A important message about the Custom models

[Amy]

A word about the Custom models.... They do take time (and patience) to achieve a proper fit.
You have to get the angle and tip-size just right, and also bend the
wire around your ear properly once you have the angle. Also make sure
the oval tip is positioned correctly (since it is an oval and not
round), so it's not as simple as the IMAGE. But once you find the
right fit, they are amazingly comfortable and the bass will knock your
socks off-- and you'll be able to easily fit them again and again once
you figure it out that first time.

So if you order a Custom,
don't give up easily thinking they aren't comfy or sound good! Chances
are, you just need to tweak a bit. Give us a call if you have any
questions or problems.... 800-554-7724

We will have more information about this, as well as some diagrams to help explain, posted soon on our headphones site here http://www.klipsch.com/headphones/

[antonyfirst]

It would be great if Klipsch provided a variety of foam tips. They are really easy to provide the best seal and great bass. I can't wait to try one between the Custom 3 and the Image. Do their nozzles share the same width? I see myself experimenting with a few different foamies in the near future. []

[customsteve01]

It would be great if Klipsch provided a variety of foam tips. They are really easy to provide the best seal and great bass. I can't wait to try one between the Custom 3 and the Image. Do their nozzles share the same width? I see myself experimenting with a few different foamies in the near future. []

I e-mailed Mark a question about the tip sizes and they look to be all the same. 4mm at the widest point 3.5 inside the groove

Steve

[antonyfirst]

Fantastic. This means all Etymotic ER4, Westone and Shure SE310/SE530 foam tips will fit in case of necessity (they all have an outer nozzle of 4mm). If someone had any issues with stock tips, he should be widely covered with such a variety of eartips. It's a nice plus for an IEM.

[justin_tx_16]

I have found that the double flange, smaller ear tip works best for me. Once you get it in, you just forget about it. It is certainly my favorite, never had such a comfortable fit, period.

[colterphoto1]

I'm a double flange med/large due to larger twisted canals (you would expect me to be twisted, wouldn't you? In my trials with the Image, I felt a bit more secure with the added 'friction' and hold that the double flanges offered.

Note- the doubles combine the small/med size tips and the med/large size tips. They should offer better noise reduction than the single types but should not be used by all IE users because some folks do not have the length of ear canal to accomodate them. Prof Thump demonstrated this to me using a clear plastic mold of an ear. If the end of the ear tip comes in close contact with the tight bend in the ear canal (next to skull bone), it can actually pinch off the opening of the ear tip.

And remember, you may have slightly different size ear canals so different tips might be the answer. Keep working at it, once you get the correct tips, it's heaven man!

[colterphoto1]

antonyfirst:

It would be great if Klipsch provided a variety of foam tips. They are really easy to provide the best seal and great bass. I can't wait to try one between the Custom 3 and the Image. Do their nozzles share the same width? I see myself experimenting with a few different foamies in the near future.

I e-mailed Mark a question about the tip sizes and they look to be all the same. 4mm at the widest point 3.5 inside the groove

Steve

Yes the tips all fit in a similar manner and are sized the same internally.

Parts now has stock numbers for replacement tips, available in packs of 4 pairs per size with two black and two clear per pack.

[Professor Thump]

I e-mailed Mark a question about the tip sizes and they look to be all the same. 4mm at the widest point 3.5 inside the groove

Steve

Steve, I don't believe I got your email. Are the dimension you are talking about on the center core of the eat tip or our nozzle on the chassis?

[Stocklone]

Is there a big difference in bass response from custom-1 to custom-2? I am seriously not that impressed with custom-1's bass response. I am wondering if it would be worth the money to send these back and get custom-2.

If I pump it up with a bass boost setting they sound good but my primary device doesn't have a bass booster.

[DrWho]

Lack of bass response is usually related to a poor seal...I dunno which Klipsch headphones I heard, but they certainly didn't lack any bass (after a seal was established).

Hey Colter, is there any chance you guys could provide photos of that transparent ear canal thingy? Maybe them tech dudes can create a 3D rotating image widget thing on the website so one can get good visuals of what's going on.

[Stocklone]

I'm pretty sure I got the seal working properly because when I take them out I can feel what I think is the seal breaking. I wish you knew which pair you were listening to.

I'd really like to know how big of a difference the seperate woofer makes.

[BLSamuel]

Stocklone,

I'm not sure how big a difference the separate armature makes, but it is addressed in the Klipsch Headphones / Earphones topic http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/94657.aspx . I own the Custom 2's and they do seem to have very good bass. But as DrWho stated, the seal is very important.

You do have to really stick them in. I think the Custom 2 are supposed to have better bass and better highs and maybe additional filtering. I think Professor Thump mentioned that the Custom 2 rock. Read though some of his posts in the above topic or other topics.

I've been using the Custom 2 for over a month now and have not been disappointed. But it did take me a while to stick them in enough to form a correct seal. See my really stick 'em in posts in the Klipsch In The Ears! topic.

I think I listened to the Custom 1 prototype this summer but for only a couple of minutes and thought that it sounded wonderful. I had spent most of my time then with the IMAGE prototypes though in hindsight I should have compared all the prototypes.

If the Custom 1 just aren't working, then it would probably be worth it to try the Custom 2. You might also try a PM or eMail to Professor Thump. He's a very busy guy but is very friendly and a great guy and I'm sure would try to answer your questions.

Ben

[Stocklone]

Thanks for all of the info. I decided to upgrade anyways. The bass is just not there as much as I would like and I think I would be more happy with the 2's. If you rave about them I am sure I will not be disappointed in any way.

Even though the bass is not as good as would like these are the best damn headphones I have ever listened to in terms of sound quality. Amazing. I was hearing all sorts of things I wasn't hearing before. So in no way am I saying the 1's suck.

Go Klipsch!

[BLSamuel]

I've been quite happy with my Custom 2. I think improved bass is one of the advantages of the Custom 2 over the Custom 1. I really hope they'll have the extra bass you're missing with the Custom 1. I only tried one custom prototype this past summer, I believe that was the Custom 1 after spending most of my time with the IMAGE. In hindsight I wish I'd have listened to all the prototypes to get an idea of the difference in sound. That said, I don't think the final voicing was completed on any of the models so the production models are probably even better.

I too have heard things I wasn't hearing before (including some noise in my mp3 player) and the sound is a lot closer to the real thing than anything I've heard using headphones. I think another person who heard the prototypes when I did, I think referring to the IMAGE, commented that not only could he hear detail he'd never heard before but also at much lower levels and he considered himself hard of hearing from previous work experineces.

I hope to get a chance to compare the different models some day, but I'm very happy with the Custom 2.

Be sure to let us know what you think.

Ben

[BLSamuel]

Lack of bass response is usually related to a poor seal...I dunno which Klipsch headphones I heard, but they certainly didn't lack any bass (after a seal was established).

Hey Colter, is there any chance you guys could provide photos of that transparent ear canal thingy? Maybe them tech dudes can create a 3D rotating image widget thing on the website so one can get good visuals of what's going on.

Photos of the ear canal thing would be pretty interesting to see how the Custom models fit as opposed to the IMAGE. I seem to remember the IMAGE prototypes I tried pretty much disappeared in the ear and were very easy to get a good seal... The Custom models apparently fit into the first, bigger part of the ear canal while the IMAGE if I recall, at least when I tried them were fitting in the smaller part of the ear canal further in.

I also remember turning the volume down really low and pulling them out a bit and still had trouble hearing the conversations Michael and others were having at the time. It was pretty hard to not get a good seal with the IMAGE. I think I was listening to the cool demo disc Michael had prepared at the time.

[Professor Thump]

Hey Colter, is there any chance you guys could provide photos of that transparent ear canal thingy? Maybe them tech dudes can create a 3D rotating image widget thing on the website so one can get good visuals of what's going on.

