It’s pretty fascinating. If we look at another popular dynamic driver like the Foster BioDyna, which is used by several manufacturers we find that the major variance is the wood used for the cups.
All of the Massdrop Fostex Tr-XX use the same exact components with the exception of the wooden cups. Same drivers, and the same chassis, but different wood. Many who’ve heard the 3 different models will attest to the difference in sound and that’s caused by the wood.
I don’t know how ZMF can diminish this factor so much when it’s so evident in another wood headphone.
Very interesting.
Edit: Here’s a thread I created for the discussion of woods used in headphones.