Hello,

 As I indicated in my review, I'm quite happy with my Images, but I've just noticed a small tear (or notch) on both earpieces where the cord disappears into the black rubber sleeve connected to the brass colored metal part of the earpiece.  I'll try to take a picture tonight.  Was this notch always here, manufactured in, or is the rubber sleeve tearing?  Is this something I should be concerned about after just over a month of using them?

 Thanks!

 Hmm, i just looked at mine and I think I know what your seeing.  Both mine have small rips on the top side of the sleeve, the left ear is large then the right.  I don't think it is meant to be....   i do wear them daily and have had them since end of Dec.

I saw your other post in the serial thread.

I'm going to take pictures tonight to post to help Amy and others see exactly what we are talking about.

 Awesome, thank you.  I'd forgotten about taking pictures.  Kind of surprised Amy or Thump hasn't dropped by the thread yet.

Please make sure you are always storing the IE's in their case.  I have seen some people put them in their pockets and forget about them.  The ending to the story may not always be so happy.  So far the IMAGE products have survived car door slams and drops to hard surfaces.   Some have actually gone through the washer and dryer and survived but I wouldn't recommend this treatment because the dryer heat should damage the armature.

Tears in the strain relief will not necessarily create a failure in the cable but it certainly doesn't help.  The cable is typically the #1 failure in a headphone so caution is advised in handling these gems.  I will also look at adhesives that are elastic to see if this will help to avoid any further splitting.

I always keep the case with me as it stores my iTouch and them nicely.  I do wear them about 30 minutes to an hour each way on my commute.  Then use the at night and on weekend.  Nothing sound wise has changed, I only noticed it since the OP mentioned it.

 Prof Thump, you have a PM with some additional links.  For the others to see, here is a small version of one shot.

hi

just to clarify - i have always carried the phones in the larger case along with my ipod nano (as shown below). That said, I've rarely had them out of my ear since they arrived. Will post a sketch later to show what I mean about the position in the ear.

Not sure if the photo will be clear enough so might try again later with the flash on.

See the full (uncropped) images here:

http://clevaclogs.com/PHOTOS/DSC02771.JPG

http://clevaclogs.com/PHOTOS/DSC02772.JPG

http://clevaclogs.com/PHOTOS/DSC02770.JPG

I don't doubt that you have taken the utmost care of your new IMAGE headphones.  I would not expect the sound to change with this condition on the strain relief.  If one were pulling up on the cable each time they removed them from their ears this might induce premature wear on the vertical mold seam.  As you might know it is best to grip the tail instead of the cable when removing. 

That being said we have flex tested the design through thousands of cycles in 5 axis with no issues.  This doesn't mean that there will be failures but the test is design to predict that this will not be a major issue.  If you have concern with your headphones please contact our Customer Service to discuss whether you should return this product or not.

Sorry if you have had issues but I am really glad that you like the sound quality.  I think IMAGE is a "keeper" in my book as my grandfather would say when we were fishin'. 

Stick it in your ear!

The sound certainly hasn't been affected Professor Thump - I never actually asked to return them to be honest - just how to repair it or replace the rubber.

To clarify - (as directed in the little manual that came with them, and via the tips from amy on this forum), I've been gripping the body of the connector section when inserting and removing the earphones (the bit that doesn't flex next to the metal end section). When inserting, I moisten the ear gel a little, insert them at an angle while gripping the connector body (not the end or the cable), and then twisting to achieve the seal, which has proven nice and easy (thanks very much). 

When removing them, I grasp the same part between forefinger and thumb.

Personally I think the reason for the little tear is that with the bud going quite deep into my ear canal (I'm an ER-4P user and am used to a deeply inserted earphone - my ears are quite 'loose' I suppose in that respect, and if anything I could probably use an even bigger ear gel than you currently offer as standard (I don't know if you do an XL version of the double flanges but I'd buy some). 

As a result of the deeply inserted bud, it sits at quite a steep angle, and as a result the end of the connector doesn't appear out of the little 'notch' at the bottom of my ear as shown in dreven's (wonderful) review thread on this forum. Instead, the end sits a small distance inside the cavity, and as a result, the connector is bent back against its natural direction. I've used them for just over a week now, including five workdays sat at my desk with the ultra-comfortable buds inserted for several hours at a time (a privilege formerly reserved for my ER-4Ps, which I guess will now be reserved only for heavy duty noise levels on the train. thus far the images have coped with every noise the world has thrown at them, but occasionally British Rail rolls out the old rolling stock and the train can be quite deafening as a result. I may have to keep the ER-4Ps for those occasions (and I do love them - they're not particularly comfortable and the bass is nowhere near as satisfying as the images, but the foam tips on those really do block out all noise, even when it's a rattly old train, whereas with the images, they are fine for 95% of all situations noise attenuation wyse (although possibly with an XL tip it'd be as good and comfier than the ER-4P for people with 'loose' ear canals), but you still hear the train pulling in and so on - I'm being UBER picky here - the images are easily the best all round earphones I've ever encountered and I want to make sure they last as long as I want them to.

Anyway, I'm not sure if this explains what I mean, but here goes... hopefully it illustrates where i think the pressure on the end of the connector is coming from - I guess when you're listening for around 8 hours a day on these things, it could cause a little tear/split, and you might find it quite a common user comment, notwithstanding the rigour of your stress testing (which I'm sure is comprehensive and exhaustive - I'm not dissing you in any way - just providing some feedback).

To contrast, here's Dreven's picture, which I guess typifies the average image user's ear (with the connector some distance outside the 'notch' at the bottom fo the ear).

 Iguess you could try and call the Tech Support line and see what they say.

I'm sorry, I believe they are still looking into this.  We'll post more soon.  Please keep in mind that if purchased from an authorized dealer, there is a 2-year warranty.  However, at this point, I believe this is a minor cosmetic issue at a stress point in some units that should not affect performance.  But as I said, we will post more info as we learn more.

Thanks!