[ben.]

With my D2 on vol. 20 I don't notice it at all really. If I pause the music, however, it's easily noticeable. A shirt clip helps a lot. Don't let something like that put you off these, they really are great. The sound and comfort are fantastic, and the isolation is pretty good, although not the best.

 

[epithetless]

With all this bi-flange love, it's a pity I haven't gotten them to work with my ears...

Curse these shallow canals!

I will say that, after spending the past week or so with the Klipsch's and then switching back to the SA6 last night, the SA6 is hard to beat. The pinhole-modded bass+ port nearly matches the presence and impact of the X10's bass (which, yes, is phenomenally fun), and the rest of the spectrum is simply clearer, smoother, more open, and more dynamic on the SA6. Let's just hope Sleek is able to work through the apparent build issues that some SA6 owners have been experiencing recently...

Anyways, back to the X10 appreciation...

 

[communic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epithetless /img/forum/go_quote.gif The pinhole-modded bass+ port nearly matches the presence and impact of the X10's bass (which, yes, is phenomenally fun), and the rest of the spectrum is simply clearer, smoother, more open, and more dynamic on the SA6.

How does the soundstage compare to the x10's? I find the X10 to not be very wide but extremely defined in a small space. Would you say the SA6 is wider but not as defined or pretty much the same?

 

[oak3x]

Image X5...simply amazing...and Wilfredo the head-fi IEM guru agrees!!!

 

[j_diddy]

Out of curiosity, how does the X10 compare to the Vibes?

I was planning to have my VModas replaced by the X10s but read some interesting comments that SQ-wise, the X10s aren't really that much of an upgrade from the Vibes. How true is this?

Sadly, only the Shures and the Klipschs are available from where I live at and may just pick the Custom-3s over the x10s if all else fails.

Any thoughts on this? Hope you guys could help.

 

[toughnut]

V-moda shouldnt be in same level with X10. they are few levels apart. X10 is comparable to mid-high end IEM (SA6, UM2, SE530, TF10)

but i dont have both, so cant comment more

 

[j_diddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by toughnut /img/forum/go_quote.gif V-moda shouldnt be in same level with X10. they are few levels apart. X10 is comparable to mid-high end IEM (SA6, UM2, SE530, TF10) but i dont have both, so cant comment more

Interesting. I hope I won't be regretting my upgrade then.

 

[ThreadStarter]

I'm curious - does burn-in have any noticable effect on X10's?

 

[dookiex]

I finally had a demo with these for about an hour over the weekend. I can now officially say that they are warm phones but warm at the expense of some veiling of part of the mid range and the majority of the high frequencies. Now, this does not mean that they are muddy, not at all, but there is this nagging impression of congestion. It's very hard to explain actually, the details are there and they are relatively articulate but at the same time, they sound muddy. Sound stage is definitely not one of their strong suites either. Here's the best way I can describe this sensation: the sound is very very big but you are always able to notice that this is a illusion of a big sound which more or less explains why I feel that they have a slightly congested sound.

I own the Custom-2s, listened to the Custom-3s for a extended length of time, and now I've also experienced the Image X10s. I can't see myself using them for anything other than jazz and lower bitrate files (they are pretty forgiving).

To answer ThreadStarter, nope, burn-in has no perceivable effect on any of these.

 

[ben.]

Hmm, I don't find that. My X10's definitely pick up bad recordings, you can easily hear vinyl crackle and other artefacts that some phones would hide.

As for burning in, no it won't make any difference. But do note that the X10's are quite source sensitive, to my ears anyway. If you feed them something with a very high dynamic range, they thrive on producing an extended spectrum, especially towards sub-bass. If you feed them a crap source, you're wasting your money.

The soundstage is not airy and grand, that's perhaps the one thing on these where I would want more. I actually like a recessed mid range. Ever since I had a Sony walkman + phones, which are always tweaked to sound 'hot' (high bass and treble, low mid) I've found this to be my preference. These give me that 'Sony' sound but with an extra level of quality.

 

[dookiex]

I agree that they will pick up bad recordings but from having extended play time with SE530s and listening through ER-4Ss for quite some time, these are by far some of the most generous when it comes to bad records.

That soundstage issue bothers me quite a bit, because it sounds big and gives the illusion of airiness but at the expense of true airiness and a sound that feels congested (not really congested but the presence is there). I hope that Klipsch steps up their game with future phones because they are quite comfortable but there's too many trade-offs with the current line. I have since been using the Sony EX700s exclusively as they are remarkably good (don't like most of Sony's other in-ears though) and well balanced (believe it or not, I was shocked too).

 

[ben.]

To put it lightly, those EX700's do not look discrete. They look like you'd have satellite dishes sticking out of your ears. I have no doubt that high end Sony products probably have had more time and money put into them than most other companies, purely because of the size of Sony. So you can be sure they will be well engineered at that price. But they would have to at least match the bass quality of the X10's before I even considered them. Then there's the comfort factor, and the size factor.

 

[aBc.CaN]

I can see why some would be hesitant with the shape of them. They take getting used to like anything that looks out of the norm. The shape of the SF5EB made me more self-concious than these do.

The bass quality is similar to the X10 but has a mid-bass hump. So for only bass, I would say the X10 is better. Bass quantity and comfort seems about the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben. /img/forum/go_quote.gif To put it lightly, those EX700's do not look discrete. They look like you'd have satellite dishes sticking out of your ears. I have no doubt that high end Sony products probably have had more time and money put into them than most other companies, purely because of the size of Sony. So you can be sure they will be well engineered at that price. But they would have to at least match the bass quality of the X10's before I even considered them. Then there's the comfort factor, and the size factor.

 

[johnnylexus]

Has anyone compared the X10's to Shure SE530?

 

[PhoxHound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by j_diddy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Out of curiosity, how does the X10 compare to the Vibes? I was planning to have my VModas replaced by the X10s but read some interesting comments that SQ-wise, the X10s aren't really that much of an upgrade from the Vibes. How true is this? Sadly, only the Shures and the Klipschs are available from where I live at and may just pick the Custom-3s over the x10s if all else fails. Any thoughts on this? Hope you guys could help.

I've heard that the custom 3 sounds better than the image, but that's hearsay on my part so you may want to see if you can find some reviews or comparisons.