Best IEM for large scale, classical music?

[Ricky64]

I'm relatively new to the portable scene, starting with an AK Jr/Earsonics Velvet a couple of years ago, and since upgrading to an WM1Z/Campfire Vega. This has been a big jump in performance, and I am very satisfied with the playback of my favorite genre, jazz/hard bop, along with female vocals. I haven't cared for this combo with larger scale pieces, especially when they contain higher pitched instruments, especially violins at higher registers.

There has been a very sophisticated conversation on Nickenflick's shootout thread. When I asked this question there, most listeners really didn't spend much time with classical. This left me wondering if headphones are superior for this compared to iem's?

In any case, I'm thinking that the ideal transducer has detailed warmth through the midrange, yet has a large soundstage, and is able to resolve complex passages.

Would be interested in other's thoughts?

Thanks in advance...

 

[EagleWings]

Well, you have the WM1Z, so you are pretty much covered there. You need an IEM with a large soundstage, good timbre and good instrument separation. You could look into the following IEMs:

- Unique Melody Maestro 2
- Empire Ears Zeus-R
- Empire Ears Zeus-XIV-ADEL
- 64 Audio A18

 

[CYoung234]

I'm relatively new to the portable scene, starting with an AK Jr/Earsonics Velvet a couple of years ago, and since upgrading to an WM1Z/Campfire Vega. This has been a big jump in performance, and I am very satisfied with the playback of my favorite genre, jazz/hard bop, along with female vocals. I haven't cared for this combo with larger scale pieces, especially when they contain higher pitched instruments, especially violins at higher registers.

There has been a very sophisticated conversation on Nickenflick's shootout thread. When I asked this question there, most listeners really didn't spend much time with classical. This left me wondering if headphones are superior for this compared to iem's?

In any case, I'm thinking that the ideal transducer has detailed warmth through the midrange, yet has a large soundstage, and is able to resolve complex passages.

Would be interested in other's thoughts?

Thanks in advance...

For large scale classical, generally over the ear headphones would be my recommendation. It has been a few years since I have looked at equipment much though, so I am sure there are a lot of newer headphones out there. My AKG's are actually fairly good for this, as are my Fostex's.

 

[artpiggo]

Zeus R or A18 is best for this genre, IMO.

 

[Wyville]

I'm relatively new to the portable scene, starting with an AK Jr/Earsonics Velvet a couple of years ago, and since upgrading to an WM1Z/Campfire Vega. This has been a big jump in performance, and I am very satisfied with the playback of my favorite genre, jazz/hard bop, along with female vocals. I haven't cared for this combo with larger scale pieces, especially when they contain higher pitched instruments, especially violins at higher registers.

There has been a very sophisticated conversation on Nickenflick's shootout thread. When I asked this question there, most listeners really didn't spend much time with classical. This left me wondering if headphones are superior for this compared to iem's?

In any case, I'm thinking that the ideal transducer has detailed warmth through the midrange, yet has a large soundstage, and is able to resolve complex passages.

Would be interested in other's thoughts?

Thanks in advance...

I am quite new to all this, but do think that open-back headphones are probably superior for large scale classical music especially. However, I personally prefer to stick with IEMs because I want the isolation and do not like the bulkiness of headphones.

As I said in the shootout thread, Nic really liked the Maestro V2 for classical music, so I would highly recommend keeping an eye out for the review of that one.

I wish I had the opportunity to listen to a number of TOTL IEMs to get a sense of their performance for classical music. It is not just the technical performance that is important, but the emotion of the piece should be conveyed accurately and I wonder how various TOTL IEMs sound in that regard.