ZMFestivus II Briefs – Sweet Home Chicago

By Durwood

First time I attended an event and have something to say. Welcome to my inaugural post. In no particular order I lay out all my brief thoughts that I can remember.

Plenty of pictures here from a fellow enthusiast, I was not really snapping away.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmfestivus-ii-meet-impressions.916497/

Let us get to the meat and potatoes.

Sony EX-1000

Awesome I got to try a pair of these. Tonality was spot on for me, bass was quite pronounced, good extension no mid-bass bleed it was articulate and what I call “Sony bass”. The treble was great and the spike everyone talks about was fine for me, only minor sibilance would peak out. Ultimately though, I don’t think it is super duper special and I am sure there plenty of other people out there will say I am wrong. For me it is very good, but I feel there is plenty out there that can compete. Reminds me a bit of my Sony MDR-7506 on ears in that they are good for monitoring purposes, but I think there are others that have more musicality.

Massdrop plus

A total let down. After listening to a whole bunch of balanced focused over ears and IEM’s, this one just sounded off. They sounded thin and lower treble just scooped out. I have a set of HF3’s and I don’t remember them sounding this way even though they are also DF tuned without bass lift. I tried several tips and the signature was just not for me. Perhaps if I listened longer my brain might adjust, but on the other had nothing else needed major brain re-tuning at the show. I know they are tip dependent so I tried several. While my wide bores improved it, I have come to realize I do not like a DF signature, or at least this one.

TFZ King Pro

I had heard this thing was a bass-head IEM, and man they are. The low end is incredible on these, more so than anything I own. The rest of the signature was not offensive and they just sounded very natural for a “fun” IEM, vocals were good and cymbals had good shimmer. I might put these on my shortlist for some of the deepest sub-bass I have heard without any hint of mid-bass bleed. The kick drum in the beginning of “Artic Monkeys – Do I wanna know” actually had the decay you don’t catch with others. No doubt they are boosted, but it is pushed all the way to the bottom. Yum.

Focal Clear

I remember listening to these at Axpona and thought they were class leading, but another listen after being around plenty of top notch gear, they just seemed above average. They did everything ok, some boosted bass that was controlled but on the dry side. Treble was kind of bright and present but the staging felt kind of closed in and not exciting. It gave the impression of studio listening versus a venue, not a lot of sense of space. Perhaps I am a minority here, but I was not excited by these.

Campfire Solaris

I tried very hard to give these a fair listen, but they were just too damn big for ears. The foam tips they gave me to try were too hard and quick to expand, so I used my own various tips. They showed promise when I had a seal, but sounded like most other IEMs that tend to follow a standard signature. The Andromeda was a more interesting listen.

Campfire Andromeda

Ok here is one were hype is justified- there is a reason these things are constantly recommended for TOTL IEMs. The bass extension, bass guitars, cellos, drums, yes yes yes. The vocals come alive and are not buried and then the standout feature was the ability of the snap of a snare drum to actually cause me to wince a little….this is realism that I have not found on anything else and it was not overdone. This is what just sealed the deal for me. If I wasn’t always curious, I am sure I could trade all of my IEM’s in and just live with the Andromeda. I hope Campfire keeps this one around for a long time.

Campfire Andromeda S and Gold edition

They were good, but I was more drawn in to the “OG” Andromeda. I did not make too many mental notes other than the signature was more like a lot of products you can find in say the budget area. I spent what little time I had with the ones I wanted to consider.

Meze Audio Empyrean

I just happened to try a pair out at the Headroom booth, no idea what they cost at the time- the saying “if you have to ask….” comes to mind. These were very nice sounding, there was something about the bass that really stood out and the signature was very agreeable and midrange-focused. I wish I could remember what it was about the bass, maybe it was the plucking of bass guitar…dammit I will have to seek them out again and actually take some notes. The treble was nice and sweet, that planar sound I love (ok actually Isodynamic Hybrid Array because it sounds fancy). However, I would not own a pair though due to the cup design. The bottom of the cup comes to a point and put a lot of concentrated pressure on my head there making them uncomfortable very quickly. One of my favorites I heard while I was at ZMFestivus, granted I did not listen to everything. Had to look up the price on this piece, $3000 should have known. The sound was oh so super sweet though with everything from Rush, Tracy Chapman, and even EDM.

Hifiman 400i

They were average, they sounded a bit compressed nothing was very well defined- maybe I was spoiled by the other better sounding gear at the show. They sounded like a typical headphone you would find in the $100-150 bracket. Throw a dart at a board and pick something. I have a pair of Oppo PM3, and they outperform these (of course they were in a different price bracket when available). Too bad the PM3 is not available anymore. I do remember liking the Sundara at Axpona, I will have to give them a head to head comparison next time at Axpona.

Last but not least, these were the first thing I sat down to listen to yet the last thing I have to comment on. It seemed like the only right thing to do since the event was hosted by the fine folks at ZMF. I remember talking to several ZMFer’s (I am sorry I don’t remember everyone’s name)- thanks to Bevin and the rest of the team for graciously hosting a nice venue for the headphone community.

ZMF Auteur and Vérité

I think this was one of my favorite versions they had there. Or maybe it was the Verite? One was tuned more fun and the other was more neutral. I think they have a good lineup that is slight variations on a certain signature of sound. More time is needed with them to fill in my memory. I was not prepared for trying to keep track of everything I listened to.

ZMF Vérité Closed

My friend preferred these out of the 3 models we listened to. It probably had to do with Tracy Chapman’s voice having a fullness that only lower midrange can bring to the table. It is my experience that closing in a normally open headphone you have the same effect. It sounded very beautiful though and fit was comfortable. This is where we started on our listening sessions, so unfortunately I don’t remember more. I know my friend discussed possibly visiting their facility at some point and maybe we can convince ZMF to show up to a small local gathering in the suburbs of Chicago at his audio shop.

I wish I focused some time towards their planar offerings. Due to the way they produce sound, there is a special place in my heart for well done planars.

I had planned on bringing several sets of IEMs with me, but I made the last minute decision to be selfish and use my short time to do listening only. Sorry if anyone there wanted to hear anything I said I might bring with. Looking forward to writing some more reviews, BQEYZ Spring1 will be available soon.

Thanks for stopping by.