ZMF Eikon Measurements and Review

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Mar 17, 2017.

  1. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    Actually I only mentioned the HE-6 so that it would not be suggested.
     
  2. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    Thanks. As I have no chance of auditioning the PMX2 in the UK could you please tell me which is the better option between the PMX2 and the Eikon as a 650 upgrade? Don't care about open vs closed.
     
  3. Ryanr1987

    Ryanr1987 Facebook Friend

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    I had the PMX2 here for a while and it was pretty much a side grade to the HD650. Upgrades are not really a thing in high end headphones, pick a signature you like then go for it. The PMX2 reminded me of a more fixed PM-1 but still had some of that, lack of dynamics and punch.

    I'm curious to see more comparisons to the HD650 as I'm also from the UK.
     
  4. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    Thanks! I'm very wary of paying $700 for a mod to what is, in stock form, considered a mediocre headphone. If I don't like it I can pretty much wipe the value of the mod off my resale price as barely anybody outside the USA has heard of Audio Zenith. I had taken this headphone out of consideration especially as it was near the bottom of the Big Sound 2015 ranking. The main thing that piqued my interest again Marvey saying the 2016 version was competitive with even the Utopia in certain aspects.

    If you found it less punchy and engaging than the HD650 I will take it off my list.
     
  5. TMRaven

    TMRaven Friend

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    These things with the heavier wood weigh 600grams-- that's LCD-X territory. I know they have somewhat of a suspension strap, but how's their long-term comfort? Seems like they definitely wouldn't disappear on the head.
     
  6. Mystic

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    They are heavy, but comfort and weight distribution is really good for the size and light-years ahead of whatever Audeze thinks is modern ergonomics.

    Hot spots haven't developed after extended wear personally, unlike the LCD-2 I owned. Weight also feels a little bit lighter due to the better ergonomics.

    Still, they are not light.
     
  7. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I just wore mine through an 8 hour work day. No problems to report.
     
  8. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    I wrote a whole review up of the Atticus. I didn't really compare them critically and felt like the Eikon had more plankton and microdynamics and that it wasn't even close based on whatever I had told myself to believe. I mean listening to them separately left me with those impressions. So when this was posted I made a poop face in confusion. But after intentionally comparing them...uhh....:bow: salute! I'll learn, we've all gotten it wrong before.

    I was listening to 'Shigeto - Soul Searching' and all of the little clicks in and snaps of the african finger instruments were more realistically developed and contrasted on the Atticus but the bass was tighter on the Eikon.

    The Eikon sounds more lucid and liquid to me. I also get the impression of the Atticus having more macrodynamics but it's about a tie. The Atticus just has heftier tones so it punches with a little more weight. The tones have a richer timbre with more body to them. I'm still picking the Atticus as my personal choice between the two.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  9. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    These are closed and don't suck which is a big achievement. That being said they're still closed headphones that cost a thousand dollars so meh. They also not as high-fidelity with gear and recordings as the Senns.
     
  10. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    But they could be great Senn compliments...
     
  11. Mystic

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    Personally, I do not find these to be just good for a closed back. They stand on their own even at $1.3k and compare favorably to open headphones in that price bracket.

    The original Ether C was good, for a closed back. The Eikon is just good.

    I think if someone is looking to spend under $2k for a pair of headphones for at home listening, where isolation is not needed, these should still absolutely be something to audition.
     
  12. Ash1412

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    How can you have no coloration with sound bouncing around the closed enclosure with nowhere to escape creating resonances and reverbs ? And if an enclosure manages to do that, it usually ends up deadening the entire sound and sounding lifeless.

    Too many engineers have tried to dodge physics with new designs and meta-materials only for it to kick them in a worse spot, including Senn with their HD630VB and its bass dial crap. About time we had a guitar maker try his hand at making a good closed enclosure that has tasteful enough coloration to the point where it's not detrimental, perhaps even benefitial (neutral heads would laugh at this, but closed designs make it easier to be extend down low). True, the elaborate manufacturing process using solid wood and the fancy case probably adds a crap ton to the cost but they also make them feel like actual heirloom stuff, not $6k veneer+ metal+nano-whateverthecrap coming out of a factory in china. Shit, it even has a lifetime warranty, which I don't think anyone else can match for their TOTL stuff, except Senn with their excellent replacement supplies.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  13. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    HEIRLOOM HEADPHONES? f**k outta here with that hipster crap.

    ELABORATE MANUFACTURING PROCESS? Where are the miniature anechoic chambers? The ex-hairdressers winding voice coils in lab coats? NADA. THIS IS SOME GRADO SHIT BUT NOT KILL YOURSELF BAD.

    LIFETIME WARRANTY? Do you really think ZMF will exist in a decade or two?

    Closed headphones don't really extend lower; that's bass reverberation and headphones suck at real bass. None of these closed headphones are actually good. They are tolerable. NEUTRAL HEADS????? How about these are for uncritical listeners who would otherwise be watching How I Met Your Mother.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  14. AMW1011

    AMW1011 Friend

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    Nice. It was smelling of too much head-fi in here. We needed some edgy and incoherent psal ranting to really freshen up the place.
     
  15. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Well, we are the ones spending $2.5k on amps for our HD650s so... I think anyone spending that sort of money would treat what they buy a bit like an heirloom but what the heck, I don't own any audio equipment costing over a grand and still baby the shit out of my 650s, except for the occasional cable tug and drop on floor, which it's endured very well.

    About the manufacturing process, I meant using solid wood instead of veneer or plastic and having proper tuning (well more proper than grado tuning at least). Again, all for using plastic if it sounds great but you gotta respect classic solid wood enclosures, right? Guitar players? No one? Just me then...

