Magnetocaloric LaFe13−xSix-based compounds belong to the outstanding materials with potential for efficient solid-state refrigeration. We have performed temperature-dependent 57 Fe nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering measurements (in a field µ0H of ∼ 0.7 T) of the vibrational (phonon) density of states, VDOS, in LaFe11.6Si1.4 across the metamagnetic isostructural first-order phase transition at TC ∼ 192 K from the low-temperature ferromagnetic (FM) to the high-temperature paramagnetic (PM) phase, in order to determine the change in thermodynamic properties of the Fe lattice at TC . The experimental results are compared with density-functional-theory (DFT)-based first-principles calculations using the fixed-spin moment (FSM) approach. Our combined experimental and theoretical results reveal distinct and abrupt changes in the VDOS of the Fe sublattice across TC , occurring within a small temperature interval of ∆T ≤ 12 K around TC . This indicates that strong magnetoelastic coupling (at the atomic scale) is present up to TC , leading to a pronounced lattice softening (phonon red-shift) in the PM phase. These changes originate from the itinerant electron magnetism associated with Fe and are correlated with distinct modifications in the Fe-partial electronic density of states, D(EF ), at the Fermi energy, EF . From the experimental VDOS we can infer an abrupt increase (jump) in the Fe-partial vibrational entropy ∆S vib of + 6.9 ± 2.6 J/(kg K) and in the vibrational specific heat ∆C vib of + 2.7 ± 1.6 J/(kg K) upon heating. The increase in magnitude of the vibrational entropy |∆S vib |= 6.9 J/(kg K) of the Fe sublattice at TC upon heating is substantial, if compared with the magnitude of the isothermal entropy change |∆Siso| of 14.2 J/(kg K) in a field change ∆B from 0 to 1 T, as obtained from isothermal magnetization measurements on our sample and using the Maxwell relation. We demonstrate that ∆S vib obtained by NRIXS is a sizable quantity and contributes directly and cooperatively to the total entropy change ∆Siso at the phase transition of LaFe13−xSix. * Corresponding author. Electronic address: