ZMF Auteur - An open back ZMF

Patiently waiting for my balanced cable so I can put them both on the Aficionado before going off of what I hear with the Milo.

Here you know what, I will give you a little bit of what I hear and know wont change because of an amp.

Autuer:
Better imaging, wider soundstage, more air, more neutral

HP3:
More closed in, more sub bass, more dynamic

 

@gbeast How do they compare in terms of scalability between Auteur and Atticus? I was planning to get the Auteur but cocobolo is so damn sexy.

 

I'm not Gbeast, but, in my opinion, they scale about as well as you'd think. Personally, I found the HD580 scaled a bit better than the Auteur, but the Auteur more readily reveals issues with the chain and adopts to whatever you plug it into. For example, the Magni 3 sounded a bit steely and the Kenzie sounded entirely too thick (which is just how the amp, but the HD580 did better with the Kenzie.) However, the Black Widow seemed a very good combo with the Auteur. From what I've been told by @Mystic (I haven't had the chance to try it myself yet,) the Auteur opens up quite a bit with the ZDS where it didn't with the Kenzie or Magni 3.

 

As the current market stands, Auteur is my endgame dynamic headphone. It's technically adept AND has a very balanced frequency response. The only other headphone that does this that I've heard in my system is the HD650 but even that is somewhat forward in the mids compared to the Auteur which seems to just present things in such a pleasing way. I'll have a review up in a few days.

 

When I heard the Clear at RMAF it definitely wasn't "clear" enough for me. I really like the Utopia but I refuse to pay over $2000 for a headphone. $1500 is already too much IMO.

Auteur is the real deal. It's funny, I've found that I'll like certain setups with unfamiliar rigs but that doesn't mean shit if you can't audition the component with gear you intimately know. That's what happened with the AR-H1. It's still a good headphone but the peak at 10kHz kind of alienates it from a lot of people who are treble sensitive or who have brighter gear. I'm finding myself leaning toward warmer headphones and the Auteur really hits that sweet spot of not too warm, not too bright and has that dynamic bass that planars just lack, even Code Sex.

 

Hahaha no, $1800 for the one I want but full disclosure I'm doing a review and Zach is gracious enough to offer a discount as I WANT to buy one. I always try and be open and honest with whatever I say, and yes, sometimes it comes back to bite me, but I would rather have some integrity than cover my ass or suck up for favors.

 

Oh, for sure. My comment was simply that it wasn't as "clear" as the Utopia but seemed to sit directly in between the other two Focal.

 

The Teak Auteur is $1399 on presale right now. (going up to $1799, if I remember correctly) A comparison between these 2 would be pretty interesting (IMO etc.etc.)

 

I am supposed to get the Focal Clear from Jason who offered a loaner but no word as to when yet. If so then I can do a comparison. I really want to hear the Clear vs the Blackwood Auteur.

 

Disclaimer: Zach provided the Auteur to me for free to try out with no stipulation to write a review. I think it is worth mentioning that I offered to write a review before I knew about any kind of review discounts.
My sound preferences are neutral with a warm tilt.
My main gear consists of a Schiit Gungnir Multibit, Eddie Current ZDS, HD600, 650 & 800S.

Intro/Build quality/comfort
I don't usually do full reviews, opting for more bullet point impressions, but I found myself with all three ZMF headphones on hand for an extended time and thought, what the hell, let's try it.

The Auteur is the first open back and third in house headphone designed by ZMF and uses the same biocellulose driver design as the Eikon. Impedance is 300ohm, so it will be pretty revealing of what you are feeding it.

If you own an Atticus/Eikon, you can probably skip the rest of this section. For everyone else:
These are handmade artisan headphones made by Zach himself or maybe a couple of helpers. Everything on the outside of the headphone is made up of wood, metal and leather. No plastic parts to see and they feel solid in the hands. Getting a comfortable fit is generally pretty easy as the headband is very flexible and you can bend it to get just the right amount of clamp. These are heavy headphones, but they wear their weight well thanks to the ergonomic headband and suspension strap combo. I could wear these for hours without any discomfort, unlike the Audeze LCD series or old Hifiman models. If you do have an issue with weight, I would recommend buying the Teak model of the Auteur as it is lighter than the Blackwood LTD.



Bass
Bass extension is quite good for an open headphone, one of the best I've heard in its class. Low bass notes come through with authority. Still, if your a sub-bass junkie I would recommend taking a look at the Eikon which has a tasteful boost to the sub-bass with even greater extension than the Auteur. Bass extension is great and unlike the HD650 which I compared extensively with the Auteur, distortion in the Auteur is quite low as I hear it. Measurements posted by others show bass distortion levels staying below 1%. This is getting close to HD800 levels of low distortion which is fantastic. More manufacturers need to do this. Mid-bass on the Auteur has a slight boost that seems to be centered around 50hz or so. It sounds like it is a bit smaller than the mid-bass boost on the HD650 by comparison. Upper bass stays linear into the mids with no bass bleed. Speed in the bass is pretty good. Better than HD800 but not quite as good as the Atticus which probably has my favorite bass profile of any headphone.

