[shpongled]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum (I like it a lot!!) and I've already read hours through various threads to find out which IEMs are the best choise for me.

I've had the V-Moda Vibe now since the got available. I lost them two weeks ago and now I need some new headphones. At first I wanted to buy the Vibe again, because I'm basically happy with them, but there are a few things that could be better.

My favourite music genres are downbeat, acid jazz, psybient, trip hop, jungle, drum'n'bass, dubstep, ambient, psychedelic rock ... and on the other hand I sometimes love to listen to jazz, a bit of reggae, and sometimes even a bit of metal. As you see I listen mostly to electronic music.
Some of my favourite bands (not in any special order): Kruder & Dorfmeister, Shpongle, Portishead, Massive Attack, Pendulum, Infected Mushroom, Pink Floyd, Vibrasphere, Howe Wooden Chambers, Tosca, Ray Charles, Madeleine Peyroux, System of a Down, Soulfly, Orishas, Sofa Surfers, Bjork, Omni Trio, ...

The things that should improve over the V-Moda Vibe:

-better, deeper bass with more texture
-the soundstage must be at least as good, a better soundstage wouldn't hurt though
-I want to hear (a bit) more details in the music and instruments could separate better sometimes
-better isolation
-better highs. the highs of the Vibe sometimes hurt a little bit in my ears when I listen for a long time
-maybe drums could sound a bit better. sometimes I'm not sure if the drums sound like drums on the Vibe. I'm not a drummer myself, but I think I can say that I know how drums sound in reality. but I'm not sure at all about this point.

I don't have much experience with headphones (the Vibe was my best headphone up to now) but I would say that I rather prefer a laid back sound. I also want to have a nice soundstage (was ok on the Vibe I think but could be better).

Do you think that the Image X10 are what I'm looking for? Will I hear an improvement over the Vibe?

The reason why I haven't bought the Klipsch yet is this review:
Review: Klipsch Image X10 v Sleek Audio SA6 earphones | Headphone Reviews & News Blog from HiFi Headphones

Are the mids of the Image a real issue? Or is this just nit picking?
Will I (without the experienced ears you have) even hear this, will I put the Image in, listen to Madeleine Peyroux and say "oh damn, her voice sounds bad!!"?

The Sleek Audio 6 would be a good choise for me too I think, but the problem is that I live in Austria/Europe and I can't find the Sleek IEMs over here. It is hard enough to get the Klipsch.

Source is a Cowon iAudio6 without amp.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[tnmike1]

OK first a caveat. I haven't a CLUE as to the groups or the music you mention. BUT I do share your interest in jazz and listen to female jazz vocalists and fusion jazz and big symphonies. here's the point: I need an IEM that will provide huge soundstage for the symphonies and great separation for the electronic jazz. So maybe we have some sonic parallels here despite our differences in music.

my journey in IEMS went from Ety 4p (which I'm listening to now with teh Comply eartips) to V-Moda, Sleek, Triple Fi, Image X10, Ety 6i and a few others I forget.

Fially sold or returned all of the above and am listening to Ety with the Comply tips or the Image X10 with Comply tip or Shure Olives.

You gotta remember two things: the sonic quality will differ with the IEM and with the tips. I find the Comply and Shures work better with my units than the stock tips.

In both, soundstage is outstanding, bass is right for me adn quite accurate and midrange is fantastic.

I don't think you could go wrong with either of these IEMs; that said, if you want something bass-heavy, don't know. But if you want musical accuracy either the Ety or the X10 would be my choices

 

[aphexii]

Quote:

Do you think that the Image X10 are what I'm looking for? Will I hear an improvement over the Vibe?

Absolutely, they aren't even in the same league IMO. I had the vibes and found them to be considerably more muffled than many of the other headphones i've owned. The detail difference between the X10 and the Vibes is huge.

Also, the X10's make it feel as if there is a subwoofer in the room with you, its almost shocking to hear it the first time.

Can't recommend them enough....

 

[scytheavatar]

The X10s are not that bad in their mids, it's just not as good as the Sleeks. Even so, it beats the Sleeks in the bass and looking at the type of music you listen to I think they are more suitable for you as you'll want lots of bass for electronic. The Sleeks are not that good an IEM for any bass-dominant genre (neither are the etys).

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

The X10s are way better than the V-MODA Vibes. No comparison really, just an entirely different class of IEM.

 

[shpongled]

thanks for your replies!

so the lower mids aren't that bad like described in the review, fine.
at least they should be better than the Vibe mids and good enough for someone like me who don't really have an idea how really headphones sound, right?

yes, I think I'll prefer the a bit more bass heavy sound for electronic music.

do give you an idea how the music sounds I listen to, here is the myspace link to one of my favourite psybient (psychedelic + ambient) bands, shpongle: shpongle myspace (listen to the fourth track, "dorset perception")
of course the other genres I mentioned sound TOTALLY different.

