ADD
500+ Head-Fier
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- Jun 29, 2007
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And the very first impressions echoed what some have already said: no one need ever be suspicious that they did not received a genuine, factory sealed Klipsch product....
...which is just as well because once I had opened the packaging all I could smell was what I thought to be cigarette smoke. I could not imagine that those working on the Klipsch production line are all chain smokers, but there you go. The smell turned out to be a by-product of the manufacturing process and materials used to make the smart, upmarket cases that come with the product. That aside, the packaging has been very well thought out. The extremely high quality accessories, meticulous packing and extremely well presented documentation are all evidence that what you are buying is a high quality product.
And then half a day of frustration began. I've never been much of an IEM person, since I've never much been a fan of putting something into my ears, even though when used properly IEMs are of course completely safe. To add to the problem, I have very sensitive ear canals - even my musician's ear plugs which were custom molded by a very experienced senior audiologist are uncomfortable after much more than a couple of hours. And yet the fit is as perfect as one can get.
I had been vacillating between the X10 and Custom 3 but chose the X10 on account of the universally positive feedback regarding the comfort levels versus the Custom 3 (I had not heard of anyone saying fit and comfort were a problem with the X10, but I had read that this was an ocassional problem with the Custom 3).
Well it looks like I am the first person on the planet to have had fit and comfort issues with the X10, but given my sensitive ear canals, plus the fact that my ear canals are each significantly different shaped, none of this was going to make things easy from the start. Previous to the X10, I had had problems with the Westone UM2 and Shure SE310 for the same reasons - I could never get a comfortable, secure fit.
The standard X10 medium tips were hopeless. If the X10s did not fall out, then they certainly did not fit the same way in each ear. and I could not insert the X10 in very far either. As result, the tonal balance was either completely off or the sound was exceptionally "phasey" , unbalanced left to right with incoherent imaging. Over the next 5 hours I continually experimented with all the different tips, bar the smallest which were clearly far too small to very create any sort of seal at all.
I even tried using the Auragel (for my ear plugs) to help insert the X10, but this did not help at all. It was at this point that I was all but ready to sadly write off this purchase and curse the fact that here in Australia you can't return anything if it isn't suitable.
I then tried something very simple - using the larger biflange tips I them wet them with distilled water before inserting them. This was not something mentioned in the X10 manual, however I had remembered reading about this when I was considering buying the Etymotic ER-4S last year.
This was an enormous improvement. Yes - I still have comfort issues because my left ear is slightly too small for the large biflange and too big for the small biflange. And my right ear is ever so slightly too big for the large biflange. As a result, even as I write the left ear fit is a bit too tight and the right ear fit is a bit too loose. But after hours of experimenting, this appears to be as good as it is going to get. Nevertheless, with the distilled water I could insert the X10 deeply enough in my ear to begin to appreciate their acoustic qualities.
And on that subject I have to say that when the X10 is optimally inserted in an acoustic sense, the sound really is very, very good. Unlike my previous UM2 and SE310, the X10 has a more open, detailed and transparent top end and nice wallop to the bottom end to make for a warm presentation (I would certainly describe my previous IEMs as very cold sounding). Although some people feel the bass is a little extreme in the X10, I did not feel this to be the case - infact in my view, a masculine bottom end is the very foundation of everything that goes on above it. Any sound engineer will tell you that mucking with one frequency range will effect how a completely different frequency range is perceived. So the generous low end tends to add warmth and power to other parts of the spectrum as well.
Perhaps the most exceptional characteristic of the X10 is it's ability to maintain it's tonal balance regardless of SPL. Every other headphone or IEM I have auditioned, bar the Sennheiser HD650, will tend to harden up it's presentation on orchestral peaks. We are talking here about an average listening level of around 75 dB, but this means that orchestral tuttis might reach around 85 dB, peaks might reach 95 dB plus and quieter parts might only be 60 dB or even less. That is large dynamic range, yet the X10 behaves perfectly regardless. It sounds exactly the same - with the exact same perceived tonal balance, regardless of what the orchestra is doing, which instruments are playing or how loud everything is. If I had to compare the X10 to a speaker, I would be thinking of those huge speakers from the 1950s and 60s such as the massive Tannoys. It has that same sort of effortlessness and unfailing smoothness of presentation. I suppose once could say the larger Klipsch speakers might be similar - but I am merely speculating - Klipsch isn't really a huge brand for high end speakers in this country.
Anyway, my overall impression is very positive, bar the fit and comfort issues which would seem to be a rare exception to the rule. Infact as I intimated earlier, I would not be surprised if I am the only person ever to have reported issues - it's not as if Klipsch did not do their homework, plus you get a pretty good array of tips to try.
I suppose the comfort issues are a hidden blessing. Were there no such issues I would probably wish to listen for extended periods - something which would not be safe at my usual listening levels.
Incidentally, the gear I have been using for listening purposes is:
Sony PCM D50 (running at 16-48 DAT quality) and Project RPM5 with Goldring 1042 as sources.
