oh man suede… how i miss audeze pads… but it’s back with these!
Just listening to a few tracks, I prefer BE2 and Suede over Universal perf leather pads. Toss up between BE2/Suede for sound, suede wins for comfort.
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I don’t have a whole lot of experience with TOTL over-ear headphones in this type of price class. Most of my time with them have been short sessions at stores or trying on somebody’s set, so take this impression with a grain of salt.
I am really liking the Verite, and I feel like the sound signature really appeals to what I love the most. It’s neutral, yet has just enough warmth, subbass impact, and tamed, yet ever existing treble that it makes it some sort of musical neutral sound that I really enjoy. It’s like you took my favorite parts of my HE560 and the Focal Elex and dumped them together with much better resolution and timbre.
I’ve only had a few hours of “burn-in” time. 12ish hours from Zach + 10ish hours from me. We’ll see if the honeymoon period still last, but I feel like this one is a keeper for me thus far.
(Discussion above is using BE2 pads mostly – music playlist featuring Chromeo, Fleetwood Mac, Norah Jones, Alvvays, Elton John, Mother Love Bone, Vince Guaraldi, London Grammar, and Jeff Buckley)
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I feel like I might have said this already on a different thread a long time ago, but I love Vince Guaraldi. Whenever I hear mid-century West Coast Jazz I feel like maybe I was born half a century too late.
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It is a much-belated follow-up to @Resolve’s excellent review of the Silkwood variant of the ZMF Vérité, but I’ve finally gotten my own take on the Pheasantwood version published.
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Great detailed review Ian. For me personally, over the last few days with these, I find it hard to take them off and I’ve stayed up well past midnight enjoying them, when I really need to go to bed. I would love to hear your impressions of the differences between woods when the time comes.
Any status on the units that you and @TylersEclectic ordered? Must be really close!
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Awesome review! It’s interesting I find the more headphones I try that have a technically more ‘desirable’ frequency response, when it comes to pure musical enjoyment, I still prefer the Verite. It’s the perfect blend of musicality, detail, speed, and engagement. Mind you, I’m a huge fan of the BE2 pads with these because I like a more linear tonality. I highly recommend giving them a shot!
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Nicely put! I am now refreshing the verite order document again. haha…ha…
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Awesome review! Every time I check in on this thread it gets harder and harder not to try and grab a pair for the office…If we grab one, we’d have to grab another so @andrew and I would both be able to listen. That of course, would be the only fair way to do it 
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Well, you mean pick up 3, I guess, so that there could be a community review program requiring hmmm Trust level 3 and an amp of <250 WPC RMS… no make that <500 WPC RMS. Yeah that’s the ticket. I just happen to have one that would be there into 5-7 ohm loads.
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Vérité don’t need massive amounts of power to sound phenomenal … even if your tongue is buried firmly in your cheek.
They’re magnificent out of the N8, SP1000m and impressive even out of the SR15 (in balanced mode).
For applying amps like that, check out the SR1a thread!
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I think that in my weariness, I put that post here, and meant it to go in the RAAL SR1a area. Surely the brothers are going to pick up a few of those?
And it would be nice to hear an impression with one of the better class D ICE modules. My amp uses a modified B&O unit, and 6Moons gave it a nice review - even if it doesn’t mention slew rate.
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While not fully burnt, I found my verite sounded a little different from what I heard before (three months ago), if not better. Specifically, my verite sounds a little fuller and more coherent in high mids. And top end is tad more extended with a bit more air. By a small margin, I prefer how my verite reproduces piano attacks and metallic ringing.
The main differences between these two verites include:
- Wood (Ziricote Vs Pheasantwood)
- Amping (Ravenswood/3F Vs Black Widow)
- Cable (Verite silver Vs Atmos-S)
- Ownership bias
Currently suspecting #2 (confounded by #4), but I couldn’t rule out other factors yet.
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I’ve been messing around with EQ and pad swaps. Without EQ I think BE2 is still my favorite, but I had a hard time getting the EQ to sound right when I bumped some of the energy in the treble to compensate for that dip around 3-4khz. It’s almost as if it got too intense. I switched to the Suede Universe pads, and these just sound pleasant but not tight enough in the bass to my liking, and I had a hard time EQing the treble above 9khz to the right spot with them. Currently I’ve had the most luck going back to the stock Verite pads. I got the EQ to be just where I like it, evening out some of the dips and peaks, and it doesn’t sound claustrophobic or too intense like it does on the BE2. I think the Verite pads might be the happy medium for EQ experimentation. Interestingly, when you adjust 3-5khz up to an appropriate level, there’s a risk of going too high and creating a 4khz spike that turns into a bit of this ringing echo for cymbals. So it’s important not to overdo it with the bump. I went with around 4.5dB and then used a tight notch to turn down the 4khz peak. So far it’s worked out pretty well!
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That moment when you are at work with a full load of meetings ahead of you and you get notified that your ZMF Verite are ready for pick up at your local Fedex…
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Thursday for me …
And it’ll work out that, if I stay home they won’t show up until 14:30 or so. If I go into the office, they’ll be delivered by 08:30.
I guess the Pheasantwoods will be migrating to my office rig that day, though.
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You know… I don’t mind going to work. It’s the 8 hours before I can go home that is complete bullshit.
Seriously.
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excuse the language but this was appropriate for how I feel today…lol
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Look at it this way folks, unless you’re a trust fund baby or something, that much despised work is what pays for those Verites
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Language excused. Meme appropriate. Carry on.
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