If anybody wants to learn more about different electronic music genres, here is "the ultimate guide to electronic music"

Two more questions about the Image:

Are they build to last, how is the workmanship? I don't want to spend so much money on headphones and have to buy a replacement after one year.

The Vibes are often told to have bad microphonics, but I never had ANY issues with microphonics. A lot of people say that the Image have bad microphonics, but I think it is not SUCH an issue since I never had any problems with the Vibe?

thanks!!! what a great board

 

[Phrozt]

Thanks for that guide.. it's awesome

.

In return... Index of /

 

[dookiex]

They are a big jump from the v-modas but for the price, I don't think the X10s are worth it. I would look into a pair of Atrio m5s if you want that good bass with good resolution throughout the range. That or the EX700 if you want a bit more resolution and a little less bass.

 

[emelius]

have you considered the image x5?...i can't yet comment on the sound as i just received mine, but from what others on here have reported and from what klipsch themselves have said they may be what you're looking for (& they're $200 -- in the U.S. at least)...

just a thought...

 

[jant71]

Sennheiser IE7. Sounds like you would like the dynamic driver sound more.

 

[Phrozt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jant71 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sennheiser IE7. Sounds like you would like the dynamic driver sound more.

How are you going to recommend an IEM that just came out like... a week ago?

 

[shpongled]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jant71 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sennheiser IE7. Sounds like you would like the dynamic driver sound more.

thanks for the input, but could you explain what the difference between the dynamic driver sound and the sound from the armature micro driver used in the Image would be??

Since I'm wearing glasses with rather big arms/bows I would prefer a headphone like the Image where I don't have to put the cable around my ears. I think a cable around my ears would interfere with the bows from my glasses.
Though, the Sennheiser IE7 are about 100 € cheaper than the Image X10, so maybe they are an option. I will also take a closer look at the Sennheiser IE8 since they are in my price-range.

The Image X5 would be an option, but I don't think that I can buy them here. I'm happy that I've found a shop where I can buy the Image X10 for a fair price.

ps: sorry if my english isn't that good...

 

[jinx20001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shpongled /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for the input, but could you explain what the difference between the dynamic driver sound and the sound from the armature micro driver used in the Image would be?? Since I'm wearing glasses with rather big arms/bows I would prefer a headphone like the Image where I don't have to put the cable around my ears. I think a cable around my ears would interfere with the bows from my glasses. Though, the Sennheiser IE7 are about 100 € cheaper than the Image X10, so maybe they are an option. I will also take a closer look at the Sennheiser IE8 since they are in my price-range. The Image X5 would be an option, but I don't think that I can buy them here. I'm happy that I've found a shop where I can buy the Image X10 for a fair price. ps: sorry if my english isn't that good...

ill answer that one for you, a dynamic driver will give you warmer sound wheras a balanced armature is more a detailed sharper sound.

the reason for this is balanced armatures are a totally different design of speaker designed for a specific reason, this reason is simply to reveal more detail, the nature of the speaker enables it to reveal great detail but due to its design it lacks in thump and bass and as a result alot of earphones employ 2 or 3 armatures to back up the low end.

 

[shpongled]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ill answer that one for you, a dynamic driver will give you warmer sound wheras a balanced armature is more a detailed sharper sound. the reason for this is balanced armatures are a totally different design of speaker designed for a specific reason, this reason is simply to reveal more detail, the nature of the speaker enables it to reveal great detail but due to its design it lacks in thump and bass and as a result alot of earphones employ 2 or 3 armatures to back up the low end.

this is interesting and makes me think if the Image are the right headphones for me since I *think* that I would prefer the warmer sound. At least I enjoyed the sound from the Vibe, which was "warm", at least to my ears...

hmm... it is a pity that there is no way to test and compare headphones. this would make the decision much easier for me. I really don't want to buy various headphones, test them and send the headphones which I don't want to keep back.

However, since the "IMAGE" is named "IMAGE" it would be the perfect headphone for me, because I'm a photographer

 

[jant71]

The Image is an armature phone trying to sound bassy. With one armature it does this but some of the trade-offs and reported drawbacks of this is that it loses some detail and some treble extension. Also some people have cracking in the strain relief that you can see over on the Klipsch forums.

So I recommended the IE7 since thier larger soundstage and excellent separation and that it may be a step faster for some of your music.

The glasses may be an issue. I myself don't like some of the thicker cables/memory wires with glasses.

They are both good and neither would be a bad choice or outclass the other one. So your on the right track. And the Cowon has some flexibility unless your dead set against EQ-ing.

You really can't lose as they both will be a nice upgrade from the Vibes.