Image X10 (re) appreciation thread - Page 7

I've had a few months hiatus from using my X10's until tonight, and now i'm faced with a question for which i'll find no good answer : why?? These were my first really great sounding, easy fitting, low microphonic, long -term -wearing- comfort IEM, and i must say they still excel, and yes, i am re-appreciating them very much. The tight bass,powerful mid-bass, smooth upper mids and treble plus a more than decently wide soundstage all recaptured my interest and jogged my memory almost instantly. Oh yeah...do i have something actually IN my ear or did i just imagine that i put them in?  I can't wait to get my Arrow amp and see how these pair with it. These really have gotten lost in the shuffle and don't get the recognition they deserve with the massive influx of new brands/models/flavors. My next question: how is Klipsch ever going to one-up these comfy little gems?    I want dibs on first listen when they try.

Yeah, the X10's have a very warm sound with very good bass, only bad thing is the quality (cable) :(

I know this maybe heresy and I will be roundly scolded for this.  I am a very proud owner of the acclaimed JH13s, and yes, they are in a different league, but I always have my X10s with me and when I listen to them, i think they are not a huge step down from the JH13s, at least not to my ears.   I really enjoy them for the reasons you state above.  A bit ago, I ordered a second pair just in case the cable and housing near the ear piece on the right comes apart.   That's how much I like them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwirugby 

I know this maybe heresy and I will be roundly scolded for this.  I am a very proud owner of the acclaimed JH13s, and yes, they are in a different league, but I always have my X10s with me and when I listen to them, i think they are not a huge step down from the JH13s, at least not to my ears.   I really enjoy them for the reasons you state above.  A bit ago, I ordered a second pair just in case the cable and housing near the ear piece on the right comes apart.   That's how much I like them.

I feel the same way. My 16's are crazy, but I still have respect for my x10's.

They don't have dynamic drivers do they?

Can someone tell what's the difference between klipsch x10 and jvc fx500?

Quote:

Originally Posted by yliu 

They don't have dynamic drivers do they?

No, they do not. The X10s have micro-balanced-armature drivers.

Equalized Rockboxed ipod + X10…. a thing of beauty!!!

I have been a happy owner of Kilpsch X10 for two years now, and recently installed rockbox in my 5-gen Ipod. After reading the wiki “tutorial on how to equalize headphones”   I was quite curious on how the resonance that occurs on every headphone due to “acoustic mismatch” had been affecting my beloved X10s!!

Well, after rereading carefully the instructions indicated on said paper, I proceeded to go ahead with the experiment,. As a result, I found two peaks of +6 and 5,5 db @ 2,800 and 6,500 Hz respectively, due to the  mismatch between the X10s and my ear canal and eardrums.

The tutorial mentions the resonance peak varies from person to person and occurs between 6 and 8 KHz.  I ‘m puzzled about the first pick @ 2800 Hz. But after doing the test several times I’m pretty sure it does exists.

By the way I did the test out of my laptop’s audio card, and I’m not sure at all about frequency response linearity  of the laptop, hoping deviations  are not high enough to affect the results.

Now, all this is possible with the awesome open source Project Rockbox, which provides a parametric equalizer, allowing to save customs settings. You could save settings for each headphone which you might happen to own.

Next I configured the parametric equalizer with peaks of -5 db @ 2800 and 6500 Hz with a Q value of 1.8 each. I’m still working on the best Q values for my particular equalization shape. 

Now, let me put it this way, until know, no matter how much i liked my X10, but somehow always was aware I was hearing the IEMs . After applying the equalizer setting  it felt like a veil has been lifted.  The best way I can describe it is by saying  the X10 melt away!!! Details are more easily perceived. Sonic layers are differentiated with ease; ambiance and reverberations are quite notorious.

To sum it up, I now have a upgraded X10, going from great to superb!!

Ah, one drawback to this experiment, now low bit-rate music are much more evident in their artifacts!! So, I’ll be switching all my music collection to loss-less 

Forgot to mention, due to my aging ears (I just realized I do not hear anything beyond 14,5 KHz!!) I applied a gentle hi-pass filter of +2 db @ 12 KHz, which maintains sparkled and airy sound.

Next in my equalizer project will be to evaluate the first two low octaves and try to make it as linear as possible; and later on going LOD + amp.

I’m eagerly awaiting for my Fischer DBA-02 to arrive and see how much it benefits from equalization!!,

I urge you all who haven´t to try this procedure explained in detail in the aforementioned document (http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/tutorial-on-how-to-equalize-headphones).

I bet everyone who try will get some interesting outcome at the least . Nevertheless, YMMV!!

Thank you all and this forum for increasing so much my enjoyment of music to levels I never dreamed of!!!

Regards,

Jose