Design, Build Quality & Comfort
The ZMF headphones all look stunning, it’s that simple. If you’ve checked out our last 2 show reports, you have seen what ZMF is capable of with their craftmanship. Their designs are just gorgeous to look at and feel and their wood experience certainly is a very strong unique selling point.
Design-wise the Caldera looks like a typical headphone with a robust yet comfy headband system with metal rods and leather finishing. The wooden cups look stunning and the grill is an absolute master piece. Build quality wise the headphone is sturdy yet refined and the headband, wooden cups and mini-xlr connectors all are perfectly terminated. ZMF also uses a modular system so doing repairs is easy. All units are hand built in the USA.
Comfort wise the ZMF Caldera doesn’t disappoint either and the headphone, even though not the lightest at around 500g (with pads, without cable), comfortably rests on your head. The headband is soft and it evenly spreads the headphone weight over the top of your head. The side pressure is just right for me, but that of course depends on your head. Anyway, there are ways to stretch out headbands if needed. The pads are soft and comfortable and they never touch my ears during listening. As this is an open back headphone and the pads are perforated, you will have a lot of music leaking out and noise sneaking in, but that’s no surprise really.
The only thing I feel could be improved in my opinion is the pad system. Where other companies use a click system or magnets, you here have to work in the pads manually by pushing then into a small ridge. This pad system reminds me of the old Beyerdynamic DT770 and Custom One Pro system. After doing it for a couple of times, you do quickly get the hang of it but it isn’t the easiest or fastest system on the market. That said, I am pretty sure that normal listeners aren’t changing the pads all the time either. Also, when you do swap the pads, make sure to align them properly.
All-in-all I am really pleased with the ZMF Caldera. It is a higher end headphone with a corresponding price tag, but ZMF fully delivers.
Specifications
- Impedance: 60 Ohms
- Driver: 80mm with CAMS Patent Pending technology
- Weight: 490g – 550g (weight varies depending on Chassis)
- Sensitivity: 95dB/mW
Sound – Introduction
For the part on sound we have used the ZMF Caldera with its stock cable, in balanced mode. Unless specifically mentioned the DAC used was the Musician Audio Aquarius. We used a whole selection of portable and desktop amplifiers, as explained later in this article. My source was my laptop running ROON, streaming from Tidal and my local library.
ZMF describes their house sound as follows:
“ZMF House sound is the term used to refer to the linear, refined yet musical tuning by which ZMF has come to be known. It can be attributed to the tweaking Zach has done in research and development for each model to achieve the sound most appealing that walks the line between technical and musical.”
If you’re into measurements you can find out all about ZMF’s measuring here. The Caldera technology video on YouTube also shows the Caldera graphs.
Let’s find out what the Caldera is all about!
Sound – General
The part on sound is a bit split up, as we have no less than three different sets of pads that impact the sound signature of the ZMF Caldera. The general part is with the stock pads. We in this review will not go into detail on the cable differences.
If you look at the Frequency Response of the Caldera, you will see it is a fairly balanced headphone up to the 1k mark. We then get a slight and constant decline to 2k, a small popular bump around 2-3k and then a peak around the 5-7k area. This is very audible when listening to the Caldera, but it simply works. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as this curve is very popular and many headphone companies such as Hifiman, like to similar results.
The ZMF Caldera has an engaging tuning and it sounds exciting, lively and so musical. The ZMF Caldera the type of high-end headphone that gives you an impressive technical performance as well as musical and engaging one. If you have checked out ZMF’s videos you will know that is exactly what Zach was aiming for, so mission accomplished.
The ZMF Caldera when properly driven (we’ll get back to that later) at all times has a big presence and a weighty, powerful and clear presentation. To me it sits just right and I never feel there is too much weight or energy, with any type of music playing. The overall timbre and texture is a pleasure to the ear, but especially the midrange and vocals are really impressive. To me the Caldera has one of the best vocal presentations on the market.
Sound stage wise the Caldera also delivers with a wide and deep, but realistic presentation. Instrumental separation is excellent, and you get an airy and spacious (yet natural) presentation which has a lot of room for note decay/extension. Again, the Caldera isn’t just purely about technicalities but it also is engaging, rhythmic and emotive compared to say the Susvara. The delivery at all times is on the smooth side, even though this in general is a more neutrally tuned headphone.
Bass is present and it has good punch and impact. To me it still is the typical planar magnetic driver kind of bass but I mean that in the best possible way. Bass is fast, controlled and there is good sub bass rumble when it is needed. Bass quality is excellent though the layering to me could be further improved. Bass is nicely balanced and I would never call this a bass heavy headphone. You can also see that in the measurements. The mids are spacious, clean and have such a nice timbre with excellent detail and decay. To me they together with the vocal presentation are my favorite Caldera parts.
As said, the vocals as well as the upper treble have a bit of a bump (FR) and are more forward but that nicely works in this tuning and it is giving that extra sparkle we all love. I still find it a natural presentation. The treble section also is airy and precise, but it still is easy on the ear and musical at all times. Treble starts rolling off from the 7-8k mark, so you do get a nice bit of extension.
All-in-all the Caldera has a very impressive and enjoyable tuning, mixing a high resolution and technical level with musicality and emotion. The Caldera has quickly become one of my favorite headphones. It is a balanced and easy to listen to headphone that mixes everything nicely together, no matter what your musical preference is.
Now let’s check out the impact of using pads of different size and material on the airflow and as such the tuning.
Thin Cow pads
These pads are a thinner and less squishy, so the comfort level is a bit lower, yet still good. Your ears are also positioned closer to the driver and that’s something that is immediately noticeable. With these pads you are closer to the music and the impact is higher, giving you a more immersive, less relaxed experience.
There also is more emphasis on the upper mid and treble, making the experience more contrasty and vivid. The signature loses some of its softness in the delivery and the vocals are a bit more in your face, so this tuning isn’t as easy to listen to as with the thicker stock pads. It’s impressive to see how ZMF can change the signature with their pad development.
Thick Lamb pads
These pads are even thicker than the standard lamb pads, and as such the comfort here is no issue at all. In this case your ears are placed furthest from the drivers.
With these pads I am getting a more airy and spacious presentation and the difference is quite remarkable. To me personally it is a little too airy sounding, but at the same time I do like the fact that you feel more surrounded by the music. I also like the additional layering which I something feel is a bit lacking with the stock pads. For some reason I feel the top end here to be more expressive and lively but all-in-all the Caldera is very easy to listen to with these pads and I can see some preferring these pads for specific musical genres.
The part on sound continues on the third page, simply click here.
Page 1: ZMF, Caldera, Box & Accessories & Price
Page 2: Design & Build quality & Comfort, Specifications, Sound Pt. 1
Page 3: Sound Pt. 2
Page 4: Sound Pt. 4, Conclusion, Summary
