Verum Audio - Exciting high performance DIY planar

just received my verum 1 mk2s today & tried it with JDS Labs Atom+ stack.
I don't know whether Atom+ stack provides less current to headphones or something else, to me it sounds extremely close to my BLON-BL03s.

 

Hello, I just subscribed to post my two cents. I work for an important distributor of hifi equipment (both mid and high-end) since many years, music and hifi are my hobbies and I had the opportunity to borrow and test many products since my young adult age. Well now I have a Verum since this summer and feeling its potential I never stopped to look for the better combination on a possibly low budget. I won’t repeat impressions of these headphones here, other forumers described well the sound of Verums. The only thing that frustrates me most with poor matching equipment is the lack of details (like tiny reverberations that give the sense of atmosphere of a song). I had a Sen HD600 for some years before and I also miss sometimes its silky treble. I listen mostly to classical and jazz (it’s a shortcut and don’t mean to sound stereotype).

Regarding the matching of components, among others I tried (and modded a bit) a Monoprice amp featuring the TDA6120A2 amp chip with integrated Burr Brown dac (with output resistor lowered to almost zero to better match the Verum ‘s impedance, checking there was no oscillation of course). The sound was impressive at first, very dynamic, almost brutal, clear and open and detailled, but after a while realized that it was quite wrong tonally, the timbre critera being the most important to me, lacking texture and fullness especially in the midrange and making voices sound always thinned out even sometimes ear-piercing in the high-mids. I guess the very fast ADSL derived (cheap) chips have this kind of bright sound, maybe LME49600 in the Atom sound similar and I understand why it can be popular among uncareful listeners. In consequence it didn’t last long.

After a few other trials and errors (a bit disapointed with rHead from Arcam, a brand I know well ...) the game is coming to an end with a Schiit Magni 3+ (chosen because no OPA inside not to introduce any supplementary coloration, indeed this amp seems VERY neutral) and a Dacmagic 100 lightly modded. IMO the results are the best two worlds, nice texture and realism brought by the dac (Wolfson 8742, much better than all the Sabre I have experienced, excepted maybe the dac/amp chip ES9219C in my Shanling UA1 Pro which is quite pleasant and not too metallic, by the way quite a good match for a casual listening with Verum) while the dynamics and details are safely retained by the Magni 3+, which even trying nitpicking it’s really hard to say that if it verges on the bright or warm side, since it seems exceptionnally resepectul to the source.

For my tastes I noticed I much prefer an amp with a theoritically shortage of current capability but tonally right than a current monster with flawed tone, so you may not need to be too focused on the power when choosing components.

 

I got a Verum V1 with old headband design recently and sound drops on the right side constantly. Tapping it a couple of times makes it okay but after a couple of minutes it plays only on the left channel. Any fix for this?

 

What do you mean "sound drops", cuts completely or lowers the volume or something? Maybe i am mistaken but i think @dBel84 fixed one of those, maybe he can help in some capacity?!

 

Yes it gets cuts off completely, I’ve removed the back grill to check if the diaphragm gets stuck to magnet, but it’s not the case. Also checked the wiring from the jack to the diaphragm it also looks fine. Don’t know what’s causing the issue.

 

It's a commom issue, but the severity varies. I have tried quite a few Verums; all of them have this cut-off issue. But usually it's quick to recover so all the owners just kinda sticked with it. My first unit came with the right channel out too. I think it could be that cable connector. Mk2 improved when changed from 2.5mm to 3.5mm. But Im not sure.

 

Thanks to @Dzerh was able to fix the issue. Seems the cable connecting the jack to diaphragm was getting pressed in the baffle. Added a couple of small pieces of double sided tape to give the cable some space and it is solved!

 

Hello everybody! Thank you for every helpful post, reviews, measurements and etc. Amazing!

My frind just bought version 3 of Verum One. Does anyone have frequency response measurement of this version?
We want to make an EQ curve.
Thank you!

 

Hi, I hope you don´t mind I share this here, but in Czech Republic one talented guy produces 3D printed planars.
Maybe some Verum owner would be interested in comparing these headphones? We can create a new thread if people are interested..

 

Man, I just got a chance to listen to the Hifiman Edition XS. The whole time I was aware of listening with headphones, analyzing the sound, finding the highs a little unrealistic, the mids recessed, pad swapping to see if that changes things for the better, switching back to the stock pads then messing with EQ, etc. Finally I was like eh, let me compare this to my Verum One. As soon as I started listening with the Verum One, I stopped paying attention to the headphones and just started enjoying the music. These things just sort of get out of the way and let you enjoy the music. Yeah, if I force myself to listen critically, I can find faults like the highs being a bit zingy, some kind of grain in the upper mids, etc., but it's much more fun just to enjoy my FLAC collection on shuffle!

Now, if I can only find a replacement headband for my broken one ...

 

I have the OG rabbit ears headband and was wondering if it's possible to upgrade to the next gen round version.

 

I asked @Garuspik and last I knew he had his hands full building complete headphones. If a standalone V2 headband ever becomes available, I'm all over that.

 

I sent him a PM too. He said, "I'll announce that possibility in near future. My manufacturing capabilities are now limited."

 

I've sold several batches of mk2 headbands at self cost (and announced that at Kickstarter) already and thought everyone already bought them. As I seen - not everyone.
I believe everyone should have a chance to receive an upgrade cause mk2 headband is really more convenient and good looking.
Price will be about 40$ including shipping. Shipping costs about 18$, ~20$ is a self cost of headband including leather strap.

 

That's wonderful news! Where should we pay attention to find out when these become available? Kickstarter, your website, ???

 

@Garuspik
Would it be possible to order other replacement parts?
I have a blown driver and would like to replace it.
What would a replacement pair of driver assemblies cost?

 

Please contact me through my website and i'll answer all your questions.

 

@Garuspik please announce here when available. Thanks!

 

I got tired of waiting for a chance to pick up a replacement OEM headband, so I picked up a Sony R10 style headband on AliExpress. The 120mm version fits well. Clamp is a bit strong with those thicc Ori pads, but the headband is very light and overall it works. To hold the cups, I pressed in some 2-56 threaded inserts, cut some 2-56 machine screws down to about 7mm, reused the original rubber washers to protect the plastic cups from the metal yokes and added some outside washers to keep those tiny pan heads from slipping through the yoke.

A nice bonus is that the tilt of the yoke tilts the cable even further up from my shoulders.

Note - before pressing in the inserts, I reamed out the holes with a 1/8" drill bit (just handholding the bit, no drill or anything).