šŸ”· ZMF Eikon

So the auteur vs the eikon, the auteur is a bit more spacious but is more neutral, where the eikon is more fun and impactful, but they are similar. The aeolus is pretty different

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Man if i could get Aeolus look with eikon sound hahaha

Whats different about the Aeolus? I like a decently wide soundstage, good separation and imaging. Bass doestnt have to be huge but I love to hear bass especially bass guitar. Im a big music lover and love playing music. So i like to hear what the recording what artist intended with seperation and detail of the instruments. And then i love what tube amps can do to vocals especially female vocals. Regina Spector or stevie nicks for example. I like to get ā€œlostā€ in a song

So for me the big things about the aeolus is itā€™s smoothness and the warmer thick sound. Personally I find it too smooth and lacking on the technicalities for the price, but if you wanted something to just listen and not care about technicalities itā€™s pretty sweet. For what you are after, the eikon/auteur sounds more up your alley imo

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I mean, right now Iā€™m listening to Rhiannon Giddens. Sounds great (then again she always sounds amazing). Same thing with almost all the female (and male) vocals Iā€™ve heard so far. The thing is, vocals are decidedly not in your face. All the instruments feel very nice and separated and volumes feel appropriate. Idk if itā€™s the balancing of the cans or the mixing of the tracks, but I donā€™t hear a lot of things stick out unless the track was poorly done.

Bass is not overpowering on the Eikon, but gets punchy when it needs it. The sub-bass is what makes the bass on this thing so fucking pleasant. The extension is the same or better than both of my Planars. The power Iā€™m guessing is cause itā€™s closed-back and dynamic. I think bass guitars sound great, but if youā€™re a basshead itā€™s prolly not gonna be enough without eq.

Yea, the technicalities are not flawless, but they are a damn sight better than both of my planars (cause everything is just crystalline sounding in a lot of ways to my ears).

Keep in mind these are initial impressions (have been listening for 5 hours).

I would say the strong points on these cans are separation/imaging, bass/subbass, neutral tonality, and vocals. I think that lines up with most reviews Iā€™ve read.

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Currently using akg712 and starfields and like the way those sound and what they can do. Would the autuer/eikons have similar soundstage/imaging/details?

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The eikons would be a very very large step up in terms of resolution and imaging, with a tad less width than the 712 but a way more accurate stage.

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That sounds really nice. 712 do get so wide sometimes its almost dizzy hahah

Theyā€™re a large step up in imaging, resolution, and clarity even from the Sundaras and PM-50s too imo.

I would say it all depends on what type of soundstage you really like / want. If you listen to folk / blues / acoustic these will do wonders because they sound almost like you are in the studio / room with the players. Sundaras sound like 5th row of a concert hall, PM-50s sound like first row of a concert hall. Intimate vs expansive.

I personally really like the imaging / separation and am used to playing music / listening in pubs, houses, and smaller rooms. So these scratch that itch really well. Was a big reason I went for these.

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https://tidal.com/browse/track/1338001 = Good example of a tune that this does great on.

Soundstage feels like a house concert if I had to make a comparison. The slight reverb from the wood cups and the natural tonality I get from these / Monolith LP / Enog2 make this sound like a personal house concert.

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What amps and dacs are you using? I have a darkvoice, atom, geshelli enog. Prolly will get geshelli Erish and possibly a liquid platinum down the road after I purchase a zmf and maybe a denifrip dac

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Reference above :stuck_out_tongue:

For clarity my current setup isā€¦

ZMF Eikon + Monolith Liquid Platinum with stock tubes + Geshelli Labs Enog 2. Using optical into my desktop. Fully balanced.

When my cables arrive Iā€™ll try it with my Archel 2.5.

Also am in on the Geshelli Erish pre-order, so Iā€™m reallllllllly interested as to what these sound like with that.

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Same with this https://tidal.com/browse/track/51156847

Feels like Iā€™m sitting in the circle with the players.

Live music like this https://tidal.com/browse/track/77613042 sounds like Iā€™m like a third of the way into the crowd. I think the Eikon faithfully replicates the recording as much as it can.

Hahah awesome, yea I emailed recently and they are all full but not too worried. Still gonna buy it haha. Use it with my starfields until a zmf comes in haha. Looks like we have similar tastes!

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Hell yea. Iā€™ve had such a great experience with their support / customer service in addition to the quality of the hardware that Iā€™m sold on the company. Even if I donā€™t expressly need the Erish Iā€™ll grab it to support Geshelli Labs. Iā€™m also really curious as to any improvements / differences from the Archel.

I know that the Monolith LP will likely still be the better Amp, but itā€™ll be good to have a balanced amp at my desk at work. But I might be surprised :stuck_out_tongue:

I do have starfields on the way as well lol

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Very curious to check out the erish when it comes out, lots of potential there

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No, not yet. If the normal 6 weeks production is still valid, then mine are done at the end of next week. But I canā€™t tell by looking at the excel sheet. I donā€™t think it is 100% correct and last time my Aeolus arrived while they were listed as ā€œAssemblyā€.

But the wait is fine, it makes it even more great to finally get them :yum:

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Starfields are great and when Iā€™m out and about and relaxing somewhere. They dont really need a lot of power but I have the ifi hip dac and they make them sound really really good.

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Hahahahahaha. I have the iFi nano BL. Tastes seem to be very similar. I wish I had the hip dac though. The BL is way too bulky for real pocket portability.

Yea. I need an excuse to take more walks. With no sailing, commuting, or any other forms of normal activity sanctioned Iā€™m too sedentary. Wearing 770s and walking around looks a little weird lol.

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Zach descibes them as 97% closed if I remember correctly, but would you say even less?

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