Mids
Mids are linear up until the upper mids/lower treble which has a slight boost (not quite as large a boost as the HD600 though, but almost). This gives the mids excellent clarity, though they don't stand out as a defining feature like it does on the HD600 line. The slight rise at the upper mids gives guitars a satisfying crunch (which my inner metal-head appreciates) and violins sound real and lifelike. Compared to the somewhat thin sounding mids of the HD800, the Auteur is full and dynamic. Excellent tonality just a smidge on the lush side. Micro dynamics are very good and on par with something like the HD650 and HD800. Vocals are neither forward or pushed into the background.

Treble
This is not your average ZMF headphone. Past headphones Zach has made always had a rather downward sloping signature with the treble feeling a little sub-dued (The Eikon was his first that broke from this trend, the Auteur is even more so). Treble extension is quite good though maybe not on par with the HD800 (However no need to mod like many do with the HD800). Cymbals crash with lifelike precision, however I still have to hand the overall quality of the highs to the HD800. Aside from the 800s peak at 6k, the treble is just slightly more refined where the Auteur can be a little rough at times. Despite this, the Auteur is never fatiquing except on bright recordings. The Auteur will not hide the ugly details of bad recordings, it just won't highlight them as much as the HD800 does.

Soundstage and imaging on the Auteur is pretty good. Width and depth are better on the Auteur vs the HD650, though it doesn't come close to touching the expansive stage of the HD800. Still, picking out individual instrument placements is not hard to do with the Auteur and the space between the notes are easily heard.

As a quick method of comparison between the Auteur, HD650 and HD800. I rate these on overall quality.
Bass: Auteur > HD800 > HD650
Mids: HD650 > Auteur > HD800
Treble: HD800 > Auteur > HD650

To go more in depth:
Bass: Auteur easily has the best bass response of the three. Goes lower than the Senns and is cleaner with good slam. The HD800 is also clean, but doesn't go as low at the Auteur. The HD650 is the worst of the bunch with higher levels of bass distortion and faster sub-bass rolloff.
Mids: This was actually a close one between the HD650 and Auteur, which says a lot about the Auteur (and probably the 650, seems as it is only a fraction of the price as the other two listed here). Clarity is great on both. Micro dynamics are easily heard on both. The HD800 gets knocked to last mostly because of the gradual dip into the upper mids which messes up some string instruments and some female vocals when they reach that high. They all three have great macro and micro dynamics and have plankton galore.
Treble: HD800 wins here for great extension and air, with the only downside being that peak at 6k (which is mitigated with easy mods). The Auteur and HD650 are close again here as well. The Auteur beats the 650 with treble extension and air, while the 650 beats the Auteur (and HD800) on tonality. The 650 treble is one of the smoothest I've ever heard while not masking any details.



Compared to other ZMF headphones
I'll stick to comparing the dynamics, as I honestly don't think any of the T50 modded ZMFs can come close to what Zachs dynamics can do. I'm also making this separate from my HD800 and HD650 comparison due to the Atticus and Eikon both being closed headphones.

Bass: Atticus and Auteur both have an emphasis in the mid-bass, the Atticus more so. The Eikon is rather linear in the mid bass with a boost in the sub bass. As for quality, I'd make it a tie between the Atticus and Auteur. The Atticus has some of the best speed and punch I've heard in a dynamic headphone while the Auteur is the cleaner sounding headphone with really low bass distortion. The Eikon is good, just not as good as the other two. Sounds slower in comparison to both. That sub-bass rumble is quite something when listening to low bass notes however.
Mids: Auteur wins here with Atticus snapping at its heals. The Auteur barely wins out for me due to its excellent clarity across the entire midrange. Atticus gets close but is a little more uneven, however it is one of the best headphones I've heard for metal. The Eikon is a bit uneven as well, with a small dip in the upper mids. Not as bad as the Elear, but enough to put it behind the Auteur and Atticus.
Treble: Auteur wins easily. Has the best treble extension and air, probably helped by the fact it's an open back headphone. Atticus is just a bit smoother but doesn't have as good extension. Eikon is smooth for the most part, with a little bit more prescense than the Atticus, but there is a peak I hear in there that can bother me on some brighter recordings.

The Auteur has a very cohesive sound. What I mean by that is everything comes together as a whole, with smooth transitions as you go along the FR. So many headphones drop the ball here. The HD800? Great, cohesive sound until you get to the upper mids/lower treble and it goes off a cliff (or rather, up a mountain?). The HD650/600/580 has this nailed down. The Atticus almost has this. The Auteur does. Smooth transitions across the board. A bit of roughness in the treble compared to the best of them, but nothing that makes it sound disjointed.



