ZMFheadphones Eikon

SPECIFICATIONS: Camphor Eikon / ZMF Eikon Solid Pads Lambskin / Impedance: 300 Ohms / Driver: Biocellulose / Weight: 500g ±20g / Sensitivity: ~98dB/mW / ZMF Stock Braided Cable 3.5 mm

Disclaimers: 1/ All shared impressions, findings and facts are relevant to the single headphone sets, not to batches; 2/ All headphones are bought by me and I am getting no beneficials and incentives for my statements; 3/ Yes, most of the impressions are subjective and if anyone decides to take decision, I advise that he should rely on his on impressions also (from trial or loaning) and also check other reviews; 4/ All impressions shared are with the stock set up of the Eikon.

Used dac/amp set-up: 1/ Tidal MQA Masters -> SMSL SU-9 -> TEAC HA-501; 2/ Tidal MQA masters -> Mytek Liberty DAC -> Burson Soloist 3X P

Used Library: Pink Floyd – The Division Bell (originals, not the remastered); Adele – 30; Patricia Barber – Higher; Daft Punk – Random Access Memories; David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock (Deluxe); Soundtracking – James Bond (24 tracks incl. Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Madonna, Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong,…); Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears (30th Ann.); S&M2 – Metallica & San Francisco Symphony; Deep Purple – Slaves and Master (with Bonus Tracks);

INTRO
The ZMF Eikon Camphor has a long hype in the audiophile community as a high-end biocellulose dynamic driver wood headphone from Zach Merbach. Me, being found of music, iems and headphones for 30 years, finally decided to go for it as a boutique wooden headphone and got it before the end of the difficult 2021 at $1421. It is already more than two full weeks after I put it for the first time on my head and I already gathered solid amount of experience and impressions with it. So, I dared to do this review and share my impressions and feelings about it, and my content, overcoming my initial shock from it and doing lots of A-B comparisons vs other headphones from my collection. I did A-B comparisons vs Focal Listen Professional, Focal Elegia, Beyerdynamic DT770 pro and DT1990 pro, Fostex T50rp Mayflower V1, Fostex T60rp Argon, Denon AH-D5200, Sony MDR-7510, Sony MDR-Z7M2 mainly. There are other headphones that I will mention in the review to try to ‘illustrate’ well my experience. As you see, I am not planning to share the comparisons vs the Sundara, the Arya, the Sennheiser HD800s (and others) since these are fully open headphones and since I do not find it … stay with me and you will understand.

THE PACKAGE
The package is impressive - the nice, large, solid, foam padded hard locking case, the greeting card, the small leaflet and the Eikon itself are impressive, each by itself and like a package. I have a small complaint about the cable – it is well done and easy to use but 1/ has no color marks for left and right and the letters at the ends are hardly visible even at daylight; 2/ it is a bit short for me ~1,43 meters with the jack. We usually complain about cable being too long, but it is unusual for me the cable to be less than 1,5 meters. And last – the cable is 3,5mm unbalanced – come on for a set that expensive could be 4,4mm balanced at least. There are no color markings for the left and right cap and the letter markings are also hardly visible.

The Eikon wooden caps are made by Camphor wood that are beautiful, with a hand-applied varnish and have impressive finish and touch, but the stock solid lambskin pads are filled in with material that is not memory foam and do not have soft touch on the scalp around the ears. They really deserve the word solid - being not soft enough and not cushy, they are not helping to handle the big weight of ~500 grams. The feeling of them around my ears is as if these are tires. I like far more the perforated lambskin ear pads which have far better touch and cushiness according to me. There is something else that I will leave for the end of the review, so let’s continue with …


SOUND IMPRESSIONS

TONALITY and FR
I have heard/read that ZMF wants the Eikon to perform on a neutral level but with a musical flair and big natural timber. The overall tonality and FR I got is close to that below, and when I say close I mean: a/ the bass is just that north of neutral, no sub-bass rolling, more mid-bass than neutral but well weighted; b/ the mids are a bit more forward like below, especially for the vocals, c/ the treble is neutral and well controlled. I do think that mine set does not has that big dip b/n 1,5k and 2k.


BASS
The low end of the headphone is smooth, well controlled and with good amount and fits the whole sound signature very. As I said it is a lit bit north of neutral but is not bass heads type, it is just well present, goes deep, bleeds small in the vocals to give the natural warmth. But there are some flaws that I will not spare: 1/ the separation between sub-bass and mid-bass is not well done, the mid-bass has low detail; 2/ I think the lack of good separation between sub- and mid-bass and something else (I will speak about the ‘else’ later) coming together make my experience with the bass, let’s say not poor, but not matching the price level. The bass performance of the Eikon with the stock pads is just slightly better than that of the DT770 pro, according to me. But I dare to say that I hear sometimes a bit more detail and separation from the DT770 pro. As I said the Eikon is not a bass heads set but let’s imagine you want more and better bass then the Sony MDR-Z7M2 is a total outperformer in quantity, quality, separation, attack, decay, detail; if you want same amount of bass but better quality then the Focal Elegia is far better, it is as better as the M7K2 but the amount of bass is less and the punch and quality strong. These two sets had recently got big discounts and that quality, separation, attack, decay, detail for ~$500 are amazing deal. And let’s say you want the same amount like the Eikon’s then the Beyerdynamic DT1990 does it equal in amount and better in everything else. I know that putting here the DT1990 pro will raise negative comments because of its notorious 8k peak but later I will give the solution for it if, it is a deal breaker for you.

