[lewislink]

Since receiving these and using them on and off over the last couple of weeks, I find myself resorting to their sound quality over any of the others I have, including the Shure SE530s. I love the sound of my Denon AH-C751s and use those quite a bit but when I put these lovely little wonders in I'm filed with joy. The sound they produce seems to be just the right chemistry for making me feel good, perfect, although very plentiful, bass. Excellent highs which aren't too bright and certainly the opposite of piercing. Mids that don't destroy the image of the music as being delivered.

I didn't readily appreciate these when I first got them, it took about a week or so to realize their worth. But since then I've been glad to turn to them for a day of mellow jazz.

All comments are welcome, let your appreciation be known.

 

[RAQemUP]

I also have the Denon C700 and enjoy its sound (and it has plenty of bass and midtreble for me). After a long period of use it does make my ears a little sore. Plus they lack isolation.

The Image X10s though improve on them in everyway so far. The sound so far is very warm and friendly, there is no harshness or sibilance to my ears. And lets not forget the bass! The bass is huge and powerfully without being muddy. The sub bass like on Bjork's Hyper-ballad really does pop out and grab you.

The comfort is something that has been talked about alot with this IEM since it's so small, and let me tell you it's well deserved. These are bar none the most comfortable thing I have stuck in my ears for portable use. I just insert them in and do a slit twist and they are in without feeling like they are there, takes all of 1 second. The Denon's for me take a few seconds to adjust to make sure they won't pop out and loose their seal. I do have small ear canals and I am probably one of the few who will use the small single flange over the other supplied tips. With the X10s in my ears, it does look like I just have headphone cables plugged into my ear canals since they X10s are so tiny.

Though it only takes 1 second to insert, the X10 have a huge amount of isolation. Yesterday I was mowing the lawn and with these in my ears with no music, the lawn mower's engine noise was cut down considerably. With the music on, I couldn't even hear it.

I will say though that if someone does like to hear their music on a extremely low volume level, then the X10s will give quite a bit of microphonics. I usually listen to my Cowon D2 with the X10s at roughly 24-34 volume and don't hear the micrphonics much at all. But with the volume below 19, I hear quite alot of it.

At the $179 shipped Newegg deal last week, I think this was a steal. Though I didn't talk much about the Denon C700/C751, they can be had for about $100 shipped and for that price level they are awesome. I am just unlucky I have small ear canals compared to the normal person.

 

[ben.]

Hmm, when I had my EX90's I used about 18-20 vol on my D2 when travelling/active. Thing was, my battery barely lasted 20 hours. To be honest, the D2 was on 1 bar after about 12 hours, really odd.

Sorry this isn't the right place (I'll post this elsewhere aswell) but does anyone think the D2 52 hours battery life is a huge exaggeration? I was pawing the screen quite often as it was my new toy, but not excessively so. And with 17ohm phones at 18 vol with only a bit of eq gain I would expect more than 20 hours battery life.

 

[lewislink]

I generally can get maybe 24 to 30 hours from my D2. The i7, on the other hand, is the one with the 50 hour life rating and I can usually get around 40 to 48 hours with it.

 

[tadad1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben. /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, when I had my EX90's I used about 18-20 vol on my D2 when travelling/active. Thing was, my battery barely lasted 20 hours. To be honest, the D2 was on 1 bar after about 12 hours, really odd. Sorry this isn't the right place (I'll post this elsewhere aswell) but does anyone think the D2 52 hours battery life is a huge exaggeration? I was pawing the screen quite often as it was my new toy, but not excessively so. And with 17ohm phones at 18 vol with only a bit of eq gain I would expect more than 20 hours battery life.

There are a few over at iAudiophile that claim they have got up to 48 hours on a single charge. With my new 16GB I manage around 40-42 with no EQing, minimal effects and no SD Card.

Normally I use a 16GB SDHC (Which consumes around 35-40% more power) 50ohm phones and with most of my music 320kb mp3's normalized to 89dB at volume around 25-30 I manage between 25-27 hours.

To get an accurate comparison to the quoted 52 hours you would need to test with flat EQ, no effects, 128kb bitrate mp3's, 16ohm or stock earphones at moderate volume, no SD card and minimal screen usage.

 

[ben.]

I use an 8GB card in a 4GB model. If it really uses 40% more power reading the card that might be enough reason for me to get another one with higher base memory (other one got stolen on holiday :< ). I really didn't think it would have been that detrimental considering it's one of the D2's better selling points, along with BBE.

Sorry for hijacking this thread. I think I'm gonna order some X10's soon after I get some insurance money, they're too tempting!

 

[rhythmicmoose]

The Klipsch Image X10 were my favorite high-end IEMs in terms of sound quality (and I've owned the UM2, super.fi 5 pro, and briefly the Custom-3 and SE530). Unfortunately, to get a good seal I had to insert them so far that I would get terrible irritation in my ears after 30 minutes of listening (burning/itchiness, throbbing pain). The microphonics were annoying, but something I would have put up with had the discomfort not been such a problem.

