ZMF Atticus bad sound

Hi guys!

I have a question if anyone can advice and help me out?

I'm listening mostly to electronic music, House, Progressive House, Tech House...

I have amplifier / dac Gustard A20H, link bellow:

https://hifigo.com/products/gustard-a20h-xmos-pcm-dsd-usb-dac-dop-decoder-machine-double-ak4497

I think that Amp Dac is good enough, I dont know, Im not audiophile and expert. I just want to upgrade my setup, especialy headphones.

I own headphones Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250ohm. When changed Lambskin thick earpads instead original suede to DT 770, I got better tamed highs and better bass / subbass. I was really enjoying on this setup, but I wanted more. DT 770 costs 130€, and I bought a Denon AH-D7200 headphones with hope that they would sound more powerfull with better bass. I was dissapointed, because there was somehow narrow and muffled sound. I returned them for a refund to Amazon.

I dont have any good audiostore to test different high end headphones here in my country. So next step was purchase ZMF Atticus 300 ohm headphones and Lavricable USB cable + Lavricalbe Grandline connectivity cable for Atticus. Cables was not cheap at all, almost the price of Atticus. So, when I got Atticus these days I was dissapointed again

I didn't like the sound. Sound on Atticus was actually very similar to Denon AH-D7200, both are wooden cups, maybe that's why, I dont know... I'm currently using original Ori Lambskin earpads, I've also tried the ZMF Hybrid earpads. Here I am convinced that this problem does not have to be solved with earpads. This is probably something else. But I still don't understand how the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (€130) with Lambskin earpads and 6.5mm single original fixed cable can sound a lot better and have better bass than the ZMF Atticus headphones for which I paid €1300, as well as the Lavricables €1100 - USB cable and the most expensive connecting cable. So for a total €2,400 I bought headphones + cables and achieved worse sound than the DT 770 Pro which is just 130€. I really don't get it... and don't get me wrong - I am not a basshead, here we are talking more about general sound or sound signature, but I really dont believe that this is like sound signature as it should be for this Atticus, because sound is poor. I also tried with the original 6.5mm cable, of course it doesn't change anything. The sound remains hollow, narrow and a little stuffy. The Beyer sound is simply the opposite, a really full sound, a better body, a wider or. spacious sound, more lively and creamier with gentle subbass. What I notice pros about Atticus is that they just have better highs. I play FLAC files, but this is not an issue as MP3s also play very similarly. The design, build quality and comfort are superb, but for me the sound is not right. I really dont know why is this.. or am I doing something wrong?

I would be glad if someone could help me somehow.
Thanks!

 

No one's commented yet bc no one can really answer this question for you. I can tell you a few things though:

• you spent way too much on what amounts to a printer cable (don't expect a $1100 USB cable to fix your headphone's sound signature)
• return/sell the USB cable and get a DDC for half the cost, use i2s, AES or BNC if you can, roughly in that order depending on your DAC's particularities/idiosyncrasies (I'm not familiar with it)
• you're not doing anything "wrong" per se—higher price doesn't always equal better performance
• Beyer and ZMF are pretty far apart in terms of the sonic priorities they shoot for, it's little wonder you're preferring one strongly over the other; most people here would, too
• you sound like you're still learning your preferences. You stated what you like above in the pros for the 770s, look for transducers that are known for those qualities over the relatively more intimate (narrow and stuffy comment perhaps?) ZMF house sound
• ZMF perhaps just isn't for you—like the HD6X0 series isn't for everyone, some find them incredibly boring, veiled, slow and dull, others find them warm, resolving, cozy and magical, it's up to personal preference and your downstream gear

 

It wasnt just USB cable that cost me 1100€.

Cable for headphone 633€
https://www.lavricables.com/cables/...us-eikon-atticus-verite-auteur-upgrade-cable/

USB cable 420€
https://www.lavricables.com/cables/master-20-core-dual-silver-usb-a-b-interconnect-cable/

No one mentioned an amplifier. I think Gustard hasn't enough power and is not good for pairing Atticus. I heard that for Atticus is great tube amp. I'm waiting for LYR2 and Lion tubes, hope this will fix a problem.

Thanks, caute, I will buy Pi2AES-Lite in the future, is this good device for that. How can I connect it to Gustard A20H? With I2S (Hdmi) cable only? so connection is between Pi2AES and Gustard. Is this correct?

Thanks!

 

Yes, that's correct, as far as I know, but the LITE doesn't have i2s—that's for certain. @Michael Kelly is coming out with a Pi2AES 2.0 in the near future that I think will have that form (HDMI) of i2s? I might be way off base, but from what I read it's only missing one type of i2s connection. Otherwise, if it is missing all i2s, you'll want to get a Mercury v2 streamer (also by Michael, same person who makes the pi2aes, LITE and mercury v1).

Edit: This is what Michael has said here about the 2.0 "I am coming around to the idea of creating a new version of the PI2AES. It would have the same features as the old one, but without the parallel output, and would not have the wide input voltage. Instead, powering would be just like the LITE, in that you could power from the pi or power separately, but not power the pi from the hat."

So if by "parallel output" we are to read no i2s (I am far from a digital expert, just someone who really loves pi2 designs), then you might be wanting a Mercury v2—which has other advantages as well.

 

Great.. I have just checked Mercury v2 on official website, but this thing is pricey, its about 750€. I think its from United States, isn't it? So sending to EU will be additional clearance cost, too. What about these parts that I found on amazon, could be the same as Pi2AES if I buy them and assemble the parts together, for exaple:

Raspberry pi:
https://www.amazon.nl/Raspberry-Pi-...1&sprefix=raspberry+pi+3b,aps,107&sr=8-5&th=1

with these, but I dont know what is compatible, and also if this is comparable to sound quality of Pi2AES?
there is no I2S, but my amp/dac Gustard A20H has Optical port, I probably could connect to optical, right?

Do you maybe know something about it? .. Thanks.

https://www.amazon.nl/HiFiBerry-Dig...prefix=allo+digione+signature,aps,416&sr=8-13

or

https://www.amazon.nl/HiFiBerry-DAC...6298&sprefix=iqaudio+pi-dac+pro,aps,87&sr=8-8

or

https://www.amazon.nl/HiFiBerry-DAC...6298&sprefix=iqaudio+pi-dac+pro,aps,87&sr=8-9

 

Allo digione should give you good quality sound. So will our PI2AES-LITE.