Klipsch IMAGE X10 vs UE triple.fi 10 Pro initial & final thoughts - Page 3

I think the Image are better, but that is me.

Really! I'm surprised, I was under the impression that IEM's could not match the sound quality of mid range full sized phones but from what I've been reading lately, it seems that they can! Can you please describe what for you make the Klipsch's sound better than the HFI 780's. Is the soundstage fairly good on the Klipsch's? I'd like to know this info before I think about returning the Ultrasone's and order the Klipsch's. Cheers.

I think much of it comes down to personal preference, if a more speaker like soundstage/presentation is a high priority for someone then closed phones or IEM's will likely never satisfy. I tend to prefer a closer more intimate stage so I'm far less bother by the more "in your head" presentation of IEM's, in fact in some ways I actually prefer it so for me there are few full-sized headphones I would take over IEM's I've owned or tried like the SA6's, E500's and triple.fi's.

Well, the stock HFI-780 can have slightly sloppy boomy bass with in-your-face mids and some sibilance in the highs. My ALOAudio vampire wire re-cabled HFI-780 were much better, with smoother and tamed highs, less in-your-face mids and better controlled bass.

At that point the Image X10 and the ALO modded 780 have a similar sound signature and sonic features. But the soundstage with the Klipsch is mostly in head, while the 780 give an out of head experience. I am not saying the Image sound just like the 780, but they have similar qualities.

I have a mini-review of the Klipsch at the bottom of post #1 here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/s...ess-up-338443/

Thanks HA, that's very useful - now I just need to find somewhere in the UK that sells them - Amazon.co.uk is a little on the expensive side at £175 (about $350).

So here, we have a case of a single armature iem beating a triple driver iem?

I always thought the more drivers, the better the sound. I guess not.

So what makes the singla armature driver of the Klipsch so special?

A few days ago on my way home from school I stopped in a hifi shop to try their headphones. I was afraid, after trying my ipod with their Denon D5000 and Senn HD600, that I would feel something was missing when I put back on my Images to cycle home. But I didn't feel anything missing, it seemed like the sound quality was comparable.

I wanted to add my impressions to this useful thread. In the end, I got curious and bought the Image X10 just to see what was with this pair of IEMs.
There is little I could add to Asr's thought: he is spot on. When I first read this thread, I figured the Image were a sort of Head-Direct RE1. There are some similarities, actually, in the general sound signature: bass-oriented headphones, subdued treble.

Anyway, the Images have the most powerful deep bass I have heard in any IEM (as of today, I haven't heard the Westone 3 yet). They actually have too much bass overall when using the biflanges, while there is a hint less with the single flanged medium tips, which help Trance not to be too boomy.
They are bass and midrange oriented headphone. The overall sound is lush, full, seducing. If a red sunset had a "sound" signautre, it would be that of the Images. Vocals sound less chesty than the Head-Direct RE1. The overall sound is still relaxed, very pleasing, romantic.

Going up with the frequencies, at 6-8kHz I detect a dip, which makes (just like Asr said) cymbals very weak. This is the part I don't like much of the IEM. It's very weak at treble. Some would call them smooth, but for me the best treble representation is that of the Head-Direct RE0: flat, never spikey, smooth and crisp at the same time. The Image fall short at treble and music that has to be exciting. they finally roll off at around 10-12kHz.
I felt the Head-Direct RE1 were even more subdued in the cymbals region.
The Image X10 do impressively well with slow jazz, romantic songs, like Joni Mitchells. A friend says that they have decent timbre with classical, unlike the Triple.fi that sound fake-ish. Unfortunately, I am not competent in assessing timbre of classical instruments, but he (Cool_Torpedo) is reliable when it comes to Classical taste. He also finds that the Image have a bit too much bass.

Music that is full of "metallic" details is a bit crippled, since you know you are missing something.

Soundstage: I don't think the soundstage is small, at all. It varies with songs, and sometimes I had to turn my head on a side, thinking the music was coming from outside. Vocals, though, tend to be closer to me than other sounds.

Asr talked about dynamic range, and I could detect the same thing. These are some of the few earphones to do well at dynamic range, just like the Apuresound ER4P.

The Images are pretty detailed, even if they don't seem as resoluted like the Head-Direct RE0, for example. It might depend on the recessed treble the Image X10 have.

The Images sit very deeply in the ears. This is a reason for Shure Olive tips aren't a good match for them. I like the Shure black foamies a lot, but not with the Images.

The cable looks cheaply made, but it's very flexible. It has two problems. It seems likely to break at entrance of the strain relief, near the jack that goes into the mp3 player.
Its other weakness resides near the earpieces, where the left and right wires enter other strain reliefs. There, the wires tend to move inside the rubber tube and often do a microphonical sound ("Tic, tic, tac tic toc tic") when one moves. This is the worst part of the microphonics, while other kinds of noises aren't annoying.

The cable doesn't tend to be pulled down. Most IEMs, using stiffer cables, tend to do so, but not the Images. This is a good point.

Comfort with the provided tips is pretty high. It's the first time I find myself comfortable with silicon tips. Still, they don't provide enough isolation, and on train I can hear people around me talking when the music is calm.

All in all, they are a very nice IEM and I can undestand why some people worship them. They are by no means perfect, and there are IEMs that are technically better. Anyway, where the Head-Direct RE1 are "dark and thick", the Head-Direct RE0 are "uncolored and fast", the Apuresound ER4P are "aggressive and exciting", the Image X10 are "musical and romantic".

Just my thoughts.

Nice review Tony. As you know, my X10s are staying put, going to my better half. Funny, but as I write, I am listening to the modded 716s via the MiniboxE+ amd wow, these phones rock (and to think, they cost $20, $40 with the mod). And using the shure olives with them. Anyway, I digress.

Looking forward to your W3 take.

Hey Tony, another brilliant comprehensive review. I'm really glad you're liking them. I could never get on with the unpredictable vocals. They were either in my head, or out of my head, or maybe I was out of my head... I forget now, but anyway - if you're liking them a lot - prepare yourself for the W3!

Hey Tony, very nice!
I know, you played around equalizing and amplifying of ER4P, what I did as well recently, and achieved quite amazing results... ER4P doesn't lack any bass anymore, nasal tone also gone, but they stay amazingly transparent.

Could you say couple of words about how Images stand against well equalized (added bass, lowered upper mids and treble) and amplified ER4P? Which ones you would prefer? Also which of them has more treble extension?

Thank you!

Hey, Lelek. I have done so with the Apuresound er4p. The Apurety become nutral, with strong bass impact with no roll off, and treble as extended as it can go with a Iem. The "Apuretys" get the nod, but I haven't been able to do this work of equalization with a portable, since it's too complicated, and portables tend to distort too much.

same for me...:

Great capture of impressions Tony! I'm gona have to try the images at some point. They have been likened to the SE530's. How do you find they fare against that phone, personally?