Pad rolling is love, pad rolling is life. Roll your pads folks, roll 'em. I'm presently experimenting with the Auteur Classics but this will be a reference point if I ever land a Verite. Much obliged!
Interesting breakdown on the pads! I've noticed on the VC, my two most favorite pads are the Auteur leather and hybrids. The leathers have slightly more recessed vocals with a bit of an upper mid dip, making things sound a bit distant. There's also a bit of a peak at 5.5k which can be a bit sharp. The reverberation of the leather though adds a nice echoey effect and it feels like the low bass is more present. I usually EQ these for my taste, bringing down 5.5k, adding bass, and bumping up around 3k. The hybrids though are overall more comfortable. The attack is a bit softer, the bass is not as strong, and there's a nice bump to the upper mids, sounding less distant to my ears. I don't usually EQ these. On the universe pads, the Universe hybrids are pretty interesting. Much tighter stage, vocals bumped up even further over the Auteur hybrids (bordering on shouty), and midbass impact is pretty solid. The leather Uni pads have never impressed me, though. Curious to try the BE2s.
I really like what ZMF is doing because most other companies leave users hanging dry when it comes to replacement pads, leaving us to be served by 3rd party pad makers, but then you're always not sure how good is the pad going to fit your headphone. Thank you Lachlan for going through this review, it's not glamorous but useful.
I'm using auteur hybrid solids since day 1 with my VC. Love those pads, they are very comfy and sound is smooth just as I like it. Got more pads maybe one day I dare to try something different 😅
Yep, those are great! Glad you're enjoying them and do try some others one day - you never know what you might enjoy and it's so easy to swap back again so zero risk! 🙂
I just keep the All leather Auteur pads on my VC's. They also came with BE2 leather perfs, but they put the driver much closer to the ear and reduce the bass 🤔 If anything would be interested in a deeper memory foam pad for the VC's
I have no doubt. I just don't know if the ones I got with my Vérité are Be2 or Vérité pads... I have some Be2s that I'm certain of and I think the other unknown pads are identical, but you've got me guessing now...
Great vid. Apprciate your work. i own many zmf pads with my VC and VO. for VO, love the lamb uni perf and eikon lamb perf. But VC on eikon lam Solid works best, becuase of the fit and also the bass is much deeper and also takes bit of edge of the upper freq. Atrium is lamb uni perf for me. None of the suedes and hybrids work for me. Then again (grain of salt) my default amp is AGD he9 mk2 and wells milo
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm sure that the source chain has some influence on the pad choices as well as personal preferences. That's why it's so great to have all these choices.
@@PassionforSound yes i agree the amp, dac even genre has an impact on pad choice. I will say though, that the VC specifically is a challenge for fit for a good seal. Quite a few VC owners in my country shared this concern. Luckily for me the eikon pad did the job, with slight trade off on the upper freq. I also got 8mm and 10mm cone and ball grubs to secure the inward tilt of the cups more securely so now i can move my head around while listening to VC without losing seal.
I only volume match for components like DACs and amps. When it comes to headphones, volume matching isn't so helpful because our perception of the audio varies with the peaks and cuts in the frequency response. A headphone that's enjoyable for me at 75dB might become less enjoyable at 78dB and vice versa for a different headphone. The same holds true for pads or any tweaks to the headphones. Further to that comes the question of how should you match the volume on two or more items with different frequency responses? If you match at a set frequency then the total SPL from one headphone will be very different from another depending on frequency response. If you match with pink/white noise then you aren't necessarily accounting for the perceptual impact of specific peaks and cuts in the frequency response. So, my approach is to maintain the same volume initially, adjust to a comfortable listening level as needed and then assess.
Been waiting for this type of video for ages Lachlan.
Hope it's worth the wait!
Pad rolling is love, pad rolling is life. Roll your pads folks, roll 'em. I'm presently experimenting with the Auteur Classics but this will be a reference point if I ever land a Verite. Much obliged!
My pleasure! I'm hoping to try the Auteur Classics soon too so we can compare notes 🙂🙂
Roll them, but I don't recommend smoking them
Interesting breakdown on the pads! I've noticed on the VC, my two most favorite pads are the Auteur leather and hybrids. The leathers have slightly more recessed vocals with a bit of an upper mid dip, making things sound a bit distant. There's also a bit of a peak at 5.5k which can be a bit sharp. The reverberation of the leather though adds a nice echoey effect and it feels like the low bass is more present. I usually EQ these for my taste, bringing down 5.5k, adding bass, and bumping up around 3k.
The hybrids though are overall more comfortable. The attack is a bit softer, the bass is not as strong, and there's a nice bump to the upper mids, sounding less distant to my ears. I don't usually EQ these.
On the universe pads, the Universe hybrids are pretty interesting. Much tighter stage, vocals bumped up even further over the Auteur hybrids (bordering on shouty), and midbass impact is pretty solid. The leather Uni pads have never impressed me, though.