So, to wrap up for the bass – good fidelity, good presence in the overall sound signature but at all not enough for the price level. And I still do not touch technicalities in detail!

MIDS
I like the mids to be a bit forward. And the Eikon does it well for me. The vocals are naturalistic and impressive, both for male and female singers. Most instruments sound natural, enticing and embracing. But quality, again, is not sublime. And if you say sublime is too much than let me put it this way – not at the price level I paid. After listening for many hours, my ears never adjusted to something very specific from a technical point of view that I will speak about in technicalities. Here I will add just that mids are sometimes too intimate, condensed, and lack enough detail. Otherwise, they are realistic (but also not realistic – wait for the technicalities) and have good coherency with the overall sound signature. The Eikon is excellent vocal headphone, but not one for those who do not like a very forward midrange that pops over the bass and treble since the vocals sometimes are capturing the whole show. If you are into relaxing and chilling out mids grab some other set. And to continue with some comparisons: vs the DT770 pro – Eikon is quite better especially if you like intimacy; vs the DT1990 pro I think they are quite equal – Eikon wins in naturalism and intimacy but looses in detail and airiness; vs Focal Elegia and Focal Listen Professional – the Eikon is losing in anything, according to me, except naturalism. Even the polarizing mids of the Z7M2 are better in detail and air vs the Eikon’s. As you see, many times I mention air – later you will understand why. The Fostex T60rp Argon has nearly perfect presentation for me for the price – Eikon is more than 3 times the price of the T60rp Argon and is slightly better just sometimes.

TREBLE
Overall fidelity of the Eikon is good, but not fantastic. There are other sets out there with superior treble response in this and lower price tiers. The Eikon’s treble is smooth, without sibilance, not fatiguing and has also beautiful tonality and quantity. It is the treble I need for Friday night after tiresome week – one that will not attack me. Also the Eikon is not analytical in no way and though the treble is pleasant I feel very much that it lacks detail and sparkle. If you like a flat treble, the Eikon is for you, no sparkle at all, so again - not at the price level I paid. If I want to catch specific details than I have to crack the volume very high and hunt for them and again it is not working well. The Eikon treble is more macro and not at all micro – I know that doesn’t go with not fatiguing bit the lack of the detail is too much for me. I think this is coming from the tuning (the dip at 7k to 12k) and the technical capabilities of the drivers to some extent. Also I miss some vividness. And here are some comparisons: vs the DT770 pro – the Eikon’s treble is better, less fatiguing (no fatigue at all), more naturalistic but has less detail; vs the Focal Elegia and Listen Professional – they are also not fatiguing and have well controlled treble peaks but they have far more detail, they are a bit more analytical w/o being annoying and I think the Elegia is very close to the Eikon for the natural presentation; vs the DT1990 pro Eikon wins only in naturalism and if you like more brightness the DT1990 pro wins it. And if you are about to shout at mean for the 8k peak of the DT1990 pro, please, hold on – that is easily handled by installing a passive switch in the caps that kills the 8k peak (I have the passive switch installed on a custom cable that was done by Customcans from UK; the passive switch has off (8k is present) and two other on positions that tame or fully control the 8k peak), and even with fully killed 8k peak the DT1990 pro delivers far more detail. The Sony Z7M2 has far more detail that also sounds quite natural. But if you think I am overdoing it for the treble let me say – it is not the deal breaker for me, and I never expected that this would be the strength of the Eikon.

IMAGING, SOUND STAGE
I think the Eikon is having quite decent for the price level of imaging. It is well executed, and the placement of instruments is natural, logical, and just below impressive. The instruments have decent presence and work for a good experience and enjoyment. But staging is not good. And it is not the stage width, depth or height that are the issue. It is the inconsistency of the performance in staging. When music and songs are slow, not busy, with not too many layers of instruments the staging performance is ok. But if the music gets fast, busy, with lots of instruments the Eikon’s stage is collapsing – the space between instruments is disappearing, the stage gets condensed and shrinks between my ears, the bass gets a bit muddy, the vocals change and sometimes even lose the naturalism and finish (the breathing, ticking, low vocal lingering - gone), the treble starts to lack detail fully. This inconsistent performance is one of the two deal breakers for me – it is not only that it is fully unacceptable for a headphone with that price. And I dare to say that I cannot think of another set of cans that is that bad from my big collection of several dozens of headphones or from those that start from $30 and go up to $1500; it is only the ATH-M40x that is that bad. I know that I would be hated for saying all that, but you cannot imagine how disappointing is that inconsistency – it is not like you know that the headphones are lacking the sound stage, it is like you listen to Ennio Morricone and the composition is not busy and melodical and finishes, and the next composition is fast, with lots of instruments and intense, and the stage collapses – several times I was on the brink to throw the Eikon on the ground.
Going to some comparison vs the headphones mentioned before – I do not have that big disappointment for the sound stage and the slow attack with any of them. The DT770 pro sound stage is more wider and is fully consistent, the Focal Listen and the Focal Elegia sound stage are wider and far more out of my head (the Elegia replay is like big speakers in fairly big room), the Fostex T50rp Mayflower V1 and the T60rp Argon have wider sound stage and some holographic capabilities, the Denon AH-D5200 sound far more consistent in staging, DT1990 pro has far more wider stage, the Sony MDR-Z7M2 are below the DT1990 pro but far wider sounding that all the rest, it is just the Sony MDR-7510 that sound that condensed like the Eikon, and the ATH-M40x even more, but these are monitoring cans. Frankly (and I dare to say that) even my UM Mesk and IER-Z1R are having wider stage and better spacing between instruments than the Eikon.

