Klipsch Image X10 Noise Isolating Earphone

Other products by Klipsch

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 inches ; 4.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000WAHFBK
• Item model number: 1007328
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 21, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Introducing IMAGE noise-isolating earphones from Klipsch. Not only is it the world's smallest and lightest full-range in-ear earphone design, IMAGE from Klipsch fuses lifestyle, technology, and fashion to offer a personalized fit and deliver a precision-tuned acoustic experience. Status symbol products such as the iPod® have played a major role in making technology fashionable in recent years, making it necessary to develop a stylish audio accouterments that can bring better sound to in-vogue listeners.

Klipsch IMAGE--when you're as serious about sound as you are about style

Complete Comfort

IMAGE earphones utilize translucent patent-pending Contour Ear Gels that are anatomically designed to accurately fit inside the human ear canal. These soft, oval silicon tips reduce ear fatigue as well as provide an amazing seal for excellent noise isolation and increased bass response.

Because ear canal measurements vary, each IMAGE model comes with five different ear gel sizes: small, medium, and large single flange designs as well as small and large double flange designs. Such variety allows these earphones to fit more of the population than the competition.

Complete Immersion

Inside these compact gems, you'll find over 60 years of audio expertise ready to let you hear what you've been missing. Exclusive extended-frequency KG926 balanced micro-armatures deliver a superior acoustic experience with all the delicate accuracy you have come to expect from Klipsch.

The world's smallest and lightest full-range in-ear earphones

Complete Allure

A must-have audio accouterment for fashion-forward listeners, IMAGE earphones feature aluminum bodies finished in beautiful anodized copper and sleek, streamlined black "tails." Aside from aesthetic appeal, these flexible "tails" reduce cable stress and serve as an acoustic dampener to minimize cable noise.

Complete Satisfaction

Furthermore, Klipsch has gone to great lengths to ensure the long-lasting durability of IMAGE, up to and including its 50-inch-long vinyl cables. The company has added appropriate strain relief at every cable connection point to help prevent wire damage, while also putting IMAGE through extensive "real world" testing.

Complete Features and Added Frills

Klipsch IMAGE earphones have true-to-life sound immersion for all activities: from travel to exercise to just relaxing and listening to your favorite music. Their uniquely small, fashionable design provides unparalleled comfort and an amazingly accurate fit. With their exceptional durability they can go the extra mile with you wherever you may go with any number of portable devices such as iPods, the iPhone and virtually any device with a headphone jack. These earphones come with a faux-leather carrying case and compact pouch, a 1/4-inch adaptor, an airline adaptor, five sets of ear gels and an ear gel cleaning tool.

Product Description

Not only is it the world's smallest and lightest full-range in-ear headphone design, the Klipsch Image fuses lifestyle, technology, and fashion to offer a personalized fit and deliver a precision-tuned acoustic experience. IMAGE earphones utilize translucent patent-pending Contour Ear Gels that are anatomically designed to accurately fit inside the human ear canal. These soft, oval silicon tips reduce ear fatigue as well as provide an amazing seal for excellent noise isolation and increased bass response. Because ear canal measurements vary, each IMAGE model comes with five different ear gel sizes: small, medium, and large single flange designs as well as small and large double flange designs. Exclusive extended-frequency KG926 balanced micro-armatures deliver a superior acoustic experience with all the delicate accuracy you have come to expect from Klipsch. IMAGE earphones feature aluminum bodies finished in beautiful anodized copper and sleek, streamlined black "tails." Aside from aesthetic appeal, these flexible "tails" reduce cable stress and serve as an acoustic dampener to minimize cable noise.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb in-ear phones, August 27, 2008

By	Music Omnivore (Boston) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I primarily use earphones with my iPod, particularly when traveling by air, which I do a lot. The Klipsch Images replaced an older set of Shure E3c in-ear phones that I had been using for about three years. The Klipsch phones are very light, and I found that their earpieces fit me better and were more comfortable to wear than the Shures. They sealed out noise very well. Most importantly, however, the sound of the Klipsch phones is superb, and noticeably better than the Shure phones, any iPod earbuds and even my full-size Grado SR125s. Bass response is astonishingly good. These are expensive, but if you want something small, light and of very high quality, these phones are a great choice.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Comfortable Earbuds Ever!, November 26, 2007

By	A. Hennessey - See all my reviews

This are, without question, the MOST comfortable in-ear headphones I have ever worn. The difference between the fit of these compared to other high-end earbuds is amazing! I have a pair of SE530s and have tried others such as the ER4-P, Triple.fi, and many others. I use to love switching back and forth between models and having them for different uses, but now after wearing the IMAGEs, I find myself disappointed when I am without them.

When I first used these, I thought they sounded a little muddy. The bass from the tiny things is unbelievable! Once I adjusted my EQ settings, they sounded fantastic. I would say that they aren't as accurate as the ER4-Ps or SE530s, but the comfort makes up for any accuracy they may be lacking!

The IMAGEs are very light weight and are hardly noticeable when you have them inserted properly. I prefer the two flanged tip over the single. I can get a proper seal every time, and they are very easy to take out and put back in. Nothing is more annoying than when you get that perfect seal and then some joker walks up and starts talking to you. I hate that when I am wearing my SE530s because they are such a pain to put in. Not a problem with these.

True, the retail on these is a little steep, but I promise you will not regret it! 5 stars for comfort, style, and sound quality.

74 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Klipsch Image ongoing review, April 7, 2008

By	Bumblestiltskin - See all my reviews

EDIT: I've gotten a few comments mentioning this review isn't for various other headphones. Amazon has lumped all the Klipsch headphone comments into a single area for some reason, so you'll find reviews for Custom 1, 2, 3, X5, X10, etc all mashed in together. My review here is for the Klipsch X10 (named "Image" when I got them).

This review runs a little long, because it was originally written for a forum [...] where detailed audio reviews are important, and copy / pasted here. Short answer is hearty thumbs-up. 5 stars.

------------------------
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... Read more ›