[Requia]

I've been enjoying my Atrium for almost two weeks now and wanted to share some brief impressions. It has quickly become my favorite pair of headphones, right up there with the Vérité Closed, and made me even consider perhaps downsizing my collection and selling my VO and LCD-4!

The biggest positives for me are: A) The Soundstage & Separation of instruments. They are quite unlike anything I've heard from a Dynamic Driver headphone so far. I briefly had an HD800S, and not at the same time as the Atrium so can't compare them, but I didn't feel as impressed by those at the time. I think the main thing I recall then is the HD800S had a wide soundstage, but with the Atrium what impresses me is not how large the staging is, but how well-separated instruments are. Different parts of a song feel defined in their own space, and it's very easy to paint a picture of things in your mind. B) The Timbre. Instruments and voices feel extremely real, especially out of the ZMF Pendant SE amp - this coupled with the impressive separation means that you have a sense that you can almost reach out and touch the different aspects of a song! It's super realistic, and I'm in love with it all. All of that and it still maintains a significant amount of body and bass as well, without ever feeling muddled. What a fantastic headphone this is!

I mentioned this before as well, but 100H of burn-in definitely made a difference for me. Things sounded smoother, and the separation was more evident after the burn-in - though they sounded good at first still.

The one negative for my specific pair (and this is 100% preference-based): The aged copper grills are maybe too aged? They look almost entirely gray, instead of copper. But again, just my own preference.

I actually love the aging on your grille, as well as the look of aged cherry wood. I've noticed a lot of variation between the sets, which is actually really cool and exciting. Can't wait to see how mine look.

 

[George Chronis]

Zach mentioned somewhere that they actually age them to try to match the grill and wood grain, not randomly. I also like the gray on @galileaux

 

[phthora]

Zach mentioned somewhere that they actually age them to try to match the grill and wood grain, not randomly. I also like the gray on @galileaux

That doesn't surprise me. He seems to make each one like he's going to keep that particular one just for himself.

 

[George Chronis]

That doesn't surprise me. He seems to make each one like he's going to keep that particular one just for himself.

Yeah, cool group of people. Recently discovered them and it's not often that I read post after post without complain about a headphone. I'm at #4 of the their TOTL myself within 2-3 weeks and going strong I am very impressed, what can I say...

 

[Minkypou]

I've been enjoying my Atrium for almost two weeks now and wanted to share some brief impressions. It has quickly become my favorite pair of headphones, right up there with the Vérité Closed, and made me even consider perhaps downsizing my collection and selling my VO and LCD-4!

The biggest positives for me are: A) The Soundstage & Separation of instruments. They are quite unlike anything I've heard from a Dynamic Driver headphone so far. I briefly had an HD800S, and not at the same time as the Atrium so can't compare them, but I didn't feel as impressed by those at the time. I think the main thing I recall then is the HD800S had a wide soundstage, but with the Atrium what impresses me is not how large the staging is, but how well-separated instruments are. Different parts of a song feel defined in their own space, and it's very easy to paint a picture of things in your mind. B) The Timbre. Instruments and voices feel extremely real, especially out of the ZMF Pendant SE amp - this coupled with the impressive separation means that you have a sense that you can almost reach out and touch the different aspects of a song! It's super realistic, and I'm in love with it all. All of that and it still maintains a significant amount of body and bass as well, without ever feeling muddled. What a fantastic headphone this is!

I mentioned this before as well, but 100H of burn-in definitely made a difference for me. Things sounded smoother, and the separation was more evident after the burn-in - though they sounded good at first still.

The one negative for my specific pair (and this is 100% preference-based): The aged copper grills are maybe too aged? They look almost entirely gray, instead of copper. But again, just my own preference.

the Soundstage & Separation of instruments seems to be really on point in this headphone! how would you compare the atrium and the verité closed as a whole ? im really hesitating right now between the two. I Mostly listen to edm and i feel like the verité closed would be a tiny bit better for that with that speed but i cant tell. they surely are both great for edm but whats your opinion on that? thx

 

[galileaux]

the Soundstage & Separation of instruments seems to be really on point in this headphone! how would you compare the atrium and the verité closed as a whole ? im really hesitating right now between the two. I Mostly listen to edm and i feel like the verité closed would be a tiny bit better for that with that speed but i cant tell. they surely are both great for edm but whats your opinion on that? thx

I think you have the right idea there! The main difference between the VC and the Atrium, in my experience, is that the VC has more attack, is more punchy/dynamic, and it has a little bit more bass. On the other hand, the VC is not as good at instrument separation, but I think that can be a positive for some genres. I don’t listen to edm that often, so take this with a grain of salt, but I personally wouldn’t want a crazy amount of instrument separation, as some songs may be reduced to their separate constituent parts, instead of one cohesive whole? But ultimately the attack/punchiness is the main positive on the VC for edm, rock, some pop, etc. Not sure if that all makes sense, but it’s all to say that I think the VC would be my pick for those genres.

The Atrium shines most (to me) with strings, vocals, and woodwind instruments. Folk music sounds amazing on it!

 

[Minkypou]

I think you have the right idea there! The main difference between the VC and the Atrium, in my experience, is that the VC has more attack, is more punchy/dynamic, and it has a little bit more bass. On the other hand, the VC is not as good at instrument separation, but I think that can be a positive for some genres. I don’t listen to edm that often, so take this with a grain of salt, but I personally wouldn’t want a crazy amount of instrument separation, as some songs may be reduced to their separate constituent parts, instead of one cohesive whole? But ultimately the attack/punchiness is the main positive on the VC for edm, rock, some pop, etc. Not sure if that all makes sense, but it’s all to say that I think the VC would be my pick for those genres.

The Atrium shines most (to me) with strings, vocals, and woodwind instruments. Folk music sounds amazing on it!

Amazing ~! thx for the answer! it was really helpful i can always sell the VC eventually if i want to try the atrium i really want to try the VC and i doubt i will ever have the chance to try it if i buy the atrium directly since i have to buy new and i will lose much more if i sell it than the VC. if i can find a decent priced VC used, thats a safe bet

 

[duranxv]

Are any of you listening to your Atrium (or any ZMF) using a solid state amp? As I wait for my Atrium and a Yggy LIM that I ordered a couple weeks ago, I’m looking to upgrade my solid state amp. Happy with my ZMF Pendant, but for various reasons I’d like to upgrade my solid state amp from a Jotunheim 2. Any recommendations?

As for budget, I’d like to keep it under $2k, but if higher priced options are that much better, I may consider selling some gear to help fund the purchase. Have been thinking hard about the Ferrum Oor (without Hypsos for now) with the expectation that perhaps during the holidays I’d also add the Hypsos. Have also considered the GSX-mini, which many on this forum seem to like, and which appears frequently in the classifieds.

The Sparkos Aries is a very good SS amp to pair with ZMF's. I used it extensively with my VC's for a while and I loved it.

@zach915m has mentioned using the Aries in the past.

 

[rhenom]

I'm still waiting for the stock cherry Atrium that I ordered. I wrote in to them asking them if it would be possible to put on a different grill color than black because I think the grill looks cool, but when it's black on black you can't really see it. I was told they couldn't do it. It made me sad that something so simple can't be accommodated. Clearly the other grill types exist, but you have to pay $200 or $400 more to get them. @zach915m

 

[KrauserX91]

I'm still waiting for the stock cherry Atrium that I ordered. I wrote in to them asking them if it would be possible to put on a different grill color than black because I think the grill looks cool, but when it's black on black you can't really see it. I was told they couldn't do it. It made me sad that something so simple can't be accommodated. Clearly the other grill types exist, but you have to pay $200 or $400 more to get them. @zach915m

Would be amazing if they can find a way to make next versions with swappable grills and rods without affect integrity of the wood

 

[zach915m]

I'm still waiting for the stock cherry Atrium that I ordered. I wrote in to them asking them if it would be possible to put on a different grill color than black because I think the grill looks cool, but when it's black on black you can't really see it. I was told they couldn't do it. It made me sad that something so simple can't be accommodated. Clearly the other grill types exist, but you have to pay $200 or $400 more to get them. @zach915m

Would be amazing if they can find a way to make next versions with swappable grills and rods without affect integrity of the wood

Unfortunately we are a small company with limited means and inventory making a semi customizable product at a price we feel is competitive. We have to limit the amount of options available to control inventory, wait time, and cost. As you know we use all solid metals, and materials like copper, brass, steel, gold etc have all skyrocketed. We are doing our best to keep the price the same as it has been and not increase it. Hope this makes sense.

