ZMF Bokeh Review: Just Can't Get Enough

Based on your preferences @purr1n I have a feeling you might like the closed version more than the open, at least in a few areas. Curious to get your impressions when you have a pair on hand.

 

Oooh, same size driver as HD800.

 

This looks nicely even for a dynamic headphone. No wonder is sounded great out of the Bakoon current output!

In meet condition, it wasn't at all embarrassed next to my AC!

 

Agreed, I've found myself continuing to circle back and search for any reviews/comments from Marv on the AC.

It's a special headphone, indeed.

 

Is Dec 8th still good to go ? I might just try and get one of the first ones. My cherry Atticus is lonely.

 

They're great headphones.

When I heard them at the ZMF booth I didn't have one complaint. There weren't any wood resonances that bothered me like the Verite Closed. I tried them out on three amps and they sounded great out of all three. Two of them were tube amps on low-z and the Homage. Speaking of the Homage, can we do a loaner tour? I really wanted to spend more time with it.

 

The impedance graphs make me think it's pretty carefully damped but would still be somewhat curious to see how foam coupler measurements are with the Bokehs, FR but mainly CSDs. Would treble measurements derived therefrom be any more representative of how you actually hear things?

 

I do love the Auteur, so the Atrium would make the most sense for me. You're bad influence on me. lol

 

How many Scotches did you have before changing the pads?

Owning both the Bokeh and AC, I couldn’t have said it better!
I do prefer the Bokeh tuning over AC - and its overwhelming bass on all setup except dongles (lower power) and HPA-21 in current mode (probably a favorable interaction with the impedance?) - but the AC is clearly more refined all around (from the lower mids up, at least). If these 2 had a child, it would be the perfect closed back for me

As for the pads, I, too got really frustrated with them at first (and communicated it on head-fi )… Watching Zach’s video did help and, yes, stretching the pads and holding the cups close to the body is the way to go. Still not easy and more frustrating than changing pads should be, though.

 

Yea. Multiple folks on head-fi have said that the pad swapping on the bokeh’s is much more challenging than any other ZMF. And I’ve also made the mistake of ripping off both pads at the same time and clanged the cups together while struggling to get a pad on, so I imagine doing so is that much worse with the bokeh.

 

Loaner Impressions

Since I am a MOT I am limiting my thoughts to comparing against my favorite ZMF, the Atticus and Auteur Classic. I've listened to all of the current ZMF lineup and the tuning of these two are perfect for my taste (and a variety of moods).

Chains
I'm using Roon->Ambre for streaming.

iPhone->Bokeh
SFD-2->Stratus->Bokeh
Modi Multibit (V1 and modded) ->Vali2->Bokeh

Impressions & Thoughts
I started by listening out of my iPhone. A ZMF that sounds good directly out of my phone? Yes! I enjoyed it a lot and was impressed but can't do any comparisons because the Atticus and Auteur Classic won't sound good without an amp.

Next was my SFD-2->Stratus chain. I was surprised to find the Bokeh sounding thin, especially in comparison to my other ZMF. I tried again on my phone and thought the Bokeh sounded better. Aha, bad synergy, don't buy a Stratus to go with your Bokeh.

So I switched to my Modi->Vali chain and the Bokeh sounds much better. Finally I can compare all three headphones on the same chain. It's hard for me to comment on the resolution of the Bokeh because this chain isn't super resolving (a very noticeable step down for the Atticus and Auteur Classic after using the Stratus).

Against the Atticus, the Bokeh is tuned less "fun" but still fits that category for my taste. The Atticus sounds more resolving even on this chain (it's subtle and hard to gauge how much) and has more clarity. The Bokeh sounds thinner and a bit brighter, I think the mids are a little less full but it's not a drawback, just different tuning. Mids are quite enjoyable on both the Bokeh and Atticus, bass is deep and impactful (not as boomy as the Atticus), and the highs are tasteful and more present on the Bokeh.

