Whether or not the different wood is worth the extra $200-300 to you or right for you sound-wise is a different story though.ĭACS: TLDR - I'm not surprised Zach demoed on Yggdrasil and Metrum stuff at Canjam Socal. In other words, yet another person confirming that yes, the wood does make a difference and no, it's not just a "cash grab" move by ZMF. To clarify, many of the above complaints in link a lot or go away with different chain and Bocote wood. Having heard a few different blackwood Auteur and Aeolus, I agree. Zach mentioned Bocote would sound similar to Blackwood but not quite as hard of a transient edge. However, I have found that gear synergy doesn't really change much for me at 30 minutes or 30 days and I don't see much here on that yet so here we go: Since I haven't had Auteurs that long yet, I'm withholding general impressions for now. See my brief initial impressions/comparisons here first from my first "serious" ZMF experience (and scroll down a few posts too): Also ordered extra perf lambskin Universe pads per Zach's recommendation. As expected, perf lambskin Auteur and perf lambskin Eikon pads. Received Auteur in Bocote a few days ago. HD600 might no longer be my desert island headphone now.ĮDIT: Tightening the seal/clamp seems to fix the layering/imaging problem. It's one of those things that just fades into the background when you adjust to the new sound.Įveryone who owns this headphone should at least try them. The acoustical timbre is different, so it threw me off. I think my intial comments about dry/damped quality was being so used to lambskin. They might end up being my preferred pads. They make the Auteur sound like a better version of itself. But still retaining the effortless musicality and laid back smoothness. The bigger, more separated soundstage is part of it (although front to back layering takes a bit of a hit/and less holographic/images are a bit flatter). They just have this grandeur and splendor that is hard to describe in words. Sub bass really kicks like a fucking mule now. less midbass but harder hitting sub bass (just overall more balanced in the bass). Auteur's impressive microdynamics and plankton retrieval are all the more obvious now, closer to HD800 levels, which is welcome. More vivid/less veiled (but slightly brighter overall as a result). Extremely sweet sounding without any mush. as in even better tonal balance across the board (and Auteurs were already very balanced). out of all the pads I've tried they sound the most impressive. Listening to Sinatra with the Eikon perforated suede pads tonight that Zach sent.