King Caldera - $4000 ZMF Flagship Full Review

[@Blackwat3r_]

Please never encourage manufacturers to raise the price. Let's just be thankful and complement the product in ways other than raising the price.

[@justadad2304]

I'm not sure why so many within audiophile culture obsess over this irrepressible urge to downplay the monetary value of everything and ceaselessly demand that top products get dirt pricing but it's really sad to see this mentality of helplessness over and over and over again. I myself buy what little I can and admire everything else I can't. People should spend only what they can comfortably afford or diligently save to buy, once or twice but not all the time, the things that are a stretch. If you can't afford it, don't decry the price. Not everything in this world is made for you to pretend to collect it, it's there for those who can actually collect them because they actually do have the resources while the rest of us can just be fascinated by this tasteful design and effective engineering.

[@chronometa]

I'm always out for bstocks lol

[@SergeySedlovsky]

I'm so close, yet so far, from my Redheart Caldera... I mean, it should be here around 2 weeks time at the most My Holo stack is gonna love it

[@amaya897]

How do you like it with Holo Gear? :)

[@Leon-lg7zm]

Amazing episode Michael. Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the Caldera and hopefully I'll be able to purchase a pair when they hit the used market.

[@arthurhaywood2184]

Missed the live…..😢 Picked up my Caldera last week at CanJam NYC 2023. Zach had special LTD builds of all of his models available. I couldn’t resist buying a gorgeous Stabilized Wood build. It was love at first sight!

[@ZMFheadphones]

Was a pleasure Arthur!

[@arthurhaywood2184]

@@ZMFheadphones Thank you for the time and the attention you showed me, Zach! You, Bevin and your staff were some of the hardest working people at CanJam!

[@shawnpwatsons1]

Great review. You cover everything and get to the point fast. So glad ZMF is coming out on top and that it's an American company. The high-end needed some competition and I feel all the others are going to have to lower their prices. Zach and his wife aren't in it for money as much as the love. Love wins everytime.

[@amaya897]

America Hell Yeah xD

[@alenotta]

I just watched this listening through my Caldera. My favorite headphone to date.

[@Prxyshj]

Loved the succinct comparison of the abyss Hifiman and zmf

[@Afterawhile5933]

Hi. Liked the review. What DAC/AMP pairing sounds best with the Caldera from your testing?

[@ipman8646]

Your voice would be perfect for radio, are you in broadcasting?

[@annarobertson2869]

U mention tucking the ends of headband under, i agree. I own verite closed, opening at end of band shows the clear plastic backing not good

[@malihajji2870]

Great job Sir , looking forward for Yamaha YH-5000se review . God bless you.

[@khanhdang8342]

Another one that I am interested in but few talk about it....

[@arthurhaywood2184]

@@khanhdang8342Demo’d it at CanJam last week. Not impressed and that seemed to be the general consensus.

[@khanhdang8342]

@@arthurhaywood2184 . Thank you for your impressions. Now aday, I not allow to go to these shows. Partner jealous of me being alone in the hotel. Go figure.....

[@codycast3069]

Great review, thank you. How does the Caldeta sound on the Hugo TT2?

[@khanhdang8342]

Never hear ZMF brand before. It's getting popular....

[@BopWalk]

ZMF has been around for a while, they have been popular with the much loved Verite Closed, a lot of audiophiles have them in their collections. But now they have a surge of popularity with the Atriums and hopefully the Caldera will catch on.

[@WRlX]

great review

[@heyguyslolGAMING]

I'm curious how "Flock of Seagulls" sounds on these.

[@JTB--]

Good.... But not as good as Barry Manilow sounds on them

[@kenworkshop]

Thanks for the review. Now just have to wait for prices to drop.... and some gear to sell.

[@brandonyong301]

I get that this would sound better with a proper desktop stack, but would a chord mojo 2 be able to drive the caldera?

[@DirectorsGarage]

Brandon, I'm not sure. I don't have the Mojo 2, so I can't test for ya. Maybe one of the other viewers can chime in. I'm guessing you'd be pushing it to its max to get a decent level out of it.

[@fatdoi003]

congrats unloading the Chord stack.... looking forward to your new Holo May... or Mola Mola Tambaqui? so maybe a Caldera and an Utopia can make a very good planar and dynamic combo....

[@DirectorsGarage]

Still considering options! Stay tuned.

[@fatdoi003]

@@DirectorsGarage from what i know of your listening genres, an R2R dac may be your poison... when a Holo May or Denafrips Terminator or Mola Mola dac can give you what you're after...

[@jonandresen1483]

Nice. Love mine. I think they perform slightly better on a current source.

[@MrThacke]

Just gotta say the Person who invented stereo headphones was Koss in 1958.

