Rarely Mentioned: The ZMF Auteur

I'm closer to testing but until the Yggy gets back I'm going to put the S.E.X. test  ::) on hold.

Cable parts came in yesterday.  Furez on both ends.  Between the new Hako soldering iron and that brand this was very easy to do.  Now I've got 12' instead of 5'.

Pinout on the mini XLR:  Pin 1 is signal, Pin 3 is ground.



 

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elnrik said:
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They are 300 ohm cans, but they are all north of 96dB SPL/mW efficient.  I've driven my Eikon, Auteur, and Verite from the Crack, and they all love it.  Plenty of volume left, and they have no issue with slam or driver control.  I've also run the Eikon from a dragonfly black on a laptop, and it's passable, but could be much better.  It starts to muffle bass at any volume above 80dB-ish, which is louder than I usually listen to them.

The Auteur is not hard to drive, but it scales well with better amps and loves clean sounding tubes.

I don't believe the Crack is the only amp you have. LOL
 
LOL...I'd be surprised if he only had a Crack amp also!

Had my amps mixed up in my head.  Can't test the Stereomour but I did run the MrSpeakers Alpha Prime closed headphones and the Auteur's on the S.E.X. and the BAC (big a.s.s. crack)

Both cans sounded good on both amps.  Plenty of volume, I don't think I got past the 10 oclock position with either of them.

The Auteur sounded best on the BAC.  I believe I had the impedance on the S.e.x. set to 8 ohm which might not have been perfect for the Alpha's (25 or 30 ohm cans).  I didn't run the Alpha's on the BAC because of their impedance.

If I hadn't have been comparing these I'd have been very happy with the Alpha's on the S.e.x. but the BAC/Auteur combination had better frequency extension on both ends of the band.

A friend recommended rather jokingly a band but I like them.  Wooden Shjips is what I think would be called a psychedelic/ambient band.  "...play minimal, droning, garage band-meets-Krautrock psychedelia...".  I'm not sure if I could listen to them all day.  Reminds me a bit of The Doors and some late 60's music.
 
attmci said:
I don't believe the Crack is the only amp you have. LOL

Crack, Black Widow 2, DSHA-3F, Mjolnir 2, Jotunheim currently owned.  Recently departed: Lyr 3, Dragon Inspire iha-1, Feliks Elise, MCTH, Liquid Platinum (the original), Vali 2, Magni, Asgard 2, Valhalla 2, (I had a Schiit phase), some Chinese AGD crap, and so many more amps I can't recall half of their names off the top of my head.  Truly.

The Crack has remained a constant despite having seen so many amps, and far more expensive ones at that, come and go.

As ALL212 said, it has a particularly good synergy with the Auteur.  :)
 
Listening to my Cocobolo Auteur right now out of the Crackatwoa, good synergy indeed, definitely scale well with a nice set of tubes.  Zach is quite the tube man himself and keeps this in mind when he designs his headphones, they work really well with OTL topologies.

I own the Auteur, Atticus, and the HD800 if anyone would like any thoughts/comparisons.
 
Is the Atticus a closed can?  How does it compare to the Auteur?

Running the Auteur vs. Senn HD650 on the Mainline tonight.

HD650 sounded very good - many have verified it's a good mix with the Mainline.
Auteur is winning.  Bass is better, treble is better (HD's sounded a bit muffled compared to the ZMF's) and I think the soundstage is better.

Both cans have the same cable (Mogami W2534) and both have Furutech 1/4" plugs.

My only complaint with the ZMF is the headband.  I'm a bit (  ::) ) follically challenged and that inner leather strap isn't as comfortable as the Senn headband is.

I think I'll email Zach and see what if he has any ideas for us baldy guys.  I could remove that strap...
 
I think a thinner, softer, more compliant leather strap completely fixes the issue.  Pretty easy to get some good leather at just about any craft store.
 
ALL212 said:
Is the Atticus a closed can?  How does it compare to the Auteur?

Running the Auteur vs. Senn HD650 on the Mainline tonight.

HD650 sounded very good - many have verified it's a good mix with the Mainline.
Auteur is winning.  Bass is better, treble is better (HD's sounded a bit muffled compared to the ZMF's) and I think the soundstage is better.

Both cans have the same cable (Mogami W2534) and both have Furutech 1/4" plugs.

My only complaint with the ZMF is the headband.  I'm a bit (  ::) ) follically challenged and that inner leather strap isn't as comfortable as the Senn headband is.

I think I'll email Zach and see what if he has any ideas for us baldy guys.  I could remove that strap...

Yes, the Atticus is ZMF's "cheapest" wood cup dynamic driver headphones, it is a closed back.  One notable difference in ZMF's headphone lineup is Zach utilizes different driver materials for different headphones.  The Aelous (open) and Atticus (closed) use the same thermoplastic elastomer driver.  The Auteur (open) and Eikon (closed) use the same biocellulose driver.  The Vérité (open) uses a polyethylene naphthalate driver with vapor deposed beryllium.  Each driver has a different timbre and the open vs. closed back version sound markedly different (from what I am told, I have not heard every one).

