdowns etc. planars are the way to go. Think your big 4. Aeolus is pretty good for metal if you brighten it up a bit. I want to know if they will do an atrium damping on this one.
Thanks for the comment! It's been SO difficult for me to find headphones I truly enjoy for rock and metal. These just crush it and it's been great overall.
Thanks so much! I wasn't a huge fan of how I expressed certain things, as I feel I could always explain my thoughts/feelings better. I really do love this headphone though, so I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
You talk about amp pairings a lot in this video, and you have a measurement rig. Did you measure the headphone on different amps to determine if there's a measurable difference? Do you have an explanation for what you're reporting to hear (e.g., output impedance interactions with the headphone, etc)?
I'm looking at one closed and one open from ZMF. What would you recommend? Caldera open and Caldera closed or Atrium Closed etc. Right now my favorites I have are Stellia closed and LCD-5 for open. I just wish the LCD-5 had more punch and slam for the bottom end and the Stellia a little more detail. I actually prefer the focal Clear MG's a little more than the Stellia's but then again they are open. I'm a musician and producer so I like the feel of near field monitors and being on stage or right there to hear everything. Not being in the audience were you can feel more space and the sound of the auditorium or hall.
I own 3 sets of ZMF Limited Edition cans. Currently I own Atrium Closed in Camphor Burl, Verite Closed, in Desert Ironwood and Verite Open in Redwood Burl. For speed and detail I use my Verites ; and for a fuller lush sound the Ateium Closed. I prefer the timbre and voicing of the Atrium Closed for vocals and more Pop Music. My next set will be the Atrium Open and Bokeh after recent reviews of the Boken. For ultra detail I still use one of my 2 sets of Hifiman HE6’s.
I personally stopped my search for closed back after buying verite closed, they do for me what you described about AC. Even more said their sound can be a bit changed by tubes, like I was changing power tubes and feel more of punch and energy ofcourse without loosing resolution. Was considering Atrium open but perhaps Caldera is a better choice if I decide to invest that kind of money
In general, do you prefer the Atrium Open, Caldera or the Empyrean 2s? I am planning on picking one to pair with my high end tube amp for gaming + movies + acoustic + vocal music
That's a tough one tbh. I purchased the Caldera because it's one of the best overall headphones for the money I've ever heard. It's just ridiculous what it can do. You can EQ it to sound however you like too, in addition to pad swaps.
Hi! I'm looking to buy a new headset and I'm stuck between the Hyperx Cloud 3 Wireless and the SteelSeries Nova 7's, In your opinion which do you think is a better option?
Nova 7 has a lot more features for the money and is very easy to customize. The Cloud 3 sounds a little bit better, though you can't really customize it for console. Cloud 3 has a better mic and battery life, but no bluetooth sadly. It really comes down to what's most important to you!
Great Video! I'm looking for a new wired "all in one" FPS/Story/Music/Movies headset which would you recommend between those 9 or other options in this price range 1- Logitech G Pro X 2- Hyper X Alpha S 3- Hyper X Cloud 3 4- Hyper X Cloud 2 5- Razer Kraken V3 6- Razer Blackshark V2 7- Steelseries Arctis Pro + Gamedac 8- Epos H6 Pro 9- Corsair HS80 P.S: I can't afford a DAC/AMP.
@@vahidghiasvand9087So tired of people recommending the Maxwell to literally everyone. It's double his price range, and it does have cons. They're heavy and fragile.
I have listened to a few of these: the G Pro X2 Lightspeed, Cloud III Wireless, Kraken, and Arctis Pro Gamedac The only one that I truly liked is the Cloud III. They sound pretty good and the build quality is very impressive. Note that the wired version sounds different than the wireless so I'd get the wireless if you can.
