General Headphone Audio

[Raymond Lin]

Oh, those pads....I accidentally tried to twist one side thinking it was slightly skewed and it came off....PITA to put it back on! They are comfy though, for something so big, it's more comfortable than my i5 and it stays in place on my head. Can even do a little head bobbing.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Some more pics.

In some respects, I think the i5 is better, but when I played someting with deep bass (not Taylor Swift), like Billie Ellish Bad Guy, the base line in that kicks in like no other headphones I have. NOt only it is deep but it sounds bigger than my head.

It does lack the very top end of the frequencies so it's not a perfect headphones for detail. There are bits that I can hear from the Truthear Hexa that is much more recessed in this.

physically I love the headband and adjustment design. It fits my enormous head with room to spare. The materials used are first rate, real leather headband, good padding and of course, wood.

 

[Timber]

Some more pics...

They look stunning, heavy, but very nice. I can see the appeal.

 

[Raymond Lin]

They look stunning, heavy, but very nice. I can see the appeal.

I have been used to the i5 so used to the weight but the ZMF handles the weight a lot better than the i5. The i5's weight are all on the cups. The ZMF at least has a substantial headband so everything is more evenly distributed. And beleive it or not, I use the i5 at max extension, where as the ZMF has a few notches still free on my head.

 

[mrk]

Bokeh shots of the Bokeh

 

[Raymond Lin]

I remember yearssssssss ago seeing some Denon headphones that’s made of wood and I’ve always wanted a pair with wooden ear cups. But all the ones I’ve come across have never been to my liking, either more expensive than this, or too small or wrong design.

Now I have ticked off this random thing off my bucket list !

 

[Timber]

I remember yearssssssss ago seeing some Denon headphones that’s made of wood and I’ve always wanted a pair with wooden ear cups. But all the ones I’ve come across have never been to my liking, either more expensive than this, or too small or wrong design.

Now I have ticked off this random thing off my bucket list !

That's cool - always nice to tick something off.

ZMF isn't really a brand I've paid much attention to although I love the uniqueness of some of the designs, whether that be the all wooden varieties, or the wood and (I assume) resin designs. From the limited research I've done it sounds like the Bokeh is the one to get. Both from a pricing and value perspective, but potentially based on how well they have reviewed.

For me something like this would be a logical step up from the HD 6x0 line for music although I know I'd miss aspects of that headphone. The other benefit of a ZMF over say a HEDDphone D1, or an equivalent Hifiman set is that they play nicely with tubes and always tend to come-up in the tube threads a lot.

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EDIT: Btw one for everyone, but bumped into this thread last night on r/headphones - Meet the holy trinity of my broken DX5 II - which is one user's experience of being unlucky with three Topping DX5 II units and them all being faulty. But if you read the link to the ASR forum it seems there is quite a few users reporting problems with the 4.4mm balanced out of the Topping DX5 II. Including another poor user where the DX5 blew three of his headphones left drivers out (Topping to their credit are repairing said headphones) but its got quite a few people thinking there is a problem with the early ones and/or not having overload protection in certain scenarios; i.e. two headphones connected.

I know we have a couple of DX5 II's on the forum so wanted to link to - in case of interest. Again like all these things hard to know if a this is an isolated few examples, or a wider-design issue (*cough*...Xbox 360 RROD). Although likely most of the time the former is true. But it made for scary reading that a DAC/AMP can nuke a pair of headphones like that.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I saw the thread a few days ago and that Reddit thread popped up on my feed too.

It is worrying but fortunately for me mine is okay!

 

[Raymond Lin]

Oh…I think HEDD D1 will be the next pair, but no hurry at all, will wait for Black Friday. I have reached a price point which I can’t get a new pair every month and I also don’t want like a dozen pair at like £200.

 

[Timber]

I saw the thread a few days ago and that Reddit thread popped up on my feed too.

It is worrying but fortunately for me mine is okay!

That's good. To be honest one of the suggested 'fixes' is very cheap in that you can just run one of the Fiio 4.4mm to XLR adaptors (or similar). I have one that I use(d) on the Gremlin/K15 as they easier to use in a way.

Oh…I think HEDD D1 will be the next pair, but no hurry at all, will wait for Black Friday. I have reached a price point which I can’t get a new pair every month and I also don’t want like a dozen pair at like £200.

Interesting headphone and DMS's review is the complete opposite of Zeos's. Although given Zeos couldn't remove the pads and talked about amps not making a difference I wonder if he just made errors. Certainly DMS talked about the HEDD D1 pairing very well with OTL tube amps, or anything with resistance. Although part of me wonders if this is a better headphone for gaming vs. music.

 

[Angst]

EDIT: Btw one for everyone, but bumped into this thread last night on r/headphones - Meet the holy trinity of my broken DX5 II - which is one user's experience of being unlucky with three Topping DX5 II units and them all being faulty. But if you read the link to the ASR forum it seems there is quite a few users reporting problems with the 4.4mm balanced out of the Topping DX5 II. Including another poor user where the DX5 blew three of his headphones left drivers out (Topping to their credit are repairing said headphones) but its got quite a few people thinking there is a problem with the early ones and/or not having overload protection in certain scenarios; i.e. two headphones connected.

