ZMF Atrium Headphone Review and Measurements

Do yall do custom builds with a certain wood or only limited runs with one wood type? Really want a blackwood or other dark hardwood set. Look and feel so classy, maybe a bit tighter sound, bit faster attack and decay with trademark ZMF timbre and tuning. Sounds like a new best friend! To complement my old trusty LCD-4z (with new style pads). Been looking forward to trying a dynamic driver, other than berellium. Atrium sounds like just that headphone for me.

 

New atrium owner!





The Koa is beautiful and Zach was a delight - I’m local so was able to pick up in person last week and he was gracious enough to give me a tour of the shop.

Build quality is immaculate which was no surprise seeing the level of detail and organization in their operations first hand.

Feels great! Zach recommended the caldera ultra perf pads and comfort level is excellent, headband design really makes these headphones feel much lighter.

Finally, the sound is exactly what I’ve been looking for quite a while. Basically a spacious and relatively linear sound signature with good tone and density but wasn’t afraid of bass lol. Tried to find that in the hd800s but never quite connected emotionally. I do have the eslabs R10 which I love but those are pretty colored in comparison lol. These atriums check almost all the boxes I prioritize.

Thank you Zach!

 

I bought a pair of the Caldera Ultra perf pads and put them on my Atrium tonight. I hadn’t listened to the Atrium in a couple weeks and was expecting small changes, if any. I was completely wrong. I have no idea how Zach comes up with pad designs that can so drastically alter the sound. Treble response is sharpened up - electric guitars have a nice bite to them and cymbals are more aggressive. This is without impacting the sledgehammer bass, which hits as hard as ever. Staging is different too, more forward and less diffuse than stock pads.

I will have to listen for a while longer before I decide how much I like them, but for now I am enjoying the change.

 

Atrium Open (in the softer cherry wood) is still my favorite headphone by leaps and bounds. I've tried with a variety of pads over the last 1.5 years or so, but still prefer leather Auteur pads by a large margin. The overall tone and incredible headstage, imaging and layering makes this headphone near perfect for any genre IMO. They sound more like speakers than headphones to me. Very engaging and fun but never fatiguing.

Also, if you haven't heard AO on the new Pietus Maximus you owe it to yourself to do so asap. Jaw-dropping synergy is at play here. (High gain w/ internal ESS Dac card).

 

good to know! I had a chance to check out my atrium open on my friends piety and the synergy was pretty startling. I’d safely assume it’s bigger brother would play even better

 

I've read this whole tread and can't wait to get my Atriums after ordering them a month ago.

 

Well, I have spent a few days with the Atriums and I am still forming my opinions, but I have to say that I am impressed. I have been a fan of the LCD-X (2021) and have enjoyed it with my THX-789 amp for some time. I wanted to set up another amp/headphone that was complimentary to the Audeze. I thought a good contrast to planar magnetic headphones and solid state would be tubes and dynamic drivers. The Eufonika amp was my first purchase and I have rolled the tubes (Apos pre-tube and NOS Svetlana driver). I tried the amp with the 6XX and the DT1990 Pro, both have their merits, but were not at the level of the LCD-X in my opinion.

The pairing of the OTL tube amp and the Atriums is quite enjoyable. Very dynamic, smooth, and more than enough detail. The most noticeable attribute I have found is how natural the headphones sound. Acoustic instruments and vocals sound realistic. I didn't know this was missing, but when I A:B the LCD-X the Atrium just sounds more real.

Now, it's not a slam dunk win here for the Atrium. The LCD-X is more engaging and impressive on electronic music and it has better sub-bass and detail retrieval. Both will have their place in my rotation and I will appreciate the different things they can bring to enjoying music.

I have to say, that the Atriums not needing EQ like the LCD-X is a huge benefit. I watch movies that can't get the benefit of my Roon EQ settings. I think the Atrium will be my go to headphone for video as well.

I also find the Atrium quite comfortable and lighter on my head than I would have thought. I also love the craftsmanship and it feels like a true luxury to own. However, the stock cables are not my favorite - way too stiff. I am using my Audeze cables at the moment.

I plan on spending some time with them without EQ, pad rolling, or swapping out the mesh but have played around with some EQ. I may see some benefit to adding a boost in the sub bass and raising the dip in the 10k region, but no firm opinions yet.

 

After reading through all 14 pages I don’t know why my brain wants to compare how these would against the clear og. I saw one comparison which confirmed some of my suspicions but has anyone else compared the two against one another?
One of nitpicks with the clear og is the bass sounds more boomy than impactful. There is impact but it can sometimes make things appear congested if that makes any sense.