SOME TECHNICALITIES
I already shared my impressions on the timber and naturalism for the vocals. What I want to add here is that my Eikon has really fast decay, also great smoothness, lacks graininess, and most of instruments sound the way you expect. The layering and the dynamics of the low and top end are good. If the music is relaxed the space between notes and instruments and the staging are fairly good (until the music doesn’t go intense). But, again a ‘but’, and another deal breaker for me – the attack of the notes is slow, and it is so slow that some instruments sound inverted, as if their recording is played backwards. Let me explain – imagine how drums do sound, you hear the hit and the canvas flex, and the sound suddenly grows, very fast, and after that you start to hear the decay, there is some lingering (long or short depends on the driver type), might be very small but it is lingering. Usually when we speak about fast decay that is good, and traditionally, we add tightness, you know how it is with good planars. But the attack of the Eikon on some notes and with some instruments is so slow that you feel the process of the sound production as if on slow motion and after that the decay is very fast, abrupt, no natural echo, no lingering. So, I feel how the drum is hit and the canvas flexes and it continues unnaturally long (as if you are listening to a tape recorder that has loose belt on the wheels or it plays on batteries and the batteries are already on 10% and suddenly it dies. This is also very annoying with piano – sometimes I hear the piano key going done for too long and abruptly its sound dies. And this is happening also with some vocal performances – you know the performance and you know that the singer is prolonging a particular word, syllable, note but that is missing - it dies abruptly like in no other headphone. The slow attack, the fast decay and the lack of details and resolving capabilities, put together, ruin anything good that comes with the Eikon for me. On top of that, imagine that also the stage collapses when song is fast and busy - that is the end, I do not ‘buy’ all these in exchange for wooden caps, boutique production, a nice plastic case, and after waiting for months.

MY VERDICT
I know that all I shared above is scandalous for some ZMF fans, I know that I will be called greenhorn (just another new head-fier), that I do not understand anything and how big are Zach’s achievements, that I have ill ears or that I am rambling and sound like a hater. Well, you may say these but this will not change my attitude for the Eikon, unless suddenly they do not get some kind of a transformation for better.
All in all – Eikon is fancy and probably someone with tons of money will accept all the negatives, that my set has, just to say he/she has the set with the best timber performance or for the wooden glossy caps and solid build. Not me! For me the Eikon doesn’t worth the money in 2021/22, not this set that I got and that package (by package I mean something bigger). For me they are like my vintage headphones from the end of last century with which I was not lucky. I would dare to say that I enjoy far much my Pioneer SE-205 (pads changed to thicket ones) that doesn’t have the quantity of bass of the Eikon but has far better attack, well presented natural mids which are slightly forward, has some sibilance on specific performances but is far more detailed and has big sound stage like DT770 pro; I also like more my Beyerdynamic DT48a that is better in everything (not that much quantity of bass again but far enough to be neutral and very precise) and has supreme resolution and timber. Practically for the money that I paid for the Eikon you may buy, according to me three better headphones with guaranteed FR and performance) and even stay with some change. For example:
1/ Mid-price set that is fairly neutral: Creative Aurvana Live! SE + Focal Listen Professional + Fostex T50rp Mayflower V1. Hear you need some mods: the CAL! SE should get a mod of installing Dynamat inside the caps to kill the vibration of the plastic caps; the Focal Listen should get quality perforated sheepskin ear pads; the Fostex T50rp Mayflower V1 should be produced properly and without installing the thick stiff felt that sticks on the driver since that makes the treble too piercing. So with these triple set you have: 1/ a biocellulose driver headphone that has mild V-shape signature, more bass, better bass and sub-bass, treble has more resolution but the vocals are slightly recessed and the treble not that smooth; 2/ a Focal that has high price/performance value very high and it is with neutral bass, well done vocals that has nice forwardness plus smooth and detailed treble; 3/ a planar that is well-know for its price/performance value, versatility, mod options and is bright neutral; 4/ all of them are having consistent sound stage and the T50rp a wider one.
2/ Above mid-price set that is fairly bassy but has more value and better performance: Fostex T50rp Argon + Focal Elegia + Fostex T60 Argon suede pads or the Denon AH-D5200. I think I do not need to explain what you get from the T50rp Argon since it is well known; from the Elegia you get fairly neutral set with very well-done mid forwardness and very pleasant and detailed mids and treble (as I shared above, the Elegia replay is like big speakers in a fairly big room); the T60rp, being also ‘boutique’ mod are better in anything vs the Eikon, except for the natural vocals, still they sound very natural for a planar, and if you roll pads you get different sound signatures. I enjoy all the three headphones very much, they complement each other very well, you have wood, durability, finesse. Just to remind the Fostexes need more power than the Eikon and the Elegia needs quality cable (Litz, for example from Customcans UK).
3/ ‘Expensive’ quality set with fully different sound signatures: Sony MDR-Z7M2 + Focal Elegia + Beyerdynamic DT1990 pro. All these three cans are DD (so, please, no planars to be blamed for!) and all these three cans are very well built and solid and are far more comfortable than the Eikon. You have a top-end Sony with 70mm driver (just below Sony’s TOTL Z1R) that has superb bass, acceptable mids, well done treble, that has high resolution, wide sound stage (that beats even some open headphones), even has some holographic qualities and the comfort is superb (one of the best). The Elegia I already described, so to the DT1990 pro – I know these are polarizing but as I said above the 8k peak can be easily killed without loss of detail and they come with two set of earpads that change the sound frequency in the lower end, they are very solid construction, comfortable enough and are top cost/performance value. You can find any of these three cans for around $500 and some of them even below, so you nearly pay the same money but do not get just one Eikon.

