Klipsch Image IEMs ongoing review

[baglunch]

I
just got my Klipsch Image IEMs in the mail last night. I've been
tremendously excited about getting them, lusting through the weeks
after any scrap of information I could get on them until that
frightening moment I clicked the "Buy" button. So, I'm not pretending
to review these objectively yet, I'm still in the "they're here!
they're here!" phase, but I thought it would be interesting to document
my observations as they evolve, as they have done in the hours that
I've spent with the Images so far.



Current overall impression (with over a month of use): 9.5 out of 10 stars



Some background:

About a year and a half ago, I had a brief encounter with a pair of
Shure E4c IEMs. Bought them used off craigslist, sold them the same
way. I didn't like how they felt. Didn't like the sound. Not enough
bass. Excellent for Vivaldi, not so much for M.I.A. But mostly, I
couldn't stand to wear them for more than half an hour at a time, and
then I had to spend a couple minutes each time trying to get them in
properly. Not a convenient IEM, not the sound I wanted.



Since then I've had a pair of Grado SR60s and Sennheiser HD595s, and
picked up a maxxed-out AlienDAC and MisterX XP-based amp, been
generally happy with everything, but with the head-fi itch, I wanted
more. There wasn't enough bass. The headband presses against my head
and over the span of 8 hours gives me a headache and flattens my hair.
They slide off my head if I look up, down, stretch, etc. I wanted to
try IEMs again, and the timing was such that Klipsch was building a
buzz about the Images so I spent a good deal of time investigating
them. Dramatic bass? Surprising comfort? Good reviews.....hmmm....



Enough history, Impression #1 "Opening the box":

Well, yes, lots of packaging, lots of small bits of tape, obstacles
obstacles. Done! In my ears with the default tips, and the sound?
It's... alright. Highs are clear and well rendered, mids too, but
rolling off quickly as mids turn to low and not much low to speak of. I
quickly go through all the tips and meet with the best results on the
large double flange tips, but I'm still not especially excited.
Certainly not as much as I wanted to be. So for sound, I'd give them a
4 out of 10. Comfort? They are uncomfortable. Not as bad as I remember
the E4c's being, but I don't understand how anyone can forget they are
there. Perhaps it takes time getting used to. Let you know how it goes.
Comfort: 5 out of 10. Wire is much shorter than I'm used to from the
Grados and Senns, but I suppose they are geared toward more mobile uses
where a long cord would just get in the way. It's long enough, just
shorter than I was expecting.

Overall first impression: 4.5 out of 10



Impression #2, "The next day":

I've worn them on and off throughout the workday today, played with
tips some more, and discovered that I need to shove them much farther
into my ear than I'd thought. The sound is substantially better.
There's not much of a sense of soundstage, I don't get the impression
of "the lead guitar over in that corner, the drums are over here", but
the sound quality itself is good. Sounds are crisp, subtle background
noises in the music come through well, and the bass has finally come to
the party. It's still not the "it sounds like I should be feeling it in
my chest too" that I've read from others, but it's dramatically better
than it was. Doing A/B with my 595s, the Image's bass is much better.
The only thing I haven't liked about the sound in my 595s has been the
relative lack of bass. So I'm pleased the Images pick up that slack.

Sound: 8 / 10



Comfort-wise, they are still not comfortable. I really have to shove
them as far into my ear as I can to get a proper seal, and the outward
pressure inside my ear is still a new and generally unpleasant
experience. But there's a lot to be said for them being IEMs, and not
pressing the temples of my glasses into my ears and head like regular
headphones do.

Comfort: 6 /10



So overall second impression: 7.5 /10 (weighted average)



Impression #3, about a week later

I've been using the Images for a about a week now. I'd been using them
at my desk at work, hooked to my computer, and I decided to try them
out on the bus ride home last night. I'd tried the various other tips
from time to time, and had left on the medium sized buds, that come on
them in the package. And I got a seal! Repeatedly! I guess I hadn't
understood what soozieq meant by twisting them "towards you", but it
worked! Basically, pretend there's a pole sticking through one ear and
out the other... that's your axis of rotation. Try putting the
headphones in, and rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise around
that axis. Not very far, a quarter turn or less. I've had no luck doing
the "pull out slightly" method, but the twisting method works well for
me.