Lets just stick a camera in Colter's ear!

No Seriously Mike that is a good idea. I do have some clear ear canals from impressions that I use to look at the fit issues. If I get some time this week I will post something about the view of the ear canal from the eartip position.

[Fud]

My sister is having some fit issues with her custom 1s, and its one of the weirdest things i've seen happen with PMs.

I helped her insert them, with the smallest tips, and its seemed as if it went into her ear fine. After a few minutes, the earphones work their way out of her ear and just sit in front of her ear canal. Does she need smaller tips? And how can I get them?

On a side note, I'm loving my Custom 2s =) I've been switching between three different DAPs, and the differences in sound quality while using the Custom 2s are pretty surprising to me.

[Amy]

I had some trouble like that as well, and I needed the very small tips. I also had good luck with the smaller double flange tips. Make sure the oval is in the same direction as her ear's oval...

If you want to try the super small tips, send me an email. I believe I have some she can have.

Thanks!

[Professor Thump]

My sister is having some fit issues with her custom 1s, and its one of the weirdest things i've seen happen with PMs. I helped her insert them, with the smallest tips, and its seemed as if it went into her ear fine. After a few minutes, the earphones work their way out of her ear and just sit in front of her ear canal. Does she need smaller tips? And how can I get them? On a side note, I'm loving my Custom 2s =) I've been switching between three different DAPs, and the differences in sound quality while using the Custom 2s are pretty surprising to me.

Fud... Thanks for being an earlier adopter for our new headphone product. You have made a difference in our company with your faith in the designs.

In regards to your sisters fit...If you were to look at the ear canal with the subjects head positioned level the ear canal makes two major turns... up and forward. The angles are both 20-30 degrees typically. There are probably regions of the world where this may not be the case but I am not aware of any. The reason I mention this is that the vertical tilt is giving your sister this push outward. You can compensate for this by biasing the bendy wire up at a tighter angle to compensate for this exiting scenario. Amy brings up a great point that the double flange may "stick" more securely, but will only be the case if the second flange engages with the ear canal. The other logical reason the ear gel tip would exit is the draft that the wall of the ear canal takes. If it is funneled with a sharp angle the tip is more likely to push back out of the canal…The more parallel the walls are the greater your chances of a good fit and a stable fit.

Angled Walls Parallel Walls

/( )\ I( )I

Try this modification and see if it improves your sister's fit.

[Fud]

@ Amy: thanks for the suggestions, I'll send you an e-mail if the Prof's recomendations don't resolve the issue

@ Professor Thump: I must admit, I was quite disapointed with my Custom 2s at first, I've had some experience with other PMs before and my Custom 2s really didn't have the full, warm sound that I prefer. Turns out that the problem was actually my DAP, and I'm currently making the switch from a second gen iriver clix to a sansa clip. Even with a carefully tweaked EQ, I can't get the clix2 to sound nearly as good as the clip does. I'm even thinking of picking up the custom 3s after all, since I'm extremely pleased with the Custom 2s as an upgrade over my previous pair of earphones (if the holiday season isn't too much of a strain on the old wallet .

One of the main reasons I decided to be one of the guinea pigs of the community was the innovation in the tip designs, which I was admittedly not too impressed with at first. As I started using my earphones more, I realised that I felt absolutely zero pain resulting from pressure on my ear canal. I still do get irritated a little, but I suppose that can't be helped since I am putting a foreign object in my ear. The silicone tips sacrifice a small amount of isolation compared to the foam type, but I would much rather have the added comfort over the additional isolation.

I was also very pleased at the superb level of customer service with both questions regarding the product and accomodating my shipping situation. If every company was as attentive and eager to help consumers, such a thing as an unsatisfied customer would not exist =) Thanks and congratulations are in order, especially to Amy and yourself, for putting out an excellent product and representing the Klipsch name so well. Looking forward to the day when the Custom 3s are available as well.