If I have to choose just one phone that is close to Eikon in the sound signature I would always go for the Focal Elegia and will always take the Elegia over the Eikon I have. The Denon AH-D5200 is also a much better choice (with it you have a bit less forward mids and vocals and better textured bass and better sound stage) and the Focal Radiance is also an option but it has a bit more bass than the AH-D5200. And this is only the close back headphones. If I put in the rivalry openbacks – ooh, the options are far more.

COMFORT and SERVICE
I am fully disappointed by the comfort with Eikon and service I got. I got the Eikon on Friday, noontime. So, after 5pm I started eagerly using it and I couldn’t accept its staging and slow attack and lack of details in the low end. Also, I have and issue with the construction – it is a heavy headphone and it is equipped with a leather strap that has to provide comfort – you know how Audeze and AKG headphones are build, they have the leather straps installed in a way to provide space between the strap and the main metal arch, these straps keep the headphones floating on your head and the metal arches do not touch your scalp and that alleviates the weight. Well, my pair is having a leather strap that is too long – it is following the shape of the arch, sticking to it. I tried all kind of shaping for the arch – oval, angled in the middle, oval and angled in the middle and close to the caps to avoid the metal arch pressing on my head because is giving me a lot of pain. The hot spot I get for one hour of using the Eikon stays the whole day, it is highly uncomfortable – my neck doesn’t get tired, but my scalp hurts a lot. So, on Monday, after three nights and two days I wrote a mail to ZMF asking how the sound signature and performance are expected to change if I switch to the perforated pads that I ordered with the Eikon, and also I explained the issue I have with the strap and asked that they send me a shorter strap that will secure some space between it and the metal arch for better comfort. Now, it took them 5 days to reply – I am in 14 days return period, but they replied on Friday evening. I can say that even Aliexpress reply faster, and if I speak about boutique and mod companies like Lawton, Mayflower, Customcans – they reply latest next day.




And what was the reply:

• on the ear pads they said “Generally, we do not recommend using perforated pads with our closed back headphones…”. So, on the website and in the leaflet in the case there are perforated ear pads that are shown to be used with the Eikon but when you ask they do not recommend it;
• on the issue with the strap, they said “… Once you put the headphone on your head the leather strap should tighten as the chassis is opened to provide cushion and space between the head band. Below I have linked an instructional video on how to bend your headband to get an optimal fit. If you find that is not giving you the results you are looking for, I would recommend trying our suede strap. The suede strap is a little thicker than our leather strap. It provides a little more cushion and may help alleviate the hot spots you are experiencing. I have also linked the suede strap below, as well as an instructional video on how to install our straps.” I was shocked since: I have attached photos and it is obvious that the strap is too long. I explained that to them and they say cannot be; but they also say that if I do not get the result I want I have to buy the suede strap that ‘MAY help’ – come on, your client is not satisfied, he doesn’t have the comfort to use your product because of a flaw, he proposes a solution that cost peanuts but you tell him you have to buy something else that ‘MAY help’ – OMG! And all that after: a/ I paid in advance despite the long production lead; b/ I had severe customs complications since the order ZMF confirmed to me was in Euro and the PayPal payment is in Euro but ZMF did send the shipment with an invoice in US dollars (do you know how fancy is to discuss currency conversions with Customs officers and write additional papers!?); c/ I was given in a mail a shipment deadline that was not met and ZMF prolonged the product nearly to the full end of the grace period they have. This is not the service that should be provided for a $1400 headphone.
• After sending a feedback email with my disappointment I received 3 sentences reply and one of it is: ‘Sorry for any disappointment, we do not control customs and don't have a dedicated support department as a small business that handcrafts headphones.’ Absolutely irrelevant.

