It’s been a few weeks since I received my VC’s from @RatRage, and though I still have a lot of listening to do I’m ready to share a few thoughts on the VC vs. the VO.
Key Learnings: VO vs. VC
- Burn-in is REAL. I received them with ~100 hrs. of listening time on them and made some notes prior to my additional burn-in period. The Universe pads were installed; I left the Auteur pads in the box.
- In this state and to my ears, the VC’s low- and sub-bass substantially overwhelmed the midrange - and particularly vocals. If this was the final state I probably wouldn’t want to keep them.
- I burned in the headphones for about 120 additional hours, and though that finished last week I just now listened to them this evening. So at about 220 hours, the bass and mid-range has become much more balanced. With my amp at the same volume and switching between the VO and the VC, the mids/highs sound quite similar while the bass in the VC is less present than it was pre-burn-in. It’s still substantially more “forward” than the VC, but at a much more tolerable level. My one sentence summary of VO vs. VC with Universe pads: VC sounds like a VO with the bass cranked up. This might be a great configuration for you @Dynamic!
- Pads make more of a difference on the VC than they do on the VO. I tried 3 different pads on the VO and while there was a difference, it wasn’t substantial - at least to my ears (I know others have had different experiences here).
- When I finally swapped the Universe pads with Auteurs on the VC, there was a significant re-balancing of the sound. The bass dropped back even further, and the VC’s sounded much more like the VO’s. Like I said initially, I have a lot more listening to do to pin this down, but with this configuration - VC + Auteur pads - I feel like I’m hearing the a very similar sound between the two headphones.
- @RatRage mentioned that he heard the hybrid Auteur pads tend even more neutral, so I might give those a shot at some point. I love the suede Universe pads on my VO’s (super comfy!) so maybe this would be the icing on the cake.
Bonus learning: To test different pads on ZMF headphones, turn the earcups away from you and place them on a flat surface. Now detach the pads from the headphones. Set up your other pads in the same configuration - ear-side down and L and R next to each other. To listen, using one hand around each earcup, place the earcups onto the pads and grab the pads with your fingertips then put them on your head. The earcups will stay put since they’re clamped in place. To switch earcups, reverse the the process and switch to the other pads. As long as they don’t rotate too much this process seemed to work really well and I could switch quickly between pads.
@Dynamic you had a question about leakage at one point. At my normal listening volume of about 75 dB you can definitely hear sound coming through the VC earcups even though it’s pretty quiet and mostly bassy. Kind of like someone playing music in the next room. If you’re in bed next to your SO they will hear something. Will it bother them? No idea, but it’s not completely silent by any stretch.