Against the Auteur Classic, the tuning is more similar and the Bokeh is the more "fun" option now. I'd put the tuning between the two, less neutral than the Auteur Classic and less fun and boomy than the Atticus. After listening to the Auteur Classic the Bokeh no longer sounds thinner, just different. I'm not noticing a difference in resolution either which seems odd, the Auteur should be more resolving than the Atticus. My chain may be hampering my ability to evaluate this properly. The Auteur has a more open sound but the Bokeh doesn't feel closed in at all, I think Zach does a great job keeping closed headphones from sounding too closed in. I don't think my Auteur is synergizing well with the Vali, they're pretty boring (which is not the case with the Stratus).

My favorite ZMF all have a certain coziness to their sound which I love and I would put the Bokeh in that category too.

Quick notes on the build, the wood is gorgeous as usual and the rest is a bit different from standard ZMF but still feels high quality and fits the full retail price. These also feel pretty light for a ZMF.

 

I was fortunate to get on the loaner tour for the ZMF Bokeh tour. And want to thank all that supported the tour.

TLDR: I Enjoyed the Bokeh and think it is a value demon.

Chain: PC(win 11)-Schiit Gungnir-Schiit Lokius-SPL Phonitor X- Bokeh(stock pads)

I found the Bokeh, the normal ZMF comfortable with the stock pads. I did have to ensure there was a good seal. Folks with glasses might have issues. Long session did not cause any fatigue. My room is around 68F, did not have any heat/sweat problems. The isolation from outside noise was not great.

The dynamics were good and supported my love of electronic music. The bass was tight and extended, but was not excessive. I was surprised by the separation of instruments when I switched to classical music and other well recorded light rock. Strings were sublime. The side staging was great with good depth. But by no means would anybody confuse the headphones with open headphones. I enjoyed vocals the most with this headphone, I found myself clicking on songs, just for the vocal singer.

I was surprised by the price, I did not look it up until after my listening sessions, and I was guessing +$500 of the ZMF website price. Highly recommend.

 

The loaner coincided with getting a new Yggdrasil OG. This has overshadowed the Bokeh because I haven’t enjoyed music with the addition of the Yggdrasil. Not with the Bokeh, not even with my personal Sennheiser’s. I was not able to move components around like I would like and the Dac just sits in the corner. I’ve been trying to find a way to write without letting this color my impressions, and unfortunately, I don't have much of substance to say.

The Bokeh is beautiful and comfortable. Very comfortable. My head and ears don’t work with some headphones. The earpads have good texture, and the strap has good support. One thing important to me is that you can actually buy replacement straps and earpads from ZMF themselves. It isn’t always that easy.

Changing pads have been mentioned already, but I also had difficulty doing it. I’m sorry. I accidentally clacked the cups together. I wasn’t able to able to use the full cloth or the full pleather pad. I was able to at least get the hybrid pad back on. It might the most worn in of the pads provided to the loaner. ZMF lists them as all the same size so maybe with a little break in the others will become easier to take on and off. I noticed on the website that ZMF ear pads are not able to be returned which makes sense, but this difficulty might lead to some potential frustrated owners.

I’m not comfortable sharing more because of all what is happening in my system. I appreciate ZMF offering this loaner and SBAF giving me this opportunity to listen to it but it happened at a very awkward time and nothing sounds good right now.

 

I recommend trying it out of your phone if possible so you can get a good idea of the sound without being overshadowed by your Yggdrasil.

Something I didn't mention in my write up, I didn't have trouble with the pads. I didn't play around much due to time constraints (and I enjoyed the Bokeh with whatever was already in use). I found them slightly harder than other ZMF pads but I feel like I've gotten used to changing them so it's not a big deal. You definitely need to be protective of "clacking" the two cups together but I've found that to be the case with other ZMF too.

 

I was late with my post and I had already shipped them out to the next participant last Monday. I wrote and erased a bunch of things from my post but I was not healthy enough to participate and I should have asked to be skipped. Playing off a phone is a good idea, but I wasn't able to try it.

 

I picked these up as I was looking for a somewhat portable sealed headphone that can sound good straight from a phone or laptop audio out. Surprisingly it was available for demo in a local store here in PH so I did try it out and fell in love with its sound straight from my old LG G8 which was great because I didn't want to buy a DAP and really was only looking for a headphone that sounded good when the surroundings aren't quiet. I auditioned it for 3 different days to ensure I'm just not in a good mood during my listening session.

