Verum Audio - Exciting high performance DIY planar

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by cskippy, May 24, 2018.

  1. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Could be, but I'm not sure it's quite as simple as that. I think there's more voodoo nonsense at play here and with headphone measurements.

    Nonetheless, point is if you're the sort of person that likes the HD650 or LCD-2 w/ vegan pads, the Verum might sound a bit too bright to you. Certainly does to me and when compared to moderately balanced sounding speakers, but that will vary from person to person. And that's ignoring measurements.

    Still, it's easy to swap the pads and get the sound you want on these. Makes it a bit of a moot point.
     
  2. spoony

    spoony Spooky

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    Totally agreed, it's not simple.
     
  3. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    It's quite obvious that there is no "one ring to rule them all". I've made tonal balance that I consider to be neutral but I left a room for simple modding and experiments with damping and pads.
    I do like LCD 2 but I consider them to be on the dark side of the force. Take this in mind when you're trying to imagine tonal balance of stock product ;)
     
  4. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    Today I celebrated a month after I put headphones in a shoe box on balcony connected to aliexpress 10$ class D amp and they were playing over and over Du Hast from Rammstein on ~100 db spl.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Don't see any membrane degradation.
     
  5. Jinxy245

    Jinxy245 Vegan Puss

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    If 'Du Hast' doesn't break them, nothing will...I am looking forward to these!
     
  6. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    Still have some ideas how to improve reliability. You know - wires, soldering technique etc. It's built to last.
    Submitted project to Kickstarter today. If everything is well - should start crowdfunding campaign next week.
    And some small teaser:


    Video is also DIY ;)
     
  7. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Great taste in music! Now I know what to play on these when I get ears on them, haha. Thanks for all the hard work, @Garuspik, and please save a few for local retailers here in the Philippines if you're so inclined!
     
  8. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    Lol. That's some random "intro" music from music library of video editing software.
     
  9. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Oh nah, I was talking about the Rammstein, haha. That was the song my friend used to introduce me to them I think, or Mein Herz Brennt :p
     
  10. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    Ah! Mein Herz Brennt is my favourite Rammstein's song. But to broke headphones Du Hast is better. Mein Herz has too quiet intro :D
     
  11. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Definitely an excellent stress test, that one. I should buy a copy some time and use that to demo gear, though I fear I may have to end up buying a bunch if busted planars if I do!
     
  12. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    I even tried to use headphones as speakers. Rather good spl from sevelar meters. Watched some TV series and placed headphones at the top of my speakers. Nothing really bad has happened. Even sound was +- ok with such spl. As from cheap tv on such volume:

     
  13. Josh83

    Josh83 Friend

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    What’s the Kickstarter price, if I may ask?
     
  14. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    you need to do the burn-in with these:



    find them in their highest quality form somewhere first of course. They're full of juciy hard hitting transients too! Also, if the song Vega Core sounds like your driver is about to tear apart when the heavy part comes in, that's because that song already sounds like speakers being destroyed :p

    Another band that is insanely good to push headphones to the edge is Infected Mushroom. A lot of ACTUAL DEEP BASS in many of those songs.
     
  15. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    As advertised long ago - 300$ for first backers. Including international shipping.
     
  16. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    Sure you understand that my favourite game soundtrack is this theme :D

     
  17. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    delete
     
  18. Audio Zenith

    Audio Zenith Custom Title KGB

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    ok. Writing down impressions took a bit longer than expected, but here is my view on this amazing project.

    Whenever I see a promising new audio startup, especially one with plans for launching a kickstarter campaign, I always try to gather as much information as possible about the main person behind it. This particular one was initiated somewhere around my homeland, therefore absence of language barrier was certainly a plus. All in all during the past couple of months I spoke to @Garuspik at length quite a few times, trying to find out as much information as possible in order to better assess not only the projects potential, but also what is most likely to happen if/when serious obstacles are hit.

    One of the main things to note about our conversations was how pretty much all of my questions/complaints were met with either a plan of action already in place, competent explanation of why certain things were done one way and not the other, or open willingness to consider possible changes. At this point I feel @Garuspik has done a great deal of research and design work already to have right to be confident in this one.

    First thing that struck me when I unpacked Verum was its size. This probably is the largest set of cans I ever held in my hands. Interestingly enough, it doesn't feel large on my head and in fact is much lighter than size may suggest. Overall comfort is quite good and headphones can be easily worn for hours. Leather on earpads as well as pads themselves could be a bit softer, but this isn't out of line and to give you an idea, feel very similar to the thickest cowhide pads offered by ZMF with one of their models.

    The way Verum is designed and built reminds me of 30 years old microwave ovens, when they were so overbuilt while manufacturers had to convince housewives this new addition to their kitchens is totally worthwhile and is there to stay. To give you a better idea, headband and grilles are made of the highest grade laser cut stainless steel, while buttons holding earcups and headband are made out of real titanium.

    To be perfectly honest, out of the box Verum didn't sound super impressive, but fiddling with earpads truly did wonders. After a couple days of experimentation I settled for perforated velour pads originally made for one of the "Shure" open backs. They came with thin layer of open sell foam to sit above inner grille and work well for taming narrow high frequency peak one may notice with original configuration. Shure pads are oval and a bit smaller in size, but I was still able to put them on with some effort.

    After the pad swap, tonal balance became quite satisfactory and to me feels better than most of the recently relaesed planars costing much more. Verum isn't perfectly smooth or highly resolving, but it certainly presents very exciting, powerful and natural sounding signature that is quite easy to adjust to your personal liking through a simple pad swap.

    All in all, I honestly feel this planar isn't just a bargain, it is something many have been waiting for quite some time. It is bound to compete with the best dynamics on their own grounds. Where high average performance and low price is stabilized within the last couple of decades and certainly isn't as outrageous as what most decent newer planars are currently aiming for.
     
  19. Garuspik

    Garuspik Tovarisch Ukrainian Terminator MOT - Verum

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    Thanks for review. It's a HEADphones not HANDSphones :D
    Several DIY photos for DIY project ;)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  20. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    The headband reminds me of Kennerton headbands. Luckily the drivers measure ten times better than Kennerton drivers!

    Edit: how do these measure when you do the "controlled air leak" trick? Ibtroduce a small channel between the pad and cup, so a little air can leak out from the ear-side. This'll boost the resonant frequency in the sub lows, and it'll be all kinds of sexy for people like me.
     

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