[cachedbrown]

Hello,
I got the ZMF atriums and they sounded absolutely magical, completely blew me away. Unfortunately, I have incredibly sensitive ears and have never been able to wear headphones. Because of this I returned my atriums as my ears hurt after 30 min regardless of what pads or how I flexed the headband. So now I’m turning to IEM’s as my ears are actually able to manage those. I know nothing will come close to a pair of Atriums themselves, but what would be the closest I can get?

 

[MidnightSun]

Hello,
I got the ZMF atriums and they sounded absolutely magical, completely blew me away. Unfortunately, I have incredibly sensitive ears and have never been able to wear headphones. Because of this I returned my atriums as my ears hurt after 30 min regardless of what pads or how I flexed the headband. So now I’m turning to IEM’s as my ears are actually able to manage those. I know nothing will come close to a pair of Atriums themselves, but what would be the closest I can get?

Closed or open-back Atrium?

 

[cachedbrown]

Closed or open-back Atrium?

Open back Atriums. I know that would be difficult for IEM’s to reproduce

 

[MidnightSun]

Open back Atriums. I know that would be difficult for IEM’s to reproduce

So I haven't heard the Atrium (I'm into IEMs) but there are plenty of FR graphs out there, and based on those, you're looking for something that has adequate amount of bass with emphasis on the mid-bass, natural lower mids, an upper midrange that has beautiful vocals and lively presence but a quite relaxed, fatigue free, almost cozy top end. And the whole thing stays roughly in a 10 dB envelope.

Now, I don't know anything that's equivalent to this in the IEM world because of that peculiar upper midrange: finding something with an ear gain compensation at 3 kHz is easy enough, but having a 6 kHz peak next to it, while the main sound profile characteristic is its darkness, that's hard (for me).

But I think the dark tonality is the starting point here, so I'd advise you to look up dark sets and see where you can make compromises with the rest of the elements of the tuning. You might even find something you like better than the Atrium.

As a very first starting point, check out reviews for:

LetShuoer DZ4
LetShuoer EJ07
Xenns Mangird Tea and Tea 2
FiiO FH9
Oriveti OV800
Dunu EST 112

These are such dark(ish) sets, the FiiO having the most similar upper mids to the Atrium, but it has a more contrasty sound than what the Atrium has (>10 dB envelope). In turn, the Tea 2 and the EJ07 have the most similar lower mids and bass. See the compromise?

And of course, as a side note, tonality alone doesn't make a headphone, so imaging, detail retrieval, separation, etc. are not on the graph, so I can't say anything about those.

I hope this helped, and maybe someone more knowledgeable will turn up in this thread with more hands-on experience to recommend you other sets.

 

[cachedbrown]

So I haven't heard the Atrium (I'm into IEMs) but there are plenty of FR graphs out there, and based on those, you're looking for something that has adequate amount of bass with emphasis on the mid-bass, natural lower mids, an upper midrange that has beautiful vocals and lively presence but a quite relaxed, fatigue free, almost cozy top end. And the whole thing stays roughly in a 10 dB envelope.

Now, I don't know anything that's equivalent to this in the IEM world because of that peculiar upper midrange: finding something with an ear gain compensation at 3 kHz is easy enough, but having a 6 kHz peak next to it, while the main sound profile characteristic is its darkness, that's hard (for me).

But I think the dark tonality is the starting point here, so I'd advise you to look up dark sets and see where you can make compromises with the rest of the elements of the tuning. You might even find something you like better than the Atrium.

As a very first starting point, check out reviews for:

LetShuoer DZ4
LetShuoer EJ07
Xenns Mangird Tea and Tea 2
FiiO FH9
Oriveti OV800
Dunu EST 112

These are such dark(ish) sets, the FiiO having the most similar upper mids to the Atrium, but it has a more contrasty sound than what the Atrium has (>10 dB envelope). In turn, the Tea 2 and the EJ07 have the most similar lower mids and bass. See the compromise?

And of course, as a side note, tonality alone doesn't make a headphone, so imaging, detail retrieval, separation, etc. are not on the graph, so I can't say anything about those.

I hope this helped, and maybe someone more knowledgeable will turn up in this thread with more hands-on experience to recommend you other sets.

Thanks, this helps a ton! I did try the xenon 6 which might have been a bit too dark for me. I’ll try looking based on your suggestions. Thanks for the help!

 

[dunring]

For tuning the Moondrop Blessing 3 are pretty close. I think they sound the most like the Sennheiser HD600 as well. Dunu S&S tips can help soundstage to get closer to headphone size effect.

 

[MidnightSun]

Thanks, this helps a ton! I did try the xenon 6 which might have been a bit too dark for me. I’ll try looking based on your suggestions. Thanks for the help!

No problem! I'm not familiar with FIR IEMs, that's why I didn't mention them... the Xenon looks incredibly thick-sounding though. And while headphone and IEM bass levels translate differently from one to another (IEMs need a distinct bass shelf/rise to replicate the physical experience that appears as almost flat-looking bass on a headphone graph), the Xe6 is still a monster, so I'm not surprised. The Atrium is supposed to be lighter and clearer sounding, I think

 

[MidnightSun]

Fwiw, just came to mind today, @cachedbrown, Etymotic has a specific target they use to tune their sets. Their ear gain compensation is similarly clearly delineated to the Atrium's but their sets have a much smoother upper mids presence than the Atrium. The treble won't hurt you much either, I think, it's relaxed enough, whereas the physical fit... And it might also be bass-light a bit. But I thought it might be another avenue to explore.

 

[arijitroy2]

I had the Atrium and XE6 at same time, and I can agree that it could be a match. I haven't heard Trifecta but reading their impressions seems to match Atrium too.