ZMF Auteur - An open back ZMF

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by PacoTaco, Sep 18, 2017.

  1. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    Next time tell Zach you know Brench Daddy. He will hook you up.
     
  2. zach915m

    zach915m MOT: ZMF Headphones

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    This has been in the works with Brent for a short while as we exchanged sets after the Blackwood set had a crack. Since the pandemic hit we simply sold all of our b stock and one off headphones so we have nothing left. I'm always honest about what we have available it just depends on what we actually have at the time. Right now we don't have anything because I don't need sets for headphone shows and we're not making new sets out of non production woods because production is slower due to restrictions. Sorry about that!
     
  3. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    well truth be told i haven’t had much in the way of headphones in a while, most of the time I use speakers or nothing at all. I usually have some sennheiser kicking around — this time a JAR600 courtesy of tommytakis. Before that, over the past few years, I had some HE6 and CodeX (og HE5 variety), sdr 800, and some utopias and elexes at some point. The focals didn’t do it for me in the long run even if they have some good qualities on the right amps, the hifimans are either inconvenient to me cause I’m lazy with headphones or just shoddy build that always makes me wonder when a driver will crap itself... I can be plenty content with the 600 as a general rule, but then decided to test out the auteurs again, which had always been my favorite in the lineup due to its tonal balance... glad I did cause they’re hitting the spot man. Would like to test out other amps and other headphones in the lineup out of curiosity sometime when we’re allowed to be social again.
     
  4. dncnexus

    dncnexus Friend

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    I got a pair of Cocobolo Auteurs coming in this week, very excited to get them. These are my first high end headphone, I have been rocking a HD 6XX for the last 3 years with a DV. I also tried out the Clear due to the headphone exchange and they were good but not exactly what I wanted, I am really excited to get these in and I will do a small write up and some photos when they get here. Thanks everybody for all the posts, the posts here really lead me to buy these!
     
  5. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Finally sprang for these and have had them on my ears for about a week (not straight). Running the BF2 and SW51. Since so much has already been written on them, I'll be brief and metaphorical.

    Early returns are that these are the headphone equivalent of wife material. They sound that balanced and right. Sure you may have you head turned by some hot thing with a few more details or that's a little more spacious sounding, but if you try those others long enough you'll find faults that make them harder to live with and you'll miss your Auteur. And the timbre - which to me conveys the honest soul of music and therefor has to be right to live with - is as advertised, excellent.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2020
  6. dncnexus

    dncnexus Friend

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    ZMF Auteur Review

    I have had these headphones for about 2 weeks now and have been listening pretty exclusively to these and have really been enjoying them so I felt that this would be a good time as any to post a review on these! Hope you enjoy!

    Disclaimer

    Since joining SBAF about 2 years ago I have been always wanting to write a review, but since I am new to the hobby I have always wanted to just lurk and learn rather than try and write a review. When I got these headphones, I thought this would be a great time to try and post and be a nice contributing member of the community, but I got pretty scared on posting up a review. I have never posted to SBAF before in review format, and I have never posted a review of an audio product in general, so I got a bit scared that I would mess it up. So I wanna give a shoutout to @Stuff Jones for talking me into actually giving this review.

    Some more disclaimers that I wanna get out there is my audio gear. Since relatively new to the hobby, and extremely new to getting higher end gear, I have a pretty budget/entry level audio source/amplification. I know this might take away from how the Auteurs could have sounded, but I am in the progress of upgrading my sources and gear. When I get better gear, I will update if there are any on the sound quality differences I have noticed.

    Gear Used: iMac 5K Optical Out -> FX-Audio DAC-X6 -> Darkvoice 336SE w/ Upgraded Tubes

    A final disclaimer is since this is a first review ever, I hope what I am saying makes sense and I will try to use the terminology as best as I can, and if I misuse any please let me know! I also would really appreciate any advice or help for in the future I can improve!

    About Me

    I think since I am a new reviewer, and nobody here really knows me this would be a good time to try and introduce myself, my audio preferences, and music I listen to. This would help people understand a bit more about my preferences and what I use to test headphones and what I listen to.

