Hello wonderful people! My name is Mike, I am new here and earlier today I introduced myself in the Community Meta thread. So far I am loving the vibes here on this forum site!
I wanted to share my initial experience with the ZMF Aeolus that just arrived today!
I’ll start off by saying Zach did an amazing job with the Sapele wood grain that was chosen, parts of the grain look like it glows in the sunlight. It really is gorgeous and a work of art.
Headphones I own and heard prior were the Sennheiser HD 6XX, Sennheiser HD 800 S, Dan Clark Audio + Drop Ether CX, and Audeze LCD X (2020 version). Of those headphones I tended to grab the HD 6XX fed with a Mjolnir 2 > Aune X8 DAC for enjoyment a lot of the time. I still love and respect my other headphones and keep them around for variety and mood. And based on what people said about the Aeolus it seemed like a perfect fit for my preferences.
Upon arrival I immediately put on some of my favorite music, music that I’ve listened to so much that I test all my headphones on them on first listen. The artist I listen to most of the time, “The Material,” doesn’t have the best recordings but in that genre of music I have always gravitated to this artist. There was a special and emotional moment I had on a song that I’d been very very familiar with. This emotional moment was the realization that I was listening to this song at the most satisfying I had ever heard it before. The vocals and dynamic experience was really fantastic. Even when I must’ve heard the song hundreds of not a thousand times before, it was an experience I won’t soon forget. It was like meeting your childhood hero and not being disappointed. More than I can say about other headphones in my journey (no disrespect to them). Every song I threw at the Aeolus just felt effortless.
For the more specific technical performance I am no expert, but everything on the Aeolus just sounded correct, not as detailed as the HD 800 S but sounding incredibly fun and dynamic. I also listen to nu-metal/alternative rock (fairly harsh music) and the HD 6XX and LCDX do really well in that regard. where the HD 6XX sounds very dynamic and the LCDX sounds clean and clear with amazing kick-drum performance. The Aeolus does not have as fast bass as the LCDX and I really don’t want to compare those two, but the Aeolus has the dynamic feel of the HD 6XX while leaning clean and clear as well.
In the future I plan on buying a stabilized wood Vérité Closed, I missed out on the last batch but will hopefully land one in the future. For now I’m comfortable saying the Aeolus will remain my personal favorite among my collection.
p.s. Sorry if my thoughts are all over the place, I tend to do that lol
Got a holster for my Aeolus. I gotta say, I’m pretty much settled on this for my endgame. Maybe if I ever decide to get more into Classical I will want something like an Arya, but not sure if that will ever happen.
I just bought back my Stabilized Lagoon set. I went through all but the Atticus. Found I hate them on solid state, but on tube amps like BottleHead Crack really made a big difference on the sound. I use to be a big planar fan until my experience with dynamics and tubes.
I received my Aeolus (Sapele, after the full 12 weeks!) quite recently, and seek answers or feedback on a few new owner general questions.
I know Zack advises burn-in of about 200 hours, and I have maybe 12-15 hours on mine. They absolutely look and sound great, but with all the build up and reading about them I was expecting sonic nirvana, maybe? They don’t have quite the slam or impact I was thinking they might, or quite the deepest bass and resolution perhaps. They are overall very pleasing and enjoyable so far though.
I’m driving them from my Mac using Apple Music lossless, both locally and streamed, through Schiit Bifrost 2 and Lyr 3. I also have Focal Clear (OG), Dan Clark Aeon Open RT, Hifiman Sundara, Modhouse Argon Mk 2/Fostex T50RP Mk2, and Senn HD-650 (OG). Too many headphones!
If I had to rank my headphones up until now I’d say the Clears and the DC Aeons would be my first choices depending on mood and what I’m listening to, followed by the other 3 in no particular order.