So, what stays for me is the hope that my Eikon performance will go through a transformation for better and that I will find a solution for the severe hot spot or meanwhile my scalp will build enough padding itself.


Well, today, 27.02.2023, I add this: since one week the ZMF Eikon replay transformed to far better replay. And saying far better I mean a replay of a closed back that is hard to beat! But that replay happens only when sourced by my new Feliks Echo 2. The replay by the Eikon is highly satisfying in musical and technical aspects but only from the Echo 2.
So, a nice pair that worths $1400 bucks -), after I got an amp for $800!!!

NOTE: This review was originally published on HiFiGuides Forum on 27 November, 2020. https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/zmf-eikon/45/177


SAVOR THE SOUND

INTRODUCTION

I’ve had the exciting opportunity to spend a couple weeks with the ZMF Eikon. This set was loaned to me by another HFGF member. A special thank you to that person who may or may not choose to reveal themselves in the comments that follow this post. Beyond that and in this season of giving thanks (I write this on Black Friday 2020), I’m grateful to this community for supporting my reviewing. A heartfelt ‘thank you’ to you all . With that sappiness out of the way, let’s get back to the Eikon…

The ZMF Eikon is a closed-back, biodynamic-driver (biocellulose), over-the-ear ear headphone with a rated driver impedance of 300 ohms and rated sensitivity of 98dB/mW. The headphone cups are made of wood and the stock wood type (and the type used in this review) is camphor. The starting price is 1499.99USD. https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/stock-headphones/products/zmf-eikon

I’ve been wanting to check out ZMF headphones for awhile. I went into this review with great excitement. I learned some cool things and now I share them with you. Here goes…

KNOW YOUR REVIEWER

My preferred genres are rock/metal and classical/orchestral music. I’m getting to know jazz more and enjoying quite a bit. I also listen to some EDM and hip-hop. More and more I’m learning that I prefer ‘fun’ sound signatures over neutral for most of my music listening. Since I’m a rocker/metalhead, fun – in this case meaning elevated bass and tastefully elevated treble – is my preference. For acoustic-oriented music I prefer a more neutral signature. My hearing quirks include a high sensitivity to midrange frequencies from just under 1KHz to around 3Khz, give or take. My ears are thus quick to perceive “shoutiness” in headphones in particular. I describe “shoutiness” as an emphasis on the ‘ou’ sound of ‘shout.’ It’s a forwardness in the neighborhood of 1KHz and/or on the first one or two harmonics above it (when I make the sound ‘ooooowwwww’ into a spectrum analyzer the dominant frequency on the vowel sound is around 930Hz, which also means harmonic spikes occur again at around 1860Hz and 2790Hz). In the extreme, it can have the tonal effect of sounding like a vocalist is speaking or singing through a toilet paper tube or cupping their hands over their mouth. It can also give instruments like piano, but especially brass instruments, an added ‘honk’ to their sound. I also get distracted by sibilance, or sharp ‘s’ and ‘t’ sounds that can make ssssingers sssssound like their forssssssing esssss ssssssounds aggresssssssively. Sibilance does not physically hurt my ears nearly as quickly as shout, though. It’s distracting because it’s annoying and unnatural. Readers should keep these hearing quirks in mind as they read my descriptions of sound.

Feel free to stalk my HFGF profile summary. I have a big gear list in there if you’re curious about what gear I have experience with.

BUILD

There is a lot of praise all around for ZMF’s craftsmanship and the overall quality feel of their products. My opinion is no different. These are well made headphones that exude quality and craftsmanship. They are a bit heavy, mostly due to the wood cups, but I don’t find them uncomfortable. The weight becomes an issue only when I look down at my desktop while writing something by hand or if I keep hitting the wrong button on the keyboard and have to lower my eyes to find that elusive button. Moments like that inertia takes over: a heavy headphone at rest wants to stay at rest, a heavy headphone in motion wants to stay in motion. However, the weight is not crazy. If you have experience with the Audeze LCD series or a Lawton modded Fostex headphone, the weight and inertia is similar in feel. This review set has the stock Eikon pads and they are big enough to completely surround my average-size ears. They are soft but can tend towards warm – not a sound description but a temperature description in this case.

