This is the spot to discuss the ZMF Auteurs
Best headphone under 2k, I love my Blackwood Auteurs ! Looking forward to my custom OTL amp, to bring out the best of my favorite ZMF headphone to date.
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I think they’re some of the best-looking headphones in that price-range as well.
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I’ve only had the chance to listen to them at RMAF last year. How do they compare with the rest of ZMFs lineup?
We are huge fans of Zach. Such a cool dude and a breath of fresh air among headphone manufacturers!
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They are a nice sounding set of cans but to really shine they need to be on tubes. Out of my Questyle they are a little boring, the Dragon breaths life into them.
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That is sexy
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I’m hoping to spend some time with the Auteurs down the stretch.
They were released right when the Clears were coming out and I ended up going with the Clears which are fantastic headphones in their own right. But I’ve heard the Auteurs have a pretty neutral sound signature which isn’t necessarily my preferred sound signature but I would definitely be interested in giving them a try!
Personally, I like the Atticus better.
I love Zach, and his creations - I would rate them (to MY personal taste) from most to least favorable:
Atticus
Auteur
Eikon
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I am also a big fan of Zach.
Very cool guy and always takes the time to talk to you, no matter how busy he may be at a show / convention.
I had the Atticus for a while and quite liked it. Like with Audeze’s headphones though, it was a little too heavy for me which is why I really want to get my hands on the Auteur. I know I’ll be missing out on the thump of the Atticus which I really enjoyed but the Auteur felt like it was a whole headphone lighter and as long as it sounds great, i’d be happy!
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My friend loaned the Auteur to me (still haven’t return it :P) and I enjoy it a lot. It’s got a warm tone and a laid backed midrange to treble transition. Although usually I far prefer a more aggressive tone ala Utopia but the Auteur does the job superbly. My only complain is that it doesn’t have the dynamics the HD800 have by comparison but otherwise I love every bit of it.
I’ve only heard the Atticus and Eikon so far. easily my favorite closed back headphones so far. I’m dying to hear the Auteur.
Also, Zach is a wonderful human being, I’ve had conversations with him online and he’s always been very helpful.
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If you come down KL that can be arranged :^)
This headphone is beautiful, and Zach is great. Compared to the Eikon, I like the additional sense of openness and fact that it is less damped. This does not have the somewhat unique emphasis on sub-bass that Eikon did, but the tonality is great. I especially like sound of strings out of them. As mentioned above, it definitely comes across less aggressive than Utopia, but very pleasant through my own Dragon Inspire IHA-1 (much like @sealykojac above).
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Ya I’m thinking its getting pretty close to time to get my hands on some Auteurs. They are so damn beautiful.
I know when they were being launched Zach was saying that the different woods were tuned a little differently. Have you gotten the chance to hear the other woods to compare?
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IIRC the denser the wood the faster the decay of notes. Blackwood being a much denser wood than the Teak certainly does exhibit these qualities.
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They actually have a bit of range to their sound signature, but generally closer to neutral/warm. You can change the sound with pads and with difference source pairings. For pads, the Auteur pads are a little brighter and will make Auteur fall in between HD600 and HD800 tonality (still a little bit of bass to mid warmth, but full treble up top). With Eikon pads, Auteur falls in between HD600 and HD650 tonality (extra warmth like HD650, more treble like HD600). But because they are 300 Ohm drivers that respond well to sources you can definitely tweak that balance as you please. So I fee like Auteur can fall somewhere between HD650 to HD800 depending on how you set it up. It is just an excellent headphone all around.
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I unfortunately haven’t , but would agree with Marcus that the denser wood should lead to a faster decay. I imagine the effect is smaller due to the fact that these are mostly open (I would expect woods to make more of an effect on the closed ZMF’s). I mostly bought the Blackwood because I liked the idea of a “blacked out” wood headphone, honestly 
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I am a fan of the “Auteur” pads over the darker Eikon pads for sure. It is nice that people have the option if they have somewhat of an aversion to treble.
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I have found a quite deep affinity for my Auteurs, had them for close to a month now.
@I_want_all_the_tacos has done some pretty good write-ups on it that fall in line with the experience pretty much on point.
What is was kind of surprised by was how pleasant the treble is on these. Some of it might be attributed to the wood according to Zach himself. I have no points of reference besides my own though.
Here are some padrolling measurements for good… measure. If anyone else have the E.A.R.S i would be interested to see someone else’s for comparison.
Idk how visible this will be, so blue is Auteur, red is Eikon perforated and green is the Eikon Suede non-perforated.
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Coming from the Eikons, I wish my Auteur had just a touch more bass. Do the Eikon Suede nonperf pads mess up the mids in any way? Your impressions of them would be appreciated.