    So to start off, as I have stated before I am relatively new to the whole audio journey. I am in my early/mid 20s, and have only been into more audiophile gear for maybe the last 2 years. I started with the SHP9500, but found them to be too bright for me. I then upgraded to my current gear of the HD 6XX, DV, and DAC X6 back in 2018 since I didn't have any more exposable income due to still being in school. I have since been working for the last 2 years in the tech industry and decided to upgrade my gear since I had the means to. This is where the Auteur came in.

    As for my audio preferences, I am pretty sensitive to treble. I like the sound signature that is on the warmer side of neutral, with good mids. I would much prefer to go for a dark headphone rather than a bright one (Although the HD 800S really calls out to me for some reason, I know I probably wouldn't love it but I still lust after it. Maybe that will be my Auteur complimentary).

    For music genres I listen to, I listen to a wide range, but with heavy focus in certain genres. I listen to ALOT of Korean Hip Hop. This includes artist such as Kid Milli, Loopy, C Jamm, Ash Island, Changmo, and people like this. Although that is a big part of my library, I do have a wider range and listen to a lot of rock such as Pink Floyd, The Beetles, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Motley Crue, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and bands like this. I also listen to on a smaller scale Classical and Jazz (although I am trying to incorporate more of this into my listening)

    I think that is a pretty good introduction to myself and my preferences. I am sure that over time and with more posts people will get to know me a bit more, but as for now I think that is good :)

    ZMF

    I know I know, everyone wants to get to the review but I felt that these sections were needed! I just wanted to make this section to give a huge shout out to Zach and Bevin. I was having discomfort wearing my Auteurs and commented on a reddit post about a Pilot Pad and Bevin reached out to me and sent me one for free after I bought a pilot pad. There customer service really is Tier 1, and I am very very impressed. Just wanted to let it known that they have the best customer service I have ever had and I really really appreciate it!

    Auteur

    OKAY, now we are at the time to talk about this headphone. I guess the first thing we will start off with is the build quality. What is there to really say honestly, these are beautifully made. I have the Cocobolo version, and it is truly stunning. It has high quality leather, metal, and the wood cups are insane. This is something that would be a talking piece for anybody who sees it. It feels and looks like a majestic heirloom.

    Sound quality, the best way to describe these to me would be how my GF described them when I forced them on her head to listen. They are buttery and smooth. The sound quality on these as a whole is very appealing and approachable. I found them very relaxing to listen to and very easy to just put on and just listen. Now that I described the overall sound, lets dig a little deeper

    Bass

    The bass on these headphones are pretty good. They extend pretty deep and they have really good impact to the bass. They are not a bassy headphone by any means, but the bass is also not lacking at all. It was very detailed and impactful, but never bloated or overbearing to the mix. It almost just disappears into the music, and you know it is there, but it never is POW in your face.

    Mids

    The mids are really great to me. They sound very similar to the HD 6XX mids, they are liquid, smooth, and overall just very pleasant to listen to! Listening to music with vocals, both male and female, was great. I would almost say they sound a bit more realistic than the HD 6XX? Maybe not, but it did sound like there was more detail into the voices, a bit more nuance to them. I really enjoyed it.

    Treble

    Wow the treble is really good. For many people that enjoy more bright or trebly headphones these might not be that great for you, but for me they are pretty much perfect I found. I got a lot of air and detail in the treble that I didn't seem to have in the HD 6XX. Is this what they talk about when the 6XX has a veil? Not sure, but these had good detail and I felt that really opened up the mix. The best part is although it was more bright than I usually listen to, it never was sibilant for me. I found it the perfect amount without being too much for me. Again, I like a headphone with a bit less treble, so for those who enjoy treble, might not be for you!

    Soundstage

    Now for soundstage, I found these to be pretty wide from what I am used to. I haven't used very wide sounding headphones like the HD 800, but from the 6XX, these would be probably 20 to 30% larger? The really impressive part of the soundstage for me was the ability to hear in front of you. On the track Novacaine by Amber Rubarth, there is an instrument that comes in that is recorded from a front perspective, and wow that sounded like my desktop speakers were on and playing it. Very impressive to me. The treble increase from what I know might be an attributing factor for why they sound more open, not sure but I like it.