SOUND

Test Gear

I used a variety of electronics to test Eikon. I tried just about every combination of amp and dac I have on hand right now (see my gear list in my profile). However, I most frequently used the Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC and about a 50/40/10 split between Liquid Platinum, Eddie Current ZDT Jr, and Lake People G111 as the amps for this review. The Bifrost and Liquid Plat was my preferred combo but the other two amps were not far behind. The Eikon did not change a whole lot between solid state and the tube/hybrid amps, but there was some noticeable difference. For the most part it sounded very clean on a pure solid state like the G111 and more stereotypically wet “tubey” on the ZDT Jr and in between those – though closer to clean – on the Liquid Plat. Technicalities such as detail varied some with the amp that I was using but there wasn’t a huge change in overall character or sound signature between solid state and tube like there is with the Sennheiser HD6?? Series. In other words, the Eikon did a good job of being the Eikon while taking on a bit of the flavor of whatever amp was driving it. I don’t currently have an OTL tube amp so I won’t be able to comment on how Eikon responds to that amp design. The 300-ohm impedance does pique my curiosity here, though. Note: I say ‘stereotypically wet tubey’ here to try to communicate the difference in sound. The ZDT Jr is known as a ‘wetter’ sounding tube amp – i.e. it’s smoother and comes with a bit of ‘gooeyness.’ But not all tube amps are ‘wet.’ Some are very clean and detail-oriented making them sound much more like the common understanding of what solid state amps sound like. OK, end of PSA ;p

Sound Signature

My subjective description of the Eikon’s signature is that it’s mostly neutral with a ‘hint of fun’ and has very good high and low extension. By ‘hint of fun’ I mean that it sounds like there could be just a slight emphasis on bass and treble but that could also be a psychoacoustic effect based on the excellent high and low frequency extension. To my ear, the 1 KHz range has a slight emphasis at times, but I’m going to credit (blame?) my own hearing quirks on that and say that I don’t think Eikon has an actual elevation there. I haven’t looked at a FR graph before writing this, though, and don’t really plan to look at one either.

The bass is tight and controlled and extends quite deep. In a somewhat cliché description, the Eikon can do punchy bass when it really needs to, but it’s not a bass cannon. Headphones I have that are similar in this regard would be Elegia and DT-880; neither are bass cannons that will satisfy bassheads, but they can dig deep and provide some punch when the music asks for it. I was pleasantly surprised how much bass oomph it can have when the first bit of the Crosby, Stills & Nash track entitled “Long Time Gone.” I was using the track immediately before it – “Helplessly Hoping” – to test vocal harmonies and then that track came on with really impressive bass response. I probably should have put Long Time Gone in our Bass Gods Approved thread, but I’ll let someone else take care of that if they agree it belongs there. In a final comment on the bass response, on the Eikon I detect no bloat into the midrange.

The treble is airy and extended. I only notice sibilance when the recording is sibilant. Detail is present without being overwhelming. The treble is also the area where the timbre has a relative struggle – more on this in the timbre section to come.

The midrange also strikes a good balance between being detailed and natural sounding. Vocals and instruments are well separated – to a point. In extreme cases the midrange reproduction could get a bit overwhelmed and the instrument and vocal separation and soundstaging could fall apart some, especially in the midrange. I have to emphasize that these are in the extreme cases, though. The two examples that first come to mind are the 1812 Overture by Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and The Poet and the Pendulum by Nightwish. The former, in the closing 5ish minute celebration overture, has a full symphony, a full vocal choir, a bell choir, and real cannon fire going off all at the same time. The recording is also a bit bass heavy. It’s a torture test. The Eikon held it together pretty well but it was also noticeably straining to do so. Some of the instruments and voices blended together and the soundstage flattened and smeared a touch. The Nightwish song has a passage starting at about 7:30 that has dueling electric guitar and violin solos overlaying a full orchestra with strings and horns AND a full metal band with drums, bass, and rhythm guitars, and then throws in both growled male vocals and clean female vocals on top of all that chaos – it’s not the greatest recording to boot either. Where the 1812 Overture track falls into what I would describe as “busy midrange” this Nightwish track falls into not just busy but also “aggressive midrange energy.” It’s not Eikon’s wheelhouse. It wasn’t bad, but it fell apart quicker than some of the large planars I have on hand that aren’t markedly different in price from Eikon (HiFiMan Edition X V2 for example, which was originally $1600).

Soundstage & Imaging

In my opinion good soundstage and imaging are vital in making music sound natural and realistic and are therefore things that I tend to pay a lot of attention to in my listening. What I noticed with Eikon is that I didn’t pay as much attention to them as I normally do. That’s either a compliment or criticism. Both features were good enough that I didn’t notice them being bad. Neither feature is so good that it stands out to me as excellent. For the price range, it seems to strike a good balance of adding to the experience without being a distraction for good or ill. I suppose I’ve written myself into thinking that’s a compliment. The Eikon sounds wide without sounding expansive. Its horizontal imaging is solid enough that I could more or less place instruments in the soundfield and there was decent separation between sonic images. Most of that imaging was lateral and soundstage/imaging depth was only hinted at more than delivered, but that seems pretty standard in this price range; true 3rd dimension imaging (front to back) seems to be reserved for more top-of-the-line gear.