Teak vs Blackwood
I have a blackwood and mahogany Auteur sitting here in front of me. Zach told me the mahogany will be similar to the Teak in regards to sound. There are some differences in the sound, but only slight. If I didn't have them both to A/B at the same time, I likely wouldn't of ever noticed the difference. The blackwood has a little bit faster decay, treble is a touch smoother. The blackwood is however noticeably heavier. Mine has the brass grill and rods instead of the black aluminum. If you like blackwood but are worried about weight, I would get the black aluminum over the brass. The weight difference isn't huge, but easily noticed when trying them both. I'm going to say what I always say in regards to woods, get the one you like the best.

Auteur vs Eikon earpads
All Auteurs purchased in the pre-order window come with both the perforated Auteur and perforated Eikon pads. The sonic differences are rather subtle. The Eikon pads smooth out that tiny bit of roughness I hear in the treble and give the impression of more bass quantity. This does however come at a cost of some air and the soundstage suffers a small amount for it. With the Auteur pads the soundstage is a bit wider and deeper than the HD650 on a good amp. With the Eikon they are about equal.



Gear Pairing
Tubes. There are some really good SS options (Black Widow and Ragnarok for example, Magni 3 if your on a budget) and if all you have is a SS amp don't fret, the Auteur sounds really good out of just about anything. If you ever upgrade though, give tubes a good long look. Not the gooey, syrupy stuff (Woo, LittleDot), but the highly resolving, nuanced tube amps from the likes of Schiit, DNA, EddieCurrent, Decware, AmpandSound, etc. The Auteur will not pair well with overly warm sources. An example of a bad pairing would be the Metrum Amethyst and the AmpandSound Kenzie. On their own when paired with a better complimentary amp/dac, this gear could work. However, together they are rolled off at both ends with soft, limp bass. The Auteur is transparant enough to show a weak link in your chain. Moving up to my own Gungnir Multibit and ZDS, the Auteur opened up considerably, with much tighter bass control and air. A better match for the Kenzie would be something like the Gungnir Multibit or Yggdrasil, while the Amethyst would pair well with an EddieCurrent or Schiit amp. The Auteur will scale up with better gear much like the other ZMF dynamics, HD6x0 series and HD800.

Value/Who is this for?
These are $1,600 headphones ($1,400 right now on pre-order). They have a LTD edition Blackwood available for $300 more (Unless Blackwood is one of your favorite types of wood, I'd go for the Teak. $300 cheaper and is lighter on the head.) In a world in which used HD800 can be found for $600, almost anything looks like a poor value. However, the HD800 is mass produced by a large manufacturer and has been on the market for about 8 years. Of course the Auteur can't compete with that, being a handcrafted headphone built by 1 or 2 people and having just come out to market. A more fair comparison would be to other newish headphones in the $1k+ territory. These headphones include the likes of the Ether Flow ($1.8k), LCD-X ($1.7), LCD-3 ($2k), HE-1k ($3k) and even as much as the $4k Utopia and LCD-4 (almost forgot about the banana split sundae $6k). Considering many of these don't hold a candle to the Auteur with only a couple meeting or exceeding, I'd say in the current headphone climate the Auter at $1.6k is a decent value.

Who is this headphone for. HD800 lovers who wouldn't change a thing can give this one a hard pass (Check out the Atticus, provides an EXCELLENT contrast to the HD800). People who are neutral heads and love the 800 but want an alternative neutral leaning headphone that plays better with music the 800 doesn't do so well, this may be for you. People who do NOT like the 800 due to issues with the FR, tonality, etc, definitely take a look at the Auteur.

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The Auteur has become one of my favorites along with the Senn HD600, 650, 800S and the ZMF Atticus. The excellent sound and top notch build quality make it a competitive option for those looking for headphones in the $1-2k price bracket.

 

I want to hear an Atticus in my setup (with Auteur pads if they fit)... but I really don't, because I think I'll want to buy them.

 

That's one very nice review. Although, I wouldn't call 50hz mid-bass, by a long shot.

 

@Mystic thank you for writing such an informative and comprehensive review.

Where would you place the Auteur in terms of overall resolution, and clarity? In reference to the HD650, HD800, and Utopia.

 

I would call that sub bass myself as well but towards the upper end of the sub bass. Otherwise I can't disagree with any aspect of the review except I believe the HD650 sound stage sucks way worse than most people do and can't think of any open headphone besides the AFO that can do worse. I think that was an excellent review! Good job @Mystic.

Oh I disgree with one more thing --- The fact that Mystic doesn't write more reviews. He should!

 

[OFF-TOPIC]Heh, I recently got the HD650 and have been pretty underwhelmed with the sound stage presentation and imaging homogeneity, I was wondering if I had bad ears or gear or whatever. I guess not.[/OFF-TOPIC]

 

Some "reviewers" should take notes of @Mystic review, very comprehensive and to the point, a pleasure to read.

 

I may not agree with you about the Amethyst + Kenzie pairing, but yah, the HD650 soundstage sucks. Valhalla 2 when I heard it awhile ago opened it up, but it was still less than the Eikon and Atticus.