There & Back Again: A Hobbi...Headphone Lover's Tale

[George Hincapie]

Enjoy the music GH.

[George Hincapie]

The next piece in the puzzle has arrived. I have some excellent headphones already, but they are planars and I have been keen to find out how really well made dynamics sound. So in November I ordered a pair from ZMF, a small company owned by the stupidly talented Zach, who hand crafts beautiful headphones in the US.

All ZMF headphones have wooden cups. Zach selects different woods and exploits their natural features for the most pleasing appearance. Sometimes he produces rarity editions (small batches made from very difficult to source woods), sometimes limited editions (which may be resin reinforced). You can visit ZMF and read more about their various models here.

In order to increase marital harmony when listening to music while my wife is trying to relax in the room with me, I decided to order the Vérité Closed first.

Zach has a sales event once a year, during November, in which all of his rarity, limited edition and B stock headphones are available for purchase. As you might expect, such incredible craftsmanship does not come cheaply. Mine were £2500, with another £500 in import duty and fees.

This image is of my VC from the sale web site (now taken down).



They are shipped in individual Pelican style cases, or you can pay an additional £100 for a beautifully made and finished wooden box.

They are provided with two sets of cables of differing quality; you specify the connector termination for the highest quality, OFC copper cable and they send the second cable with a different termination depending upon what they have to hand. My second cable was XLR. The headphone termination is mini-XLR which are cool little connectors - first time I have used them. I'm using the stock OFC cable at the moment, but have already ordered a custom 10ft cable from Periapt.

The other area ZMF excel is in the design and manufacture of the pads. They offer multiple designs and materials, all of which have an impact upon our perception of the various frequencies. It seems a common activity to 'pad roll', or try multiple pads until you find the best match for you. Thankfully ZMF fit what they consider to be the best pads for that pair of headphones prior to shipping, and also provide a different set of pads in the case to try.

They've now had around 24 hrs of burn in over the last couple of evenings and I've had the first proper listening session this evening. Just picking them up and seeing the light reflect off the stunning finish is a treat in itself, but they sound superb. I've read various hour figures quoted on forums for burn in, of 100 hours or more. So we shall see how they develop, but already I am very happy.

There are at least 3 other models in their range I'd like to buy, so waiting until next November is going to be painful - both in terms of time and cost. This isn't the end of my interest in HiFiMan either; there are a couple of products there still to add. Or perhaps just one. Time will tell.

Some photographs for you of the opening experience and in my system.











Finally, the DH Labs cables are in place in my system, fulfilling USB and I2S duties. I can't honestly say they offer any improvement over the previous Supra USB and Amazon Generic I2S cables, but at least they match and look attractive; that's worth £300 surely?

I'm now going to enjoy the system as is for a month or so, while I decide whether to scratch an itch and audition a DAC that's been on my mind for some time, or whether to just bite the bullet and buy the 'end game' DAC I believe I'll settle on.

Have a great New Year folks.

Thanks for reading.

[George Hincapie]

Those look absolutely, stunningly gorgeous. And no doubt sound the same.

[George Hincapie]

The Pontus II 12th Anniversary Edition has just been collected and is off to a new home. I'll decide what is replacing it soon.

[Fretless]

Pontus not good enough ??!!

[George Hincapie]

Pontus not good enough ??!!

No.

Physically it is impressive. Reassuringly heavy and beautifully made. It just doesn't impress me sonically.

It does perform well, but the performance delta over Ares II is small. Less than 20%. Sadly it is missing the musicality that makes Ares II such a ridiculous steal. It feels a little sterile to me.

In conclusion, a competent performer that just doesn't set my world alight.

[George Hincapie]

A new DAC will be with me by the end of the week. Technology and implementation very different from anything I've had before. Rarified air indeed...

[Fretless]

We wait with bated breath ....



... and popcorn.

[George Hincapie]

It's arrived. A small teaser...

[George Hincapie]

Weiss 501 Mk II. Full specification is here. Good God, it's a resolution monster.

Full thoughts in a week.