I hate to sound too generic and vague but these had a musical/romantic sound to it that's flexible for lots of genres. Kinda harkens me back to the old Audio-Technical woodies (W3000, 5000, esw9) minus the honk and softness. Obviously the Bokeh had better dynamics, more resolving, etc. but that's what came to mind immediately. Other small things that I like about the Bokeh is it sounds good in low volume, has a relaxed but nuanced treble frequencies and really just a pleasant overall tone.

Not really gonna be able to compare much as I haven't had any closed-back headphones in a while but I'm enjoying these as a work headphone in my remote work setup. My place is not as quiet as I'd like it to be cause it's near a main road and previously I was using Utopia primarily and the HD8xx sometimes. I guess I realized the obvious that a superb open headphone and a noisy place isn't really better than a good headphone that passively isolates you.

In terms of cons for me, I find it a bit too bassy at times for my liking that I would downshelf the bass a bit especially when listening to Taylor Swift and other modern pop songs. But that's really more preference than anything. At home, I have it with the Luxman P1u and Bifrost 2 which is probably not a good synergy. I have a THX887 and Modius somewhere so I'll probably give that setup a try as well when I find them. From phone though, it really does sound a bit different in a good way or maybe my mind is just tricking me. The last headphone I had that I thought sounded great from a phone was the Edition X from Hifiman.

Comfort for me is good. I'm surprised its 430g cause it didn't feel like it's that heavy. Accessories are good too. The version I got from the store had 3 cables (xlr, quarter inch, 4.4), extra pads which I thought was fantastic for the price.

Thats really about it. I hope my impressions are not too useless and if it does just let me know so I can edit. I think this is also my first post. I wrote this one cause I have 3 hours to spare waiting for my flight.

 

I see the ETA Mini C talk, but anyone with a Mini S that had time at home with both? I only have the Schiit Kit Bokeh as a reference. Gun to my head - Mini S wins for me, but might not be a fair fight? I assumed the Bokeh was semi-open based on what I heard. Would also love to hear whatever the king Fostex Bio-D is vs. the Bokeh.

Pretty Mini-R10 is a hard sell for me if it can't provide R10 performance in 2024 at the asking price.

Ninja-Edit - Bokeh is closed. I haven't heard the Mini C, so my reference is out of whack. Apologies.

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Zach knows what the f**k he’s doing. Not only is he a master at squeezing the most performance of a given driver in sexy wooden cups, but each model slots comfortably within a niche position; always complementing the rest of its siblings.

At around the $1000 price point, of course this thing has technical chops and is competitively priced against other closed-backs in this bracket. But, that’s not why I think you should buy a Bokeh.

IMO, one should buy the Bokeh because they love music and want to spend a rainy, Sunday afternoon reviving the songs which have defined the epochs of their life.

As I’m writing this, I kept trying to furrow my brow and get all audiophile, only to say f**k it and rock out. It’s been so long since I’ve went back to the likes of Blink-182, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, and the numerous other jams from the 90’s and early 00’s. It’s also an EDM monster.

Sound
In a word: fun.
The bass is slammy and weighty, but not boomy or bloated. Definitely a highlight.
The mids are smooth and rich, yet still allow for a sufficient amount of texture. The mids are never shouty or honky, though some might not prefer the “BBC dip.” The treble reminds me of my HD650 in that it’s sweet, and never fatiguing.

Compared to my Verite Closed and Atrium Closed, the Bokeh definitely doesn’t fall on its face. Where the flagships win in audiophile qualities and technicalities, the Bokeh takes the cake in pure fun and rocking out.

In conclusion, I’d be shocked if the Bokeh doesn’t end up being one of the most successful models in the line up by volume. It’s less picky with source gear, easier to drive, fun as hell, and a perfect companion for a work/office setup.

Super grateful for this loaner, thanks again for setting this tour up!

10/10 — I’ve never heard Creed sound better.