XLR out was my ultimate favorite. As @perogie noted, I was specifying TRS here as it is the only output where impedance is selectable.
I have more detailed impressions here.
For the VC, I go between the Be2 and Auteur pads. I don’t reach for the Universe pads as often. I tried the Eikon pads once and it didn’t sound correct. I prefer the more neutral, less warm pads for maximum detail retrieval - with the Be2 being at the extreme. When the ear cavity gets to feel too small or I crave a larger stage, I use the Auteur pads.
I prefer lambskin pads for the least damped sonics, reaching for hybrid pads for comfort only especially during hotter weather.
Verite pads are the closest to the Utopia so if you find them aggressive the utopia edges past that.
The whole metallic timbre thing is a bunch of bull IMO. Either the audio chain is poor or that is how you interpret a can that actually has a treble response or you are just following the herd opinion.
The Utopia dynamics are awesome, for some, Im one of those who feel that way. Id throw away my VO in a heartbeat if I had to choose between the two. The Starlett matches it very well.
Great writeup. Your thoughts on gain sound difference in particular is intriguing I might try to level match the various gain settings again just to see if I can hear a difference though will most likely be splitting hairs at this point. Suede tend to degrade much faster on my climate which is why I tend to lean towards lambskin for headphones but I might try to get my hands on a pair of hybrid be2 just to hear how it differs from the lambskin.
I’m guessing that unlike the verite, there is not a hint of warmth or any sort of bass lift in the utopia coupled that with the revealing nature of it’s driver could makes certain recording sound a tad lean. having heard the utopia from multiple setups ranging from full size solid state like the pro idsd to tube amps like euphoria, it seems like a chameleon of a headphone in terms of how it responds to amping.
This is no knock on the verite but I think it pale slightly in comparison to the utopia when it comes to pure resolution and imaging. I can certainly see how people would prefer one over the other but when it comes to recommendation for a blind buy I tend to lean gravitate towards recommending the utopia or the auteur as it has a much safer tuning. All these talk about utopia is making me even more curious about how it’s gonna pair with my starlett. Maybe I should get 1 soon
I would like to make a slight correction re my stance of verite pads. Perhaps aggressive isn’t the right word to describe the verite pads. It does sound a bit more upfront only when compared directly to the be2 pads but as a standalone I wouldn’t call it an aggressive sound per se. But yes I do agree that the verite pads takes it closest in terms of tuning to the utopia.
Thanks. I agree, it is splitting hairs, especially XLR SE vs balanced. To this day, I’m not certain there is an audible difference for that one, if any. That’s interesting about suede degradation in your climate. When I had my first ZMF, the Eikon, I compared the Eikon and Auteur pads, each in lambskin and hybrid. I posted impressions in some ZMF thread, I don’t recall which though. My takeaway was that I prefer lambskin for sonics.
FWIW i confirmed with Donald what the various switches did on a Stratus.
High/low gain switch, selects 2 different transformer taps for the SE out
High is 8Ohms, low is 3Ohms if you are using the low impedance out
For the balanced connection (Bal/SE) it just dictates whether L- is ground or the center output tap is ground, so there should be no audible difference.
The Balanced out is always 8 Ohms
So high gain low impedance SE is electrically directly connected to the same output as the balanced out, so any difference you hear is in the connector or headphone cable.
FWIW I preferred balanced out over the SE as well, but I also recently tried a dual 3pin XLR, and I felt that sounded better still. Again can only be the connectors or the cable.
I’ve preferred low impedance out/balanced on the stratus across the board with headphones, it sounds less sluggish and controls the drivers better, I also thought rolling the rectifier to an NOS RCA improved the dynamics.
The only headphone I run through the SE out is the D8KPro, where I run low gain, to get the lower output impedance.
Yes it’s not on the website on the Stratus on the Single ended out using the low impedance out only low gain is 3 Ohms, and high gain is 8 Ohms.
I specifically asked Donald about this, since I had assumed it would be a separate tap (it is on the stratus at least, it’s using 1/2 the balanced signal for low gain) and hence the impedance could not be the same.
I had pasted information on the Starlett, assuming that the output impedance of the Stratus and Starlett were equal.
It appears that the output impedance for the Stratus and Starlett differ here (8 vs 9). Starlett was pasted above, Stratus pasted below (consistent with your correspondence with Donald, and on the website):
• 1/4" stereo TRS output on full gain, 0dB attenuation setting has selectable output impedance between 8 ohm (Low setting) and 120 ohm (IEC setting)
Also wondered if anyone had had the opportunity to compare the Starlett with the ZMF Pendant, or to compare a Verite with an Auteur on the Starlett?
I have a Pendant and think I generally prefer the Auteur on it, although I can appreciate the Verite is technically better on at least some songs. Wondered if this would be likely to change with the Starlett.
I had a Pendant for a few years and switched to a Starlett a few months ago. Both are excellent amps, very similar in quality but with different approaches. I found the Pendant to be energetic, extremely fast and dynamic. Tons of slam, great detail without causing fatigue. The Starlett is more of a refined presentation that emphasizes midrange bloom and decay. It trades the lightning fast transients for a more liquid sound.
My current headphones are VO, VC and Auteur. While my favorite of the three is the VC, I go back and forth on my preference between the other two. I agree that the VO has better technicalities, but some music just sounds perfect on the Auteur. I don’t think that opinion changed a ton when I went to the Starlett, although I suppose I’ve been listening to the Auteur more in the last few months so maybe it’s related. At the end of the day, all three offer something different and I’m happy to have the options available.
That’s really helpful, thanks. Think I will place an order for the Starlett and then get an Auteur in the meantime to compare on the Pendant. Hopefully might suit my preferences better than VO + Pendant.
With the right tubes and DAC the Starlett can be quite fast. It is initially voiced to be more laid back but put a good rectifier in and it’ll keep up well even with the busiest of passages.
Between the Auteur and VO, well my auteur was sold off a while ago. Too boring for me but that’s preference vs anything wrong with the Autuer as I also find the VO to be markedly inferior to the Utopia, again, preference based.
Is there anything in particular that you find VO lacking when compared to the Auteur? The starlett will not change the tonality of the VO and from the way you phrase your initial question I have a feeling that this is more a tonality preference.
I was shortlisting between 2 amps this time last year before ultimately deciding on the starlett. Boils down to Ultralinear vs SET sound. Would love to hear the pendant someday.
Yeah, that’s a good point. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that the Starlett lacks speed or resolution at all. The comparison with the Pendant is a close one, and I was just referring to my impressions on the differences between the two. I have a 50’s Mullard fat base rectifier in the Starlett and agree that it’s an improvement. NOS tube upgrades made a bigger difference in the Pendant than on the Starlett in my experience.
Yeah, the Pendant isn’t something I’ve heard so I can’t attest to its capabilities or tube sensitivity.
It’s always hard to classify tube amps ultimate capabilities because, you know, bloody tubes!! I’ve just been really impressed with what I’ve been able to get out of the Starlett. Responds very well to throwing better gear in the chain and “better” tubes.
Can it reach the levels of something like the new Stratus or Stellaris? No, probably not, but it’s not an obvious bottleneck either. It’s probably the best value proposition for higher end headphone tube amps, IMO.
I agree 100% on the value of the Starlett… It seems to be the sweet spot of the DNA line from that perspective. It’s also really nice that you don’t have to put a ton of cash into nice tubes. I’d love to get into a Stellaris some day, but it’s a pretty significant cost increase and I’m very happy with the Starlett.
