ZMF Headphones Ori 3.0 Review — Headfonics

Marcus reviews the ZMF Headphones Ori 3.0, a new set of closed-back planar magnetic headphones with a unique tuning plug system and swappable pads. It is currently priced at $2199.99.

Disclaimer: This sample was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I thank ZMF Headphones for this opportunity.

You can click here to learn more about the ZMF Headphones products I have previously reviewed on Headfonics.

This article follows our latest scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.

ZMF Headphones Ori 3.0 Review

Summary

The ZMF Headphones Ori 3.0 is gorgeous-looking planar headphone with a deep and powerful tuning, great vocal presence, and a presentation that is highly tweakable with the included tuning plug system.

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9.1

Pros

Deep and powerful planar bass.

Excellent flexibility courtesy of the new tuning plug system.

Gorgeous wood cups.

Cons

Not as expansive as ZMF flagship closed-back offerings.

Solid tuning plug sound is too flat.

ZMF Headphones recently celebrated their 10th year of business, and with that, they have gone into the archives, picked out the very first planar headphone Zach and the team worked on (Ori), and re-imagined it for 2025 with the launch of the new Ori 3.0.

Priced at $2199.99, this is a sort of middle child of the ZMF Headphones range. It’s considerably cheaper than their top-of-the-line Caldera Closed planar, but could represent a step up from the entry-level dynamic driver BOKEH. Currently, the closest price-wise is the Atrium Closed.

The Ori 3.0 is a beautiful-looking wood-cupped headphone, and also one of ZMF’s most bass-friendly planar driver sound signatures to date. If you want the power and weight, then the Ori 3.0 might be an excellent choice.

It comes packed with ZMF’s excellent ear pad options as well as a new tuning plug system that also makes a considerable difference to how the headphones sound.

So, is the Ori 3.0 an upgrade or a side-grade, and where the heck does it fit in ZMF’s ever-expanding lineup of headphones? I found out in my full review below.

Features

The ZMF Headphones Ori 3.0 is a set of closed-back dual-sided planar magnetic driver headphones.

Inside is a new 80mm driver with a 61mm active moving surface area, and a 6μm-thick Kapton film diaphragm. It’s similar in size to the Caldera driver with a strong excursion performance, but the diaphragm is slightly thicker (5 um PI +1um Coating=6um), and the coating is PVD silver. 

The trickle-down technology also applies to the same 60Ω impedance load with silver used for the coil trace and pathway patterns of this driver.

The Ori 3.0 has an SPL of 95 dB/mW @1kHz, which is almost the same as the Caldera Closed’s rating of 94 dB/mW @1kHz. It is not quite as efficient as some of the modern planar competition out there, but sensitive enough to work well with moderately powered headphone amps.

Because the Ori 3.0 driver is drawn from the Caldera, the headphones benefit from inherited technology such as the dual-sided N52 Caldera Asymmetrical Magnet Structure (CAMS) and also come with a bespoke Atrium Damping system. 

One significant new feature is an easy-to-use tuning plug system. You get a set of three plugs that slot right into the base of the wooden cup. They control driver venting with options for solid and ported, or you can leave them out altogether. 

Each one produces a significant change in the Ori 3.0’s bass performance with more nuanced effects on the mids and highs.

Combined with a wide range of pad options, the Ori 3.0 has multiple tuning profiles, making it a flexible headphone for a wide range of recordings.

Design

The Ori 3.0 has a very familiar ‘ZMF’ classic rounded headphone cup and single headband with pressure strap form factor, combined with yet again, some beautiful wood-finished closed cups. 

This time the team has chosen torrefied Black Limba hardwood, which is heat-treated Limba to enhance the rigidity of the wood relative to its weight and stabilize the cup.

The wood aesthetic has a darker hue and vertical, almost symmetrical grain across the entire circumference of each cup. It’s also, well, wood, so each cup will showcase a unique grain unrepeatable in any other Ori 3.0 headphones.

The patterned finish is interrupted by three sizable driver vents on the rear side of each cup with a smaller “insertable” hole for the new tuning plug system.

There is no ‘Caldera Delta’ geometric curve through the middle of the Ori 3.0 cups. Instead, they have a more traditional ZMF flat cup face styling.

