Neutral & Accurate IEM's
Aug 31, 2017 at 10:08 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17
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deang001

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Hi.

I'm looking for a set of neutral & pretty accurate sounding IEM's. Not really into thumping elevated bass. A little elevated bass is OK but rather it just be neutral.

From looking around I have come across the Etymotic ER4-SR / XR, the Jays Q-Jays and also the Grado GR10's which are around my price range of $500 (can stretch budget a bit more if needed). I'm a little concerned about the deep insertion of the Etymotics but people seem to get used to it. The Jays Q-Jays look good.

For loudspeakers I have KEF LS50's and enjoy how clear, transparent and accurate they are .... guess I'm looking for something similar in an IEM :)

At the moment I'm using KEF M100's and would like to upgrade the sound.

I'll be using them mainly with my iPhone 7 and also have a Dragonfly Red. All ALAC rips from my CD's. Music taste is pretty wide and varied ... everything from Radiohead to Diana Klall.

Is there anything else I should be considering besides the two mentioned?

Cheers, Dean.
 
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Sep 5, 2017 at 2:44 PM Post #7 of 17
The Grado GR10e is a very good iem, but lacks a bit of emotion compared with Dynamic driver iems. The problem going with DD iems though, is so many of them are not neutral/reference, but rather V-Shaped, which isn't so good for fans of the reference sound.

I've tried Etymotics, and the bass is more present than the Grado GR10e, but its not the kind of bass that adds warmth emotion to the vocals. Similar to how the Grado GR10e lacks in, but has less bass than the Etymotics do still. Again, I really think a Dynamic is better for getting that emotional sense in that is needed for so many songs, unless you're listening to acoustic and metal, in which case Armatures are fine for.

I've considered V-Sonic, but most of their models are plastic I heard breaks down fairly quickly throughout use. Plus, I heard they can be sibilant. While looking at some of the frequency response graphs I've seen, the very top end stays flat, which would generally be better to drop off sooner to avoid sibilance. Lately I've been having that issue with an otherwise fine DD iem, the FlaresPro, which has great neutrality throughout the bass, mids, and lower treble, but in certain music seems to increase the upper treble extension, creating a more forward range of cymbal instruments in contrast against the rest of that sound.

I would like to know if the VSonic GR09 in Ceramic is sibilance free, because if so, that may be a good option.
 
Sep 5, 2017 at 6:13 PM Post #11 of 17
I'm curious, why are people recommending the GR07X rather than the Classic? Shouldn't the Classic be the most neutral of the two?
 
Sep 5, 2017 at 6:48 PM Post #13 of 17
mochill said:
The X is the reference version
Click to expand...

Oh, for some reason I thought the X referred to the other version of the GR07 which is the Bass version, my bad.

I am waiting for the GR07 Classic and hoping that it can be a decent reference earphone at around its price range, since it's something I currently lack with my ear/headphones.
 
Sep 5, 2017 at 7:34 PM Post #14 of 17
Griffith said:
Oh, for some reason I thought the X referred to the other version of the GR07 which is the Bass version, my bad.

I am waiting for the GR07 Classic and hoping that it can be a decent reference earphone at around its price range, since it's something I currently lack with my ear/headphones.
Click to expand...
In the end we will all end up looking for natural sounding iem, I do not use my gr07x but use my awesome shozy X aaw hibiki:)
 
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