Has anyone had a similar experience and found a solution? I would absolutely give the Image X10 another shot.

 

[lewislink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmicmoose /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Klipsch Image X10 were my favorite high-end IEMs in terms of sound quality (and I've owned the UM2, super.fi 5 pro, and briefly the Custom-3 and SE530). Unfortunately, to get a good seal I had to insert them so far that I would get terrible irritation in my ears after 30 minutes of listening (burning/itchiness, throbbing pain). The microphonics were annoying, but something I would have put up with had the discomfort not been such a problem. Has anyone had a similar experience and found a solution? I would absolutely give the Image X10 another shot.

Have you tried some Comply "P" Standards with them yet? Either those or some T100 Slims, if your ears are relatively small.

 

[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmicmoose /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Klipsch Image X10 were my favorite high-end IEMs in terms of sound quality (and I've owned the UM2, super.fi 5 pro, and briefly the Custom-3 and SE530). Unfortunately, to get a good seal I had to insert them so far that I would get terrible irritation in my ears after 30 minutes of listening (burning/itchiness, throbbing pain). The microphonics were annoying, but something I would have put up with had the discomfort not been such a problem. Has anyone had a similar experience and found a solution? I would absolutely give the Image X10 another shot.

Saw you had this experience on another thread. Try using the single flange gels, and try all three sizes. It takes me all of 3 seconds to get them in place, but I just rest them inside the ear canal and they produce a great seal. As LewisLink says, try Comply foamies. I used the regular complys (P short), and that worked well also. They are inserted a little deeper, but the foamies shouldn't itch.

 

[ADD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmicmoose /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Klipsch Image X10 were my favorite high-end IEMs in terms of sound quality (and I've owned the UM2, super.fi 5 pro, and briefly the Custom-3 and SE530). Unfortunately, to get a good seal I had to insert them so far that I would get terrible irritation in my ears after 30 minutes of listening (burning/itchiness, throbbing pain). The microphonics were annoying, but something I would have put up with had the discomfort not been such a problem. Has anyone had a similar experience and found a solution? I would absolutely give the Image X10 another shot.

Hi,

Yes, my experience has been precisely the same. It is good to know there are now at least two people in the known universe who find the X10 extremely uncomfortable

To be honest though, I have never heard any headphone sound this good - not by the remotest long shot. Two things I have found that assist comfort is being careful about the direction in which you push them in. By that I mean so the harder tip does not go near the edges of the canal - much easier said than done but I guess practice makes perfect. The other thing is to put Auragel on the tip before inserting it - Auragel is what audiologists sell to hearing aid owners in order to facilitate the insertion of canal-style hearing aids.

I am trying to work my way to tolerate the X10 in terms of comfort - a maximum of 15 minutes every two or three days to begin with. Maybe it is like getting used to a radical change in glasses prescription or a recalcitrant pair of new leather shoes. I don't know but the sound of these things tells me not to give up without a fight.

Btw, I have to agree with Klipsch about not endorsing third party tips. They might make things better on a user by user basis, but someone is going to post here sooner or later about how their brand "x" tip got stuck in their ear canal when using a Klipsch IEM.

 

[elnero]

It usually takes people a little while to get used to having things stuck in their ears for longer periods of time. Some people, myself include fight with sensitivities to some of the materials as well.

I'm a bit odd though, I can be sensitive to something for awhile and it will eventually go away. I couldn't wear my wedding ring for a few months because it just drove me crazy with an itchy, burning sensation. The Shure black olive tips caused a burning sensation I could barely tolerate when I first tried them. I didn't bother for a long time but gave them a try again around Christmas last year without problem. Meanwhile I had been using tri-flanges on the E500's I owned for ages without problem until I suddenly developed a sensitivity to those. It got so bad that I could barely tolerate them for 5 minutes. I still have that sensitivity with Klipsch's ear gels but it's not as bad and it seems to be lessening with continued use. I'm hopeful it will finally just go away soon because I don't feel any of the other tips I've tried sound as good as the bi-flanges.

 

[Scott549]

I would appreciate the Klipsch Image a lot more at last week's price of $179 from an authorized dealer.

 

[lewislink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott549 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would appreciate the Klipsch Image a lot more at last week's price of $179 from an authorized dealer.

No kidding!

Wasn't that an awesome price? I really, really would love to know what went on behind the scenes among the various online and B&M sellers and Klipsch. I bet it was some complaining that prompted all the low price sellers to remove the items.

 

[oak3x]

Just purchased a pair of the Image X5...

So far, I am enjoying the sound. Only problem is the Sound Isolation isn't all that great with the single flange gel tips. Had anyone experienced this problem as well?

What are people using?

 

[Scott549]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lewislink /img/forum/go_quote.gif No kidding! Wasn't that an awesome price? I really, really would love to know what went on behind the scenes among the various online and B&M sellers and Klipsch. I bet it was some complaining that prompted all the low price sellers to remove the items.

I almost bought them. I've had great service from newegg in the past. They told me the price was good until August 30; then they were gone the next day.