Musical Fidelity Xcan V3, ASUS Xonar, Cmoy as headphone amplifiers.
...which is just as well because once I had opened the packaging all I could smell was what I thought to be cigarette smoke. I could not imagine that those working on the Klipsch production line are all chain smokers, but there you go. The smell turned out to be a by-product of the manufacturing process and materials used to make the smart, upmarket cases that come with the product. That aside, the packaging has been very well thought out. The extremely high quality accessories, meticulous packing and extremely well presented documentation are all evidence that what you are buying is a high quality product.
And then half a day of frustration began. I've never been much of an IEM person, since I've never much been a fan of putting something into my ears, even though when used properly IEMs are of course completely safe. To add to the problem, I have very sensitive ear canals - even my musician's ear plugs which were custom molded by a very experienced senior audiologist are uncomfortable after much more than a couple of hours. And yet the fit is as perfect as one can get.
I had been vacillating between the X10 and Custom 3 but chose the X10 on account of the universally positive feedback regarding the comfort levels versus the Custom 3 (I had not heard of anyone saying fit and comfort were a problem with the X10, but I had read that this was an ocassional problem with the Custom 3).
Well it looks like I am the first person on the planet to have had fit and comfort issues with the X10, but given my sensitive ear canals, plus the fact that my ear canals are each significantly different shaped, none of this was going to make things easy from the start. Previous to the X10, I had had problems with the Westone UM2 and Shure SE310 for the same reasons - I could never get a comfortable, secure fit.
The standard X10 medium tips were hopeless. If the X10s did not fall out, then they certainly did not fit the same way in each ear. and I could not insert the X10 in very far either. As result, the tonal balance was either completely off or the sound was exceptionally "phasey" , unbalanced left to right with incoherent imaging. Over the next 5 hours I continually experimented with all the different tips, bar the smallest which were clearly far too small to very create any sort of seal at all.
I even tried using the Auragel (for my ear plugs) to help insert the X10, but this did not help at all. It was at this point that I was all but ready to sadly write off this purchase and curse the fact that here in Australia you can't return anything if it isn't suitable.
I then tried something very simple - using the larger biflange tips I them wet them with distilled water before inserting them. This was not something mentioned in the X10 manual, however I had remembered reading about this when I was considering buying the Etymotic ER-4S last year.
This was an enormous improvement. Yes - I still have comfort issues because my left ear is slightly too small for the large biflange and too big for the small biflange. And my right ear is ever so slightly too big for the large biflange. As a result, even as I write the left ear fit is a bit too tight and the right ear fit is a bit too loose. But after hours of experimenting, this appears to be as good as it is going to get. Nevertheless, with the distilled water I could insert the X10 deeply enough in my ear to begin to appreciate their acoustic qualities.
And on that subject I have to say that when the X10 is optimally inserted in an acoustic sense, the sound really is very, very good. Unlike my previous UM2 and SE310, the X10 has a more open, detailed and transparent top end and nice wallop to the bottom end to make for a warm presentation (I would certainly describe my previous IEMs as very cold sounding). Although some people feel the bass is a little extreme in the X10, I did not feel this to be the case - infact in my view, a masculine bottom end is the very foundation of everything that goes on above it. Any sound engineer will tell you that mucking with one frequency range will effect how a completely different frequency range is perceived. So the generous low end tends to add warmth and power to other parts of the spectrum as well.
Perhaps the most exceptional characteristic of the X10 is it's ability to maintain it's tonal balance regardless of SPL. Every other headphone or IEM I have auditioned, bar the Sennheiser HD650, will tend to harden up it's presentation on orchestral peaks. We are talking here about an average listening level of around 75 dB, but this means that orchestral tuttis might reach around 85 dB, peaks might reach 95 dB plus and quieter parts might only be 60 dB or even less. That is large dynamic range, yet the X10 behaves perfectly regardless. It sounds exactly the same - with the exact same perceived tonal balance, regardless of what the orchestra is doing, which instruments are playing or how loud everything is. If I had to compare the X10 to a speaker, I would be thinking of those huge speakers from the 1950s and 60s such as the massive Tannoys. It has that same sort of effortlessness and unfailing smoothness of presentation. I suppose once could say the larger Klipsch speakers might be similar - but I am merely speculating - Klipsch isn't really a huge brand for high end speakers in this country.
Anyway, my overall impression is very positive, bar the fit and comfort issues which would seem to be a rare exception to the rule. Infact as I intimated earlier, I would not be surprised if I am the only person ever to have reported issues - it's not as if Klipsch did not do their homework, plus you get a pretty good array of tips to try.
I suppose the comfort issues are a hidden blessing. Were there no such issues I would probably wish to listen for extended periods - something which would not be safe at my usual listening levels.
Incidentally, the gear I have been using for listening purposes is:
Sony PCM D50 (running at 16-48 DAT quality) and Project RPM5 with Goldring 1042 as sources.
Musical Fidelity Xcan V3, ASUS Xonar, Cmoy as headphone amplifiers.
