I used to be that way but learned that eventually things show up and next thing you know you’ve been listening for weeks with some great new piece of gear.
(gif of @Pharmaboy frantically looking up unfamiliar word in dictionary – “learned”)
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There’s been a lot of (justified) tube amp love in relation to Atrium, but I have to say it sounds really great with some top-tier solid state amps too.
I have some long term listening with it and my Burson Soloist GT, and I think the pairing is fantastic. The amp and headphone play to each other’s strengths. I like the combo a lot (with Schiit Yggy OG DAC) 
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That’s the great thing about ZMF. They work very well with both tube and solid state but it all falls back again on personal preference.
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I just got my new cable from @Skedra and…wow…this is just stunning!
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Indeed, what a combination! They complement each other perfectly
Magnificent cable, right down to the matching connectors.
Use it in good health!
Can’t resist those beautiful cups and today was my first ZMF November…after much ho hum, I got my first choice 
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Congrats on your score, gorgeous set!
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Those looks absolutely stunning! I have meeting until noon, so hopefully there is a purple and gold set still available.
Regards,
Vic
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Congratulations! I am not jealous at all!
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Hey guys just joined the group and wanted to share my Atrium! I am definitely a ZMF fan. I own the Atrium and VC and fell in love with the house sound right off the bat. Nothing like ZMF cans and tubes!
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I’ve been fortunate enough to borrow both a Cherry and an Olive Atrium Closed. Thanks to @zach915m for giving me the opportunity to try them.
Why two AC’s? Because I’d read that there were audible differences between Cherry (a soft wood) and Olive (a hard wood) and I was curious, because I’d always chosen the prettiest wood when I’ve bought ZMF headphones in the past.
Having spent over a week with them, I can say that they do sound very similar but there is a difference in the perceived bass. I say “perceived” because Zach has said that they both have the same amount of measured bass, but the additional decay of the Cherry AC gives the impression that the bass is a little louder.
I confirmed in my listening that the Cherry does appear to have more bass than the Olive, and that the stock lambskin pads have more bass than the suede pads. But the differences between the Cherry and Olive were much less when using the suede pads, just in case anyone is having “wood angst” reading all this.
And you can further “tune” the headphones, depending on what kind of amp you have. I found that when I used a lower impedance output (32ohms) on my Nautilus tube amp, the bass became tighter and the mids were a little fuller. I had a similar result on my Burson Soloist 3XP solid state amp when I moved from low gain to medium gain.
I started listening with the Cherry, using lambskin pads, and I found the bass to be more prominent than I personally like, which overwhelmed the mids, causing vocals to appear distant. But if you’re someone who normally adds a bass shelf to your headphones via EQ, this might be your nirvana.
Switching to the Olive, still using lambskin pads, the frequency response is still bass-heavy but the bass lines are tighter, with less decay, which means the mids are clearer, with better clarity when a string of guitar or piano notes are played consecutively.
The Olive AC hit the spot for me, so I wanted to see if I would still like it with suede pads on ZMF headphones. I’m not a huge fan of suede pads, because I’ve found them to take away some of the “fun” by making the sound more linear, and overdamped. But I know people who love suede pads, so YMMV. In this case, my mileage did vary, because I fell in love with the sound I was hearing from the Olive AC with suede pads.
I tend to listen to more guitar than electronic music, so I found the tighter bass of the Olive & suede combo really suited rock music, and the bass levels, subdued by the suede pads but still more than say an Atrium Open, gave the music a wonderful warm foundation that you could sink into. Using my Nautilus, I didn’t feel the need to experiment with impedance, and stuck to the 100ohm taps that I normally use for my ZMF headphones.
Add in the wide stage and I found the AC to be perfect for atmospheric guitar music, with tons of reverb, like Mazzy Star’s ‘Fade Into You’, Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ or Cowboy Junkies’ ‘Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis)’.
The AC also had my foot tapping to the tight bass lines of more rhythmic, funkier music. And songs that have prominent bass lines (like Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’, Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Bullet In The Head’), the bass had plenty of texture.
People often describe the Atrium (Open and Closed) as sounding “slower” than a Verite or Caldera, but the 30 second drum solo at the start of Van Halen’s ‘Hot For Teacher’ proved that the AC is more than fast enough, keeping pace with the rhythm, with clear separation between each drum beat. Similarly, there was nice separation between Eddie Can Halen’s guitar notes.