    Will zmf be around? Don't know. Seems like a good company with good products and customer service, for now. I honestly don't care that much about warranty if a company has as many spare parts as Senn. But 3 years for Abyss and Utopia? The f**k? If all other TOTL stuff had 5 year warranties or dependable repair services OR remotely predictable release cycles (going from TOTL products being "upgraded" with x2 the pricetag every year to almost 20 year old "mid range" products without a hint of a damn refresh), I wouldn't have even mentioned it. Shit's not easy to predict (Schiit has all 3 of the above for most of their products btw). If Audeze and Hifiman's still going strong with the stuff they've been pulling, I have just a smidgen of hope for zmf.

    Closed backs. Dunno. I'm not an engineer. Even put "probably" before the statement. All I know is that bass ports are there for a reason, something something air pressure. I would love a driver that could extend 20-20k in open air without distortion, compression and all the other crap but you gotta make trade offs. It's fine if you consider being closed back a crutch for sound quality. Whatever floats your boat or in this case, whatever gets your/peoples music the way you/they want it to sound. Metal on Grados man, metal on Grados...f**k those guys
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  16. Mystic

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    Had me sold until:
    @AMW1011

    You must not have seen the ZMF thread on HF then. That place is a dumpster fire.
     
  17. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    @Mystic @Ash1412
    The Eikon is still solidly in the mid-fi realm where you can hear the music most of the time (until the tuning or closed-in nature screws you over) but not the uh recording. That would be hi-fi. Sure it's on the upper end of AKG, Koss, and Beyer and better than almost all planars and estats but that's not really saying anything really positive about it. It's like yeah your team's okay but you can't make the playoffs as you're not good enough to hang in there with the people who are actually good like how Death the punk band couldn't compete with the Stooges and the Ramones and Death the metal band didn't inspire nearly as many bands as Slayer or Bathory. Sure the Eikon is much better than ZMF's previous headphones but it's mid-fi sound that costs a thousand dollars and most people are coming from a different flavor of mid-fi sound rather than moving into high-fidelity nirvana, of which cans like the 600, 650, 800 modded, and Utopia out of decent, not defective by design, gear is just the start of.

    Buying the Eikon coming from only owning crap is like yeah you watched FRIENDS back in the 90s and it wasn't very good but now you get to pay a thousand dollars for FRIENDS 2 aka HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER.
     
  18. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    As for tonality versus HD 600 which I figure is a good reference with the peak. Listing winners of course as:

    "Losers always whine about their best; winners go home and f**k the prom queen." - Sean Connery in Michael Bay's The Rock.

    Pianos: Eikon. Pianos and harpsichords on the HD 600 make me want to kill myself. Can't deal.
    Violins: HD 600. That peak is annoying. Could probably deal with it. Not as bad as harpsichords on the 600. Unbearably kill myself bad. I wanted to kill myself like Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea.
    Guitars: HD 600 all day.

    Cleanliness of fundamentals: Eikon isn't nearly as dirty. I love the HD 600 but it's dirtier than the 650 and makes me want to power drill my brain sometimes with the peaks in the upper mids AND low treble. Trepanation is not an option but you can hear the bass distortion.
    Detail: HD 600 by a mile.
    Separation and staging: HD 600 by a mile.

    If you are a poor redditor who whines about spending 300 to 1000 dollars on source gear? Why the hell are you even considering the Eikon? Steinberg u22 interface -> cheap powered monitors or Schiit -> HD 600

    If you have speakers or open cans and want something good for work? Eikon is a good choice if you have a job.

    If you're super cheap like me or ultrabike and only pay for stuff that blows your mind with the music you listen to (I really hope you are listening to lossless recordings as not background music and not anime)? Eikon will not blow your mind like that poor guy from Scanners. Utopia blew my mind. Too bad I am cheap.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  19. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    You're the best kind of consumer: one who actually has his own very acute definition of what he wants (at least for audio) and is not willing to pay for anything that's not a good value/stingy af. That's cool. I wish I have enough experience with planars, stats, expensive closed backs, megabuck amps and dacs to come up with my own definition of good and avoiding circlejerks (the hd650s and schiit deserve a circlejerk though). As I understand it, your definition of high-fi pretty much requires:

    1. Open back (no claustrophobic iems or closed backs)
    2. Dynamic (compressed af)
    3. Acceptable tuning (dont know why hd800 would be in your list. Ive seen you trash it in some posts)

    Do you have hope for any closed back? I'm personally not a fan of closed backs cause of sweat and slow-decaying enclosure-boosted bass. But I appreciate when someone tries to apply their expertise from instrument making into designing headphones and succeeds/makes it into your mid-fi list, cause as far as I know, most headphone engineers for some reason have shit for ears. Yes, I am just a poor Schiit+HD650 peasant who doesn't have any intention of buying this, but I can appreciate it for what it is.

    Just one question. I've also seen you post that the hd650s are resolving enough. Considering it's your personal fav, what do you think it could take from the other phones in your high-fi list/it's lacking?
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  20. Mystic

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    Who on Sbaf is having their mind blown by the Eikon to the point of cumming their pants? Other than randos. Most of us have a 650/600 or 800 in our stable. My 580 and 650 are permanent residents. My 800 I just sold this past week.

    Idk what all the Reddit commentary is about, but if someone's on a budget, of course they shouldn't be looking at anything past the 650. I still have mine because it trades blows with something like the Eikon and destroys most of the planar crap and tuned to shit "hi-fi" FOTM. I could sell my Eikon and be completely content living with my 650. But then again, a lot of us probably could.
     

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