CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Headphone Measurements => Topic started by: Hands on September 15, 2014, 02:57:39 AM
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For those of you that have been waiting for my write-up of the ZMFxVibro, I do apologize for the delays. I know I’ve dropped a few bits of info on them here and there, so you might already know I’m pretty happy with how these sound. As a disclaimer, I have been talking and working with Zach quite a bit over the past few weeks to help him refine the headphone, so there’s bound to be some inherent bias in my opinion. Anyway, let’s get to it. (Clarification: This review is based on the latest tuning as of mid-September, a fairly new and likely final revision.)
Looks, Comfort, Build Quality, Presentation, Misc.
I have to say, I think these are a good looking set of headphones. On this tour unit, the blue finish and particular type of wood makes for an interesting and, in my opinion, beautiful look. You’ll recognize the classic headband, and the metal railings can be re-finished as well. There is a nice set of finish options, both wood and railings, to choose from.
The variable port configuration works fairly well and does what it is supposed to. While I prefer the implementation that allows you to finely tune the Alpha Dog, the ZxV’s venting options is much more convenient to utilize despite being less granular. I found I preferred having one port open per channel on the ZxV, as having them all closed made them a bit too weak sounding, and any more made them too bass heavy for my tastes (can be fun, though). To be fair, Zach was targeting a headphone that could be rather bass-heavy and lush sounding. My impressions were done with my preferred configuration. One downside to this setup, however, is that it’s pretty easy to lose the plugs.
Thanks to the alpha pads and padded headband, the ZxV is a fairly comfortable headphone. I still think the Alpha Dog itself is a bit more comfortable and fits better on and around the head with the suspension-like comfort strap, as the ZxV’s wood cups and overall method of construction make for a more rigid headband and fit. Good thing the T50RP headband can be bent without much worry.
Overall, the Alpha Dog feels like a more premium, well put together product, and the ZxV has a distinctly hand-built look and feel to it. Still, the ZxV does have its aspects of beauty and is certainly more than functional, so it really just comes down to the sound in the end. Oh, and the ZxV comes with a hard, padded carrying case, I believe (the tour unit does, at least).
Sound
I think the ZxV is a very enjoyable headphone to listen to. They are a bit on the bass-heavy, slightly dark side, but generally have a good sense of balance to them. Mids are not scooped, and treble detail doesn’t appear to be missing. At times, the bass can be a bit disconnected sounding, but the sound does tend to be rather cohesive. I thought the bass sounded fairly clean and offered good pitch and detail. With one port open, sometimes I wish it was still just a bit lower, but I often like the tasteful bump.
Subjectively, something about the upper-mids and treble can be a bit edgy sounding, not unlike how the HD600 can be at times. The ZxV also can be a touch harsh or, perhaps better put, hashy sounding, but this never really bothered me or got in the way of enjoyment for long listening sessions. It’s probably just my ears given how slight it is.
That said, I do think the ZxV offers a good sense of clarity and blackness, more so than the Alpha Dog. The ZxV might also be a faster and more resolving headphone than the AD. If anything, despite being less neutral above the bass, darker, and lusher than the AD, it has bit more of a “hi-fi” sound to it. The AD noticeably excels when it comes to soundstage over the ZxV, as the ZxV is more on the closed sounding or intimate side, but the ZxV does seem to do well with separation regardless (and that extra sense of clarity helps). I found the ZxV to be a fairly organic sounding headphone when compared to the other headphones I have on hand, which is something I prefer over the AD’s presentation. I might even find it more organic sounding than the HD600/650, but it’s hard to say and depends on my listening mood. I think the ZxV has pretty good tone to it. I wrote a note saying it can be a bit nasally at times. I guess that is true, but very minor and no worse than niggling issues I’ve heard from about any headphone.
The ZxV does appear to have a tiny bit of channel imbalance, but this is largely fixed if you fiddle with the fit and placement. Really, it doesn’t get in the way and usually isn’t noticeable. The AD suffers from this too. I think unless you are meticulously trying to match channels, there are some inherent limitations with the T50RP drivers.
Compared to the PM-2…I dunno, I think I just like the ZxV more in most regards. It makes the PM-2 sound boring and lacking something. Hell, I might even prefer it over the Sennheisers in back-to-back listening tests. Hard to say. Overall, despite them not being perfect, these are one of the more enjoyable headphones I’ve tested recently, and I did find myself gravitating towards them during my back-to-back tests.
Measurements
Frequency response measurements do show an overall slightly dark tilt, but the midrange is pretty good and even. There are some channel imbalances evident below the treble area, but I didn’t ever find this really detrimental. Bass is a bit elevated, but sounds tasteful to me. The treble is a bit uneven and depressed in some spots, but that doesn’t seem to contribute to anything sounding particularly weird. Still looks better than the PM-2 to me, and quite a few other headphones.
