Almost two years have passed since I described the remarkable modifications of the Fostex T50RP headphones from Zach Merbach. His headphones turned out to be excellent, but he did not stop there and equipped his modifications with wooden cups, releasing successively ZMF Vibro and a luxury version of Blackwood, and then the new half-open flagship ZMF Omni. It is about the latter that will be discussed today.
A separate story deserves the way these headphones got to me. Initially Zak sent me a ZMF Vibro review, the first model with wooden cups, but they were stolen somewhere along the way. According to the Ukrainian post, the box was received damaged and without contents, according to the USPS version - "on their side" everything was fine. Zak very graciously agreed to send me another pair at the price of materials, along the way, upgrading it to the version of Blackwood, which appeared during the post-showdown. This model was sent by DHL, but it was deployed at customs, wildly inflating the price of headphones and demanding an awkward amount as a duty. Meanwhile, ZMF did not sit idly by and developed the half-open Omni flagship. The third attempt was made by me. This time the headphones were sent to Canada, from there the familiar brought them to Ukraine, and from there they went already to me in Montenegro. This time the voyage turned out to be successful, and I am enjoying this model for the second week.
As before, the headphones are based on the legendary Fostex T50RP, of which, however, there are not so many. In business there is a headband, directing and the driver, being exposed, the truth, to considerable processing. Zak changes something in the emitters themselves, replaces the plastic cups with wooden ones with another damping, colors the guides at the customer's request, and also sheathes the headband with soft leather. To this are added comfortable deep ear pads and a quality cable. Cups, incidentally, were developed in conjunction with Luc Pigetti of Vibro Labs.
Headphones offer quite a lot of customization capabilities, Zak tries to take into account all the wishes of customers, as far as possible. Given the amount of manual work required by the manufacture of one pair of headphones, the price of the ZMF Omni could not be small, but it did not become prohibitive, as it is now fashionable for many manufacturers. for $ 900, a solid plastic carrying case will add another 40 to the cost.
Specifications
- Acoustic design: semi-closed
- Frequency range: 15 Hz to 35 KHz
- Maximum power: 3000 mW
- Impedance: 50Ω
- Sensitivity: 98 dB / mW
- Weight: 450-600 g (depends on the wood of the cups)
- Cable: symmetrical, interchangeable
Packing and delivery kit
By default, the headphones are delivered in a simple mail box, carefully packed in a classy film with large pimples, although I advise all the same to fork out for a plastic box, it is very convenient and practical, and top headphones should still be protected from external influences and possible damage.
In addition to the headphones themselves, the kit includes two pairs of ear cups (when buying you can choose two of the three options, models from sheep and cow leather, as well as from protein leatherette), a certificate of authenticity and a cable. It is worth noting that two pairs of ear cups made of natural materials are quite a big luxury, I do not recall a single manufacturer offering such a bundle. About the influence of ear cups on the sound, I'll tell below.
Design and wearing comfort
Of course, in the appearance of the headphones, some elements of the T50RP are guessed, this applies, for example, to the headband and guides. Stock headband Fostex is not very convenient, because the bare rubber thing is not very comfortable, so the ZMF offers two options (included in the cost of headphones): pilot pad and leather band. Pilot pad is such soft pillow on a headband, leather band - the wide strip of a leather fixed under a headband, also raising comfort of wearing. The two previous pairs of ZMF headphones that I had in my hands allowed me to try both, and to be honest, I do not see any reason not to choose the Pilot Pad, which is the default option.
One of the advantages of these headphones is the ability to customize them to their tastes. You can choose the color of the guides, the material of the cup tree, the material of the ear cups, the connector options on the cable and even the coin design with the company logo (it can be convex or dented). Zak very easily goes to contact and does everything in his power to satisfy customers.
Cups can be made from one of three variants of wood: ebony, walnut and cherry. In addition to radically different appearance, different types of wood provide a different sound. About this, I'll write below. The cups themselves use a very convenient fixing from Fostex, which allows them to easily move around two axes, providing an optimal fit.
The stock of adjustment for the size of the headphones is very large, the travel of the guides has a good stock. The tightness of their movement can be adjusted with a screw on the inside of the headband.
These headphones are made in a semi-open acoustic design, that is, their bowls have small openings for air circulation, but damping is used inside, so sound insulation in both directions is very, very good.
Despite the massive wooden cups, the headphones are relatively light. It should be taken into account that different types of wood have different density and, as a consequence, different weights. The lightest are cherry, the heaviest, of course, ebony. In any case, a correctly sewn headband correctly distributes the weight, and therefore the headphones can be worn for a very long time without any discomfort.
The wire for this model, naturally, interchangeable, uses 4-pin Mini-XLR connectors, the same as those of Audeze. The complete cable is very good, it is made of a pair of two-wire wires that go separately all the way up to the plug. This ensures minimal interference and maximum channel separation.
As for the overall appearance of the ZMF Omni, they make an incredible impression, their design, build level, attention to detail are worthy of the flagship models of the leading manufacturers. Cups with their complex construction and wood texture look like a work of art. Separately happy that the cups in the version of cherry and walnut did not polish to shine and use a glossy varnish, firstly, the headphones so collect less fingerprints, and secondly, this option is more pleasant to the touch. Ebony cups use lacquering, and if for some reason you want a varnish in cherry or walnut performance - just write about it in the comments to the order.
Omni soundproofing is expected to be somewhere in the middle between open and closed models, more inclined towards the latter. Of course, for a noisy street they will not work, but here from the majority of external noises, for example an office, will be protected.
Sound
The following equipment was used for listening:
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
- Yulong DA8 and Accurate Audio V800 as DACs
- Yulong A28 in Accurate Audio V200 Amplifier Role
- Fidelia as a player
- High Definition Records in Lossless-formats (Dr. Chesky The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc and others)
Before listening to the headphones were warmed for 72 hours.
Having already sent me my pair of headphones, Zack wrote that he changed the tuning of the headphones a bit, and now the MF has come close to the rest of the range. According to Zak, the changes are not cardinal and the overall pitch does not change. He sent me a kit for self-modification and instructions on how to do it, I hope everything goes well and I can evaluate the improvement. It is worth, however, note that the current version of the sound Omni I really like, but I think it will get even better. I will then supplement this review with information about the sound after the finalization.
The sound of this model can be slightly changed to suit your taste. It's not about serious changes, like, for example, adjusting bass in the new headphones Lear models, but rather about adjusting at the level of nuances.
The first element that affects the sound is the tree from which the cups are made. Since I only have headphones in the cherry, I will give a description in the difference of sound from the official site.
Ebony. Smooth sound, fast transitions. Dark pitch with good resolution and vigorous strikes. The biggest effect of the subwoofer, with ear cushions from cow bass leather, can be even a lot, Zak recommends a protein skin or sheep skin.
Nut. The most neutral presentation, in speed, depth and resolution, is close to the black tree, and by openness and imaginary scene - to the cherry. At the moment the most popular option.
Cherry. Romantic and detailed presentation. Fade out longer than other types of wood, especially in living and timbre-rich acoustic instruments. But still very fast and deep sound. The biggest imaginary scene.
In fact, three types of wood offer a gradation between more technical (ebony) and more flavoring (cherry) filings, and the walnut is a sort of "averaged" option. It should be understood that this difference is not striking and remains more at the level of nuances.
Also the mite in difference of giving bring and амбушюры. Protein leatherette acts as an even greater bass enhancer, it gives a darker and more massive sound. Cow leather offers the highest resolution of all three options and the most neutral sound. Sheep skin is somewhat like a cup of wood, it makes the sound softer and more relaxed. All ear cushions are deep enough and are made oblique to improve the imaginary scene.
In general, having estimated from different sides, I stopped on the cherry variant, because I really like free and open feed, and closed headphones rarely offer it. From different versions of the ambush, I stopped at the cow's skin.
According to the price category, the headphones are already clearly playing in the territory of the entry-level flagships, so they are subject to increased demands.
In general, the ZMF Omni has a slightly colored sound with an emphasis on bass and treble, while maintaining an enviable resolution and speed. The closest analogue in their manner is, of course, the models from Audeze, and Omni can in many respects compete with them.
The bass of the headphones is deep, fast and has good resolution. This, of course, is not a model for bassheads, everything is more modest, but the prevalence of the low-frequency range is palpable. In comparison with the same LCD-3, these headphones do not have enough "strength" of the bass (not the amount, namely the strength) in those cases when it is necessary to play a quick but strong blow. Still, the diaphragm of Fostex drivers is smaller than that of Audeze. As for faster strikes, here claims to Omni are generally zero, their speed and density are just excellent. On well-written drums you can generally feel sitting right next to the bass drum.