As far as how the Atticus differs from the Auteur, different driver material so different timbre altogether.  Sound stage is smaller given it is a closed back, but very spacious for a closed back I would say.  The Atticus is known for its mid-bass emphasis, it is an unapologetically colored, warm, dynamic headphone.  In terms of its frequency response, it is often compared to the HD650, given it's mid-bass emphasis, relaxed treble and sub-bass roll-off.  I find that it is a nice complement to the Auteur when I want less refinement and a big bass-boost :) seems people like to use them for high-energy genres like rock, punk, metal, EDM, etc.  Hope that helps!
 
Deke609 said:
Thanks Aaron and elnrik - It sounds like the Auteurs and the Crack are a very nice match. In which case, the next step up in amplification might be the Crack-a-two-a with its shunt voltage regulation. With my Stereomour, going from stock to stock+shunt reg was a night and day improvement (and I was pretty happy with the stock sound).

... but I'm still curious to know whether the Auteurs play well with a S.E.X.

I’ve never heard the Auteur or Eikon, but  I have a pair of Atticus and a SEX 3.0 C4S and a stock non speedball Crack. They use a different material than the drivers in the Auteur/eikon, but very similar specs-wise ... pretty sure Zach said they can take 250mw, off the top of my head. Edit: yep, found a post elsewhere where he says that.

Very much prefer the Crack to the SEX 3.0 ... it just has the right kind of synergy  to it... plus it is more customizable with the input and output tube options vs only one tube type per channel on the SEX. I didn’t like the speedball in the Crack (only tried with HD650 a long time ago) so it may be that I also don’t care for the C4S in the SEX 3.0, though I’ve never heard it without since I acquired it fully built. It just makes my ears a bit sensitive after listening for awhile, so I mainly use the SEX for speakers now. The Crack speedball did the same thing with HD650, but that was a few years ago. 
 
@L0rdGwyn - thanks for the review!  Good info on the different formula's for the cones.

As to the headband that I mentioned earlier - ZMF already has a solution and I just didn't know it existed.  Under the "ZMF Pads" section there is listed a Pilot Pad with three different variations specifically designed to make these more comfortable.  I've ordered the Lambskin and suede and will report back when they arrive.
 
I'm compelled to post when I feel especially inspired.  I listen to music pretty much every day at the close of business.  On listening to Take 6's "Take 6" on the Crack/Speedball with my Auteurs, I thought, man, I've got to reiterate my love of this pairing.  Absolutely magical!  Love this amp and these phones, which, by the way, sound equally good, albeit different. on the Mainline.

Best,

Joe.
 
Could I perhaps get people's more in-depth comparisons of the Auteur on the Crack+Speedball vs the Mainline? I'm debating between the Crack-a-two-a and The Mainline for mine and I'm unsure which amp would be the better pairing. On one hand the crack sounds like a cacophony of euphonic fun, but I like the sound of the Mainline's transparency, resolve and more open soundstage. Any head-to-head impressions would be greatly appreciated!! :)
 
SmashBruh said:
Could I perhaps get people's more in-depth comparisons of the Auteur on the Crack+Speedball vs the Mainline? I'm debating between the Crack-a-two-a and The Mainline for mine and I'm unsure which amp would be the better pairing. On one hand the crack sounds like a cacophony of euphonic fun, but I like the sound of the Mainline's transparency, resolve and more open soundstage. Any head-to-head impressions would be greatly appreciated!! :)

Happy to give you my impressions.  I switch off between the two amps with the Auteurs.  On the Crack, of course, I listen single ended.  On the Mainline, balanced.  Here are my thoughts:

- Crack/Speedball -- The Auteurs sound incisive, slightly more tilt toward treble (though not in a bad way) with a midrange that appears more forward to my ears.  The low end is there and punchy.  Good drive and pace.  Solid and clean.  Again, incisive, but not in any way etched.  Good air and space: not dissimilar from the single ended 300B sound, with a little more control on the low end.  Also reminds me of my Maggie 3.5Rs driven by the ARC VT200.

- Mainline -- The Auteurs sound more rounded and mellow here.  Think ARC tube amp or Mac amp driving Spendors or B&Ws.  Or, the B&W 801IIIs I had, driven by Class-A, Krell KMA160s., realistic.  While there's a touch of warmth, cymbals, snares, higher register piano notes all sound very realistically rendered.  Vocals, too, are realistic in their presentation.  In general, there's more there there.  Bottom end is solid and anchored.  The mids sound right to me, though, depending on my mood and music selection, I may tend toward the Crack.  This amp really controls the phones.

I hope this was in some way helpful.  If not, I'll try to hone my vocabulary and give you something more to work with.  In my opinion, you can't go wrong with either amp.  I flop between the two.  If I had to keep one set of headphones for both amps, the Auteurs would be them.
 
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