Zach and I have had some discussions about internal damping and reasons for this pair’s channel imbalances, and he is pretty confident current production pairs should match a bit more closely than this. Based on what I know about this pair and some advice I gave Zach from that, I’m inclined to think he is probably right, and it’s not anything that will affect the overall sound.
Distortion results overall look pretty good. Arguably smoother than the AD’s results, which might contribute to the subjectively more “hi-fi” sound and clarity. There is a bit of a rise in bass distortion, but nothing major. The distortion spikes in the left channel didn’t seem to impart any negative subjective characteristics, and, again, based on what Zach and I have discussed about the internals on this particular pair, this should be ironed out in current production pairs (the B-stock pair I tested earlier looked good, results not published). Even if the channel imbalances and harmonic distortion oddities were to not be further ironed out, I don’t think it’s worth worrying about.
CSDs look pretty clean, which isn’t unexpected for a T50RP mod like this. The extra bit of decay around the 2-3KHz area might factor into the edginess I was hearing, but even that is pretty minimal. I don’t think most will have issues or even notice what I was talking about.
Conclusion
They might not have the perfect build or looks of the Alpha Dog or PM-2, but I simply really like how the ZxV sounds. The original, B-stock pair I heard was a bit uneven and too harsh in the treble, and I think Zach did a good job targeting the sound he was looking for in the end with this pair. The ZxV now employs some front damping to help smooth out the sound, and I think the materials produce good results. Perhaps there is still room for improvement with other front damping materials and configuration, but I’m pretty satisfied with this.
I’m going to restart the Changstar ABS tour with this pair (if you don't know what I'm talking about, perhaps some day you will), and I encourage you to try them out if you are interested! Maybe you’ll enjoy them as much as I do, maybe not. Either way, thanks to Zach for loaning out this pair! I’ll try to get some pictures of it up soon as well.
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Picture of this particular ZMFxVibro unit. Keep in mind you can get different finishes and, as far as I know, different wood types. Might be wrong on the latter.
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Thanks for the write-up! :)p7
I had a chance to listen to these, or, well, try them on, at the Lawrence meet this weekend and I couldn't get them to fit well. It was my first meet and I found that my head must be alien shaped because there were several headphones, ZxV included, that wouldn't rotate enough on their horizontal axis to give a good seal below the ears without smashing the hell out of the top of the ear pad. I guess my head looks like this: \ /
I got to appreciate the construction though, they look awesome!
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The 1-3khz region would be a serious dealbreaker for me honestly... I could most probably get used to the bass though. As explained via shoutbox, these measurements are not comparable to those of Tyll or purrin therefore my commentary is not legit as of now.
Thank you very much for the measurement, really appreciated!
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I had a chance to listen to these, or, well, try them on, at the Lawrence meet this weekend and I couldn't get them to fit well. It was my first meet and I found that my head must be alien shaped because there were several headphones, ZxV included, that wouldn't rotate enough on their horizontal axis to give a good seal below the ears without smashing the hell out of the top of the ear pad. I guess my head looks like this: \ /
Yup, same thing for me out of the box. I had to bend the crap out of the headband to get them to fit right. No go otherwise. After much fiddling, they get a good fit and seal now and sound great. They are still tight on top, but, eh, a seal is a seal, and they sound right. Anyone loaning and testing this pair should have less of an issue if they tried a pair earlier (likely not with a bent headband, right?), though those with smaller heads may still have issues. Perhaps Zach can find a solution in the future for this.
I'm trying to keep my personal biases and internal hype in check, but these might be one of my favorites for my tastes. I'd love to hear how the Slants compare. I was able to tweak the front damping on the Alpha Dog a bit to make them sound more natural, but I still prefer the ZxV. My tweaked HD600 and 650 are more neutral sounding, but I like the extra bit of power and lushness of the ZxV.
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Anyone loaning and testing this pair should have less of an issue if they tried a pair earlier (likely not with a bent headband, right?), though those with smaller heads may still have issues. Perhaps Zach can find a solution in the future for this.
I bent the headband (a lot) and used my pilot pad, and it was fine on my small noggin.
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The T50RP headband will take a lot of abuse. The place to keep in mind is where it connects to the wood cups. The sliders could probably be bent too, but I know I'd just get them all sorts of out of whack if I did that.
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ahoy
Is the OCC braided cable usefull ?
Have you seen any difference (I mean about the SQ) with the stock cable ?
:wheel:
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Can't say I've tried other cables on it, sorry. Usually the last thing I worry about, if I worry about it at all.
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Thank you ! :)p5
Well it's not a thing I worry about, but hey the option is here so I was wondering ^^
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I had a chance to compare these to the AD in house and I found the following:
The AD to be a bit faster. This was noticeable on faster Jazz songs where I felt the AD to keep up a bit better and its details popped clearer. On slower jazz songs this was less aparent and I wasn't able to make an absolute call. The AD was also a tiny bit more detailed as well and had less resonance so it sounded a little more open. BUT the Vibro had more punch, better balance from mids to highs, equal soundstage width if not just a hair smaller, better tonality and equal imaging. The perception of the AD having a bigger soundstage may only come from its less full midrange presentation which often leads to a perceived increase in soundstage. Most headphones with a really full midrange don't come off as having a big soundstage. But when listening for distance, I found them fairly close with the nod going to the AD for less resonance so it sounded like they were open in regards to reverberation from the cups. Also the zxv sounds more open with all of plugs out as well.
In short I prefer the Vibro as well.
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Interesting. Thanks for your thoughts!
Not that I disagree with what you heard (keeping in mind possible very slight product variation, physical hearing differences, different music tracks, different gear chain, etc. - I do believe you heard what you heard), but I found the ZxV I had to be a bit faster and cleaner sounding than the AD. For some of my low-level information tests, the ZxV usually came out ahead. With one of my fast and complex metal tracks, the ZxV was noticeably better at instrument and vocal separation and in particular allowed the snare drum to come through more clearly during a blast beats section. It's a track that's very easy to get muddied up. The AD just sounded like it lacked total clarity in comparison. I also thought the AD did a better job producing a sense of room resonance. And the ZxV had a noticeably more intimate soundstage, though I can see where you're coming from with the AD's mids and overall balance giving that perception.
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If the Zmf is clearer sounding then that's awesome. I was listening pretty loud so that may have skewed my perception. Overall though they are totally both worth they're asking price. I wouod be very challened to find a better all arounder than the z x v. The Z x V worked well with all the songs I tried while the AD failed at some songs and did some songs better. The Z x V has better genre bandwidth and didnt fail any song.
Thanks for you impressions. Despite the different results I am now even more persuaded the Z x V is my ideal can. I am just waiting on firm impressions of the z7
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Anyone hear the ZMF Blackwood? Curious how it compares to the Vibro and AD
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Aesthetics wise, not bad at all!
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/axpona-2015-zmf-blackwood-and-vibro-headphones
http://www.zmfheadphones.com/finish-options/
Good to see more options available! (with real wood)
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ZMF Blackwood is pretty damn good. Once you get the fit right, it sounds very natural and tonally pleasant. The bass can be thunderous too if you play around with the bass ports. I don't really have much need for a closed headphone at the moment so I listened to it last night, hoping to be underwhelmed and justified in selling it... big mistake.
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Zach will be sending me a pair of Blackwoods to test...sometime. Hopefully in May. Waiting on the new pads and any tuning tweaks it may need from that, is what I was told.
Main issue with his current design is how the headband is connected to the cups, along with the cup design itself. Doesn't give the cups much room to wiggle around at all, unlike the stock T50RP enclosure or, say, the cups for the Alpha Dog/Prime. I really had to mess with the headband to get a good fit and seal. Because of this, they simply aren't going to fit well or at all on some heads, and they will not sound good in that situation. The cups are generally very nice, though.
He also made some tuning revisions shortly before I heard this pair I reviewed, and then a few small tweaks after geared more towards channel matching and overall QC. One of the earlier tunings I heard was...well, not so great. Last I heard, he had settled on a tuning a while back, so hopefully that's settled.
Zach is a super nice guy and really willing to customize individual headphones from a physical and sonic perspective, but OTOH you're not going to get quite the level of refinement and consistency like you'd get from LFF.
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Got this ZMF Vibro X today... Won at a lottery on Tellementnomade.org ... I like what I hear thus far. I was not that confident it would suit my tastes but I'm pleasantly surprised ( not that warm or laid-back , quite airy and spacious . definitely different from the mad dogs I heard and not liked so much) . Will see if this headphone will last at home.
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Since this was bumped I'll throw my review (http://www.head-fi.org/t/779106/review-zmf-x-vibro-a-highly-modified-fostex-t50rp-with-adjustable-tunings) in the ring. I too find it to have similarities to the HD600. I really love the Vibro when all is said and done.
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Since this was bumped I'll throw my review (http://www.head-fi.org/t/779106/review-zmf-x-vibro-a-highly-modified-fostex-t50rp-with-adjustable-tunings) in the ring. I too find it to have similarities to the HD600. I really love the Vibro when all is said and done.
Great review, I got a pair of the Massdrop purple galaxy vibros a month or so ago and I'm in love with them as well. It was my first dip into the ocean of t50rp mods, very happy with my decision so far. I hope I get a chance to compare them with Slants/Paradox, Blackwoods, and Omnis at some point.
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This Vibro X seems more difficult to driver that what T50RP's spec suggests. Does someone have any idea of the impedance and sensitivity of the Vibro X ?
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They are definitely the only headphone I've thrown on max gain on my Matrix HPA-3u. No idea what the sensitivity and impedance are compared to the T50rp though.
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yea. this fucker is power hungry p:8