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ZMF Vérité Closed Leopardwood Ltd.

December 2, 2020 by A.S. Van Dorston

One of the things I love about the headphone hobby is that it’s still possible for small, initially one man shop businesses to come up with artisan headphones that can compete with the flagships from goliath companies like Sennheiser and Sony. HiFiMan, Dan Clark Audio (formerly MrSpeakers) and ZMF are three who have done just that coming up with highly competitive headphones in both price and performance.

Like Dan Clark, Zach Mehrbach got his start modifying the Fostex T50RP. When he began creating original designs, his craftsmanship, engineering and competitive pricing won over a sizeable following in the audiophile community. By 2016, anticipation reached a fever pitch when the Atticus and Eikon were announced. A Head-Fi member who heard a prototype of the Eikon said it had a “HE-6/Abyss/TH900-level impact.”  I heard both and briefly met Zach at Axpona 2017. Both headphones sounded great, and I was tempted to buy the Eikon. I’m tempted by many things, however, and usually think a long time before making a big purchase.

Then came the the Vérité and the headphone community collectively lost their minds. Like, seriously. People were saying it’s the first closed headphone to sound truly open, and compared it to the legendary Sony MDR-R10, a sort of chupacabra headphone that came out in 1989. The few who heard it claimed it was the best sounding headphone ever, and some insisted that remained true after Sennheiser’s Orpheus came out in 1991. Is this crazy talk? It was time to find out. I ordered a pair, initially the open version, in January. Metalheads on the Head-Fi forum were particularly evangelistic about the closed version, and convinced me to change my order. By then, the limited Leopardwood edition was available for pre-order, so I opted for that. I also drove poor Zach crazy trying to convince him to stain it black for me. I’m sure that offended the wood lover’s sensibilities, and as you can see from the photos, the black did not happen. No matter, when they finally arrived in April, they looked lovely, and were dark enough that it didn’t look like I was wearing hamburgers on my ears (an unfortunate visual impression left on my co-workers when I used to have the Fostex TH-X00).

I’d originally hoped to pick up the headphones myself, as I live in the area, and see the workshop. But we were well into the pandemic, and I stayed home. I meant to write about them within a few weeks, but time warped in strange ways this year, and I put on the Vérité, and before I knew it, the year’s nearly over. And I listened to a whole lot of music. Those who follow my site and music lists will see that I’ve rated more albums than ever, more than 1,200 and counting.

Before going into specifics, I’ll say that I got so lost in the music, that I stopped thinking about headphones, and lost all interest for a while in comparing them, thinking about them, or talking about them. I was MIA from the Head-Fi forum for most of that time. This was partly due to the fact that the Vérité did it’s job in enveloping in music to the point where all gear disappears. That’s about as close to a perfect experience one can get with headphones. The only caveat for me is a comfort factor, which did remind me about an hour in, that something large was most definitely sitting on my head. Nevertheless, they are definitely the best closed headphones I’d ever heard, noting that I have listened to the Fostex TH900 Mk2, the Sony MDR-Z1R, and other top closed flagships from Audeze, beyerdynamics, Sennheiser and AKG, but have never heard the MDR-R10, the Denon AH-D9200, the Focal Stellia or the newest contender, the HiFiMan HE-R10.

I noticed that most of the flagship closed headphones use dynamic technology, as opposed to the extremely popular planar-mag open headphones. There must be something about dynamic drivers, with their fast responsiveness and impact, that complement the closed cup design. But the 50mm Vérité has benefits for fans of both technologies. It uses an ultra-thin polyethylene naphthalate driver, vapor-deposed with 20% beryllium coating. This process yields a stiff driver that delivers planar-like sound, with extra fast, dynamic punch.

Bass: I like me some head-rattling bass, and with some music like doom metal and sludge, I don’t even mind if it’s sloppy. But beyond those genres, it’s good to have some balance between depth, impact/slam and accuracy/clarity. So while they may not be quite the heavy bass cannons as others like the Sony MDR-Z1R and Fostex TH900 Mk2, their overall bass performance rivals anything an open headphone can achieve outside of the Abyss. I should mention that pad rolling is a thing with ZMF users, but I’d rather chew my arm off than fiddle with that shit, so I stayed with my vegan velour Universe earpads.

Midrange: This is important for the accurate reproduction of voices, but also guitars. The vocals generally are well-defined and stand apart from the instrumental music (unless the music is of course mixed to be intentionally murky). And the guitars, hoo boy, talk about aggressive. It gave me flashbacks to be literally whacked in the face by a guitar at an L7 show. Too much? Not for most rock and metal fans. It’s something that Grado has been known for, but I can’t stand the overall tuning of most of the ones I heard. It reminds me of what I missed with one of my longtime closed favorites, the Denon AH-D2000, which remained in use for a full decade, mainly at my office. They had that familiar V-shaped tuning, with a bit of dip in the midrange. The Vérité doesn’t have that problem.