Curious to try the BE2s.
I use hybrids, sounds so good that I dont need to try others :) VC is exceptional
Thanks for sharing your experiences, JL3001!
I'm with both you and Soulfulfool that the Auteur hybrids are great (and the Auteur leather too)
I love my Auteur hybrid pads (perforated and non-) on my ATH-AWKT. They really up the comfort and seal much better than the original.
Nice! Thanks for letting us know that it's a good combo
Woot woot 🎉 i have been looking at ZMF pads recently too ❤
Great! Hope this helps
I really like what ZMF is doing because most other companies leave users hanging dry when it comes to replacement pads, leaving us to be served by 3rd party pad makers, but then you're always not sure how good is the pad going to fit your headphone. Thank you Lachlan for going through this review, it's not glamorous but useful.
My pleasure! Glad it's helpful and I agree that ZMF are so helpful offering the pad and cable options for those who wish to tweak.
@PassionforSound Thanks Much! and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too!
I've been looking forward to this...
Hope it's interesting/enjoyable/helpful 😁
I'm using auteur hybrid solids since day 1 with my VC. Love those pads, they are very comfy and sound is smooth just as I like it. Got more pads maybe one day I dare to try something different 😅
Yep, those are great! Glad you're enjoying them and do try some others one day - you never know what you might enjoy and it's so easy to swap back again so zero risk! 🙂
Awesome video. I use Auteur Hybrids with my VC.
A rimshot is when the drum head and rim is struck at the same time.
Good info' thanks 👍👍
Thanks Fred. Glad you found the info to be good 🙂
I just keep the All leather Auteur pads on my VC's. They also came with BE2 leather perfs, but they put the driver much closer to the ear and reduce the bass 🤔
If anything would be interested in a deeper memory foam pad for the VC's
That's would be cool to see what more depth brings. I imagine, at some point, too much depth works against us.
@@PassionforSound that cave like reverb 🤣
Really useful video thanks.
So glad it was helpful
Hi Lachlan, did you try the standard Verite perf leather pads? as my VO came in with Verite and Universe perf leathers
I wasn't aware that there was an actual Vérité pad. I don't think I have any...
Just did some reading and it's possible that I have some Vérité pads that I mistook for Be2 pads because I've got a few different BE2s...
@@PassionforSound I see..... as Verite and Be pads both have perf leather and they sound quite different.....
@@PassionforSound Vérité pads are more flat than Be2.
I have no doubt. I just don't know if the ones I got with my Vérité are Be2 or Vérité pads...
I have some Be2s that I'm certain of and I think the other unknown pads are identical, but you've got me guessing now...
Im noticed that you have the same conclusions as to Autuer hybrids on VC as Koji on Convinceme audio.
I go to both of you for best reviews
That's always cool to know that there's some agreement and alignment! Thanks for letting me know and glad I can continue to help
Merry Christmas
You too, mate! Hope you and the family have a great day. 🎄❤️🎉
Great vid. Apprciate your work. i own many zmf pads with my VC and VO. for VO, love the lamb uni perf and eikon lamb perf. But VC on eikon lam Solid works best, becuase of the fit and also the bass is much deeper and also takes bit of edge of the upper freq. Atrium is lamb uni perf for me. None of the suedes and hybrids work for me. Then again (grain of salt) my default amp is AGD he9 mk2 and wells milo
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm sure that the source chain has some influence on the pad choices as well as personal preferences. That's why it's so great to have all these choices.
@@PassionforSound yes i agree the amp, dac even genre has an impact on pad choice. I will say though, that the VC specifically is a challenge for fit for a good seal. Quite a few VC owners in my country shared this concern. Luckily for me the eikon pad did the job, with slight trade off on the upper freq. I also got 8mm and 10mm cone and ball grubs to secure the inward tilt of the cups more securely so now i can move my head around while listening to VC without losing seal.
Glad you found a good solution!
Hello Lachlan,
Did you volume match for those pad switches?
I only volume match for components like DACs and amps. When it comes to headphones, volume matching isn't so helpful because our perception of the audio varies with the peaks and cuts in the frequency response. A headphone that's enjoyable for me at 75dB might become less enjoyable at 78dB and vice versa for a different headphone. The same holds true for pads or any tweaks to the headphones. Further to that comes the question of how should you match the volume on two or more items with different frequency responses? If you match at a set frequency then the total SPL from one headphone will be very different from another depending on frequency response. If you match with pink/white noise then you aren't necessarily accounting for the perceptual impact of specific peaks and cuts in the frequency response.
So, my approach is to maintain the same volume initially, adjust to a comfortable listening level as needed and then assess.
Eikon suede on the VC for me
Nice! I haven't tried that one
@@PassionforSound They are deep so get the larger soundstage and the suede effect.
Best of both worlds - nice!
Merry Christmas
You too! 🎄🎄