[Stuff Jones]

I'm a timbre-head. Acoustic instruments sounding like they do in real life is the most important sonic characteristic for me.

From my experience, top of the line IEMs do very poorly with timbre because they use BAs which offer terrible timbre. Currently I have the OG Solaris which with the DD has good timbre up through the mid range. The timbre falls apart somewhere in midrange where the BA takes over, offering a tinny sound. Not only does the timbre weaken where the BA takes over, but there's incoherence even with the best hybrids.

I remember the Auresonic Rockets offering excellent timbre, but they didn't extend well in either direction. The JVC FD01 also have pretty good timbre, but limp un textured bass and not very good sound stage or seperation. Even the FIBASS with its single BA had pretty good timbre.

So, are there any close to TOTL quality IEMs offering excellent timbre and a fairly balanced sound?

For reference, my go to headphones are the ZMF Aueters, which have great timbre and balance but lack a little bit of the last 10% of TOTL technicalities. I'm happy with the tradeoff.

 

[surfgeorge]

I have the modded JVC FD02 and can relate to your experience, good timbre compared to other IEMs in that price range, a bit better with brass than acoustic, but yes, Bass is not as textured or tight as I’d like.

2 very different IEMs I found to have very good timbre are the DUNU Luna and the Sony IER-M9

The Luna is really fast and has great micro and Marco dynamics, FR needed some time to get used to, focused on mid bass through upper mids, and a bit spiky up top. But it’s great for classical and acoustic IMO. Only the price is really steep IMO. I had a loaner for 6 weeks, and would have liked to buy one, but it was too much for me.

I M9 also needed time for me to get used to. I received it a few days before returning the Luna, and Luna is much more energetic and dynamic, which I liked a lot.
But the M9 is very refined, very detailed, extended, with good soundstage and great imaging. Detail and timbre sound natural and very refined to me. The highest treble has a touch more energy than I was used to at first, but now I don’t want to miss it. Attack and decay are very good, very clean and natural. Bass texture is very good, extension is also good but does not have the slam of a good DD. But after getting used to the M9 I absolutely love it, especially for classic and acoustic music.

2 days ago I listened to the Focal Elear and I find the M9 better in almost any way, much better in soundstage and imaging, detail, clarity, layering and separation.

Some have called the M9 “the least BA sounding BA IEM” and I can relate to that regarding timbre.

 

[CoryGillmore]

I second the Sony IER-M9. Great timbre, the best of any headphone or IEM I own. All of which are in my sig.

 

[Colors]

Timbre...probably Hidition Viento by far for vocals.

I like VE8 as well. Sony M9 mentioned above is good too.

 

[Stuff Jones]

Thanks all.

Any other nominees?

 

[redrol]

I do love the EJ07 but it's more natural than hyped treble type of sound. I dunno if you would consider it TOTL. Another option with more TOTL style treble is the MEST.

 

[wayofthedawn]

I can recommend the JQ Hua Jiang.
While the Sony IER-M9 is good, the JQ Hua Jiang does it better.

Also i've seen someone just recommend the EJ07, which would be on the bottom of my list for my recommendations to you.

The IER-M9 has a sound you need to get used to. I highly recommend you to replace the stock cable though. This IEM is a very safe IEM, in a good way. It is also the best all-arounder

The JQ Hua Jiang would need a lot of burn-in time, and EQ, but they are way more amazing than the IER-M9. This IEM is amazing, just be prepared to EQ a lot.

The EJ07 is a big nope, not sure why it even got mentioned.

Just my opinion/experience

 

[originalsnuffy]

With all due respect, if an IEM requires any form of EQ, I would be skeptical.
To me, TOTL is equated with "just great" as it is.

I would never keep an IEM in my collection if EQ is required. I am okay with changeable / tunable filters. But once the IEM is adjusted, there should be no need to adjustments anywhere else in the food chain.

I would also venture that the distance between really good and TOTL is incremental in terms of audio quality and incredible in terms of cost.

 

[wayofthedawn]

To each their own

 

[redrol]

Thats cute. I recommended it because its an awesome IEM. You can just say you don't like it and move on.

See if you read the OPs post you would notice this: "Currently I have the OG Solaris which with the DD has good timbre up through the mid range. The timbre falls apart somewhere in midrange where the BA takes over, offering a tinny sound. "
Seems OP might enjoy an EJ type tuning with less hyped BA treble. That is why I said what I did.

 

[SilverEars]

It was Vision Ears Erlkönig for me. Yeah I know.. the price.

I know you'd expect BA timbre with Erlkönig like pretty much all BA stuff, it will surprise you with it's timbre. It's a BA outlier.

As for reasonable pricing, I'd recommend Moondrop stuff. Their tuning generally has natural timbre. Their dynamics as I find generally dynamics do timre better than BA.

 

[wayofthedawn]

Thats cute. I recommended it because its an awesome IEM. You can just say you don't like it and move on.

What's cute is that you recommended it for it's Timbre. Also no need to reply to me. Instead you should try help out by recommending an IEM with good Timbre instead of recommending an IEM that is, in your opinion, good. Again, please don't reply to me and just move on. ( P.S: don't forget that you are recommending stuff to people which can be costly, and because of that IMO you should take it more serieusly )

 

[wayofthedawn]

It was Vision Ears Erlkönig for me. Yeah I know.. the price.

As for reasonable pricing, I'd recommend Moondrop stuff. Their tuning generally has natural timbre.

I wish i had the Erlkönig in my collection!

 

[SilverEars]

I wish i had the Erlkönig in my collection!

I wish too, but we can't all have Ferraris. I just wish we see iems commonly to have such level of tuning at reasonable price points. I think iem tuning has gotten better as fair pricing over time.

 

[Stuff Jones]

Has anyone who has the ZMF Auteur found an IEM that is somewhat comparable?