I just got my Klipsch Image IEMs in the mail last night. I've been tremendously excited about getting them, lusting through the weeks after any scrap of information I could get on them until that frightening moment I clicked the "Buy" button. So, I'm not pretending to review these objectively yet, I'm still in the "they're here! they're here!" phase, but I thought it would be interesting to document my observations as they evolve, as they have done in the hours that I've spent with the Images so far.
Current overall impression (with over a month of use):
9.5 out of 10 stars
Some background:
About a year and a half ago, I had a brief encounter with a pair of Shure E4c IEMs. Bought them used off craigslist, sold them the same way. I didn't like how they felt. Didn't like the sound. Not enough bass. Excellent for Vivaldi, not so much for M.I.A. But mostly, I couldn't stand to wear them for more than half an hour at a time, and then I had to spend a couple minutes each time trying to get them in properly. Not a convenient IEM, not the sound I wanted.
Since then I've had a pair of Grado SR60s and Sennheiser HD595s, and picked up a maxxed-out AlienDAC and MisterX XP-based amp, been generally happy with everything, but with the head-fi itch, I wanted more. There wasn't enough bass. The headband presses against my head and over the span of 8 hours gives me a headache and flattens my hair. They slide off my head if I look up, down, stretch, etc. I wanted to try IEMs again, and the timing was such that Klipsch was building a buzz about the Images so I spent a good deal of time investigating them. Dramatic bass? Surprising comfort? Good reviews.....hmmm....
Enough history,
Impression #1 "Opening the box":
Well, yes, lots of packaging, lots of small bits of tape, obstacles obstacles. Done! In my ears with the default tips, and the sound? It's... alright. Highs are clear and well rendered, mids too, but rolling off quickly as mids turn to low and not much low to speak of. I quickly go through all the tips and meet with the best results on the large double flange tips, but I'm still not especially excited. Certainly not as much as I wanted to be. So for sound, I'd give them a 4 out of 10. Comfort? They are uncomfortable. Not as bad as I remember the E4c's being, but I don't understand how anyone can forget they are there. Perhaps it takes time getting used to. Let you know how it goes. Comfort: 5 out of 10. Wire is much shorter than I'm used to from the Grados and Senns, but I suppose they are geared toward more mobile uses where a long cord would just get in the way. It's long enough, just shorter than I was expecting.
Overall first impression: 4.5 out of 10
Impression #2, "The next day":
I've worn them on and off throughout the workday today, played with tips some more, and discovered that I need to shove them much farther into my ear than I'd thought. The sound is substantially better. There's not much of a sense of soundstage, I don't get the impression of "the lead guitar over in that corner, the drums are over here", but the sound quality itself is good. Sounds are crisp, subtle background noises in the music come through well, and the bass has finally come to the party. It's still not the "it sounds like I should be feeling it in my chest too" that I've read from others, but it's dramatically better than it was. Doing A/B with my 595s, the Image's bass is much better. The only thing I haven't liked about the sound in my 595s has been the relative lack of bass. So I'm pleased the Images pick up that slack.
Sound: 8 / 10
Comfort-wise, they are still not comfortable. I really have to shove them as far into my ear as I can to get a proper seal, and the outward pressure inside my ear is still a new and generally unpleasant experience. But there's a lot to be said for them being IEMs, and not pressing the temples of my glasses into my ears and head like regular headphones do.
Comfort: 6 /10
So overall second impression: 7.5 /10 (weighted average)
Impression #3, about a week later
I've been using the Images for a about a week now. I'd been using them at my desk at work, hooked to my computer, and I decided to try them out on the bus ride home last night. I'd tried the various other tips from time to time, and had left on the medium sized buds, that come on them in the package. And I got a seal! Repeatedly! I guess I hadn't understood what soozieq meant by twisting them "towards you", but it worked! Basically, pretend there's a pole sticking through one ear and out the other... that's your axis of rotation. Try putting the headphones in, and rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise around that axis. Not very far, a quarter turn or less. I've had no luck doing the "pull out slightly" method, but the twisting method works well for me.