    Dynamics

    Now this is the territory that I am bit unsure of myself for writing about, so if this is completely wrong, then please just disregard and tar and feather me haha. I find these to have really good micro and macro dynamics. The ability to hear the small details, both when the instruments are loud and soft are really transparent. I will leave this section alone now because I just feel like a fraud writing anything else here.

    Imaging

    I found these to image really well. The layering and separation of sounds and instruments is easy to see. I guess going back to the HD 6XX, it sounds almost a bit congested at times and hard to really separate sounds out, but with the Auteur, they really are easy to focus on the guitars, or the drums, or the bassnotes. If you want to focus on only a small part of the sound, you can. I found this really amazing to hear and I thought it was really cool. Never experienced that before.

    Genre Pairing

    I found these to be great at every genre I threw at it. I know that there are headphones that are best in category, but from what I heard they fall short in other areas. I found these slightly warm of neutral sound to pair with pretty much any genre, I was able to listen to it with Hip Hop, Classical, Jazz, Rock and was just smiling everytime I heard a new song that was well recorded that I never heard played the way the Auteur played them (Looking at you Creeks by Bon Iver). I think if you want a headphone that would be a great at all but master of none these might be those.

    Final Notes

    I think I touched on all the different aspects of the sound, if anybody wants any more insight, or questions about them just let me know honestly. I honestly am in love with the Auteur, they are exactly what I thought in my head I have wanted. Every time I put them on I smile and wanna listen more. Will I buy more headphones? Of course, but the Auteur will be a center piece for me. Everything I get from now on will be to complement these headphones. I know it's cheesy, but as @Stuff Jones says, these are wifey material.

    Edit: Not sure how to add photos, I am sure there is a thread but here is a photo from Imgur! Photos or it didn't happen!

    https://imgur.com/gallery/MApGGQn

    Sorry for the poor photography skills!
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
  7. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    Pretty psyched here. Brencho in a fit of madness sold me his bocote Auteurs for my audio delectation. Should arrive by Friday and I should have some opinions by the following week

    Edit: fixed wood name
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2020
  8. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    They’re bocote but whatevs. My fave of all the auteur woods I’ve tried. The universe hybrids on there currently make em closer to neutral, the auteurs will make em warmer/darker. I ended up preferring the Lambskin or hybrids (both perforated) cause I liked how they imaged better than the suede versions. But to each their own, it’s kind of crazy how big of a difference the pads make so you can find what works best for you.
     
  9. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    @will_f if you hate the headband, consider the Co-Pilot pad if you need that comfort.
     
  10. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    Don’t know why I had Cocobolo on my brain. I definitely appreciate good imaging so that’s good to know about the pads. Not sure how warm / neutral I’ll want them to be- I’ll probably shoot for something warmer than my Clears so I may swap in the Auteur pads. I’m thinking these will be my single malt by the fireplace with Jazz headphones.
     
  11. lcmusiclover

    lcmusiclover Friend

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    Eikon pads make it even warmer than Auteur pads.
     
  12. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    I’ve reached the age where everything hurts all the time. Probably won’t even notice :)
     
  13. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    Auteur in the house! I’ve only had about 2 minutes so far to listen to them (the demands of returning to home after being gone 5 days) but they sound excellent. Will explore the huge number of ear pads Brencho included before I offer a review but so far I am impressed.

    Edit-feels totally comfortable on my somewhat narrow skull.
     
  14. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    Exactly what I was thinking. Quite a change from my Focal Clears. These are great phones for just relaxing and letting the music wash over you.
     
  15. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    Agreed. Not everyone is going to like it, but it can play almost anything without any coloration and it is more of a relaxed turning.
     
  16. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    [​IMG]

    Below are my opinions on the ZMF Bocote wood Auteur. I want to thank Brencho for selling me these Awesome headphones. Much appreciated Sir!

    Keep in mind that I’m not a professional musician, recording engineer, or anything other than a middle aged man who likes nice things and is a lifelong audiophile. My hearing is a little above average for my age but nothing to brag about.


    Why an Auteur?

    I’ve always loved wood and woodworking runs in the family. The first time I saw a pic of ZMF headphones I thought they were beautiful. However, I suspected they were handmade exotic wood head ornaments without the kind of sound quality appropriate for $1000+ headphones. Sure, they got great reviews on Head-Fi, but what doesn’t?


    Over time I realized ZMFs were way too popular amongst people who know something about sound for them to sound bad. More than a few reviewers I respect are passionate devotees of the brand. I also discovered I really like the sound of tube amps and noticed that ZMF headphones are designed to play nice with tubes. At that point it really wasn’t a question any more whether or not I’d get a ZMF headphone.it was a question of when and which model.


    I started thinking I wanted an Aeolus because I liked the sound of my AFCs, loved the bass on LCD2s, and thought planars were the way to go. Then I bought an Elex, realized good dynamic headphones bring a lot to the table, and thought maybe I should get a dynamic ZMF. Before doing that though, Focal started selling Clears for under $1K and so I bought a pair and was impressed enough to stop thinking about headphones until the rest of my chain was a good match for the Clear. Many months later, after I replaced the transport, DAC, and ampIifier, I was back to looking at headphones. My price limit was under $2K and settled on the Auteur after asking a few SBAF members for their recommendations based on my neutral-ish preferences. After that was just waiting for sufficient money to be available when a nice one went up for sale.


    What am I Comparing it to?

    My go to headphone has been my Focal Clear, but I also have a fairly new HD6XX, a 3 year old Aeon Flow Closed (AFC) with black filters and an Elex. The Clear, AFC and Elex have a bit of a metallic character to their treble which my Schitt Lyr3 and Woo WA6-SE do a good job of mitigating.


    What have I tweaked?

    Most of my headphones have aftermarket cables, the exception being the HD6XX which has the stock cable. The Auteur has whatever cable ZMF provided to @brencho (the previous owner). I can’t honestly hear any difference in cables, but I like a highly flexible non- microphonic cable and the cables Focal provides suck badly. For those that care, the Clear has a silver plated oxygen free copper cable and the rest are oxygen free copper. Both amps are running non-stock tubes. The Lyr3 has a single Psvane CV181 TII which is just a great match for this amp. It improves dynamics, detail and soundstage depth compared to the stock tube options. The Woo is running a Sophia Electric rectifier tube and a pair of Sylvania NOS gain / driver tubes. The combo gives a dryer sound, improves detail and adds quite a bit of air over the stock tubes.


    Is the Auteur well made?

    The nature of hand made small scale production means the Auteur has a very different character than you would find with Focal or Sennheiser. The way I would describe it is the Auteur is like British Morgan sports car. The other brands are more like Miatas. The Auteur is beautiful and elegant, but each one is unique. There’s also a few quirks. For example adjusting the ear cup position requires a small screwdriver, and changing pads is enough of a challenge that I’ve only tried the Eikon, Universal and Auteur lambskin pads. The headphones feel built to last and as far as I can tell without disassembling them, they are fully serviceable and have a luxurious feel. I also find them very comfortable up to about 3 hours (after that I start to notice them, but no pain or sore spots).


    Testing Method:

    My listening on the Woo was with the low impedance (15 ohm) output since to my ears it sounded the most neutral. I used the high gain setting on the Lyr.


    My evaluation method was as follows: I listened exclusively to the Auteur for a few days, occasionally changing pads to see what effect it had. Then I listened to my other headphones and made note of the differences. After that I put together a list of some of my favorite music for the week and switched between headphones frequently as I played passages over and over to verify my impressions.


    My equipment is pretty decent but nothing exotic. The full chain is Pi2AES transport streaming red book or better, RCA coaxial into a Schiit Bifrost 2, then into a Schiit Saga S so I can switch quickly between my Lyr3 and my WA6-SE with matched volume or switch quickly between headphones.


    How does it Sound?

