That’s my dream combo as well. Same as you, 1/2 there with RAD-0. Love it! I can’t afford Caldera at this point 
Agreed, either Caldera & RAD-0 or Caldera & Meze Elite, in my opinion.
Caldera and 1266 TC. I’m amazed by both and they’re both completely different experiences.
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A little birdie told me Zach is going to have some really interesting Calderas for sale at CanJam. 
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Has anyone compared the Caldera vs. Final D8k pro? If so what are your thoughts/preferences on both?
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Help out a newbie here – is it worth going from VO to Caldera? Lateral vs diagonally upward move?
Just my opinion:
Caldera is better in tonality and equal in technical performance. Verite may have a slight edge in soundstage, but its a darker tonal presentation, and I prefer Caldera’s much more.
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Everybody hears these things differently. But for me, the silkwood Verite Open remains my favorite headphone. At least to my ears, this is the most highly evolved dynamic driver headphone I’ve yet heard; its strength is superb speed and the musically accurate tone and timbre. The soundstaging is very good, though not as ballistic as the Caldera’s.
The Caldera plays by different rules. It’s a planar and maximizes several traditional planar virtues: deep, pressurized bass; strong dynamics; and black backgrounds resulting from low distortion. It also goes places many planars don’t: vivid soundstaging that surrounds the head (courtesy of ZMF’s ADS tech); and exceptional, musical tone. The Caldera’s sound can readily be “tuned” with various Caldera-approved earpads (my faves are the lambskin “thicks”).
These two headphones sound rather different. I need them both.
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They are very different headphones. Verite is thick in the mid-bass with relaxed treble; Caldera has well extended very-present sub-bass with fairly neutral mids & treble. Caldera is more like a better Arya or a Susvara alternative than an “upgrade” or sidegrade for VO. They are more complimentary than in competition with each other.
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I think one of my favorite things about the Caldera and really every ZMF for that matter is what pad swapping can do for your sound. I mean, you can switch up the pads and even further your amp/dac and get a very different experience with them. It’s a journey, but a unique and fulfilling one at that once you find your just right situation.
I’ve made the mistake of calling the Caldera the TOTL of ZMF when, really, it’s just another offering for differences. I think we all tend to look at price as determining factor of best and that just isn’t the case here. Still, I love the Caldera!
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In your opinion what pads would be the best for rock/metal? I heard that the stock ones are the best. I placed my order for the Caldera over the weekend and I hope they don’t take 4 weeks to arrive
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Hmm…for me, I’d go the leather simply because I enjoy more punchiness and low end kick with my rock music. The Suede pads give it more transparency and does lend well to vocals and the treble region. I remember thinking classical/jazz would be great with Suede. So depends on what you want out of your rock music I suppose. I’m curious to see what you decide because we all like things differently! Either way, neither pads effected speed imo for that genre of music.
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Thanks for the reply. I’ll be sure to get back to you when I test them
My favorite Caldera earpads by far are the lambskin “thicks.” That great soundstage gets even bigger/deeper, then listener is now a few rows back fs stock. and the Caldera’s high resolution vibe turns a bit chill.
At least for me, the thicks turn this from a “special events” headphone (“I need some drama so I’ll try the Caldera”) to an “any old time” headphone.
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Interesting. I see in the that those are the warmest pads for the Caldera. I’ll be sure to pick them up
This guy has a really interesting approach to reviewing headphones. He compares it very experientially against HD800S.
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I like the standard : Universe Pads
I find that these are really comfy with the Caldera, and they widen the soundstage, and keep the detail retrieval.
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I went with DMS’s recommendation and got the Dekoni LCD Suede pads. They’re the only ones that enable me to wear Calderas for more than an hour. Otherwise there’s too much clamp for my head
Have you tried bending the headband? Having said that, I’d be too much of a chicken to bend mine, even though Zach says it’s OK, but luckily I don’t have clamp issues.
Out of interest, how do they sound compared to stock pads?
Clamp should never be an issue. Very easy to bend the headband on any ZMF and you don’t have to be careful. You can easily make them so loose they’ll fall off your head if you move too much. Zach has a video on the ZMF YT about doing the adjustments.
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