So I have a seal with the regular buds. In the past few days, I've found the good bass, although strangely, I can really only get it by NOT using my DAC and amp, but rather by plugging straight into the audio out on the front of my computer. So I'm having to choose between good bass, and clean sound. But plugging the Images into my A2 when I was on the bus, the sound is wonderful. I wish I could use my A2 at work, but I'm an computer animator and I need to hear the sound clips on the computer as I scrub back and forth across my animation. If I can't figure out how to get good bass out of my DAC and amp, they may find themselves on the for sale forum, along with my 595s.
I still get better sound from my earlier method of ramming the double flanges deep into my ear, but I really think I am very close to poking my eardrum and it's not all that comfortable anyway. I'm looking forward to playing around more with the regular buds. I've already sent in the request for the 2 free ear gels as being the large double flanges... who knows, maybe I'll still stick with those for superior SQ.
So I've found the good bass, managed to get a good seal from the regular buds, what's my thoughts now?
Sound: 9/10 (probably should be higher, but my setup is limiting me)
Comfort: 7/10 (getting better... my ears are still not used to having these in them, but I can see how the regular gels will be more comfortable)
Overall third impression: 8.5/10
I'm much happier with them now than I've been since getting them, and considering how much they cost, I feel like I need to be pretty happy with them to justify keeping them. I know audio gets a lot more expensive than a pair of $350 headphones, but not for me. I can't imagine there being more than one more follow-up impression to this review, as I become more (or less?) comfortable wearing these.
And I intend to post a review comparing these in more detail to my 595s, KSC75s, and the Grado SR60s that I sold to the guy that sits next to me at work, DAC'd, amp'd, and not.
Final impression, a month and a bit later
Unless there is interest in my doing a thorough listen thru my setup, I'd prefer to sum up with saying that I wish I could wear these all the time. Listening to the Images for a while and then going the 595s makes me feel like I'm missing out on something with the 595s. The 595s have a much more recessed sound, possibly due to the differences between IEMs vs headphones, and not an issue particularly with the 595s. My setup is not extensive enough to test this, but the verdict remains. The music sounds how I want it to with the Images.
I can't give them a 10/10, though because of a couple usability issues. One: I can't wear them for more than a couple hours at a time. Just the feeling of them in my ears, the pressure of having "something" in my ear canal will give me a headache if I wear them longer in a single stretch. Two: microphonics. As long as I'm sitting forward so the cord doesn't touch anything, things are great, but if I lean back and the cord drapes across my shirt, the crunching grinding muttering of the cord transmits right across everything any time I move at all, and I move a lot. I'm a fidgeter, bouncing a leg, bouncing to the music, looking around, or just moving my head a bit to look at various parts of the screen.
However, despite those two annoyances, which I expect are common to IEMs, and not particularly the fault of the Images, IEMs DO have killer qualities of staying in your ears when you stretch, and not placing pressure anywhere else on your head (ears, scalp), which, come to think about it limits my headphone listening time to a couple hours at a go, too... but do yourself a favor if you've never tried IEMs... don't try eating with them in. It's not pleasant.
So my final score for these (assuming they remain reasonably durable in the coming years): 9.5/10
I wish I could wear them all the time, and I hope the more I wear them the longer I'll be able to. The sound is involving. I find myself enjoying what I'm listening to more often (well, assuming it's FLAC nowadays... it'll be ok hard drive, shhh shhhh, it'll be ok). And I can listen to whatever retarded song I feel like as loud as I want without worrying about the guy next to me raising an eyebrow when "Billy Jean" comes on.
You can drive these easily from whatever sound source you have, but you will appreciate the difference as you upgrade your source.
I'm not sure who this review has been aimed at. Me, I guess. People who have headphones and are looking at IEMs for the first time? Hope it was useful.
Klipsch Image IEMs ongoing review
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