The quest for high quality IEMs - for a 2ch classical music fan

So i wanted to start a discussion on higher end IEMs but with a bit of a twist.

Most audio reviews of IEMs i hear sort of break down sound into bass/mids/highs. Which is well and good if you are listening to electronica - but for classical music fans, there is no artificial frequency-based split. The main thing is timbral accuracy - does a piano sound like a piano? Do the violin's leading notes have bite? Does the timpani reverberate through the hall? Etc.

The other thing, for me, is realistic treble. I have never been in a concert hall where the violins have made me wince, but there are plenty of recordings where the reproduction almost hurts. My theory about the "ideal" curve is with a little more body in the bass and lower mids, and a treble which has sufficient "bite" at the leading edge, but which rolls off after that (as is typical in a concert hall).

For me, so far, I find LCD2.2s and SE846s (with Sensaphonics custom tips) to be the best at reproducing that sound (with the limitations imposed by the nature of headphones vs speakers).

A few weeks ago, I was also looking for a less expensive beater pair i could carry around, which i could insert/remove easily, without doing the 10 minute warmup and foreplay required to shove the aural d*ldos that are the SE846s into my ear. So i went looking for a pair of $500 IEMs. Luckily, was in Singapore for a few days, so got to audition quite a few.

Here are my thoughts:

- Martians: not listenable. my acid test for treble is Track #14 from Fiedler conducting Offenbach's Gaite Parisienne (Allegro Vivace - Misterioso), on RCA's Living Stereo CD. The Martians made me want to kick kittens and then stab my eardrums with a fork.

- Westone W40s: midrange to die for. But treble a bit too rolled off, even for my tastes, and lacking bite. Sounds like you are sitting too far in the back of a concert hall

- Noble Sage: meh. It sounded nice but failed to engage me. Not sure what it was about the presentation but it felt artificial, not real. Reminds me a little of the Heir 5.0 or whatever i used to own - there was nothing specifically offensive about the headphones but they just didnt sound Right.

- Noble Dulce Bass: same as Sage, but with more bass. In both cases, i felt as i was listening to sound, not music.

- Westone W60s & Noble Djangos: NOW we are talking. First off, anyone who says W60s are like W40s but only better is wrong. The W60s are significantly better at presenting music as an integrated whole, and the timbral reproduction is a lot more realistic. I was hoping to get something for less, so i didnt spend too much time comparing either of them (and i didnt have my SE846s that day to compare), but for $1000, these are very impressive IEMs

- Fidue A91: I liked the sound a lot but couldnt deal with the fit (or the size, for what are supposed to be casual wear IEMs). So didnt listen to them too critically. Had they fit better, they would have been worthy of consideration.

- Fender XA7: go home Fender, you are drunk. 15 seconds and i knew they werent for me.

- 64 Audio U3/U4/U6: First I tried the bass-enhanced options, the U4 and the U6. Between these 2, the U6 was the clear winner: better body in the music and better management of the bass. However, between the U3 and the U6, it was a bit harder to call. The U6 were more enjoyable initially, but i thought he U3s were a little more "accurate" (again: with live sound as the reference), and less likely to be something i would tire of in the long term. So i left with the U3s and have been very pleased with the decision.

Now, I am thinking of getting TOTL IEMs. Dont get me wrong, I am very happy with the SE846s, which reproduce the heft and impact of an orchestra playing its heart out, but am increasingly getting tempted by the idea of seeing if $2000 or more gets me anything better (I spend far more time on planes than i prefer).

Budget isnt a concern if the IEMs really are better than my SE846s. I have listened to Kaiser K10s a while ago, and they didnt knock my socks off - but I was in a bit of a hurry, and didnt have a chance to listen as critically as i would have preferred. I also want to listen to the Andromedas (especially after the reviews they get here), various JH models, W80s and also the higher-end 64Audios.

So what's my question? Not sure if i have a question per se, but i'd like to hear reviews of various IEMs from other classical music fans. And of course, if anyone has suggestions for IEMs to try out, based on my overly-verbose description about, i am all ears, so to speak.

 

An update, if anyone is still following this thread: I bought a pair of Massdrop Noble X a while back, for no particular reason other than the fact that i was bored.

Honestly, until now, i have never really found any sub-$500 IEMs that i felt were suitable for critical listening. The Noble Xs change that. Everything i have written above about musical cohesiveness applies to them.

To add to my thoughts in my first post - the sound in a concern hall changes when you are sitting, say, front row vs back row or up in the sides. The balance of highs/lows is different, the transients sound different and even the sonic signature of the hall is different. But in all cases, even though the balance varies, it still sounds *correct*.

That is how the Noble Xs sound. Correct. In fact, had i owned them before I bought the U3s, i would have not spent the $500 on the U3s. Not because the Xs are better - but because they sound Right enough for what i want in an inexpensive pair.

Next week, i am going to audition Noble K10s, Django and W60s again. I am thinking the time has come to perhaps get a second pair of IEMs for critical listening, to complement my SE846s (which i still think offer one of the most realistic sounds in the $1000 and above category).

 

I know @Muse Wanderer uses the Andromeda's above much else, and he's a classical nut. I got the chance to play with the 1more Quads for some time, and I'd say these are quite good with classical (though not sure how they fare against some of the pricier options considered here).

 

@landroni I have both the quads and Noble X's. I think the Noble's have a more natural treble, and just sound better balanced across the board. My biggest gripe about the Noble's is comfort.