    Initial impression: Very musical, no obvious flaws, great bass, detailed with great separation, great treble with no perceived sibilance, really well done overall and very definitely a serious sonic competitor in the $1.5K price range. I put the Eikon pads on first and just loved the deep, smooth and clean bass. The midrange and treble were a little too recessed for me though so I switched to the lamb skin Auteur pads which kept most of the deep, satisfying bass but added more presence to the mids and highs. The Universal pads took away too much of the awesome bass so I quickly settled on the Auteur pads as my favorite and that is what I spent the vast majority of time listening with.



    Impressions compared to different headphones:

    Focal Clear- The Clear is a fast, detailed headphone with (not surprisingly) great clarity and is the best imaging headphone I own. The headstage has significant depth though not very wide. The bass goes deep and is flat. It’s also pretty dynamic and IMHO neutral headphone with not much coloration. The treble has some glare / metallic character and really needs a tube amp, hybrid amp or eq to avoid fatigue. Impedance isn’t high enough for an OTL. It has effectively no isolation from the environment.


    The Aueteur is not as fast but has better separation and layering, similar detail and clarity, a little less dynamics, a much more musical (read- euphonic) timbre, bass that reminds me of an LCD2 only with better mids and treble. There’s no glare / metallic character at all. Vocals are less breathy and sound fuller / richer. The soundstage is wider, but doesn’t have much depth in comparison. The Auteur sounded fantastic on every amp I tried while the Clear definitely sounded best on amps which can address that metallic character. The Auteur is mostly open sounding, but not totally.


    The Clear is better at imaging and speed but is comparatively harder edged and aggressive. the Auteur has bass with balls, sounds more euphonic, brings superior layering, has comparable clarity and detail, and is more forgiving of recordings and upstream equipment


    I hate to say this because the Clear is a truly great headphone, but even on equipment chosen to work well with the Clear, most of the time I prefered the Auteur.


    Focal Elex- Compared to the Auteur, there’s not much difference from my comments regarding the Clear though the Elex is less neutral, less cohesive and not as detailed or clear.


    Sennheiser HD 6XX- it’s impressive how closely the timbre of the Auteur matches the HD6XX. Other than that, it’s an improvement in every way besides price. Particularly, the bass extends deeper, has less bloat and is a lot less distorted. The treble is clearer and better balanced, layering is better and there is no veil. Soundstage and imaging are improved and so are dynamics. Also, the Auteur doesn’t require a top quality tube amp to sound great. It’s pretty safe to say if you like the 6XX, you will absolutely love the Auteur.


    MrSpeakers Aeon Flow closed- Compared to the Auteur, the AFC has a little more detail and a lot more speed. The bass is flat and deep, but missing any sort of bass slam which is definitely not the case with the Auteur. Micro dynamics are similar. The AFC upper bass is a little recessed or possibly just low energy compared to the Auteur.


    The Auteur has more forward mids, not as much speed, a lot more slam, and a warmer tone. Soundstage is similar with the Auteur being a little wider and the AFC being a little deeper.


    What about the amp?

    The Woo gives the Auteur a buttery smooth character that rounds off the sharp edges. Combined with the excellent bass and layering, the sound is very hypnotic. It put me to sleep in my chair more than once. Depending on what you’re listening to, it might be a bit much but I found myself almost always listening through the Woo- very euphonic and relaxing with fantastic layering and mids to die for. The Lyr had more bite to the sound, but still non fatiguing and very enjoyable. Non fatiguing and euphonic was pretty much true no matter what amp / DAC I tried, including my FIIO Q5 fed spotify from my office laptop. Imaging on the Woo was the best, but that’s true no matter what headphones are plugged into it. In my experience not a very demanding headphone provided the amp makes enough voltage. While a better amp will benefit the Auteur, matching the Auteur carefully to an amp isn’t critical for great sound.