[@DzejSiDi]

I do wonder if it is worth to add $1.5k to Atrium, I really love Atrium design.

[@arthurhaywood2184]

I own both. What I would say is this: The Caldera is overall the better product but that’s only in direct comparison. The Atrium does hold the edge in soundstage. The best thing you can do to the Atrium is upgrade the stock cable. Just moving up to the ZMF OFC offers a marked improvement.

[@DzejSiDi]

@@arthurhaywood2184 cool, good to know

[@martinvavra4877]

​@@arthurhaywood2184 which one do you recommend?

[@arthurhaywood2184]

@@martinvavra4877 I prefer the Caldera but that doesn’t mean I think any less of the Atrium.

[@asplmn]

The Atrium has timbre to die for with its biocell driver. It's just so damn immersive... But, it loses out to the Caldera on detail and imaging. Atrium slams hard, but the Caldera digs deeper in sub-bass. It just really depends on what your preferences are. Some people prefer the Atrium over the Caldera. Some still prefer the Verite Closed.

[@Nephilim-81]

What a spicy take!! 😂 Just kidding. Classic and beautiful enthusiasm. I feel where you are coming from.

[@davidpetersen7091]

Fresh bowl of pipe tobacco...a few matches...a cup of fresh coffee....I'm ready!! Mr. Pete-------> aging hippie

[@Peace_Guard]

How's the mid-bass slam of Caldera in comparison to Utopia's? Which one slams more engaging and meatier?

[@amaya897]

Caldera easily, its one of the meatiest high end headphones around atm.

[@Peace_Guard]

@@amaya897 Hey, thanks for a reply. But does Caldera slam more throughout the entire bass range including the mid-bass part that dynamic hps usually slam more? Or is it just a better extended and more balanced bass slam, but in the mid-bass Utopia is still more pronounced?

[@amaya897]

@@Peace_Guard its difficult to say since our definition of slam might be different. I dont havy Utopia around anymore to compare directly. With Caldera Its less "bloated" than on utopia and more focused, deeper reaching and better textured bass imho. Recently I heard Atrium Closed it was less defined and not as textured, but even more deep reaching and strong in the bass department.

[@hhhhhhh803]

Would something like the feliks euforia Evo be able to power these comfortably?

[@DirectorsGarage]

While I don't have direct experience with the pairing, looking at its power rating, it should be fine. These are not power hungry at all.

[@soulfulfool]

easy... I bet it can power any headphones just fine

[@datdudeinred]

Is that records to die for video still coming?

[@DirectorsGarage]

Someday! I swear! I have so much to review. STAX SR-X9000 is next.

[@jonas_oja]

20:46 2/3 , right?

[@darekkawulok2462]

Hello , Thanks for your review. Really liked it , i have had about 30 min of listening to it on my Cayin N7. And i was very impressed. I have spirit Torino Valkyria i use it with my bakoon 13r. And it's great for acoustics and unamplified instruments. But they don't work well for big orchestras and rock/ pop. I have been thinking of getting abyss 1266 TC for that. I have gotten this feeling that it's a mix of Valkyria and Abyss 1266. Do they scale much with bakoon ? Darek

[@DirectorsGarage]

The Caldera is closest to the Susvara in sound, but with better stage, bass impact, and bass presence. I haven't heard the Torino. They are a tick less detailed than the Susvara, so there's a give and take there. I was revisiting the Oasis catalog recently. I was trying out the different e-stats and everything was coming off bright. The Caldera played how I remember those great 90s albums. They're easily my most used headphone and they cross genres easily. The 1266 TC is a phenomenal headphone, too. Though the 1266 is better for music with a LOT of impact. Metal, Rock, EDM, etc. An e-stat or Susvara (or Caldera) would be better for big orchestras.

[@darekkawulok2462]

@@DirectorsGarage thank you so much. , I have had such a problem with rock from the 90's, like sting, George Michael , Mike and the mechanics , etc. The mastering from those years seems to lack some base and a bit richness in the vocals , as many albums come out a bit dry/ sharp. For the short time i had i loved the sound. I was so surprised . I assume that with my r2r dac and bakoon amp they will sound incredible. Will not they sound too dark with bakoon ?

[@DirectorsGarage]

@@darekkawulok2462 I'll talk about it on today's stream (live at 2:30pm ish (I hope!)). The mastering from those years started the loudness wars. In my experience, pairing the right headphone will have a greater impact on overall presentation. The gear behind it (unless you're massively under powering a headphone or something) impacts nuance more than overall tonality and balance. I think of those brilliantly performed and horribly mastered John Cougar albums, aforementioned Oasis-- part of it-- I think-- is that those were the years when people started trying to do stuff on their own. The gear got portable and cheap. But great ears were not, and people bypassed the great mastering engineers to save money or simply to take control. The results weren't always great. I think of those Black Crowes albums-- those guys got it right. Amazing mixes. The grunge crowd cared a lot less about sounding great, they wanted to be LOUD. LOL. Cheers!

[@darekkawulok2462]

@@DirectorsGarage thanks so much , i live now in Poland so am not sure what time this will my my time. ( Are you in CA) ? I once remember a week of recording in calabassas studios outside of Los Angeles , it was down some Canyon road ... Something. That was in 1996. I remember the audio engineer , who read music sheets on the fly while we were recording 5 part harmonies , there were 9 of us around the mikes, and he would stop and point to a person that sang the wrong harmony note. Man he was so good . I remember walking in , and in the corridor laid all in mahogany wood , the posters from top movie soundtracks were hanging. The were recorded there at some point. I was so affraid to make a mistake during recording sessions , but it was an incredible experience. But these guys were so excellent in mixing and than mastering. Anyway. After 20 years in stage and studio as a vocalist i appreciate tone, timbre that is true to life. That the contrabass has a proper body to it , as well as vocals etc. I feel Valkyria reproduces piano like nothing i have heard before , but i herd Caldera on my "crappy" Cayin pull off some magic. I felt it just added a tiny bit of weight that it sounded fascinating and still on the border of truth. I have to rent them and listen on my home setup. Gosh exciting times. ( The only thing I didn't listen was classical or bigger orchestra.

[@DirectorsGarage]

@@darekkawulok2462 I've had the pleasure of sitting in with some outstanding musicians and performers doing their work-- I even sat in with Hans Zimmer as he scored one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Amazing to see these guys in action. As for headphones-- the best part is that we live in the golden era for headphones. There are so many great options out there right now-- Abyss, Hifiman, ZMF, Stax, Audeze, and on and on. You're not going to go wrong by selecting one over another. They're all terrific. It comes down to preference and what you value more in a headphone. There's literally something for everyone right now. It wasn't always this way.

[@Maver1ck911]

Is that a Soyuz mic?

[@DirectorsGarage]

RCA 77-DX

[@WoodstockG54]

Had a Freudian slip . I read Directors Carnage . Sorry.

[@DirectorsGarage]

Plenty of carnage ahead, no worries!

[@WoodstockG54]

@@DirectorsGarage 👍

[@Maaruks]

Does Caldera sound good from an iPhone 12?

[@hes182]

😂

[@x32i77]

Better with Samsung Galaxy S2

[@khanhdang8342]

Using the HE1000SE and OG Utopia. Kind of interest in ZMF Caldera in the near future. Planar vs Planar.....

[@mikylenaidoo1779]

Destroys both imo. I sold Susvara. Caldera is bliss

[@michaelp.3485]

Zmf has poor build quality. An earcup on my Verite open fell off one day when i was holding it. Not worth the price.

[@DirectorsGarage]

*had poor build quality. My Verite open had an unimpressive build, too. However ZMF has redesigned their headphones since the Verite. They have a much more robust build from the Atrium forward.

[@amaya897]

Not sure what you talk about, the issue was the laquer on older Headphones, my Pheasantwood feels and looks great after all those years, certainly better than HIFiman stuff and if you like wood with your hardware, nothing comes close.

[@hemispherecompensation]

Have to agree with @michaelp.3485, my Verite Closed Stabilized had terrible build quality. Barely used them and my drivers were rattling, screws were not CNCed properly, even the wooden case was not aligned flush. Absolutely disappointing considering I bought the "Stabilized", which is a large premium over the normal versions. My three Hifiman, Susvara, Arya Stealth, Anada had way better build quality than the ZMF.

[@PantsaBear]

​@@hemispherecompensationYou really should just reach out to ZMF then. They literally tell anyone who has issues to send it in for them and they give the headphone a pretty thorough checking You go the other brands like Hifiman, and you're essentially within warranty or not lol. You aren't having a human interaction making sure you're happy with your headphones (they make great stuff too though)

[@lextr3110]

Wish he would made them lighter in carbon fiber .. i dont care about heavy wood that it totally useless...

[@asplmn]

It's actually not. Wood has different acoustic properties to carbon fiber. It's also more durable for the kind of abuse headphones may experience over time (handling, dropping, dinging, etc). Some kind of titanium or magnesium alloy might work better than carbon fiber, but I bet the costs would be pretty high. Also, wood just looks cool, is natural, and develops a nice patina over time (like old guitars.)

[@PantsaBear]

​@@asplmnZMF lets you order their headphones by default in Aluminum chasis, but if you want a Magnesium upgrade they use that instead to cut down on some weight