Klipsch Image X10i In-Ear Headset for iPhone and iPod

Reviews for Klipsch Image X10i In-Ear Headset for iPhone and iPod

Customer Reviews and Ratings

4.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 30 reviews

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Petite High Fidelity

    • Written by from Honolulu

    The first thing that struck me is the X10i is on the delicate side: tiny machined aluminum earbuds and slender wires that tangle easily. The wires are thin so treat them with care. The barrels are finished with anodized copper. I prefer plain goth black. The X10i is not nearly as burly as the Shure E series. However, the fit and finish of these made-in-China cans are excellent, albeit understated.

    The earbuds are so small they disappear deep in your ear canal. Nevertheless, these are the most comfortable earbuds I've owned and I've owned dozens. The ultra soft silicon earplug-style design allow them to be worn comfortably for hours. The oval shape of the ear gels fit my ears more naturally than the round ones of other designs. I suffered no ear fatigue after five hours of listening on a flight between Honolulu and Las Vegas. For this design to work correctly, they need to fit perfectly and be worn deep in the ear canal. If worn too loosely or not deep enough, noise leaks in, bass response disappears and the sound stage deflates.

    The integral remote tangles at my upper chest and forms the yoke for the right and left earbud wires. Compared to the remote on Apple cans sold with the iPhone and Touch, this one is beefy and confidence inspiring: switches are well raised (to operate by touch) and have just the right resistance. My only complaint is the middle remote button requires extremely fast presses to invoke forward (2 clicks) and reverse (3 clicks) commands.

    Noise Reduction: When worn and fitted properly, these earbuds reduce the rumble and grinding of motors, air conditioners, traffic, etc., considerably. The reduction is sufficient to make music listening on an airplane, bus or train a high fidelity experience rather than an exercise in irritation.

    Sound Quality: The sound quality of these headphones is stunning: smooth, detailed, and neutral. I listened to classical and jazz selections through an Apple Touch and was amazed by the large and vivid sound stage. They have a "big speaker" quality to the sound stage making the imaging and position of each instrument crystal clear. The only thing missing is the tactile sensation of sound waves striking your body! These are not the right cans for hip-hop and metal fans as the reproduction is too smooth and balanced.

    Like most headphones, they sound best after a few hours of play-in. Out of the box they were thin, bright and soft. I let them play overnight and in the morning they morphed into deep tight bass, rich mids, smooth treble and detailed resolution.

    This is one pair of fine sounding and comfortable cans. In fact the best earbuds I've owned, and I've owned many.

    142 of 159 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    fantastic

    • Written by from scottsdale

    pros:
    100% noise cancelling- when the earbuds are in, you cant hear anything but rich sound
    deep base- even with the bass turned up there is never a buzz

    cons:
    fragile- because the base of the earbuds are rubber they rip easily if not properly stored
    price- quite pricey for headphones

    89 of 99 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    worth every penny!

    • Written by from wellesley

    in the last 10 years I have owned a few premium headsets, but there is always a compromise between size, performance and comfort. These earphones is a golden middle, very comfortable, with great sound and unbelievably small and light. if you considering them - buy it ! you would not be sorry...

    79 of 99 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Fantastic

    • Written by from CORPUS CHRISTI

    They best pair of earbuds I own, and I own:
    B&W
    Bose
    Ultimate ears
    And several other Klipsch

    37 of 41 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Incredibly loud crisp and clear.

    • Written by from Austin

    Try Vince Guaraldi's: A Charlie Brown Christmas. A crisp and smooth sound.

    Pushing these deep into ears cancels any other sounds. With lossless digital of great recordings comes an enriched musical experience. I love listening to the Rolling Stones guitar distortion, because it is something I never appreciated like this.

    Everything comes out in these. I can hear the musicians breathing as they begine to speak, like in the Carpenters We've Only Just Begun, when I can hear her lick her lips before singing a verse. Amazing!

    31 of 34 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    tiny Headphones, BIG Sound

    • Written by from Vancouver

    These things are some of the greatest IEM headphones you can buy.

    At first glance, you would probably not expect these to produce really such a stellar sound but these can really deliver, especially on the lower frequencies.

    The sound of these things are easily compared to some other great headphones like the Westone 3, UE10, and Shure se530. Each pair having their special sound, it honestly comes down to your personal prefence that gives the final say on which headset you buy. The Klipsch x10i headphones deliver staggeringly well in the bass end. Accurate crisp punches you can actually feel in your head that gives almost the effect of subs rumbling in your ears. The highs are also pretty good too. Nice, clean, crisp, and detailed, just like I like them. They are arguably recessed though, especially from someone who came from listening the UE10s. I would say the mids are the most lacking. Not as pronounced and probably one of the headphone's few downsides. This is not to say they are horrible, but they are not perfect either.

