Yo man, I may totally take you up on that when things get better again. I can bring my Ironwood VC if you want to check that out too.
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Absolutely! Looks like you are in San Jose as well.
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Interesting comment. The VC is the most impressive closed back I ever heard, even somewhat better than the Eikon.
The VC is different in some key ways: itās noticeably more detailed, though in a musical, ear-friendly way. That surprised me, because the Eikon doesnāt exactly lack for detail. Maybe a better concept here is resolution: the VC has a lot of clarity. Fine musical details are resolved very clearly, yet without being enhanced or hyped.
I think the VC is slightly less dynamic than the Eikon (most headphones are), but is just about equivalent in the bass & soundstage. The VC strikes me as an evolutionary step up from the Eikon. They both have that ZMF house sound, but the VC takes it a little higher. Really, you canāt lose with either headphoneā¦
Ironwood? Damn, that is an astounding wood.
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Thanks for that insight. I havenāt tried the Eikon, but I am really liking what I hear in the VC so far. I feel like I have just scratched the surface, since I havenāt pad swapped to either the Auteur or Auteur Hybrids yet. I will give that a try this week and see what happens.
The Eikon sounds like it would be a superb HP for just forgetting about the equipment and getting lost in the music. That and the Aeolus are on my wishlist to try.
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Is there anyone with a Salire stand that could be so kind to measure the points I have marked in the image for me?
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Just curious, but why?
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I have a guy that makes custom headphone stands for me, and I want to order a few like the Salire but in different woods and with some alterations.
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Is this even legal? Lolā¦just kidding man.
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You couldā¦maybeā¦buy one to use as a template? Seems fair.
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Hey all! I just added the perfect closed back companion to my beloved Aeolus, and could not be happier. I have been wanting to get a higher end closed back for a good while now, and could not pass these up. I have not seen a prettier headphone, and I am super proud to be their new owner.
Check out this stunning pair of Cocobolo Atticus, that I just added to my collection!
Here are a couple pics, in different light. I love how the color changes from light brown to dark red, depending on the angle of the light.
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Congrats!! They look awesome 
Do you find a big difference between the Atticus and Aeolus? It is the closed and open version of the same driver, so curious about how much alike , or not, they might be.
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The grain in the cups is beautiful, especially as it swirls around the sides. These are some of the loveliest ZMFs Iāve seen, which is saying something given how unfailingly gorgeous ZMF headphones are. A pair to be cherished!
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Thanks man!
First off, you can definitely hear similarities between the two. However, they are easily distinguishable from each other as well. The Atticus is a bit more detailed and immediate sounding, with the transients being a bit more sharper and snappier. The mids and especially the vocals are a bit more forward and clear on the Atticus, as well. The Aeolus being open letās things breath and expand, with slightly less sharper transients and immediacy to the sound. I still need more listening time, to really be able to determine all the differences and similarities, but so far I am really really impressed with the Atticus, and guitars and vocals sound incredible. I will say, that from all my research on the Atticus, I expected an overly warm and bass heavy sound, and that is not the case. The sound is well balanced, forward and detailed with good punch. The inner detail and clarity in the mids, is what has surprised me the most. Also, I thought the Atticus was going to have much stronger bass than Aeolus, but they are very close, which is quite amazing that the Aeolus being open has just as much slam. All in all, I am happy to own both, and they will be getting equal listening time no doubt.
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I totally agree! I have been searching for a pair like this for a few years now, and it finally happened that I had the funds at the right time to buy them. I have been saving up for the ZMF Pendant tube amp and was just about ready to purchase one, but saw this pair and could not pass them up. Looks like the Pendant is going to have to wait until I save up some more funds, but I will own that amp someday.
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Side topic, love your name. Originally from Nola here
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Beautiful wood. Congratulations!
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Thanks! I used to live on āTchopā and spent some of my happiest years in your home town. Work took me away, alas, and I still sorely miss it. The best place Iāve ever been for live music (and the foodās not so bad, either).
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I have a noob question - apologies for the length.
Iāve been using ZMF Eikons (Camphor) for the last few weeks and, after some initial teething troubles, Iām now really enjoying them. I donāt have a big budget so I tend be cautious about buying something and as a rule never buy what I havenāt heard, but this time I took the plunge because I found a good price, they seemed to be a tried and tested model and had read many good things about them that suggested theyād be to my taste.
On first listen I thought I had made a horrible mistake - as I described it above, the sound was completely dominated by upper midrange roughness, and I wanted to rush back to my trusty old airy and clear sounding (to my ears) Aeon Flow Closed. But thanks to the advice of some people here I managed to improve the tonal balance by getting a better fit, and I stuck with them.