Both versions of the Atrium Closed excelled with electronic music, but the true bassheads amongst you may appreciate the added bass of the Cherry for that kind of music. It passed the sub-bass test, Trentemøller’s ‘Chameleon’ quite handily, and also worked extremely well with music underpinned by a wall of synths, such as Goldfrapp’s “Ooh La La”, Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” or Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”.
The AC handled female vocals very well, with Alison Krauss stunning voice front and center in ’Down To The River To Pray’. Male vocals sounded slightly distant on my Burson Soloist 3XP on low gain, but moving to medium gain boosted the mids a bit, and the vocals were now fine. The Soloist is a little laid back on low gain, and I’m normally fine with that with my other headphones, but in this case, the AC benefited from the higher gain. I didn’t need to adjust anything on either my Nautilus or LTA MZ3 for male vocals, so this may just be a synergy thing with the Soloist.
I listened to the same test tracks on both the Cherry and Olive AC’s with suede pads and enjoyed both headphones. Despite their differences, my brain quickly adjusted to the sound of whatever headphone was on my head.
If you’re in the market for a headphone with a “fun” frequency response, I really recommend the Atrium Closed. I think you’d be happy with any wood, but if you’re super fussy (or anxious) about which one to get, then the Cherry will give you a little more reverb, a tiny bit more warmth and the Olive will be still have more reverb and warmth than your average headphone, but less than the Cherry. If I was forced to pick, I would choose the Olive AC with suede pads, but that’s because of my preferences in both frequency response and music.
If you own a ZMF Caldera, Verite or Auteur, then I think the Atrium Closed is a nice complement to all of those headphones. If you already own an Atrium Open, the Closed doesn’t sound the same, but is obviously in the same family, so I would recommend demoing the Closed if possible, to see if it’s different enough for you to want to own both.
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Thank you for this, it’s very thorough and informative I have an aged cherry AO which I think is well complemented by the Burson with medium gain (Soloist GT in my case). I have some suede pads, I should try them with this!
Zach has always said not to stress too much about which wood to get, and go with a look that you like. Nonetheless, quite interesting to hear your comparison between the two.
Thanks again for the comparison 
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TBH, this is the first time I’ve noticed this kind of thing. I’m guessing the differences in wood are more apparent in closed headphones than open, and these differences are probably more audible when the headphone has been tuned to enhance the bass, because the additional decay of a soft wood will amplify that. And of course the lambskin pads make it even clearer.
I think it’s amazing that Zach is able to create headphones that are so tunable. It removes some of the risk of blind buying a headphone, because you can always tweak something to bring it closer to your preferences.
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Tone wood is a huge and accepted topic with acoustic instruments, and the differences can be readily heard. Harder woods tend to be brighter while softer ones tend to be warmer. (great chart there):
With electric guitars tone wood is divisive and controversial, and can result in blind test failures. While a guitar player can readily feel differences in vibration between guitar bodies (e.g., solid, hollow, harder woods, softer woods), this may not transfer to the magnetic pickups, to the amp, to the speakers, and to a recording. On top of this, many electric guitars are heavily distorted through pedals, EQ, and amp overload…so some say “Why bother?”
I demoed the Atrium at an audio show, and felt them as much as I heard them. This seemed akin to putting a hand on a piano body, guitar body, or speaker cabinet when it’s playing. Yes, you feel something different but IMO it’s vibration rather than sound per se. It wasn’t my cup of tea. As with electric guitars, the impact is likely less than a purely acoustic system. But, enjoy what you enjoy. Great post.
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I was there today. I actually was impressed with the closed. It was more up my alley vs the atrium open. The closed handled distorted guitars great, see Gorguts-obscura, obscura - anti cosmetic overload, rap-lloyd banks.
Edit: I would add I liked the suede pads the best and wouldn’t mind something that makes it brighter for shitty recorded music.
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I like how it looks 
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Lachlan’s gives a title to the ZMF Atrium (ZMF Auteur hybrid solid pad swap) as “The best closed back headphones he has tried.”
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And, ZMF Atrium open now GoldenSound’s favourite headphone.
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