    The special thing about the x10i is the size and comfort though. These things have remarkable comfort unmatched by any other brand. Especially with the fact that these headphones only use one balanced armature (transducer speaker) unlike the rivals who often use 3 armatures that make it large and chunky, making it hard or impossible for someone with smaller ears to use and keep listening for a long period of time. Klipsch also use their special designed oval ear tips in each of their headsets.

    The x10i now also come with an iPod/iPhone inline remote and microphone. I would say the remote works decently well, though I hate the fact that Klipsch placed the remote in such an odd spot since I usually wear my headphone under a shirt and thus makes the remote virtually useless to me. I cannot comment on the microphone since I never use it.

    All in all, the Klipsch x10i headphones are a great buy for those who are looking for a fun pair of IEMS that sound, fit, and not to mention look great. Just a note though, these are NOT a super flat pair of headphones. They are fun and punchy with good detail, but if you are looking for a completely flat and analytical pair of IEMS, I suggest you look elsewhere. A good start if you were looking at these are the Klipsch x5s, the x10i's smaller (yet chunkier) brother. They are relatively flat headphones that sound great but in my opinion are not as fun to listen to and in general, not as punchy. Hope you get what you're looking for!

    22 of 24 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    They sound great

    • Written by from Toledo

    Very, very good!! For in-ear phones, bass is great - deep and clear. The range is better than any thing short of top end speakers with powerful amps that will hit the body with low end bass. Very accurate. I have played albums that I have enjoyed for a very long time and have heard more detail than ever.

    Very comfortable. Play around with the various silicon ear seals to get the best fit.

    Caution - I do not do MP-3s or other downloaded music. I use only ripped CDs with lossless format - highest bit rate and sample rate. These cannot be fully appreciated with lossy formats.

    Adust the equalizer to your preference. This may take some time and patience, but the results are worth it.

    The only thing better is a huge ($$$$) wall of speakers driven off a good digital to analog audio converter. Although very, very expensive, they are worth the price.

    21 of 23 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    First use is deceiving... after a while you will appreciate these headphone

    • Written by from Bristol

    I purchased these after my Shure in ears finally called it a day. I was tossing up between these, another pair of shures or a pair of monster beats. I finally took a plunge on the Klipsch and let me tell you... i was about to go back to the store and demand my money back, they were that bad.... low sound, low bass, actually how about no bass? I even put the standard apple headphones back in and they sounded better than these.

    but i perservered and im happy that i did.... these earphones are all about fit. Once you have found the silicon mould that suits your ear and once you have learned how to position them in your ear to suite your size then they are awsome. Clear, Crisp, Good Bass....

    my only hate is that they do tend to wobble a little when on the move so you do fiind your self fixing them in your ear every 20 mins or so.

    26 of 34 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Read before you buy

    • Written by from FRISCO

    These headphone are great! What does that mean?

    headphones with more than one driver are designed for accurate reproduction of sound. The rest depends on how the music was recorded and produced.

    If you are looking for high base to make hip hop sound great, get the Beats. These are not designed for that. In fact the higher the base is the more distortion is to be expected in other frequencies.
    I listen to wide variety of music including instrumental and classic. These headphones and my pair of Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 sound fantastic.

    So find out what you'd prefer. Accurate reproduction of sound can please or disappoint.

    17 of 19 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great Upgrade

    • Written by from Mainz

    Pros: excellent sound; very comfortable to wear; extremely good noise cancelling; small headphones which are almost unnoticable

    Cons: pricey; perhaps a better cable

    All in all: the best InEar headphones I ever owned sound is perfect and wearing comfort is amazing

    15 of 16 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    The best for sensitive ears

    • Written by from Nanoose Bay

    My ears are too sensitive, everything hurts them eventually -- except these. I'm one of those people that finds it too painful to sleep with my head on my side because my ears become very painful regardless of how soft or accommodating a pillow is, so it's tricky when I want to do something where the physical ear is part of. I started with Klipsch S4i but, you guessed, they were too painful. I had bought a bunch of audio books and wanted to lay in bed with them but could not. So I bought these -- which are a lot of money! Other reviewers will tell you about the sounds, I only use them for books, but what I can tell you about is the comfort. Wow. They slip in and disappear. The form is so shaped that they have minimal physical presence and nothing hard which the ear can resist. I love them. I used the smallest of the various silicone ends and can wear these for hours and not be in excruciating pain. I hope they last because I will certainly be using these a lot!

