Congratulations! Welcome to the club - we have the exact same ones! I hope you love yours as much as I do mine. Good luck persevering through burn in…
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I have VO + Lyr 3. It’s a good pairing, though I can’t really tell you how it compares to other hybrids as Lyr 3 is my first. I can tell you it’s warmer with just slightly more body & texture than straight solid state, but more incisive and dynamic than OTL tubes. I generally prefer Verite on Valhalla 2 (OTL tube) with its smoother more 3 dimensional presentation, which I think highlights Verite’s strengths. I do prefer Lyr 3 to the solid state options I’ve had or have on hand, though.
Where hybrids really shine, I think, is with headphones that need a hint of body and warmth to balance them out. Solid state options that do that (re: V280) are few and far between.
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Thank you… yea I didn’t make it through burn-in… they are like a warm blanket after a long day of hard work. And from my first impressions, they are very revealing, they don’t make bad production sound good they tattle tale instantly. While excellent production is almost elevated.
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Thank you for these impressions, I very much appreciate them.
This is good to hear, thank you - I’ve understood the Lyr 3 to be warm and laid back from impressions posted on the forums (and from brief auditions), and while my VO doesn’t need any more incisiveness or dynamic contrast, for my tastes (I assume because of the hard African Blackwood), that warmth and more body and texture might work well to counteract the fatiguing qualities I’m experiencing.
I should add to my impressions, above, that I’ve been listening to the VO out of my Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid amp these past few days. This amp doesn’t do justice to the VO, particularly when it comes to technicalities like resolution, but it is ameliorating the fatigue I’ve been experiencing, which supports the advice offered by @generic (thank you!). Part of this has to do with the same benefits you mention for the Lyr 3, namely the body and warmth. This experience with the MCTH, moreover, is encouraging as I’m now more confident that I should be able to find an amp that, together with other ingredients (copper cables, etc.), may well nudge the listening experience closer to my preferences.
For those who might happen to be following my posts here about the VO being fatiguing, I should point out that, beyond amp pairings, I’m still uncertain as to whether the fatigue is coming from a) me being tired, b) any peaks (say, around 8kHz), c) potentially slightly emphasized upper-mids and lower-treble (I’ve found this to be problematic for me in the past), or d) the sheer macrodynamic strength and the slam of the headphones, especially when e) combined with the strong attack to the leading edge of notes – or f) some combination of the above. I’ve got lots more listening and experimenting to do…
Because I spent a lot of time over the past couple of years mulling over the purchase, I also read assiduously through the VO threads on the forums. A consensus, it seems, is that the VO isn’t amp-picky, i.e. that while a majority of folks prefer tube amps–of different kinds–a significant number also favor solid state offerings. I’ve seen lots of positive comments about amp pairings but very few warnings about poor ones. I suppose I was a bit surprised to find that this consensus didn’t really fit with my early experience – that three of my four amps have proven to be less than ideal. I’m fully aware, though, that I’m not exactly using the fanciest amps out there.
In any case, I’m now much less willing to take a risk by upgrading or buying other amps without auditioning them carefully first. Your recommendation of the Valhalla 2 is very helpful - thank you!
Yes, I agree completely! I’m glad you’re enjoying your new VO! Happy listening to you!
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It is indeed warmer and more laid back than most solid state amps, but it’s more incisive and dynamic compared to its OTL tube amp sibling Valhalla 2. Let me put it this way: on a scale of dynamics & incisiveness, if a typical solid state amp is a 10, then Lyr is an 8 and Valhalla is a 6. I really recommend checking out Valhalla, though. For a high impedance dynamic ZMF it’s almost certainly the better option. Where Lyr 3 comes into its own, IMO, is with lower impedance dynamics or planars that won’t work well with a pure tube amp (I bought Lyr 3 specifically for Arya). For the occasionally fatiguing dynamics you’re talking about, I truly believe Valhalla is what you need (and it’s cheaper, too!).
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I’m grateful for the advice and will follow it once I’m back from traveling over the holidays.
The price is right, for one thing. For another, it seems as though a good many go on sale used. I’d be able to avoid much of a loss on a re-sale, then (if on the off-chance they don’t pan out for me). And, along similar lines, the restocking fee after a 15-day trial from Schiit would be just $18 plus shipping.
Who knows, maybe I could do a mega-budget-amp comparative impressions post with the Valhalla 2, SW51+, ZDT Jr., Mjolnir 1, MCTH, and my Magni 3, for good measure?! Now if only folks would loan me their Atticus, Eikon, Aeolus, VC, and Auteurs, I could go bonkers with never-ending combinations of gear!
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Hi VO users,
What’s your next ZMF? I’m thinking of a pair of Aeolus. Good pairing? What else would you pick?
Cheers.
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I’ve owned 5 ZMF headphones (sold the Eikon & Atticus; still have the Ori, silkwood VO & blackwood Aeolus). I got the Aeolus before the VO, but I can tell you that if open-backs are your preference, these 2 headphones contrast each other quite nicely.
The VO is my favorite headphone now. It’s a splendid all-rounder IMO…on certain amps it’s neck & neck with the somewhat different sounding Final D8000, a high resolution planar. What I love about the VO are its speed, resolution, and musicality. Most headphones that resolve this well make you pay a brightness/edginess toll, but not the VO.
IMO the Aeolus is king of the relaxing, musical, “fun” headphones. There isn’t anything else quite in its league. Yet hiding under the “fun” is real resolution, which you can bring out by switching to perforated suede universe (my favorite) or Verite pads, which bring out the most neutrality. But no matter what pads you use, the Aeolus is a great listen. I can’t find any genre it doesn’t do at least very well.
I’m no longer in automatic headphone/acquisition mode. But I keep hoping ZMF will debut a planar to give the Hifmans, Empyreans, Rossons, and Final D8000s a run for their money. If that happens, I’ll have to consider it.
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I agree with @Pharmaboy, my next ZMF after my VO was an Aeolus, which is a nice contrast. One other advantage of the Aeolus is that if you buy some extra pads, you can experiment with pad rolling on both headphones.
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@Pharmaboy @PaisleyUnderground Thank you so much guys!! your words are around my head now. My credit card is ready 
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Which pair of Eikons did you get?
The current ones Camphor. I missed out on the b stock and rare ones. still waiting on those to come in.
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Thanks for the update. I look forward to hear what you think of them. My first ZMF were a pair of Eikon Cherry.
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I just switched to universe suede pads on my Aeolus and really enjoy the pairing. Definitely brought out more detail.
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Anyone get their ZMF November bstock yet?
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I’m very familiar with maple (having worked with it often), but I’ve never seen it stained this dark. I really like that look!
The VO is a remarkable headphone IMO, the best of the ZMFs.
That’s gorgeous! I bought a dark-stained Ambrosia Maple Auteur.
same here I really like the darker stain. How do you find the stock cable? Will you upg your cable?
I use Hart Audio modular cables. I haven’t tried the stock cable.
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