FWIW the cable I ordered is the Lektrik C 4 strand.
tldr:
I guess I wanted some confirmation from other owners that the Aeolus opens up as it burns in, and any thoughts on these vs Focal Clear OG from anyone who has both, or any of the other headphones I mentioned above for that matter.
I have the Aeolus and had the Clear MG, which I sold to acquire the Utopia.
I thought the Clear and Aeolus were pretty comparable overall, but the Clear was more detailed and the Aeolus a little more honeyed, by degree.
I haven’t had enough hours on the Aeolus yet to call them burned in, but I find them really pleasurable. Ultimately, if I had to go with just one headphone I’d go Utopia, but I think you’ll grow to enjoy the Aeolus with a little time. And if not, people will send money to you for it.
I didn’t like the Aeolus much when I first got them.
That changed after a few days. So do give them some time.
To me, the Clear is definitely more technically capable than the Aeolus. Bass is more extended and grippier on the Clear. The Aeolus, to me, has punchy bass but it doesn’t slam and isn’t as fast as the Clear. Mids I prefer the Clear most of the time. But when the mood is right the Aeolus has some pretty special mids imo, making it a pretty nice experience. It’s tonally weightier than the Clears, that’s for sure. For treble, Clear is more extended and resolving.
That pretty much sums it up for the Aeolus. It’s a pleasing headphone that can lure many with its midrange warmth. My preference is for the Clears but if I had to sell both, I’d probably sell the Clear first.
It sounds as though the Vérité might suit your preferences better, at least when it comes to resolution and bass?
Definitely give the headphones more time to open up. It might be a good idea just to burn them in for a few days and then come back to them again with a fresh pair of ears.
I wouldn’t sweat it, though: the worst case scenario is that you sell the Aeolus for a slight loss, as @Sturosen notes, and put that money towards an alternative pair of headphones. In the end, you’d only be renting the Aeolus. Think of it as a nice opportunity to get to hear a lovely pair of headphones on your way to something else!
Going back a bit, I had the Jot2, then the MJ2, then Auris and eventually Ampsandsound. I owned the Aeolus before the Eikon and chose the Eikon eventually.
Fast forward, I had the Mogwai SE, Bigger Ben and Nautilus at the house with the VO, Aeolus and Eikon. When I listened to the Aeolus again with those amps, it turn my head and made me take a second look. I was more interested in it then the VO and even the Eikon and it’s been kind of in my cross hairs if I had an option to try another ZMF again.
My point, don’t underestimate the Aeolus, it does have the really good sound but I’m a warm, bass kind of person and it really met my requirements.
Hi all. Looks like the ZMF website lists the Verite pads as a recommended combination for the Aeolus. Has anyone tried this and can offer up a mini-comparison with the stock Universe pads? Thanks in advance!
I haven’t seen one around to be honest. But you should be able to use Crinacle or Oratory1990’s measurements to help gauge where you need to boost and/or cut. Resolve and metal571 have great guides on how to use Peace EQ as well.
Here’s a measurement of the Aeolus using an industry standard rig; haven’t seen many others taken on an accurate rig except this one, and it seems to match Oratory’s. Perhaps run a sine sweep at like .5 or .25 speed and listen for the peaks and dips in Crinacle’s Aeolus measurement. If they’re in the same area, try experimenting with the areas listed below. This is only a recommendation based on one measurement; your headphone may measure differently. Trust your ears above all things, and be conservative with EQ. You may want to tweak things further if you like these results, but tread lightly and take your time. Good luck!
125 Hz: Low Shelf of +4dB
1000 Hz: -3.5dB with a Q of 2
1700 Hz: +3.5dB with a Q of 2
5150Hz: -5dB with a Q of 3
Pretty similar to my experience with them with universe perf suedes. With stock universe perf lamb pads, the 1k bump goes away to my ear and the bass comes up into a midbass hump, but that 5.5k peak plagues this thing and at the moment I’m correcting my pair with a 4 dB cut there. Haven’t talked about it yet but that is a preview of how I perceive my unit