For the next week or two it was on/off with these. Most days I experienced them as a bit harsh and fatiguing somehow, and I started toying around with EQ to reduce the peaks around 6KHz and 10KHz that I had read about. This took the edge off but also took the thrill out of the sound. So it seemed to be either learn to accept the tonality or have boring-sounding headphones. So the EQ went off again.
Well, I persisted but it was still hard work for a week or so. I was contemplating selling them and moving on. Then one day they just unexpectedly sounded beautiful and full of space, and I couldnāt find that harshness any more. Did my brain adjust? Did my ears clear out? Did the humidity change or something? It was like a different set of headphones. To check, I went back to the Aeons, and they now sounded a bit soft around the edges, a little bit flat (though still lovely and clear), and the cleanliness of their bass seemed a little bit too careful in how it kept the subs at armās length from the mids by avoiding any overly full midbass. Evidently there was some brain adjustment taking place.
After four days the Eikons sounded harsh and unbearable again; two days later they were back to beautiful, and they havenāt shifted since - rich but unexaggerated tonally, punchy, airy, and with the ability to place a voice or instrument nearby with a sense of air behind them. Thereās a body to voices, pianos and basses that was not quite there with the Aeons. And Iām learning what soundstage is (itās subtle with these, but thereās space around and behind things). The upper mids no longer sound harsh to me, and what was fatiguing now sounds just like a bit of exciting punch and gloss that my ears were unused to in 2 years with the relatively gentle Aeons. (The Aeons are quite a good complement to these headphones actually - there are some really nice things they do with sub-bass clarity, treble, air and vocal liquidity that the Eikons donāt, but they donāt have the Eikonsā meat, solidity and subtle depth. And the Aeons are light and endlessly comfortable.)
Anyway, Iām going to stick with these for a Eikons for a while, though theyāre not quite flavour of the month and ZMF supposedly has better things that I canāt afford.
So the way these things goā¦ Iām now wondering whether an amp/DAC upgrade could could make even more of these. My present setup is a JDS Labs O2/ODAC combo (with the original ODAC). Itās pretty musical, but I am curious about a few things:
- Are there amps that would be particularly synergistic with the Eikon, without breaking the bank?
- Are there DACs that are audibly clearer than the original ODAC now? Measurements have come on, but will I hear it?
- It has been 8 years since I bought the O2/ODAC. Is there anything affordable today that would give me a tangibly better result with these headphones? I am not unhappy with what I hear right now, just curious. How much would I have to spend to experience a real tangible improvement?
I have looked at: Drop THX 789 and Monolith 887 (to pair with some suitable cheap DAC), Topping DX7 Pro (might still need an amp, anxious about reliability and repairs), RME ADI-2 DAC (getting a bit expensive, donāt need all that tweakability and donāt want it to turn into the new neurotic tube rolling), SMSL M500 (not convinced of quality), the Phonitor series (getting a bit uncomfortably expensive), various other Chinese things that measure well according to a certain other website but seem hard to get and of unknown reliability. I have enjoyed Cayin tube amps in the past so their headphone amps and similar are of interest too.
Can anyone with experience recommend a midrange setup that would improve on the O2/ODAC and play particularly well with ZMF Eikons? Or am I better sticking with what I have until I can leap into the high end?
@ProfFalkin in another thread warned that the Drop THX 789 can sound flat in the midrange and overly bright with Eikons. So another question would be: has anyone here heard such THX amps with the Eikons and liked the sound?
I had some experience years ago with tube amps for speakers, and I have heard some magical things from tube amps, but I ultimately went a bit nuts rolling tubes and it distracted me from the music. No question was ever settled; I could always wonder whether this might sound a little better with such-and-such a tube. At that point I resolved never to do tubes again. So my preference for that reason would be for solid state, though the couple of times hi-fi sounded magical to me were both with tube amps and I canāt rule them out.
Sorry to go on, and thanks for any advice!
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I know you said no tubes, butā¦
The little Grace DAC in there is pretty darn good, and the MCTH is pretty much a zero tube roll needed kind of hybrid amp. If you wanted you could upgrade to new production bugle boys. Thatās about $30.
An Asgard 3 with DS card would be my next suggestion.
Once you start talking Phonitors and stuff like that, demo it first.
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@typicalheadfierandy I have an MCTH that I could let go of at a good discount along with a used bugle boy (purchased used) that warms the sound somewhat. This is a good suggestion by @ProfFalkin
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