ZMF EIKON & ZMF ATTICUS

Well, the wait officially begins. I just ordered the Eikon in Padauk. I am experiencing equal parts excitement and terror at the thought of a hand-crafted, $1400 headphone landing on my doorstep in a couple of months. One thing is for sure, it is going to be awesome!

 

Anyone have impressions of the final build of the Atticus?

 

Build quality: exactly like the Eikon (obviously), which is to say built like a tank, extremely comfortable, and the gimbal system is very well implemented.

Sound: mid-bass and mid focused. I don't have a similar headphone to compare it to. Treble has detail and it isn't ever fatiguing. Might be picky with amp pairings to ensure it doesn't get too lush. (The Elise is a bad pairing imo, but the CSP 3 Zach uses is quite good!) Extremely satisfying can for EDM and rock. I'd agree with almost all of the reviews currently out there on the Atticus. They aren't neutral or V shaped.

 

Congrat @MattRG !

It must be painful to wait such a long time just depending on imagination, but I confirm it's worth doing so.

Although I am satisfied with my cherry eikon, I regret a bit that I didn't order with padauk option. Reddish earcups just look so sexy ...

 

That is exactly the reason I went the Padauk. I just like the aesthetics better versus the Cherry. I debated with myself for days but in the end, it felt right to go with the one that I liked the most in terms of looks considering the amount of money being invested. And thank you for your kind words!

Edit - Zach already emailed me and said I was about 6 weeks out. I'm telling myself that 6 weeks isn't too bad but we'll see how well I handle it as we get a little closer.

 

Thanks for the estimate. I'm torn whether to order an Eikon now or just buy Elnrik's Atticus. Part of me wants something now and the other part wants the Eikon for classical stuff T_T

 

Z with Zach at Canjam

 

Kind of like watching one of the "slow" scenes in a Paranormal Activity movie. Edit: The first part anyway.

Interesting to see Z interacting with people.

Orpheus:

"You can scream and he can't hear you. Go ahead and scream. Go ahead and scream."

"You know what it is like balancing a heavy metal ball on a needle? That's what they sound like."

"It sounds like fire is making the sound."

He asks Zach about the difference in sound between the Eikon and Atticus, then interrupts the answer until Zach puts it into "Z speak".

Interacts with some fans, weirdly.

On to Audioquest - Man, he doesn't make it easy to speak to him. It is like he is trying to make everyone conform to his "reality". It is kind of like he's communicating, but not really.

Interesting video, thanks @YtseJammer.

 

My opinion is if you are spending that kind of money make sure you are getting exactly what you want. And if you are like me it might take you a couple of days (or weeks...) to figure out exactly what that is but once you figure it out, go for it.

 

Listening to hell freezes over (eagles), hotel california just freaked me out. Hate to admit I like eikon way more over ether flow, which costed me roughly twice. Oh well

 

For sure. My main problem is that my mood changes. Most days I listen to EDM, pop, and female vocals. EDM and pop align best with what I've read about the Atticus. [Edit: Female vocals not likely to sound quite as good due to warm signature. Male vocals would be better.] I've read varying things about acoustic guitar, but generally classical and orchestral are better on Eikon due to more neutral sound. I've yet to read anything about violin pieces, but that would be another deciding factor.

Coming from an HE-400i (Bifrost Multibit -> Lyr 2), I could go either direction and be satisfied probably, but still reading what I can. I'm currently thinking Atticus and then trying to pick up a brighter set of tubes or LISST even to go solid state to have the option.

Any opinions from you guys here?

 

I don't own atticus, and have not heard it yet. So I can't tell you which one is better.

My decision came from my belief on material. I have a very strong affection toward bio-cellulose, believing it is one of the best transducer materials. And had very good impressions from r10, d5000, and nh. All these assumptions and previous experiences led me to eikon.

Anyway my advice is 1) if you can, audition them 2) if you can't, go for your feeling.

 

I'm not sure where this "Atticus is better for female vocals" shit started, but that seems pretty ridiculous to me. The Atticus is very warm, dark, and has a distant and recessed upper mid range. The Eikon is forward in the upper mids with neutral to perhaps a hair above neutral treble. Female vocals should be best on a headphone that has forward upper mids and lacks grain, since that is where the bulk of the harmonics and some of the body is for female vocals.

Overall, unless you dislike treble, or are a fan of warm/dark stuff I don't think the Atticus is the way to go. The HE-400i, for instance, is dry and bright. The opposite of dark and warm. The Bifrost Multibit and Lyr 2 likely warm it up considerably, but that is definitely going to be too warm a setup for the Atticus in my opinion.

 

They're really different sounding, it would be ideal if you could hear one or both. Atticus is really colored, it's not subtle. It's very warm and midbassy with a lush midrange that slopes quite a bit down in the treble. That's nothing like the 400i, and lyr 2 is going to add warmth to a degree regardless of tubes. If you know you like that sound, then great, but if you're not entirely sure what you're look for it could be a bad fit. I think it has to come down to the users preferences rather than just what some instruments it highlight.

Eikon is likely the safer blanket recommendation just because it's much closer to neutral, and (IMO) is the better all around headphone. If 400i treble doesn't bother you Eikon won't. But again, if very warm and bassy is your thing, Atticus does do that very well

Edit @AMW1011 posted while I was typing and I definitely agree with his thoughts

 

Is the Bifrost Multibit considered warm?

 

Kind of. It's has some of the lusher elementsof its own and of Schiit's other Multibit DACs. It's certainly the most colored. The Lyr 2 is bloomy and I'd consider it warm.

 

I think I got it from one of the HF reviews. Might be people thinking all mids are good for female vocals. I think the more correct aspect that I've read would be male vocals.

Also very much agree the Lyr 2 (probably with the gold lions I'm using) have warmed up my setup.

I really appreciate your thoughts here. Probably the more correct move to go for the Eikon instead of trying to make the Atticus something it isn't.

I think in the deprecated official DAC chart it's listed as very slightly warm. I didn't notice too much of a difference when I added it.

 

I was worried as I wanted fairly neutral when I bought it. Long term I'm keeping it, but other DACs have caught my eye like the Musette.

Anyway... Thanks.

 

OK, I didn't want to chime in with an opinion as you were considering buying my Atticus - it would only look like I was trying to persuade you. That's not how I roll.

That said, I do think these guys describe the sound pretty well. I do like the Atticus, and it sounds great with EDM, and a lot of rock. By that I mean metal and stuff. I'd listen to Skip Knot on it all day. John Mellencamp and the like, not so much. The Atticus seems appropriate for a more specific selection of music. The Eikon is a better all-rounder.

 

I think the others have covered this pretty well but my thinking was to buy the headphone that was the most technically proficient and most neutral. I could then use tubes, amp choice or EQ software to "color" the sound and tailor it to my preference, if I wanted. And for what it's worth I listen to alot (A LOT) of EDM and I would think the speed, clarity and technical precision of the Eikon along with its strong sub bass would really handle that genre very well.