Oh boy, I haven't looked into this thread for over a week and it has grown ~ 40 pages by then.
Anyway, I thought I might show my latest purchase, the Audio Technica ATH-IM03. Really reminds me of the Triple.Fi 10, but on a higher level. When I had an initial brief listen when it arrived by the end of last week, I was quite surprised and questioned my belief that it was a triple-driver in two-way configuration. Upon closer inspection of the retail pack's back, it became clear that my ears didn't fool me and what I thought was a combined double-low driver turned out as differently sized drivers for the mids and bass that shared the same output, so yes, it is indeed a triple-driver with three ways.
As just mentioned, the IM03 sounds pretty close to the Triple.Fi 10 tonality-wise, but with more details and a larger, more circular soundstage. When it was about a non-exaggerated fun BA in-ear with v-shaped tonality, I have been a fan of the UE from the first day I bought it, but desired an upgrade at some point. Other universal v-shaped BA in-ears I purchased or auditioned came more or less close tonality-wise, but lacked the UE's "character". The in-ear that came closest in terms of character was probably the Fischer Amps FA-3E XB (however with more fundamental warmth; I haven't bought it though but went for the FA-4E XB instead which is an upgrade when it's about resolution but lacks the "character").
I wasn't even fully aware that I secretly desired a v-shaped BA in-ear as upgrade of the Triple.Fi 10, but the Audio Technica made it clear to me, and this chapter is probably finished - it is a higher-end Triple.Fi 10 but still has the "character" that makes the UE kind of unique.
The IM03 also rises the question inside of me whether I should buy other v-shaped fully BA-based in-ears in the future other than for a comfort upgrade (although I have large Conchas, this kind of housing with a squared shape near the nozzle isn't the most ideal for my rather large ears with rather deep Conchas that require deeper insertion). Well, I guess I will see whether I should or not bite on something different that is likely v-shaped as well and I am eyeing, but if I do, it is probably only for the better comfort.
So with the Audio Technica, my search for a v-shaped BA-only"fun" in-ear has pretty much ended, and the best thing is that with ~ €340, it wasn't really expensive either - now all I would need to do is to find a higher-end multi-driver BA-only in-ear with the Etymotic ER-4S's tonality to get the closest to this kind of neutrality but with better bass speed and resolution with complex and really fast tracks - if I had discovered the Ety years earlier, chances would be high that I never went for the UERM (although the UE is unquestionably on a higher level with better detail retrieval and a quicker bass response, it simply isn't as neutral as advertised (but then again, perceived neutrality with headphones isn't fully defined either and even the experts' views differ in that regard) and especially the treble could be more even and especially more neutral). I'm pretty sure the guys and gals at the Ety labs could design a neutral killer multi-driver BA-only IEM if they wanted to.