I know we have a couple of DX5 II's on the forum so wanted to link to - in case of interest. Again like all these things hard to know if a this is an isolated few examples, or a wider-design issue (*cough*...Xbox 360 RROD). Although likely most of the time the former is true. But it made for scary reading that a DAC/AMP can nuke a pair of headphones like that.

Theyve got a history of issues like this, so its not surprising.

 

[Raymond Lin]

That's good. To be honest one of the suggested 'fixes' is very cheap in that you can just run one of the Fiio 4.4mm to XLR adaptors (or similar). I have one that I use(d) on the Gremlin/K15 as they easier to use in a way.



Interesting headphone and DMS's review is the complete opposite of Zeos's. Although given Zeos couldn't remove the pads and talked about amps not making a difference I wonder if he just made errors. Certainly DMS talked about the HEDD D1 pairing very well with OTL tube amps, or anything with resistance. Although part of me wonders if this is a better headphone for gaming vs. music.

I’ll see how this year plans out, just going to enjoy my Bokeh for a bit. I mean Bokeh + X9 is pretty sweet!

That said, I keep my Hexa with an apple dongle in my bag at all times, currently in my hotel at Brussels and listening to it now, it’s so good. I am not missing that much from my home set up really and I can take this everywhere with me. The differences are so small.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Wrong thread

 

[Timber]

I’ll see how this year plans out, just going to enjoy my Bokeh for a bit. I mean Bokeh + X9 is pretty sweet!

That said, I keep my Hexa with an apple dongle in my bag at all times, currently in my hotel at Brussels and listening to it now, it’s so good. I am not missing that much from my home set up really and I can take this everywhere with me. The differences are so small.

Makes sense and I think this partly comes back to that point about how much value there is now in headphone audio. I wonder if it's arguably a 'golden age'. You don't have to spend a lot and I do think there is more innovation in IEMs.

That said when my HD 6XX (or 600/650) are on the right amp it creates a magic I don't get from anything else. That texture of the music, I think what they class as timbre, that alone was worth the pursuit. But like you I'm at a point where I'd have to spend more on a Tube Amp, or more expensive headphones to see an improvement for music. Albeit I think the 6x0 will always be relevant and class-leading mids and timbre no matter what else comes out. That's the bit that makes me hesitant about trying new headphones for music. Which then comes back to the enjoy what you have point.

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As an aside I've spent more time with the DT 880 (600 ohm) and in-summary they are a 'neutral, detail, treble-texture' monster. Some tracks sound so good on them, that it's a shame if Beyer are to discontinue them. They've been such an interesting pair of headphones that go a bit out of my neutral-warm comfort zone, but I understand the following on them now. Bit like the 6x0 you get them on the right gear and they become a bit quite special. My only issue is that I really think they are suited to gaming, but I'm not inclined to use them for that, given the PC38X/TYGRs are just more accessible. So they might just be a different flavour to use from time-to-time.

 

[Angst]

I have been working on putting together a 3d printed closed-back headphone design using some of the Peerless drivers that I have spare from the other builds. They don't like their back side blocking/covering, so I have been experimenting with using 3d printed infill patterns to try control resonance within the back of the cups. It seems like a promising idea, although it still needs further tweaking.

A small amount of EQ can fix it but it would be nice to not need that.

 

[mrk]

So a lot of back and forth between the A90 Discrete and the X8's headphone amp and my final verdict is that the A90 Discrete produces a more detailed top end when the X8 is set to NOS/De-Emphasis (X9 signature clone mode) and bypassing the PEQ/DSP processing settings. Even on my HE1000se this results in a more engaging experience with all music that has a mixture of instrument layers, the "sparkle" (with no fatigue) as most would label it is noticeably present whereas it's slightly recessed on the X8's headphone amp, and in turn also the X9. Those who like that upper end signature will likely prefer the Luxsins, though my listening is on headphones that many still consider bright, even though I find them less so than my previous Hifimans.

This is with both amps volume matched by ear using the HE1000se, which meant A90 D at 68% and gain set to low, X8 on medium gain and at 72%.

Both X9 and X8 use the same OPA1612 + TPA6120A2 stages, to me they both sound almost identical baring the main DAC+DSP being different between them.

This comparison was using the X8 as the DAC. It could be that the extra power of the A90 D is scaling the HE1000se better than the /mere/ 4.8 watts of the X8, though I think this is less likely the case and more the fact that the A90 D is just a more resolving headphones amp than both X9 and X8, and in turn the K13 R2R with linear power supply.

Enabling the PEQ or sound controls in the X8's menu allows me to get close enough to the A90 D detail in the missing areas, though the detail layering on the Topping is still better handled.

With the HD600 I was unable to tell the same differences between HP amps, the Sennheiser Veil seems to mask away such details at the top end which I expected anyway.

I think the X8's breadth of features are wasted on me though, I'm using it solely as a USB DAC at this point lol, though the graphic EQ is nice.

Edit*

AC/DC's Long Way To The Top is a great example of what I am hearing, the electric guitar on the right channel feels electric in my entire right side, it's slightly recessed away via the X8's HP amp vs the A90 D.

I'm very impressed with the DAC side of things though, and don't actually miss the Warmer+Tubes much as a result. I think the DAC+DSP core is where the X8 truly shines.