Treble: If you go by the specs, which is difficult because not all manufacturers appear to be honest, the range is reported as 10 Hz to 25 kHz, whereas the Denon AH-D9200 is reported as 5-56, and the Sony MDR-Z1R the absurd 4 Hz to 120 kHz, which renders these specs meaningless. No wonder why Dan Clark Audio’s response to those specs is simply, “yes.” This is a good time to remind ourselves that the human hearing range is only 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and the average top range for adults is only 15-17 kHz. So unless your dog or pet bat is listening, all headphones can cover our entire audible range. It’s more about the tuning.

The particular tuning that ZMF favors is on the “warm” side of neutral. Part of this is a slightly rolled off treble, though it’s subtle, and others have described it as “sweet and extended,” so it’s relatively subjective. This is where it all depends on your preference. Those who have complained about “harsh” treble in some headphones from beyerdynamics and HiFiMan, will really like this. Those looking for a completely neutral, transparent headphone may need to look elsewhere. I have not experienced issues with harsh treble on any of my headphones, and nor do I feel the desire to hear all the highest frequencies. For the purposes of the kind of music I’d focus on, hard rock, psych, punk and metal, it’s not a problem. Were I more of a jazz/classical listener, I’d probably use a different headphone.

Image/Soundstage: Another particular strength that stands out for a closed headphone that has caused some excitement is it’s image and soundstage. They do have a particularly wide soundstage with vivid imaging that’s unusual for a closed headphone, thanks to both the unique airflow porting and the deep cups with a flowing, non-congruent, radiused edge which allows the driver ideal placement and angle. These cups do slightly resemble the legendary Sony MDR-R10 in that way, though not quite as deep. The results are, in ZMF’s words, “three dimensional soundscapes of the acoustic image” and a “natural, deep, rounded stage.”

This is perhaps what prompts some to say these are the first closed headphones to sound truly open. Is this hyperbole? Maybe, but it depends on which headphones you compare them to. They certainly outperform many open headphones. Some have indeed claimed they check all the boxes better than all other headphones, or at least equal the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC and HiFiMan Susvara, and even the Sony MDR-R10. I would not quite say that. I have heard but not owned the Abyss and Susvara, and in the end, while the Vérité are definitely the best sounding closed headphones I’ve heard, they still sound closed to me. And that’s okay. If you don’t like or need the closed sound, that’s why there is an open option. Some prefer that intimate “in your head” experience with closed headphones where you’re certainly aware you’re wearing headphones. Others use them out of necessity due to the need to share space with work colleagues or family.

I fell into the latter camp. I used closed headphones at work because I had to, though I did enjoy the slam and impact the closed, dynamic Denons (and for a time, the Fostex/Drop THX00) provided. Whether closed or open, I’ve always benefited from a crossfeed simulator in my amps in order to better approximate the way we naturally hear sound and reduce headphone fatigue. Meaning, not separated between left and right channels stuck into our ears. This is why I still prefer loudspeakers when possible, even if the room may mess up the acoustics and result in a less than perfect sound. For that reason, the best option for those not requiring closed headphones might be an open air design, along the lines of the legendary AKG K1000 or the recent RAAL SR1a ribbon Earfield monitor.

Comfort: Any headphones weighing over 400 grams (the stock monkeypod wood version is 455g) really needs to get the comfort right. Just the right clamping force, earpads and balance helps, which ZMF does well. But while the second soft layer under the firm headband is meant to cushion, it’s not enough for extended sessions beyond an hour for me. Everyone’s head is shaped different, and I must have an irregular shape (good thing I’m not bald), as I’m prone to hot spots and headaches. They’re definitely more comfortable than my Audeze LCD 2.2, which weighed over 100g more. Part of the flagship pricing ($2,499) went into a magnesium headband chassis to keep the weight down. Nevertheless I get fatigued beyond an hour. This is inconvenient when I need to pull myself out of a deep listening trance and either take a break, or switch to my HiFiMan HE6se. Those who have had no problem with heavier headphones like Audeze, however, should have no problem with these.

These are pretty efficient headphones at 99dB/mW, 300ohms impedance. A headphone amp is still needed, but I always have to remember to switch off the gain on my iFi iCAN Pro amp, and turn the volume knob down by 25% when switching from my HE-6se. My amp has a couple tube settings, but I mainly stick to the solid state setting. You can go deep into Head-Fi threads where folks will say they sound best on tube amps, but that’s not me. As I said before, when a headphone gets just about everything right, I lose the desire to twiddle knobs and just get to the music.

Even if the Vérité may not be definitively the best closed headphone available right now, you’d have to pay an extra $3,000 for the HE-R10. For those with a budget ceiling at $2,500, this could certainly be an endgame closed headphone. I look forward to hearing what ZMF comes up with next. If anyone could come up with, for example, an open planar mag that competes with the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, but lighter weight (magnesium, baby!), it would be ZMF.

Note — I exposed them to the sun only briefly to show off the wood grain. Normally I keep the shade down to protect my gear.

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