As an owner of Eikon and VC, I agree with your comparison there. VC with Universe pads is my “hear everything” headphone. Often amazing, but fatiguing more often than the Eikon, because if there’s something in the recording or the chain that’s overemphasizing some frequency the VC is going to show it. I go to the Eikon for a softer edge and a more forgiving presentation that’s somehow both cosy and epic at the same time. I tried the Auteur pads on the VC to reduce fatigue but they suck out the excitement for me. And I notice more difference between amps with the VC than with the Eikon. The Eikon seems like it has its own idiosyncratic sound, and you’re not going to be able to persuade it to sound different. The VC is more receptive to EQ as well as amp changes.
I have to say, your audiophile logic here made me laugh.
my guess is the driver design and material. and seems to revolve around just plain resolution. as you raise the resolving ability of a headphone, it seems to correlate with a similar rise in the difficulty finding synergy. that doesn’t hold up 100% of the time, my HD650 is no resolution monster, but i find it infuriating to amp. get it right, world class sound. get it wrong, dull boring crapola haha.
One tech that I don’t see this in is planar magnetics. with them, the main thing was power. provide adequate power, get good sound. they changed less in tonal characteristics from amp to amp. i went through a massive planar phase starting with the old Hifiman HD400, then HE500, then a long list of MrSpeakers. and one thing i noticed was they didn’t scale much with “better” amps, especially compared to the HD650 which was also in my stable back then. but change the power levels, and you’d notice large changes.
dynamic high ohm drivers seem to be the most difficult to deal with, imo. and withing that category, highly resolving ones really up the ante. i wish i knew the tech better. just my experiences with different headphones along my journey.
Your impressions were SUPER helpful, thank you!! I’m on the line deciding between Aeolus or Verites (Closed version, as suggested by our good folks here). Lacking proper gear, I should get Aeolus. But logically, I will likely end up with the VC. Wahoo!
If you’re in the market for closed, I’d throw the Focal Stellia in the mix too. I’m waiting for my VO to arrive (still 58th in line…sigh!) and while I still had my “audio buying fever”, I decided to buy something that I could use now, which was different enough that I would continue to use it when the VO arrives. So I bought the Stellia from headphones.com to fill my double requirement for a closed headphone and also something that would be easier to drive, for instance if I went on vacation.
I’ve only had it 3 days, and haven’t done any critical listening, but I have done a lot of listening. I’ve thrown every type of music at it, from metal to indie rock to EDM to string quartets. I’ve tried pristine hi-res recordings but also badly recorded music and mp3s on iTunes and I’ve savored every minute and just enjoyed the music. I’ve spent hours at a time without feeling fatigued.
Not having done any critical listening or comparisons (maybe next week), I can’t tell you if anything is either missing or over-emphasized, other than I’m very sensitive to peaks in the upper mids or treble and I had no such reaction. I can say it is smooth, revealing and musical as hell.
To bring this back to ZMF, since this is a ZMF thread, I’d be interested to know what I should expect in terms of different sonic signature when the VO arrives. I’ve already started fantasy buying more ZMF phones (a fun headphone like the Aeolus or Eikon), and then maybe I can take advantage of the Pendant/headphone bundle…
That Cocobolo hard wood combined with the dynamics of the Aeolus is calling your name, man. I went with the rose gold grilles and some perforated suede.
For real though, best of luck deciding between the two. Make your purchase count. But imo the Aeolus is probably easier to like at least from what most say.
In short, the distinct ZMF timbre and euphony delivered by wooden cups and Zach’s tuning/ear per his background as a banjo/acoustic guitar player and guitar builder.
sadly my audiophile logic logic is kicking in and because of the Elegia i’m dying to try a Stellia. been reading up on it and it seems to be a good departure from the Utopia’s brightness. i didn’t like the Utopia when I demo’d it. i need a secret 2nd job to fund all this stuff so the wifey stops threatening to leave with the kids and my children. by kids, i mean my ZMF trio hahaha
Man, I’m a big brass head (brass, not bass). I keep Karas in business from my brass pen purchases. The Cocobolo brass Aeolus’s is calling my first, middle, and last names! Do we have any sample pics of how brass ZMF grills looks as it patinas over time? The grills appear removable if re-polish is needed.
Lots pop up from a Google search! Right there with ya’ on brass pens being a joy. I have a Kaweko Brass Sport in fine and extra fine. Favorite pen for practicing penmanship.
LOL! I know what you mean. I was arguing with my wife over the weekend about paying $15 to buy the extended director’s cut of a movie from Amazon instead of $4 to rent the regular movie, and she looked me in the eye and said “how can you even be arguing about $11 when you just paid $8000 for your amp”. I was about to say “honey, I only paid $500 for my amp” but then I added up in my head (for the first time) how much I’ve spent in the last few months on Lyr 3, new tube for Lyr 3, Bifrost 2, Verite Open and Stellia, and also realized that she was joking about the $8000, and so I promptly agreed with her and paid the $15 for the movie. And when the Stellia arrived this week, she said “I thought you said it was made of wood” and I had to explain that this was my second pair, as I needed 2 pairs of headphones to be able to live life to its fullest.
From what I’ve read, the copper grills patina but the brass ones don’t, but I could be wrong. I hope I’m not because that’s why I ordered the brass grills!
In cycling circles they say the formula for calculating how many bicycles you should own is n + 1, where n is the number of bicycles you currently own.