Timbre

Here’s where the Eikon really shines. The timbre, especially in the midrange when the music isn’t too busy, is some of the most natural I’ve heard from a headphone. Voices sound like voices. Pianos sound like pianos. Trumpets sound like trumpets, and on and on and moreso than just about anything I’ve had on my head so far. There is a very organic, natural quality to most midrange sounds. This is especially true on more intimate acoustic music that emphasize voices and just a few instruments. And jazz. Oohhh jazz. Jazz sounds wonderful on these cans. There’s a very rich and lifelike quality going on here. Now, I mentioned above that the timbre can struggle a bit in the treble. Every now and then the treble can sound a bit thin and metallic. I had this same complaint about my Lawton-modded Fostex headphone. I’m hypothesizing that this might be a limitation of the biocellulose driver material, which the Eikon and modded Fostex have in common. No driver material is perfect and tradeoffs have to be made. I did not find this metallic treble distracting very often, and it was less frequent on the Eikon than the Lawton (I think mostly because the Lawton emphasizes treble more than Eikon), but it’s there and at times could pull me out of the moment.

Let’s Talk About Music Genres & Eikon

By and large I found the Eikon to sound at least good on pretty much everything I threw at it. There is a range of musical styles on which they sound utterly fantastic, though, and I let the cat out of the bag some with comments above. Music that is acoustic and vocal oriented sounds GREAT on this headphone. I want to use the adjective “intimate” here too, but that’s not always true. There is some music that most would not categorize as intimate – like some energetic jazz, for example – that sounds wonderful. Some form of qualifier on “acoustic” is needed though because full symphonies that tend toward the epic and bombastic – the 1812 Overture mentioned above, Beethoven’s 5th, as examples – or pipe organ music which are acoustic are good on the Eikon, but not its strength. So, let’s call it “non-epic acoustic and vocal music.” Think jazz (omigosh jazz, did I mention how good jazz sounds on these cans yet?), mild folk rock, or even some pop-rock such Eagles or Fleetwood Mac or Crosby, Stills & Nash as mentioned earlier (yep, that vocal harmony was terrific) can sound stellar on Eikon. On the other hand, for me there wasn’t enough low-end energy for harder rock, metal, EDM, hip-hop, and there wasn’t the sense of grand scale that I like for the bigger, epic classical music or movie soundtracks. As I mentioned in the Signature section, the Eikon hints at fun, but doesn’t quite deliver enough on the fun aspect for my tastes on rock, metal, etc. The Eikon is not bad for these genres, it just doesn’t quite reach the level to which some of my other headphones have reached for these genres. However, if you’re an acoustic music listener, the Eikon could be your closed-back-high-end-but-not-quite-top-of-the-line jam.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I put Savor the Sound at the very beginning as a bit of a spoiler. It was somewhat fortuitous that my listening time with Eikon happened in November insofar as a holiday that is so connected with food helped crystallize my thinking about it. My experience with Eikon varied a lot with music genre. For most of the music I listened to the Eikon was solid but nothing extraordinary. But then there would come some tracks in a shuffle that sounded heavenly. And then I put on a Jazz Classics playlist from Qobuz (if you have Qobuz, check this playlist out, seriously) and it sounded so lifelike and engaging. What was the common thread? Then I was making devilled eggs for Thanksgiving dinner and taste tested the filling and thought it needs to be a little more savory. Then it hit me: savory. The Eikon excels on music that is to be savored. What it does at the price point for the human voice, for stringed instruments, for pianos, etc. is something special. Intimate, acoustic music where not just the patterns of notes and chords but the sounds of the voices and instruments themselves speak in a touching way is where the Eikon is most at home. The Eikon is competent for rock and metal and the like, but it’s not as fun or engaging for those genres as my HexV2, Audeze LCD-2 prefazor, or my Lawton modded Fostex X00. Unfortunately for me, those rock and metal genres are the ones I listen to the most and for me personally I would struggle to justify spending this much to listen to genres that take up something like 20% of my listening time, especially when I have other headphones that perform admirably with these off-genres already. Still, the Eikon’s strengths are such that I am now more keenly interested in finding a ZMF that works for me than I was previously. If ZMF has a headphone currently or will have one soon that punches in the bass and holds lots of energetic midrange energy together like my HexV2 yet maintains the midrange timbral splendor the Eikon has…on top of the beautiful aesthetic and exquisite craftsmanship…I would start scraping together and saving my pennies to get there. However, I know there are numerous music lovers out there whose tastes are the reverse of mine and if that’s you then you owe it to yourself to check out the Eikon and presumably the rest of ZMF’s line.

Thanks for reading everyone. Enjoy the music!

Oh, if it matters at all, I put a teaspoon of dill pickle juice and 1/8 teaspoon of mild chili powder in that devilled egg filling and yes, they became oh-so-savory. Had to use the mild chili powder, though. Too many people to feed who don’t like spicy food as much as I do

Hey Guys!

Today we are talking about another great pair of headphones from ZMF, the Eikon. I will copy my blurb about ZMF Headphones from my Verite review, as nothing has changed on that front.

ZMF Headphones is a small headphone company based out of Chicago Illinois. The owner of ZMF headphones, Zach Mehrbach, is…a really nice guy. Really. Although I have only had correspondence with him via email, he comes across as incredibly helpful, supportive, and proud of his work. I can’t thank him enough for the opportunity to hear two (Verite, and Eikon) of his headphones for a couple months, and review them. To quote Bert Reviews on youtube (if you haven’t seen Bert Reviews, go search it up now, it is worth it, trust me) “Zach is AWESOME!”