Unlike the BOKEH frames, the Ori 3.0 uses ZMF’s more traditional pivot block and adjuster rod structure with an aluminum or a lighter magnesium frame for $300 more, depending on your preference. 

Like the BOKEH, the Ori 3.0 uses the same protein leather headband and pressure strap system, a material that feels a little bit softer but maybe not quite as robust as the Caldera Closed leather materials.

Comfort & Isolation

The Ori 3.0’s dual-sided magnet array design means it is not the lightest of headphones. However, ZMF headphones have a very consistent approach to sizing and pressure distribution, meaning they never feel like a 500g headphone on your head.

Mitigating factors include those thick, angled Caldera Lambskin Thick Top‑Perf pads, combined with good headband sizing and a Crescent pressure strap underneath that actually works really well. 

Subjectively, the Ori 3.0 feels a little denser and slightly heavier on my head than the Caldera Closed, but I think that might be more due to thicker stock pads creating a stronger clamping effect.

The fit feels closer to the BOKEH or Atrium Closed Olivewood edition with the ZMF B.B.B. strap, so a little more secure on my head compared to the flagship offering.

Passive isolation is on par with the Caldera Closed, perhaps slightly behind the BOKEH, but not by much. It’s an impressive performance considering the sizeable venting on the Ori 3.0 cups. 

You get plenty of adjustment on those rods, though they require a little bit of pressure to move up and down if gripping them at a slight angle. I suggest holding them aligned with the yoke and pulling straight up or down to keep the action smooth. 

Ear Pads

The Ori 3.0 comes with the Caldera Lambskin Thick Top‑Perf pads by default, and they are the best ones for those looking to maximize the bass response of these headphones. 

They are also the thickest of the leather options available and are not as fluted as the Hybrid or thin Top-Perf options, so they tend to hug your ears a little more and have a wider contact surface for the side of your head.

If you want slightly thinner pads with roomier inner cavities, then the Hybrid or Protein Thin Top-Perf options will be more suited. They create a slightly more relaxed feel on your head but will change the tuning slightly, as all ZMF Headphones ear pads tend to do.

The Suede Top-Perf pads are the most comfortable and sweat-free of the options available.

However, they create a slightly softer sound signature and are not quite as dynamic and powerful-sounding as the stock Caldera Lambskin Thick Top‑Perf pads, especially if you have the tuning plugs taken out. 

Stock Cable

The Ori 3.0 comes with a similar stock cable lineup to the flagship offerings. That means a 5.5ft cable in either balanced 3-pin XLR or 4.4mm, and single-ended 6.35mm jack or 3.5mm. There is a 2.5mm balanced option, but that is an increasingly rare connection choice.

The cable uses an insulated copper wire with a twisted nylon jacket outer and is finished with a black aluminum funnel-type splitter.

The mini-XLR pins are terminated ‘Audeze’ style, so their polarization is fairly standard. If you opt for a 6.35mm barrel, it is wrapped in heat shrink with strain relief internalized.

You can get a slightly different style of cable as an upgrade called the Pro Cable, worth $129.99 on its own. It uses a 3N litz coated wire OFC copper, or SPC wire in a transparent braided external jacket with some attractive black, branded splitter and barrels. 

My personal preference has always been the Grand Palladium flagship cable for performance and looks, and whilst you can get that as an upgrade cable with the Ori 3.0, I appreciate that it is a sizeable upgrade cost. 

Packaging & Accessories

The Ori 3.0 comes in ZMF’s excellent weather-sealed and highly durable carry case. There seems to be a minor upgrade in the branding badge at the front, which is now red as opposed to black, but the form factor and the high protective capability are unchanged.

The insides have heavily padded ceilings and bases with the headphones themselves secure in the middle. Should you order additional pads, they will come neatly separated in the now familiar plastic ziplock bags and clearly labelled which version of pads they are.

You will also get your stock cable of choice in a satin pouch, along with two sets of tuning plugs (in case you lose one), a build number card, warranty manuals, ZMF stickers, and a pin badge.

Click on page 2 below for my sound impressions and recommended pairings.

Click on page 3 below for my selected comparisons.

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