Iām so so sorry for the long wait for your headphones, do rest assured that we are clearing the list, and since weāve been in our new workshop, we are making twice as many headphones as we have proper distancing measures now to have our entire staff work at the same time. Bevin and I have been forthcoming about our struggles this year via email, and on other forums, and Iām so sorry we havenāt been more assertive in our communication to those who havenāt emailed, we do respond to all direct emails in as timely a manner as possible, so Iād urge you to contact us directly and we can let you know exactly how close your headphone is to shipping. The order list in google sheets is a good guide to show how many headphones away you are and that will be updated shortly.
This year in March and April it was just Bevin and I working - with employees coming back in May on a limited capacity to keep safe working conditions. Then we finally finished our workshop this summer, and have been transitioning in a manner to keep headphones going out the door. As small business owners trying to do it all and keep our employees safe, weāve tried to address all direct communication, forums, and order tracking, but it certainly has been a lot to juggle along with keeping production up.
We are having some slight changes to our business model, and as you may have noticed we have no LTD edition headphones on the site right now. Since weāre in our new space now quickly getting caught up we are going to start building stock headphones to spec, instead of made to order with semi-custom options, with a understanding to our future owners that LTD Editions and eventually custom headphones will take more time. I donāt have an exact time-line for these changes, but itās something youāll start to see as we close out this year.
Thanks for your patience, and please do send us an email so we can get you settled on your headphones asap.
We totally agree - itās been a challenge implementing the changes necessary in as timely a manner as weād like amidst a pandemic. We are always looking to improve and take feedback. Thank you.
Weāre living through history so I know and I am and have been patient. Itās actually presumptuous of me to know what you want to do with the company or where youād like to take things.
I think the ZMF products get a lot of good positive feedback here and thatās one of the reasons I made my purchase as well. Just as I know that theyāll sound glorious when I finally connect them to my Speedball Crack that I build while I was waiting for them.
But what Iām saying is something that a MBA would charge you lot of money to tell you if you asked them to review the business model for expansion. I just saved you some money. lol
Thanks Zach, I definitely appreciate its an abnormal period of time we are currently in. Just wanna ask if I ordered the VC LTD through a local dealer is it possible for me to get access to this āspreadsheetā. (Sorry for Hijacking this Aeolus thread )
Iām here at the shop measuring Atticusā to ship tomorrow, which is our tardiest headphone right now. I donāt know what model you have on order but please send me an email and we will as usual make all efforts to accommodate you.
Dealer orders donāt have a public spreadsheet but do get shipped in the order we get them. Some dealers keep stock on hand and some of them only order from us after they get orders in (which we donāt like) so itād be best to ask them if they have an order in, stock on hand, or will be ordering the headphone after you order it to try to get transparency from them.
Does anyone have experience with running the Aeolus off a LittleDot Mk2 / how it might serve as a good āpreviewā of how other tube amps like the Bottlehead Crack are?
I have zero experience with tubes and want to dip my toes into the tube business to see if I like it. I figure if I like tubes from my experience with a LD Mk2, Iāll buy a Bottlehead Crack + Speedball. I was looking at the Darkvoice 336SE and Valhalla 2 as well, but the price difference between those and the Crack+Speedball is small enough that at the ~300-400 dollar price point Iād prefer to skip those choices and get the Crack+Speedball.
I hear awesome things about the Crack+Speedball but at the same time I find it a hard sell to jump into the unknown with a $415 purchase that also requires 8-10 hours of labor.
Iād imagine itād give you a good idea of it. I dove straight in and got a tuba as my first tube amp, which is a bit more of a dry tube amp. But I didnāt want to add too much warmth to my cans.
However, I later picked up a little bear b4-x I I gotta admit that itās pretty nice for a little portable 100 dollar tube amp. It definitely adds the soundstage/3D kinda feeling to them and sounds pretty good with my Aeolus and all my other cans.
I would just be careful and not get something that adds too much of the warmth for the Aeolus or at least use the suede pads when you hook the Aeolus into it. The Aeolus already have so much warmth in my opinion that you have to be more careful.
I honestly prefer my Aeolus most on my solid state over the little bear. Adds more bite to it. But my biggest preference is of course the tuba but honestly the tuba is closer to neutral than my rnhp so it pairs extremely well with the Aeolus.
Aeolus arrived today. My first thought was āwow they look incredible.ā It really is hard to capture how good they look in person.
Havenāt had much time to sit down and properly listen, but they do also sound amazing. I definitely understand now why people say the vocals are incredibly organic. The accuracy in detail is also a very pleasant surprise; crash cymbals sound like theyāre happening in real life next to my ear.
I did go with the LittleDot Mk2 as in intro to tubes and have a Bottlehead Crack plus Speedball kit on the way. Really looking forward to building the Crack and Speedball and listening with the Aeolus.
Those look beautiful. The Aeolus sounds like a solid first step into the world of ZMF with a sound that is built to please many types of people and many different forms of music.
)
enjoy the new cans