The ZMF Eikon is one of the pair (the other being the Atticus) of Dynamic Driver headphones ZMF released a few years ago, marking their move into making their own headphones, rather than modifying other companies headphones. Of course, as time has passed there are now other models, but the Eikon and Atticus are the original twosome. The pair of Eikon Zach sent me is done in Camphor wood. Again, as I mentioned in my Verite review, there are supposedly small changes in sound between the difference wood types, but I think you would see more of a difference changing to a different pair of pads, than a different wood type.

Speaking of pads, again ZMF Headphones has a superb system available. There are multiple different pads to choose from, in multiple different materials. For my pair of review Eikons, I had a pair of leather Eikon pads, and suede Eikon pads. Both pads offered a sound signature I enjoyed, and the change was not subtle. I will get into this a little bit more later on.


So. With all that being said. How do the Eikon sound? Harmonically rich, full, and pleasing to the ear.

Bass: The bass on the Eikon is a bit on the woolier and round sounding side then what I am used to usually. However, I absolutely love level of bass the Eikon provides. It isn’t too much, but it is north of neutral, and really fills out the sound nicely. I did try playing with EQ’ing up the bass a few decibels, and sure, for some music it worked well, but it really wasn’t necessary with the Eikon. With the leather Eikon pads, the bass had a bit more impact than with the suede Eikon pads. The bass on both the Verite and Eikon I spent time with was well done, in my opinion. I think Zach must have similar preferences to me, as it just “worked” for my ears.

Mids: The mids on the Eikon are truly wonderful, seductive even. They are different from the Verite, in that they sound more natural, and are a bit more present. I think the naturalness of the sound signature might come from the Bio-Cellulose driver present in the Eikon. It is unlike anything else I have heard to be honest. My friend Jeff Wells described the Auteur (the open back counterpart to the Eikon) as being harmonically rich, and that is an absolutely excellent way to describe it. I am stealing it! This harmonic richness comes across in the mids more so than the bass and treble regions, which is why I am mentioning it here. I think it is something you have to hear to fully appreciate, as I didn’t “get it” until I heard the Eikon.

Treble: The lower treble on the Eikon is a bit too hot at times for my personal tastes, and comes across as a bit “crunchy” sounding. I noticed this with snare drums for the most part, which could be due to the fact I am a drummer myself, and pay attention to it more closely than others. I didn’t really notice sibilance with the Eikon, or piercing cymbals in the top end of the treble. So, for me, the treble on the Eikon is a bit of a mixed bag. The lower treble isn’t my favourite, but the upper treble is completely listenable and enjoyable.

Technicalities: Now, in my Verite review I think I came across as a bit negative regarding its technical performance. I didn’t intend this to happen, but at $2500USD for a pair of Verite, I had to compare them to the other top of the line headphones I had with me, and yes, they were better in terms of technicalities.

The Eikon however, at $1400USD, is not only acceptable in terms of technicalities, but very good (especially for a closed back headphone!) The soundstage is completely in the middle ground of everything I have heard, and is actually very open sounding for a closed back headphone. Dare I say it has a more open soundstage than the Utopia? I think it might! The Eikons detail level for the entry price is much more than acceptable, and it is also a very dynamic headphone. Is it as good at the technical stuff as my Susvara? No…but it is also a $1400 headphone!


Comparisons: I am only going to compare it to the Verite as I don’t feel a true comparison to the Susvara or Abyss is really fair, and they are what I have on hand here.

So.

Verite: The Verite is without a doubt the more open and technically accomplished headphone. They have similar levels of bass, but the Verite does come across with much more clarity and detail. However, the sound signature (minus the lower treble) on a whole with the Eikon is much more seductive and again….harmonically rich. I found myself just enjoying the music with the Eikon, vs thinking about the headphone with the Verite.

Pads: Again, Zach sent along the Eikon with both Suede and Leather versions of the Eikon pads. The Leather brought a much more hard edged and impactful sound, whilst the Suede was a much more mellow, round edged, listen. I would highly recommend both these sets of pads if you purchase a pair of Eikons, as they really do bring different sound signatures to the table from the same pair of headphones, and only cost $50USD! As I mentioned in my Verite review, I’d love to see a magnetic attachment system, similar to the Abyss and Meze system. However, if this would raise the cost of the pads to prohibitive levels, perhaps it is not worth it. Just an idea.

Build Quality: The build quality of the Eikon is super. It has the exact same build quality as the much more expensive Verite. The size adjustment sliders are still my nemesis, although by the end I was much better at using them than I was initially. I didn’t have any squeaking, or creaking problems. Nothing fell apart. They just felt rock solid and well built. A+ in this area.

Conclusion

My time with ZMF Headphones has been absolutely lovely. The Eikon is without a doubt the best closed headphone I have personally heard, and one of the most enjoyable overall. The bass levels are great, the mids - harmonically rich (again..) and the treble, whilst a bit crunchy sounding, is thoroughly enjoyable otherwise.


Hangin' out with the Verite
The Eikon gets a thorough recommendation from me, especially if you need a closed back headphone