So I have a seal with the regular buds. In the past few days, I've
found the good bass, although strangely, I can really only get it by
NOT using my DAC and amp, but rather by plugging straight into the
audio out on the front of my computer. So I'm having to choose between
good bass, and clean sound. But plugging the Images into my A2 when I
was on the bus, the sound is wonderful. I wish I could use my A2 at
work, but I'm an computer animator and I need to hear the sound clips
on the computer as I scrub back and forth across my animation. If I
can't figure out how to get good bass out of my DAC and amp, they may
find themselves on the for sale forum, along with my 595s.



I still get better sound from my earlier method of ramming the double
flanges deep into my ear, but I really think I am very close to poking
my eardrum and it's not all that comfortable anyway. I'm looking
forward to playing around more with the regular buds. I've already sent
in the request for the 2 free ear gels as being the large double
flanges... who knows, maybe I'll still stick with those for superior SQ.



So I've found the good bass, managed to get a good seal from the regular buds, what's my thoughts now?



Sound: 9/10 (probably should be higher, but my setup is limiting me)

Comfort: 7/10 (getting better... my ears are still not used to having
these in them, but I can see how the regular gels will be more
comfortable)



Overall third impression: 8.5/10



I'm much happier with them now than I've been since getting them, and
considering how much they cost, I feel like I need to be pretty happy
with them to justify keeping them. I know audio gets a lot more
expensive than a pair of $350 headphones, but not for me. I can't
imagine there being more than one more follow-up impression to this
review, as I become more (or less?) comfortable wearing these.



And I intend to post a review comparing these in more detail to my
595s, KSC75s, and the Grado SR60s that I sold to the guy that sits next
to me at work, DAC'd, amp'd, and not.





Final impression, a month and a bit later

Unless there is interest in my doing a thorough listen thru my setup,
I'd prefer to sum up with saying that I wish I could wear these all the
time. Listening to the Images for a while and then going the 595s makes
me feel like I'm missing out on something with the 595s. The 595s have
a much more recessed sound, possibly due to the differences between
IEMs vs headphones, and not an issue particularly with the 595s. My
setup is not extensive enough to test this, but the verdict remains.
The music sounds how I want it to with the Images.



I can't give them a 10/10, though because of a couple usability issues.
One: I can't wear them for more than a couple hours at a time. Just the
feeling of them in my ears, the pressure of having "something" in my
ear canal will give me a headache if I wear them longer in a single
stretch. Two: microphonics. As long as I'm sitting forward so the cord
doesn't touch anything, things are great, but if I lean back and the
cord drapes across my shirt, the crunching grinding muttering of the
cord transmits right across everything any time I move at all, and I
move a lot. I'm a fidgeter, bouncing a leg, bouncing to the music,
looking around, or just moving my head a bit to look at various parts
of the screen.



However, despite those two annoyances, which I expect are common to
IEMs, and not particularly the fault of the Images, IEMs DO have killer
qualities of staying in your ears when you stretch, and not placing
pressure anywhere else on your head (ears, scalp), which, come to think
about it limits my headphone listening time to a couple hours at a go,
too... but do yourself a favor if you've never tried IEMs... don't try
eating with them in. It's not pleasant.



So my final score for these (assuming they remain reasonably durable in the coming years): 9.5/10



I wish I could wear them all the time, and I hope the more I wear them
the longer I'll be able to. The sound is involving. I find myself
enjoying what I'm listening to more often (well, assuming it's FLAC
nowadays... it'll be ok hard drive, shhh shhhh, it'll be ok). And I can
listen to whatever retarded song I feel like as loud as I want without
worrying about the guy next to me raising an eyebrow when "Billy Jean"
comes on.



You can drive these easily from whatever sound source you have, but you
will appreciate the difference as you upgrade your source.



I'm not sure who this review has been aimed at. Me, I guess. People who
have headphones and are looking at IEMs for the first time? Hope it was
useful.

__________________

Setup:

- maxxed out AlienDAC and MisterX XP amp

- Klipsch Image, Senn HD595, Koss KSC75

- Cowon A2



previously:

- Grado SR60

(I also posted this at Amazon, and Head-fi.org)