Introduction

ZMF made a strong debut here on TechPowerUp with the flagship Caldera open-back planar magnetic headphones. The Caldera had launched in late 2022, taking advantage of over six years of R&D and the newly developed Atrium Damping System (ADS). Incidentally, ADS—which is now patented—itself debuted earlier in 2022 with the open-back dynamic driverco-flagship Atrium. ZMF has been putting out two new headphone models each year since 2022 thus, with the Atrium Closed in early 2023 and a more affordable closed-back BOKEH in late 2023. Clearly ZMF has been working on making new closed-back headphones that not only sound good, but also occupy a different segment of the market. This meant there was room at the top to have a closed-back complement to the Caldera itself.


It is now early 2024 and, as the hypothetical schedule suggests, there is a new ZMF headphone set coming out today. Enter the Caldera Closed, a closed-back planar magnetic over-ear set of headphones which fits right into the ZMF design philosophy and boutique roots. Expect to see years of work put into this again with inspiration taken from ZMF's roots as a Fostex headphone modder and continuing to use handcrafted and assembled wooden ear cups as opposed to a more industrial design. In fact, as of the date the Caldera Closed launches, even the stock wood is quite unique in using European Ash wood that gets the Japanese Shou Sugi Ban treatment—an intentional wood charring and oil finish to make for a compelling statement. Each ear cup is one of a kind thus and the thumbnail of this review is one such example. The title image above, however, is one of the Caldera Closed LTD models releasing alongside for a small price increase and offering a different wood—Shedua/Ovangkol, an African hardwood—paired with different colored yoke rods and headband strap. If you read my Caldera review then you know that aesthetics and wood are a really big part of the ZMF headphones experience, but it is still secondary to the actual sound presentation that needs to be impressive in its own right. Thanks to ZMF for providing a demo unit of the Caldera Closed to TechPowerUp as we put it through its paces, including with a thorough analysis of multiple different ear pads and tuning meshes, in this review which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications