Atrium

Well I had the open version of the atrium and never had an issue with the treble. I am very treble sensitive and HDB630 also was too bright pre-eq. Probably the closed version is brighter? I am not surprised at all, as far as I know the atrium closed is not generally very well regarded

I tried the HE1000 stealth for gaming and thought it sounded a little off. If I recall correctly, the soundstage was a bit more “tall” than it was wide, which didn’t work well for games. Currently, I’m using a ZMF Atrium Open and use it for gaming on occasion. It’s been great so far and really adds a three-dimensionality to games. Other ZMFs may work as well depending on budget.

I was surprised at his Atrium take to begin with- and in fact bought them due to his review. He did indicate somwhere that he prefered them to the Susvara- but I was reasonably sure that with enough time Susvara would come out well ahead. Atrium's are great but not in the same class as Susvara.

Atrium def has better mids and is more comfortable than LCD-3. I sold my beautiful Redwood Atrium's cause I would pick Susvara over them most days for its naturalness. Almost feel HD 600 might complement LCD 3 better, if you don't want to spend a whole lot. Have had several headphones with a probable pecking order (after EQ) of the recent ones being (so that you have sense of what I like): Susvara = LCD i4 >> Atrium > LCD 2 > Isine 20 > HD 600 >> Ananda

HD600, I prefer Atrium Open's sound but I couldn't live with it as my only pair (too heavy).

They're unfortunately very different, the AC has much more low-end emphasis, less low treble and more upper-treble. But as with all the ZMFs, there's a lot of tuning that can be donr with earpads, I've heard suede pads does wonders to bringing up the low treble and upper mids. But even stock they're fairly enjoyable for a closed back, I just prefer the more vocal focused sound on the Atrium Opens. (Ironically my AC is 500g, while my AO is 580, but the AO which I prefer is much less comfortable as a result).

It was funny seeing the Atrium Open drop from S, to B-tier since the last tier-list. Meanwhile Focal just absolutely swept this list, even the Bathys MG which is a terrible value headphone compared to most other ANC ones (including Bathyss OG).

I’ve had the emu-teaks, ft1s, Liric 2s, now have the SJY Horizon Carbon closed back and the SJY are easily my favorite. I’ve tried the dan Clark’s noire x and e3, and the ZMFs at shows (so take that for what it is worth) and like the SJY best, and that’s only using it on the Gremlin amp for now. My favorite open back are ZMF AO.

Not sure about Drop but ZMF ship internationally pretty much everywhere just got my Atrium in UAE.

If budget is no limit I think the atrium is a good endgame pick. Auteur classics are there as well if you prefer a more neutral mid focused headphone.