[AudioDuck]

The Atrium caters for many ZMF fans with a thick, lush, dynamic, bassy natural, organic fun. Exploited mostly with OTL amps. I appreciate the love and fanbase. Nothing can beat 300B amps with the Atrium for acoustic or vocal centric music.

I do listen to many different genres though, including EDM (progressive psychedelic trance), so bass extension and bass articulation, speed is important for me. That is where the Caldera comes in

Bokeh and Caldera closed coming in soon for long term review. I couldn't be more excited and more grateful. Thank you, Zach!

Great post, thank you. Completely agree with your Atrium (Closed, in my case) assessment.

My hope is that the Caldera Closed will complement the Atrium Closed (and Verité Closed, perhaps the closest ZMF dynamic-driver headphone to the Caldera?).

I greatly look forward to your review!

 

[chrisnyc75]

So while the graph itself doesn't show a ton more bass, the way I've understood it (and heard with other headphones) is the *relation* of bass frequencies to the rest of the response. Maybe I'm wrong about this but that's how I try to "read" graphs. The thick pads are clearly more laid back in the mid-range to lower treble so that could contribute to a perceptually stronger bass for people. And surely graphs are just graphs, not a definite statement on the sound but more like a tool.

That's correct, reducing treble is the exact same thing as elevating bass. If you really think about it, EVERYTHING in audio is comparative - "loud" is only loud in contrast to "quiet", "warm" is only warm in contrast to "bright", "sound" is only sound in contrast to "silence". Reduce one thing, the other thing becomes more. The thick pads pull back the upper mids & treble, making the bass & lower mids feel comparatively elevated, creating a "warmer" presentation.

Just tried the Warwick Aperio today at Canjam Singapore. Am I insane to say that Caldera is much better? LOL

Not insane, but certainly a "hot take". Just depends on your definition of "better", I suppose. ZMF has a very particular sort of magic that is hard to compete with if that's the magic you're looking for.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Nope, I found Aperio lacking, its much more resolving that Caldera, but ovral tonality was just meh to my ear.

Haven't heard the Aperio, but heard a number of other stats through the years.

They all resolved more than other headphones typically do--but they all sounded bright and off-putting. At least for me, headphones that push resolution without having first nailed down tonality/timbre just don't sound much like music.

 

[chrisnyc75]

Haven't heard the Aperio, but heard a number of other stats through the years.

They all resolved more than other headphones typically do--but they all sounded bright and off-putting. At least for me, headphones that push resolution without having first nailed down tonality/timbre just don't sound much like music.

Apperio approaches (exceeds?) HE-1. It's really hard to find fault, unless you're looking for some very specific coloration (totally fair).

 

[Honeypot]

I am back to my (special, beautiful, custom-made ebony) Calderas and audio gear after a week off. My wife calls it a 'second love' and she is right. Nothing gives me more pleasure and satisfaction after her. Zach has really nailed it with his first planar in my humblest opinion.
There is no headphone on the current market that embodies the best of good planar headphones and good dynamic driver headphones. The Caldera, as I said in my review, is the most dynamic sounding planar headphones ever. Dynamic timbre, realism, texture, body, thickness, with planar speed, impact and extension. Perfect merging of two worlds the Caldera is. Zach's wizardry.

The Atrium caters for many ZMF fans with a thick, lush, dynamic, bassy natural, organic fun. Exploited mostly with OTL amps. I appreciate the love and fanbase. Nothing can beat 300B amps with the Atrium for acoustic or vocal centric music.

I do listen to many different genres though, including EDM (progressive psychedelic trance), so bass extension and bass articulation, speed is important for me. That is where the Caldera comes in: the ZMF that provides bass extension, sub-bass slam when there is slam, yet they sound organic enough to represent my favourite female vocals like she was singing into my ears. Thanks Zach!

For reference I use thick pads as they slightly tame those prominent 2K-3K frequencies, but I do not use the mantle mesh as they dull the sound too much for my preference. YMMV.

Bokeh and Caldera closed coming in soon for long term review. I couldn't be more excited and more grateful. Thank you, Zach!

I couldn't agree more with this. I do not have the AO yet still incoming. But I consider the caldera very fast and while keeping very good timber, I would enjoy a more relaxed headphones when I am in other mood or listen to other genres.
So while I wait for the AO which will lovely pair with OTL. I have started using the tube otl as a preamp feeding my SS where I hook the caldera. It provides an extra warmth sweetening the treable and giving even more textured mids. Without losing speed due to to the final SS amplification.

I understand now why zmf gets so much love

Cheers everyone and enjoy Sunday

 

[Benesyed]

After countless hours lurking in the thread, today I am officially joining the Caldera owners club . Couldn't be happier with how my Caldera looks! This one is called "Dusk"

Wow that's beautiful. Was this a custom order?

 

[walterboss]

Is it overkill to buy a Danacable Nirvana on a Caldera?

Got a good deal on one possibly pending, and it would fit both my Atrium Open and the LCD-4 I've got arriving imminently. So one cable for three headphones is good bang for buck.

I'm sure a Danacable Rhapsody would bring a lot to them, and I could use that on the others too, saving a not insignificant amount of money. But these headphones are all going to be keepers so I feel like doing it right.

 

[goldwerger]

Is it overkill to buy a Danacable Nirvana on a Caldera?

Got a good deal on one possibly pending, and it would fit both my Atrium Open and the LCD-4 I've got arriving imminently. So one cable for three headphones is good bang for buck.

I'm sure a Danacable Rhapsody would bring a lot to them, and I could use that on the others too, saving a not insignificant amount of money. But these headphones are all going to be keepers so I feel like doing it right.

Never tried those cables with Caldera, but anecdotally I have the old Lazuli AD. [With the risk of commentary on cables I’ll venture to say] it definitely has a notable impact on sound siganture vs. other cables. In my case (taste, chain) that one cable has a very open feeling. It sometimes work better sometimes not, but it is definitely a component in the tuning (more so than most cables).

 

[Benesyed]

I like the stock cables TBH, for ergonomics

 

[Pharmaboy]

Is it overkill

I'm not sure that word has any meaning in this context...

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Wow that's beautiful. Was this a custom order?

I wouldn’t call it a custom order, but the dealer in my country allows customer to order it by type.

In this case, the order is resin stabilized caldera with black/white color theme. Really loving how it turns out!

 

[Bootycall922]

Which is better? A TOTL IEM or TOTL Headphone like Caldera for home use in a quiet environment?

 

[Bootycall922]

Caldera thick. I've tried standard, thin, & cow. I have suede, but tbh I haven't even tried them yet. Landed on thick and haven't looked back.

That said, I already have Utopia and Susvara if I want a neutral/bright presentation, so what I'm looking for from Caldera may not be the same as all.

Yeah. Im using Thick too and its the best I dont have mantle mesh installed

 

[JerseyD]

Which is better? A TOTL IEM or TOTL Headphone like Caldera for home use in a quiet environment?

IEM vs. headphone is a matter of preference. I don’t think it’s a matter of one being “better.”

 

[Leto Dal]

Difficult. An headphone will provide objectivly better stage, larger more life-like presentation and especially Caldera will give you realistic micro detail and physicality of instruments that only few IEM can come close to (not match). In the same time, IEMs are more convinient - they are small, easy to drive, you can use them on the move or in bed and overall presentation is far more initimate than over ears - which one might prefer by far to less initimate presentation of over ears.

Ah yeah, you might have to pay MUCH more for TOTL iem of your dreams like Amber Pearl or Trailli Ti than for Caldera.