The Logitech and Corsair are overpriced and very middling HyperX Cloud 3 is alright Havent heard the Razer stuff EposH6 Pro Ive heard solid things about but havent heard If you can afford a Steelseries Arctis Pro, no idea why you wouldnt just save a little more money and get an Audeze Maxwell (especially if you find a repuatable person selling a used one). The jump from any of these headsets that more or less are the same to that is massive in terms of Sound Quality, and it has a great feature set
I'd say just different. Both are great in their own way. Atrium is more vocal/mid forward, with similar air. The Atrium Closed has much more bass impact if you want a headphone with more punch to it.
You mentioned that on different amp it sounded more to your expectations, which is not a breaking news. That should be obvious, source is one of the variables on the path to final perception, thus I take any reviews of products with large grain of salt especially when talking about products which are so intimate as headphones. Source material (encoding) -> DAC -> AMP -> Cable -> Product -> Head and ears -> Brain -> Emotions = Final perception. Each step brings new variables, and the path is so long it's practically impossible for 2 different people to get the same perception, even if they listen the same thing on the same set of source stack, because there is always a person as final variable. What reviewer can do is simply compare products stacked next to each other on the same source and describe differences, any non relative and final statement like this is bright, warm or whatever is simply subjective thus kind of useless. One can only try something himself to find out how does he feel about it, there is no way around it. Your reviews stand out in the chaos of internet, because most often than not you are trying to tell your intimate story about the products, which is valuable by itself, but one watching/listening should never ever make any final decision based by someone else story, he have to make the story himself.
Quite well in different areas of course! Maxwell has built in DSP, so you can make it have a frequency response almost however you please. They have very different transient characteristics though, which can effect how natural the sound comes across. Both have their place. This is all not considering the fit, finish, build quality of course.
@@GadgetryTechgod forbid the geniuses over at Audeze learn how to tune anything acoustically! For a gaming headset it makes more sense to bundle DSP, but even their flagship wired headphones need EQing, and the iSine and LCDi series flat out do not work as intended unless they’re connected to an iPhone with the cipher cable and an outdated version of the app. I’m starting to think their engineers just aren’t that talented.
Can you make a Video of IEMs for fps gaming? High end iems for directing footsteps.. not just left and right, more like if footsteps coming from back, left and right back and so on? Would be amazing. With a finishing sentence if iems or overear headsets are better for this case. Thank you really much if u can do that
I'll make something along those lines at some point, but the sound stage/imaging performance is a little bit more convoluted when it comes to explaining how it works. I'll do my best to explain it in future content.
I am just now starting to consider getting into ZMF headphones and this was an amazing review and explanation of your experience. Thank you for taking the time to lay it out so well for us.
Thank you for this great review of this headphone. Out of my price range, but always good to experience this through your content. Take care, Sir.
Thanks Simon!
Bokeh sounds incredible for the price and doesn't require a $2K+ DAC/amp to sound its best. ZMF knocked it out of the park with the Bokeh.
That thumbnail, it’s just so beautiful. ❤
Haha, thanks!
Zach is such a nice guy, i once mailed with him about some ZMF Earpads i wanted to buy for my TH900mk2 mod and he was super friendly and helpful :)
Also using a perforated pad for a closed back headphone destroyed the sound of every headphone on which i tried it out so far :D this should prove how good that unique dampening system must be.
That's awesome! He and the team are amazing people. Truly passionate about what they produce and they are carving their own unique lineup in the market which is awesome
@@GadgetryTech already layed my eyes on Verite and Atrium Open, slowly saving some money for one of them, but they are hella expensive here in Germany due to tax. Maybe i'll have one of them on my ears by the end of this year :)
Looking forward to the review on the DSHA-3FN. I own the AC (Olive Wood) and that is one of the amps I am thinking about getting. You're right there is something very special with the AC that I haven't found with another headphones.
Awesome!! The DHSA-3FN is the best amp I've heard the AC on so far. I did recently work on getting two other similarly priced amps ordered for delivery to have the final comparison though. They arrive in a week or two. More to come!
Finally someone gets it. Metal is the hardest genre to get right.
I think for technical genres without much bass, breakdowns etc. planars are the way to go. Think your big 4.
Aeolus is pretty good for metal if you brighten it up a bit. I want to know if they will do an atrium damping on this one.
Thanks for the comment! It's been SO difficult for me to find headphones I truly enjoy for rock and metal. These just crush it and it's been great overall.
Good review man. You managed to avoid too much repetition in your description, so kudos for that.
Thanks so much! I wasn't a huge fan of how I expressed certain things, as I feel I could always explain my thoughts/feelings better. I really do love this headphone though, so I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
You talk about amp pairings a lot in this video, and you have a measurement rig. Did you measure the headphone on different amps to determine if there's a measurable difference? Do you have an explanation for what you're reporting to hear (e.g., output impedance interactions with the headphone, etc)?
Good review and thumbnail! Waiting for the Bokeh review next
Thanks so much! I look forward to covering it one day!
I'm looking at one closed and one open from ZMF. What would you recommend? Caldera open and Caldera closed or Atrium Closed etc. Right now my favorites I have are Stellia closed and LCD-5 for open. I just wish the LCD-5 had more punch and slam for the bottom end and the Stellia a little more detail. I actually prefer the focal Clear MG's a little more than the Stellia's but then again they are open. I'm a musician and producer so I like the feel of near field monitors and being on stage or right there to hear everything. Not being in the audience were you can feel more space and the sound of the auditorium or hall.
I own 3 sets of ZMF Limited Edition cans. Currently I own Atrium Closed in Camphor Burl, Verite Closed, in Desert Ironwood and Verite Open in Redwood Burl. For speed and detail I use my Verites ; and for a fuller lush sound the Ateium Closed. I prefer the timbre and voicing of the Atrium Closed for vocals and more Pop Music. My next set will be the Atrium Open and Bokeh after recent reviews of the Boken. For ultra detail I still use one of my 2 sets of Hifiman HE6’s.
Thank you very much man, ZMF makes beautiful headphones eish 🤣
Haha that they do. There's a certain level of class & craft with them
I personally stopped my search for closed back after buying verite closed, they do for me what you described about AC. Even more said their sound can be a bit changed by tubes, like I was changing power tubes and feel more of punch and energy ofcourse without loosing resolution. Was considering Atrium open but perhaps Caldera is a better choice if I decide to invest that kind of money
In general, do you prefer the Atrium Open, Caldera or the Empyrean 2s? I am planning on picking one to pair with my high end tube amp for gaming + movies + acoustic + vocal music
That's a tough one tbh. I purchased the Caldera because it's one of the best overall headphones for the money I've ever heard. It's just ridiculous what it can do. You can EQ it to sound however you like too, in addition to pad swaps.
Hi! I'm looking to buy a new headset and I'm stuck between the Hyperx Cloud 3 Wireless and the SteelSeries Nova 7's, In your opinion which do you think is a better option?
Nova 7 has a lot more features for the money and is very easy to customize. The Cloud 3 sounds a little bit better, though you can't really customize it for console. Cloud 3 has a better mic and battery life, but no bluetooth sadly. It really comes down to what's most important to you!
How would you compare Empyrean2 to the Atrium Closed?
If you could only choose one headphone and it's all you get forever, Caldera open or Atrium closed?
The most expensive headphone I own is the ZMF Atrium open, and I like it a lot.
Definitely an amazing headphone. A lot of reviewers have that as a highly recommended pick, which says a lot.
That's my favorite headphone. Nothing ever sounds fatiguing or bad on it at all.
Just received the bokeh.. sounds fantastic.. not sure how portable I'd say it is!
Good to know! I haven't heard the Bokeh yet but I hope to at AXPONA next month.
Thanks great video, those are some nice headphones.
I appreciate it Mark! They are indeed quite nice to look at
What wood is this?
1 month later I realized it is already mentioned in the beginning lol
Great Video! I'm looking for a new wired "all in one" FPS/Story/Music/Movies headset which would you recommend between those 9 or other options in this price range
1- Logitech G Pro X
2- Hyper X Alpha S
3- Hyper X Cloud 3
4- Hyper X Cloud 2
5- Razer Kraken V3
6- Razer Blackshark V2
7- Steelseries Arctis Pro + Gamedac
8- Epos H6 Pro
9- Corsair HS80
P.S: I can't afford a DAC/AMP.
