Excellent advice from all the above and yes, your 4D's suspension has firmed up from 6 months of non-use. My UNIverse can firm up audibly and require a slight VTF adjustment after a few hours of non-use, never mind months.
Run it in on the Cardas tracks as Markd51 suggested. Play some energetic stuff that's easier to track than piano or high quality vocals - hard rock or big cathedral organ both exercise a cartridge well, while being easier to track.
Then revisit the tough-to-track stuff with a willingness to tweak every parameter, every day. A ZYX, especially a higher end model, is not a set-and-forget cartridge. Like a Stradivarius, regular play and careful fine tuning are required to maintain its exceptional responsiveness.
Doug
P.S. Make sure your stylus is clean. The ZYX stylus has the smallest contact radii on the market. That contributes to its clear and extended HF response, great detail retrieval and the lowest inner groove distortion on the market. But this also means it takes less stylus grunge to send a ZYX sonically downhill. Magic Eraser + dry brush is the most reliable and effective method. Most commercial stylus cleaners are either ineffective or unsafe for maintaining this superb instrument.
Run it in on the Cardas tracks as Markd51 suggested. Play some energetic stuff that's easier to track than piano or high quality vocals - hard rock or big cathedral organ both exercise a cartridge well, while being easier to track.
Then revisit the tough-to-track stuff with a willingness to tweak every parameter, every day. A ZYX, especially a higher end model, is not a set-and-forget cartridge. Like a Stradivarius, regular play and careful fine tuning are required to maintain its exceptional responsiveness.
Doug
P.S. Make sure your stylus is clean. The ZYX stylus has the smallest contact radii on the market. That contributes to its clear and extended HF response, great detail retrieval and the lowest inner groove distortion on the market. But this also means it takes less stylus grunge to send a ZYX sonically downhill. Magic Eraser + dry brush is the most reliable and effective method. Most commercial stylus cleaners are either ineffective or unsafe for maintaining this superb instrument.