ZMF Verite, Revisited

Hey! Thanks for the detailed thoughts my man!

I think the Verite is a hard one to "grasp" if you haven't heard it, and therefore has gotten somewhat of a "I don't know what to think about it" reputation which is fair. The sound has been described as W shaped, wonky, sucked out and tons of other "bad" audiophile words. The Atrium is much easier to love on paper, because it measures more traditionally. But when you forget about the "specs" the Verite still holds a special place for me because it's so different from anything else out there. My personal set that I use the most is a OG run pheasantwood verite with BE2 lamb pads on it. There's something about it that just sounds right to me, wonky or otherwise, and lets me engage with it for longer than the other models we make because it's different.

Sometimes I worry that the audiophile headphone chase is all about "resolution" and "tuning to a certain curve" and we forget about all these other qualities, including having a diverse collection that lets you experience new and different things continuously as you go through your gear. For me that's what keeps it fun, ZMF's or otherwise. Not to say "traditional" isn't good or whatever as well...there's a place for many tunings as long as the intention is clear.

 

Glad to finally see the Verite-exclusive appreciation thread. Chacha and Zach also made great points.

From my roughly 3.5 years of ownership, they deserve a special place for me, too. If my neck is as strong as it was several years ago, putting up my Verite for sale would never have happened. Anyway, just a few thoughts from favorable memories. Take any point with a grain of salt.

1. I'm still not a fan of calling Verite's tonality 'W-shape'. It's inaccurate at best and misleading at worst. W-shape literally mean (1) elevated lows, (2) elevated highs, and (3) two distinct dips, I think. Or broadly speaking, at least wonky response is a necessary condition. That's not what I hear with the Verite. Even if on measured results, assuming all the assumptions are correctly understood, Verite doesn't seem W by any means.

2. This doesn't mean the Verite are super neutral in tonal balance because they're..not. They're the most interpretational take in FR (and maybe as well as headstage) among ZMFs imho. To be specific, if I recall correctly, I hear a proactive cut/dip in lower treble. Small but audible peak was heard around upper treble, too. The former is probably associated with Verite's spatial expression and romanticized presentation at a cost of losing presence of major instruments and vocals (not annoyingly to me btw). The latter adds sheen, overtone, sizzle, and kicks, which all prevent from sounding too dull or withdrawn.

Very interestingly, Atrium feels like an antithesis to Verite in some ways. Tonally, what I said above is almost reversed with Atrium.

3. Frankly speaking, everything comes down to music to pair with. Verites work well with many naturally recorded or minimally produced works. Highly resolving nature and romantic/holographic presentation make fitting listening sessions very special. And that's one reason why Verite won over many other totls I owned before.

But I personally found Verite didn't work well when I want instrumental/vocal presence. Female voices in dance/pop music and/or certain producing styles often conflict with either of places I mentioned in #2 (rarely both). So.. to me it's really music that articulated what Verite could do and what they couldn't.

 

I've bought the Verite about a year after it was released and it very quickly shot up as my favorite as evidenced by my heavy usage. The pandemic has made me used my headphones more and the verite is always the one I fall back to regardless of what I've tried over the years. At the time of release I've not heard anything quite like the verite bass response. It has plenty of slam and is highly tactile but also quick enough keep up with every minute tone shift. The main thing that draws me in to this headphone is it's combination of note tactility, layering, highly resolving nature and unique tonality that I've not heard anywhere else.

Getting a Studio B to pair with this makes for one helluva setup. The EC makes noticeable improvements on it's already nebulous and holographic stage. It further amplify the verite's ability to slam, filling out the bass even more. There's plenty to love about this headphone and it remains as one of my favorites till this day. It is my favorite headphone for Jazz and one of my favorites for prog rock and heavy metal. The Atrium might've gotten more attention from me recently but it can't replicate the properties that made Verite great and it remains as one of most engaging and unique headphone I've heard.