    14 of 15 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Amazing headset

    • Written by from Reston

    They are so light and comfortable, the best headset I've ever owned.

    18 of 23 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Good sound quality. Poor build quality

    • Written by from Sunnyvale

    I've owned these headphones for about a year and a half. Let me start by saying these headphones sound great for their size, as they should for their price. They are also the lightest earbuds I've ever owned.

    My problem with them is their build quality. One of my earbuds have two rips in it. I don't even know what caused them to rip. I only use these headphones while sitting at my desk at work. Also, the cord has broken at the base of where the wire connects into the device and there is about 1cm worth of exposed wiring. This one is my fault since it happened by my pulling the cord to disconnect the headphones instead of grabbing it by the base of the cord. However, I do this with other headphones and I just find this to be a design flaw for not making it more durable/robust.

    17 of 22 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Suprising quality in such a small package

    • Written by from San Francisco

    I loved the S4i model, and found these X10i tiny earbuds to be even better. Both have really good base for earbuds, and to my ears the S4i has slightly greater base. But I like the slightly less basie X10i that seems to have better base clarity. And the size of the X10i is really great. I have difficult to fit ears (small ear canal), but was able to get a good fit with both S4i and X10i. These are the only earbuds I've used that I have gotten the small double flange ear tip to fit into my ear. I was amazed to find earbuds that were close to the quality of my over-the ear 50mm wired headphones.

    13 of 14 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Six months and still loving them!

    • Written by from Overland Park

    I don't know what's wrong with the people who are giving these earbuds bad reviews. Maybe as a few point out they aren't fitted into their ears properly, but you'd think an experienced earbud user would know the difference. You do need to insert these all the way into your ear, which feels a bit invasive, but is not really uncomfortable after you get used to it. The oval shape of the tips helps make for a more comfortable and tight fit. After that they are golden with very clear, clean, transparent, and well balanced sound in both bass, highs and mid-tones. The detail of the instrumentality is amazing. To enjoy these the most use high quality source music and amplification. They will reveal flaws in poor recordings. The only earbuds I have heard that compare favorably to these are the Monster Miles Davis earbuds, but I would give the Klipsch the nod over them even. If you only listen to jazz then maybe the Miles Davis earbuds would be an ok choice, but if you listen to jazz and other some types of music as well then I would use the Klipsch earbuds! I was lucky and purchased these on sale at Nebraska Furniture Mart for $250 instead of $350 as they are most places, but I would pay that much for them they are really good!

    12 of 13 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    awsome headphones

    • Written by from Outremont

    I've had these for awhile now and they sound great,they are the best headphones I've ever had. i also have a pair grado gr10 and i like the klipsch x10i much more then them. when you take them out the box they will
    sound bad because you have to let these burn in. play music at normal listening volume through these for a few days and give them a few minutes break every so often and they will start to sparkle. the headphones are very comfortable. spend time figuring out how to place them in your ear and take your time choosing your ear tips

    13 of 16 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Klipsch X10i: The best sounding earphones yet.

    • Written by from Pasig City

    Pros: Clearest sounding earphones that you can hear each and every detail of the sound. Bass is just right. Comfortable and lightweight, its like you are not wearing anything in your ears. Best for those you would like to experience quality sound that you can bring anywhere.

    Cons: Pricey (but worth every penny).

    Highly recommended.

    11 of 12 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    You will love these headphones!

    • Written by from Asheville

    I am amazed by the quality of these headphones. They are also the most comfortable I have ever owned. I have bought about ten different pairs of headphones over the years - all high end - $300-500 and these are by far the best. I now prefer these for flights, etc. over my Bose. Worth the price!

    12 of 14 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Astonishing

    • Written by from Toronto

    Well, I'm shocked by these things. They are spectacular and I have never had anything quite like them. I did not expect anything like this. I've already got Grado gr8s, Shure 535PTHs, and various other higher-end in-ear buds. I simply wanted a halfway decent set of backup earphones for the gym. I did not consider that these headphones would surpass the Grados, but they do - they're better than the 500$ Shure PTH 535s. As to the particular sound response:
    - extremely pronounced bass response
    - disappointing initial mid range; they do improve but never match the 535s (but they come close)
    - acceptable high rage

    They are the most comfortable ear buds I've ever owned.

    13 of 17 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Not as good as Klipsch S4i ($100 inside Apple retail store)

    • Written by from San Jose

    I bought this to compare against Klipsch S4i. Conventional wisdom would have us assume that the way more expensive item would also be that much better. Not a chance. I'm going to return the X10i and keep the S4i.

    25 of 42 people found this useful

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