You can always get a dac/amp later.
Audeze maxwell
@@vahidghiasvand9087So tired of people recommending the Maxwell to literally everyone. It's double his price range, and it does have cons. They're heavy and fragile.
I have listened to a few of these: the G Pro X2 Lightspeed, Cloud III Wireless, Kraken, and Arctis Pro Gamedac
The only one that I truly liked is the Cloud III. They sound pretty good and the build quality is very impressive. Note that the wired version sounds different than the wireless so I'd get the wireless if you can.
The Logitech and Corsair are overpriced and very middling
HyperX Cloud 3 is alright
Havent heard the Razer stuff
EposH6 Pro Ive heard solid things about but havent heard
If you can afford a Steelseries Arctis Pro, no idea why you wouldnt just save a little more money and get an Audeze Maxwell (especially if you find a repuatable person selling a used one). The jump from any of these headsets that more or less are the same to that is massive in terms of Sound Quality, and it has a great feature set
Better than Verite Closed?
I haven't been able to compare the two with side to side listening unfortunately
Atrium open review when?
Is it better than Atrium Open?
I'd say just different. Both are great in their own way. Atrium is more vocal/mid forward, with similar air. The Atrium Closed has much more bass impact if you want a headphone with more punch to it.
You just my day in the UK, I'm happy now I can watch this vid.
Niiiice! Thanks! I hope you like it.
@@GadgetryTech it was the same as any vid you send out,pure class from day one.I couldn't afford the price unfortunately but lots of other will.
Just got them
What do you think? Mine show up tomorrow
That's so awesome! I can't wait to hear what you both think. Definitely give them a little time with different tracks to see how you feel
Any update guys?
wtb 2500 bucks to get them, beautiful piece thou
You mentioned that on different amp it sounded more to your expectations, which is not a breaking news. That should be obvious, source is one of the variables on the path to final perception, thus I take any reviews of products with large grain of salt especially when talking about products which are so intimate as headphones.
Source material (encoding) -> DAC -> AMP -> Cable -> Product -> Head and ears -> Brain -> Emotions = Final perception.
Each step brings new variables, and the path is so long it's practically impossible for 2 different people to get the same perception, even if they listen the same thing on the same set of source stack, because there is always a person as final variable.
What reviewer can do is simply compare products stacked next to each other on the same source and describe differences, any non relative and final statement like this is bright, warm or whatever is simply subjective thus kind of useless.
One can only try something himself to find out how does he feel about it, there is no way around it.
Your reviews stand out in the chaos of internet, because most often than not you are trying to tell your intimate story about the products, which is valuable by itself, but one watching/listening should never ever make any final decision based by someone else story, he have to make the story himself.
I wonder how is the maxwells keep up with the Zmf’s closedbacks 😜
Quite well in different areas of course! Maxwell has built in DSP, so you can make it have a frequency response almost however you please. They have very different transient characteristics though, which can effect how natural the sound comes across. Both have their place. This is all not considering the fit, finish, build quality of course.
@@GadgetryTechgod forbid the geniuses over at Audeze learn how to tune anything acoustically! For a gaming headset it makes more sense to bundle DSP, but even their flagship wired headphones need EQing, and the iSine and LCDi series flat out do not work as intended unless they’re connected to an iPhone with the cipher cable and an outdated version of the app. I’m starting to think their engineers just aren’t that talented.
Can you make a Video of IEMs for fps gaming? High end iems for directing footsteps.. not just left and right, more like if footsteps coming from back, left and right back and so on? Would be amazing. With a finishing sentence if iems or overear headsets are better for this case. Thank you really much if u can do that
I'll make something along those lines at some point, but the sound stage/imaging performance is a little bit more convoluted when it comes to explaining how it works. I'll do my best to explain it in future content.