The middle frequencies are lightly highlighted. More precisely, not even so, they seem so in the background of the emphasis on LF and HF, but I can not say that this harms the perception. V-shaped frequency response in these headphones is exactly a "chip", made consciously, to ensure a delicious sound. It is the taste feed that dominates the MF, they are musical, they are merged and are submitted by a united front. This obviously does not appeal to fans of analytical sound, accustomed to "listening" to batches of individual instruments, Omni sound too integral for this. Despite the feed merge, it can not be said that Omni lacks detail, all the nuances of the instruments and the emotions of the vocals they convey as follows. The imaginary scene they are building is worse than open models, but for closed headphones very, very well, especially in depth.
The upper frequency range is generally the strong side of Omni, in my hearing they are close to the ideal. I do not know how they manage to do this, but the HF of this model simultaneously combines both the excellent presence and non-tensioning presentation. Usually it happens: either the HF is crushed and rustled somewhere in the background, or played out properly, generating a lot of cries for "sawing" and "sypyat." In Omni, I think, the best balance is maintained, allowing the headphones to play out those small nuances that fall into this part of the range. Usually they can not always be distinguished from the background of music, but without them the sound becomes cloudy, devoid of volume and air. These headphones cope with the transfer of this part of the range just fine.
Actually, of all the top headphones that I heard, Omni is the closest thing to the Audeze product line. The same HiFiMan HE-6 play quite differently, and their sound is perceived quite differently, so it's easier to say what they have in common than to try to describe the differences with the heroes of the review. Similarly, approximately the Sennheiser HD-800, also stand alone. Here, with LCD-2 and LCD-3 Omni, you can compare and even need to. I would say that it is for my taste that Omni outperforms the LCD-2 (old, pre-phaser version) for the balance and quality of the RF feed. And although they are slightly behind in bodily solidity (as I wrote above, the overall tonal balance is more to my liking, Omni does not try to create a concert hall effect and therefore builds a more natural scene.) LCD-3, of course, these headphones are bypassed, but I would did not say that it's critical, a little better than the speaker, better bass, but the difference in price is more than twofold.
Compatibility
In general, Fostex, who served as donors of this model, do not differ gluttony, but nevertheless it is still isodine, and a good amplifier will not hurt them. There is no question of any portable use (the design itself hints at that), and tablet phones are not the best source for Omni, but even the simple Audinst HUD-MX2 is already showing itself very well with these headphones. Better sources, in turn, allow the model to be even better, the same Audio-Gd and Yulong are just an excellent choice for ZMF Omni. In general, even the Cayin N6 performed quite well with them, although more simple players no longer reveal the model to the full.
To the quality of the recordings, the headphones are, of course, critical, but not prohibitively, according to the conditional scale of "criticality" I would have estimated them somewhere in 8 out of 10, roughly speaking: "You will hear all the muck of a poor-quality record, but, listen". Genre headphones are also very versatile, but they are best suited for classical rock, jazz, live music, classics. Excellent bass also have a fit for electronic music, rap and pop, although I can hardly imagine the purchase of Omni for the last two genres.
Several traditional sample tracks.
The case when a simple enough record in form captivates by the number of nuances and details. The main instrument, of course, is the guitar, the instrument is both simple and complex, but in the hands of a virtuoso, as in this case, creating miracles. ZMF Omni remarkably conveys the nuances of the guitar in all its full realism: strings, resonance of the case, damping - all this is. But the composition also has an amazing beauty accompanying background, creating its mood, and here these headphones with their ability to work out the depth show themselves even better.
Arne Domnérus with Gustaf Sjökvist - Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. Another record, surprising with its technical side. An unusual duo of saxophone and organ, recorded in a church in Sweden, immerses in music completely and irrevocably. The quality of the recording is simply amazing, you hear such nuances as the movement of air in the furs of the organ. Thanks to ZMF Omni, the recording sounds very voluminous, it seems that the room can even be imagined.
Ondekoza - Mikuni Gensokyoku. The famous troupe of Japanese drummers, who conquered the whole world with tours, always rejoiced in the quality of recording their works. I could not help listening to this track on ZMF Omni. Their deep bass expresses the features of these tracks so clearly that it seems that you are not just present in the hall, but also sitting somewhere near. Each drum has a volume and position in space, and their tight beats pleases with sound.
conclusions
Excellent headphones for fans of flavor, piece work, worthy of discerning connoisseurs. Specifically, ZMF has succeeded in creating headphones that combine isolation of closed headphones and a wide manner of feeding open models. Adding to this delicious bass and no less delicious HF, we get very nice headphones, which compete on an equal footing with recognized top models. ZMF Omni is the case when manual work justifies itself, and you get not just headphones, but a part of the author's perception, exactly the sound that, in his opinion, should be in good headphones.
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment