ZMF Auteur - An open back ZMF

I couldn't agree more with this, except I find the Auteur closer to a hd600 upgrade than a 650 upgrade. The 650 is still a bit warmer to my ears. Of course, I am running the Auteur off an iha-6 at the moment which is a bit brighter. Maybe that's why.

 

If I had it my way, I would have the bass of my DT1990, the mid somewhere between my HD600 and my HD650, the treble of my HD600, and the sound-stage of my DT1990, all rolled into one coherent headphone. I'm not sure this exists anywhere but it would be nice.

True enough. I like the DT1990 detail very much (which was one of the main reasons to try the DT1990 for me) but the presentation gets tiring after a while and as great as it is, it can be distracting at times. This takes a bit of time in a listening session but its noticeable after a while for me.

 

Do you mean that the upstream gear makes the Auteur seem relatively less warm so that it appears like an HD600 upgrade as a result instead of an HD650 upgrade?

Its interesting that you and others use the word upgrade relative to the HD650 or HD600, whatever the case may be. This is what I am hoping to find at some point.

Anyway, this is a nice thread in how informative it is.

 

Yes that's exactly what I mean. And some may actually prefer the Auteur with a brighter solid state over an OTL or SET amp. And yes I say upgrade because it's better in just about every way: resolution, timbre, macrodynamics, soundstage etc. The only area that it is a sidegrade is probably smoothness.

 

The pad makes quite a lot of difference.

I've only had mine for a couple of days, but with the Auteur pads they remind me a bit not only of the 600, but also the 800.

Without the resonance, mount trebledoom, etc sure, but it's there.

With the Eikon pads it's definitely 650ish.

One thing they don't do better is weight.

Maybe it's because of welding helmets, ear protectors and airplane headsets training me, the weight doesn't bother me at all, I can and have worn them all day, but they certainly come in a lot heavier than 6x0s.

Especially my brass blackwoods, people who suffer from cervical issues need not apply.

 

Yeah, sorry I should have clarified better. I tend to say Auteur is an upgrade to both "HD600/650" and use both of those headphones interchangeably, but that is mostly because I agree that Auteur pads feel closer to HD600 and Eikon pads feel closer to HD650. So in a sense, it can be an upgrade to both. Also, I used to own both HD600 and HD650 at the same time and I personally feel that if both of them have brand new pads on, they sound really similar to me, mostly just that HD650 has a tad more mid-bass emphasis, but I never had a problem with HD600 upper mids as some people do and find it shouty. Also, because HD650 and HD600 can respond well to sources and particularly tube amps, I feel like you could pair HD650 with a leaner source and make it sound closer to HD600, or pair HD600 with a warmer, thicker sounding amp and make it sound closer to HD650. I actually did this when I owned them because I had a HD650 paired with Valhalla 2 (fairly lean and brings out cleaner highs) as well as HD600 paired with a Little Dot MkII (more bloated in mid-bass and highs rolled off). Because of all that I will often just combine them in my comparisons. And similarly, because Auteur responds so well to both pad rolling and source gear, it too can sort of lean toward HD600 or HD650 depending on how you match it. And that's not even mentioning the slight differences that different woods create either.

But the MAIN POINT that I try to emphasize is that if I had to pick a company that most closely follows the Sennheiser house sound, it would be ZMF. And that shouldn't be a surprise since Zach himself owns HD650 and HD800. He also loves tube amps so it also isn't surprising that he chose 300 Ohm drivers and really the same tube amps that pair well with HD600/650 would pair well with Auteur.

 

Here's a -very- lengthy review of the Auteur:




Hope it's helpful.

 

John, give me a shout

 

These came in today. Got a pair in Teak and currently, I think, have the Auteur pads on. My layman's quick, dirty, and uncharacteristically sober review: They're wonderful.

I'm hearing them as 'lively' with very present mids, defined instrument/voice separation from bass to treble and with enough of a holographic sound to be a little spooky in some spots, as when a new instrument comes in to a track from out of nowhere. Nice clarity also and they give all the bass I think I'd personally ever need. For comfort, with Ether Flows as my baseline 10 I'd initially put the Auteurs at a very respectable 8.75, at least for a shorter listening session so far.

I'm a little surprised to hear them be described as dark. I hear them as being brighter than the EFlows which themselves have been described as bright. I don't have history with the Senn 600 series though so different reference points on that one. Still, they don't happen to strike me as at all dark on my chain which is a little interesting.

My experience with Utopias and 800's is only a few minutes with each but I heard the Utopia's as sharp and the 800's as relatively lean. I'd take a pair of Auteurs over either of those, even if the prices were equal and before considering Focal's OOW policy and ridiculous replacement parts prices. Compared to something like the LCD2C that I heard on loaner, these are in a completely different bracket.

The EFlows (at least this particular pair) I'm happy to say are every bit as enjoyable a headphone to me though. Where the Auteur is more crisp and lively, punchy, the EFlows are a more laid back and smooth (but still fun) with a fuller sound. The Auteurs might be more fun while as I've said before that with the EFlows there's sort of a 'cozy cocoon' effect with that warm, full and super smooth (not smoothed over) sound that along with being super comfortable makes for some Really nice longer sessions.

I bought these used and will probably list them for sale next month for what I paid, after any local/SoCal meetups. They're really nice but I'm already very happy with the EFlows.

 

Just a guess here, but I imagine you have the 'Auteur' pads on, the 'Eikon' pads (which apparently are identical in appearance excepting the size of the ear opening) are reported to make them sound darker.

 

The difference in sound between the two sets of pads is very subtle to my non golden ears.

 

I have the Auteur pads on when I shipped the headphones to you.

 

That's what I figured. Did you hear much difference between the two sets? I don't really, but am finding the Auteur pads to be just a little more comfortable for me.

 

I found the difference very noticeable in the treble. I immediately preferred the Eikon pads and never switched back, but now that it’s been a few months I think I’d like to try the Auteur pads again.

 

Yeah Auteur pads have the larger ear hole size so they are pretty roomy. Eikon pads to me are very subtle, but mostly just a little more bass and a little less treble, overall very small change though. What sources have you tried with Auteur?

 

I'm using Tidal/RME9632/SPDIF/Yggdrasil A2/Af. The chain does some nice holographic stuff with both the Eflows and the Auteurs.

 

Zach sent me a pic of the cocobolo cups for my auteurs. Very nice

 

Those look awesome. Grats! Love that grain, and the grilles look so good with the cocobolo too.

I'm jealous. My teaks look great, but they're a bit bland in comparison to blackwood, cocobolo, bloodwood, and ash.

I also said in my previous post that I should try the Auteur pads again. I'm glad I did. I find myself preferring the extra treble on the Auteur pads. Gives a little more snap and life to the music and drums in particular. Something I felt was missing from the Auteur after trying the ADX5000.

 

I think I go through phases on which pads I prefer. Sometimes after using the Auteur pads for a while I feel like I am missing some extra bass warmth so I switch to Eikon pads and am immediately pleased. But then after using those for a while I will sort of miss that clean and airy treble. So I switch back to Auteur pads and then am immediately pleased with how clear they sound. I really like that Auteur gives you that option and I think it is nice being able to just easily tweak the sound like that.