The only alternative would be making everyone pay a much higher price with more options, but I prefer to make the baseline cost of admission as low as it can be and let the future owner choose if the aesthetic and wood upgrades are worth it.

The grilles have to be custom fit one but one for each unit because of the wood and metal combo. Unfortunately swappable grilles is impossible because of this, and the seamless/screw free look.

 

[KrauserX91]

Unfortunately we are a small company with limited means and inventory making a semi customizable product at a price we feel is competitive. We have to limit the amount of options available to control inventory, wait time, and cost. As you know we use all solid metals, and materials like copper, brass, steel, gold etc have all skyrocketed. We are doing our best to keep the price the same as it has been and not increase it. Hope this makes sense.

The only alternative would be making everyone pay a much higher price with more options, but I prefer to make the baseline cost of admission as low as it can be and let the future owner choose if the aesthetic and wood upgrades are worth it.

The grilles have to be custom fit one but one for each unit because of the wood and metal combo. Unfortunately swappable grilles is impossible because of this, and the seamless/screw free look.

Yes, it makes sense, also, after my post I thought the grill swapping would make each headphone less unique and throw away the hard working of the craftsman. Lets keep the craftsman soul in the headphones

 

[zach915m]

Yes, it makes sense, also, after my post I thought the grill swapping would make each headphone less unique and throw away the hard working of the craftsman. Lets keep the craftsman soul in the headphones

We definitely encourage any end user modular tweaking needed to make owning a zmf enjoyable, within reason, I know it's part of the joy of owning a headphone like a ZMF for sure. We will always keep the lements we can for that.

 

[Requia]

Unfortunately we are a small company with limited means and inventory making a semi customizable product at a price we feel is competitive. We have to limit the amount of options available to control inventory, wait time, and cost. As you know we use all solid metals, and materials like copper, brass, steel, gold etc have all skyrocketed. We are doing our best to keep the price the same as it has been and not increase it. Hope this makes sense.

The only alternative would be making everyone pay a much higher price with more options, but I prefer to make the baseline cost of admission as low as it can be and let the future owner choose if the aesthetic and wood upgrades are worth it.

The grilles have to be custom fit one but one for each unit because of the wood and metal combo. Unfortunately swappable grilles is impossible because of this, and the seamless/screw free look.

Options are great, but I totally get not having the resources, parts, or time to accommodate so many custom options.

Having a long also helps people like me who are incredibly indecisive. It was already difficult deciding between aged cherry or waiting for Koa, haha. If there were too many options, I'd likely never end up with a pair of ZMFs.

I trust that every pair of ZMF headphones will look just amazing as they sound. My Auteur is the opposite of the look I originally wanted, but now I can't imagine ever parting with them they're so gorgeous. The team really does have an eye for matching parts to make the each pair so aesthetically pleasing and truly unique.

 

[wkesquire]

The Sparkos Aries is a very good SS amp to pair with ZMF's. I used it extensively with my VC's for a while and I loved it.

I just so happen to have one conveniently for sale for $1900 (totally shameless plug) - https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/sparkos-aries-amplifier-and-pre-amplifier-full-model.22857/

@zach915m has mentioned using the Aries in the past.

Yeah, I had my eyes on the Sparkos Aries. And yours looks great. (Side note: I see that VC Olive! )

But I think the Yggy sounds best balanced, so I'm mainly looking for a balanced amp. Lots of love for Violectric in various threads here, but I'm still exploring other options, both within my preferred price range such as the GSX-mini and a bit outside my price range like the RAAL PDA-1A. But there's so little information online about some of these amps.