I am also fairly new to this forum, and I will say you will love this place. The amount of information available, and knowledgeable people willing to help, make this place feel like home. So far everyone has been very welcoming as well.
I am also a big fan of ZMF, although the Aeolus was what got me hooked initially. The support and kindness of the whole zmf team is amazing.
Also, mentioning the ironwood verite, I just bought some from the buy/sell category and I am really excited to see them arrive. Will post my impressions of them when they arrive!
The Eikon was my first ZMF. I now have the VC and Auteur, I also had a VO for a while. But the Eikon was so good, for my preferences, that I am now looking to get one again. I hope you get much enjoyment out of your Eikon. Welcome!
Eikon African Blackwood was my first ZMF, followed by Verite Closed Camphor Burl. For the Eikon, I rotated between Eikon lambskin and Auteur lambskin pads. The former sounded correct; the latter expanded the soundstage due to the larger ear cavity.
Beautiful headphones! I sold my padauk Eikon last year only because closed-back designs in general tend to aggravate my tinnitus & migraine. But that doesnāt change the fact that the Eikon is a big step up, sonically & aesthetically, from all the headphones I had beforeā¦
oh man that African Blackwood is something else! I do wonder how much heavier they would be than my set though as Camphor is like, 950 on Janka and Blackwood is 3600, lol
Iād guess in the ~150 gram addāl weight range. I have a blackwood Aeolus, and thatās ~120 grams heavier than the stock/sapele model (even accounting for the lighter magnesium frame on mine vs standard aluminum on the stock HP.
Something you have to remember is that the Atticus/Eikon earcup, being a closed earcup, is the widest/largest uninterrupted span of wood of any ZMF headphone. The diameter is ~110mm, which is big. Yes, there are slots cut into each earcup, but they are relatively narrow, representing a fairly small amount of wood removed.
My padauk Eikon was so large that now & then Iād catch sight of the right earcup out of my peripheral vision (it scared the shit out of me every time).
wow, yeah thatās about what I would have guessed on the weight difference. I can just barely see the edges of mine if i look for them, but otherwise donāt notice 'em. Luckily I have a pretty big head, so I was never too worried about the weight, really - especially with how comfy they sit.
Years ago when I was in high school, I didnāt really know the word audiophile, but I knew I liked good sound - I got a 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter and used my dads giant 80s stereo headphones on my Sony CD walkman, haha - I wish I knew what brand they were but this was more than 17 years ago (yikesā¦lol) - but they were seriously the size of a set of ZMF.
Congratulations @MrNailhead thatās a beautiful looking set of Headphones. ZMF have it āNailedā when it comes to Aesthetics. Also welcome to the forum.
Sorry to bring this back up, but this has been the the the way I have been feeling about this headphone model since burning my Wenge pair in for a few months now. It may not be a master of any particular category (mids/vocals from a personal perspective have not sounded better on anything else- āChameleonā almost describes it best!); I find myself gravitating to my Auteur over my VC* and Aeolus day in and day out just due to the fact that I know I donāt have to question the quality of track/ what genre Iām listening to or heck- just listening to the audio of a YouTube video to sound excellent.
This Headphone seems to hit all the marks of a high end āall rounderā which is rare when it comes to headphones of this price bracket and quality. I think most people who had early hobby run-ins with the Sennheiser 6X0 line really look for a ādirect upgradeā to those headphones and I think the Auteur and Aeolus really fill that spot as close to a direct upgrade to an HD600/650 as one can get.
Love the take on the Auteur and as @Earmuffs , @Pharmaboy* and many others have stated this was as solid of a review or take on these as can be said.
*I have not heard the VO as of this time
*My experiences of ZMF headphones include the Aeolus, Auteur and Verite Closed
Iāve just ordered a vc in olive wood. I wanted a closed back to go with my rad 0. I think Iām set for a long time. Maybe a tube amp to go with my hugo2 and rebel ampā¦.
I have a VC in camphor burl and the Rad-0. I definitely prefer the VC with my Pendant SE over solid state. I donāt have the same feeling with the Rad-0. I like the Rad-0 with the Pendant, it adds some holographic effect. However, I think I slightly prefer them using the balanced out of my Schiit Magnius. I listen to the Rad-0 with both amps. My VC are pretty much exclusively listened to on the Pendant. Oh, and I prefer listening to the VC to the Rad-0. Although, with more hours on the Rad-0, Iām really starting to enjoy them too. Very different sound between the two in my opinion.
Mine arrived today and they are stunning. Sounds fantastic too. The whole unboxing experience was top notch. Iām listening to them out of my cayin c9 amp with tubes on right now.