    In Summary:

    A great looking, well made, comfortable, fantastic sounding pair of headphones that aren’t particularly gear sensitive, does well with every musical genre I tried, and are reasonably priced for what they are. If you want the absolute cutting edge for detail speed and imaging, you may want to look at some other phones, but as a person who appreciates all three, I don’t miss the slight trade-off in return for beautiful timbre, fantastic layering, wonderful mids and bass, not to mention detailed, clear treble without glare or sibilance. This is truly a great addition to almost any headphone collection.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2020
  17. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    UPDATE:

    After a month with the Auteur, I’m still loving it. However now that the initial newness has worn off, I find that I enjoy my Clear as much. It’s not that one stands above the other. It’s more that they both have strengths and weaknesses and periodically switching between them allows me to appreciate both more.

    When going from the Auteur to the Clear, the speed, imaging and slam stand out. When going to the Auteur, the non-fatiguing smooth treble, micro detail and bass texture stand out.

    The Clear definitely benefits from the smoothing of the Woo. Maybe thanks to getting used to the Auteur, but I really like the warmer bass and smooth treble compared to the Lyr. It doesn’t need the extra macro dynamics the Lyr delivers and it capitalizes on the Woo imaging and superior microdynamics. The Auteur is more flexible- it is harder hitting and dryer from the Lyr, but it sounds more euphonic from the Woo. I can’t really say one amp is better than the other with the Auteur.
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2020
  18. johnnypaddock

    johnnypaddock Facebook Friend

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    I recently picked up the Auteur (zebra wood) as a potential complement to my VC (monkey pod), which is my favorite headphone. I've spent a lot of time over the last week comparing the Auteur with the VO (teak) and MAN it is a tough decision.

    First, the VC is damn near perfect for me. I can throw absolutely any type of music at it without any issues, and it sounds great on both of my amps (GSX-Mini and ZMF Pendant). I tend to prefer it with the Mini because of the ridiculously low noise floor, although that's a close call too. I'm sure that's for another thread though.

    Anyway, the VO vs. Auteur is a compelling matchup. The VO has an incredible 3D soundstage, especially with my preferred Universe lambskin pads. It easily outshines the Auteur in this aspect. The other main difference that I hear is the separation of instruments. On the VO, everything has its own space. It's so easy to focus on one instrument or another. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on my mood. Sometimes I like to pick out an individual and listen to what he/she is playing, and it's certainly impressive to hear all of this sound swirling around my head. That said, sometimes I prefer a more simple, cohesive, unified approach to a song. I get that with the Auteur. It just has a nice, easy, effortless sound with a beautiful tone that is right on the money. You give up some of the "wow" factor, sure, but this presentation is exceptional.

    Both are truly great headphones. If I were choosing one headphone in a vacuum I'd go with the Verite, but I am driving myself completely insane trying to decide which one to keep along with the VC.

    Anyway I hope my impressions are helpful to anyone else considering either of them.

    For reference, my system:
    Metrum Ambre > (IS2) > Metrum Adagio > GSX-Mini / ZMF Pendant > ZMF 2k copper cable > headphones
     
  19. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Keep both and be happy!
     
  20. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    I was going to review these but there's not much point as Titus Pullo already said what I wanted to say better than I could
    this homogenization and uniformity of the upper bass/mids is the downfall of this headphone and makes it unsuitable for listening to much alternative and post-rock recordings. intelligibility of vocals and guitars is greatly diminished or in some cases completely lost. the driver just kind of craps out and gives up on high frequency transients. electric guitar transients turn into porridge, an annoying background buzz without rhythm or melody.

    it's OK for girl with guitar stuff, some modern pop and maybe not-too-busy electronic music. I can see why people like it for the distinct biocellulose & woody tone, especially from more modest setups. when compared to the HD600 with Sennheiser's Infinite Scaling(tm) technology enabled, the HD600 is just better for most recordings.

    this is actually the second time I own this headphone, and now tried it with two transformer coupled tube amps (45/2A3, 1626), an OTL tube amp (6080), and a transistor output amp. surprisingly the performance was the worst with the OTL, and best with the transistor output. I guess higher output impedance exacerbated the issue of overwhelming LF and loss of clarity at high volumes.

    I don't hate these, just not impressed. some examples of tracks where the Auteur could not keep up and started homogenizing:



     

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