let me start off by saying that mine just arrived yesterday and as far as sound quality goes, I absoluetly LOVE these headphones..   I work at an airport doing radio installs on airplanes and with these in, I don't have to listen to the noisy jets throttling up outside my hangar..  I keep my cowon x5l strapped to my arm with the headphone cable going up my shoulder and out my collar, behind my head and over my ears.. makes climbing in and out of tight spots extremely easy as the wires are kept up and out of the way so they don't catch on anything and everything like headphones I've had in the past..

only problem I've encountered so far is that every time I move my head very much, it drags the cables across my collar and I get this REALLY annoying rubbing sound coming through the headphones..  is there something I'm doing wrong?  or is this just typical of IEM's?  love the sound quality, but the noise is driving me nuts!

Cable noise is a very common problem with IEMs.  The nice cloth covered cord on the Custom models probably doesn't help in the noise respect but it sure does help in keeping the smallish cables from getting tangled up too bad. 

What you can do is cinch the cable tightly behind your ears using the little slider after you've got them inserted.  It probably won't totaly eliminate the noise but should alleviate it quite a it.  I mostly use my Custom 2 sitting at my desk so I've not had too big a problem with cable noise.

kinda what I was afraid of..  oh well, only day #2 and I'm already learning to ignore it  

one other question though..  does klipsch have any other tips available beyond what comes with the headphones?  or if not, do any of the other brands tips fit the custom 3's?  my right ear seals up first try every time no problem and stays sealed until I pull it out..  my left one on the other hand I can feel slowly creeping out from the moment I put it in, and if I'm lucky, keeps it's seal for 45 seconds to a minute before it breaks and I have to readjust it..  the medium single flange tips seem to fit the best..  they stay in the longest and can wear them all day without any discomfort..  the larges stay in almost as long, but are uncomfortable after an hour or so, and the smalls break the seal as soon as I take my finger off the ear bud..  the double flanges are uncomfortable from the get go and don't seem to stay put any better than the singles.. 

If you're already cinching the cable pretty tightly, then the thing is to keep the cable from rubbing against your collar. 

I'm not sure how, but maybe if you could attached the cable to your collar somehow so it wouldn't rub. 

Or if you could cover it in teflon tape somehow where it rubs against the collar so it would be more slippery?  Maybe wrap a little teflon tape around that part of the cord and secure with a little electrical tape over the teflon tape at either end being careful so the electrical tape doesn't stick to the cord itself. 

Another crazy thought was to somehow wrap a small stiff wire, maybe like florists use around the cable between the cinch part and somehow keep the cable away from the collar....

And the final and maybe most sensible idea would be a little clip that you could clip to your collar that would hold the cabel away from your collar?  Maybe they make such clips for microphone cables. Could maybe even do something like that with a bobby pin though you'd have to wrap a small wire or bit of tape below the top so the cable stayed at the top.  

Good luck and let us know what you come up with.  

Maybe Professor Thump has some ideas.... but not seen much of him around here lately..... maybe he's on vacation or cooking up some even more incredible IEMs?  

The only other size flanges are extra small which are really for the Image models and people with small ear canals though my daughter has used them with my Custom 2.   

I'm not sure about keeping a seal with your problem ear.  I too have some trouble with that with Custom 2 and overly sensitve ears.  The large single flange seem to work the best for me.   I think I saw a suggestion in a post to put a little salive on your finger and wipe it on the gel.... something I've not tried but it worked for that person.  

as funny as it sounds, keeping the  cinch almost all the way down is working the best..  I found if I keep some excess slack hanging out the top of my collar, the weight of the shirt keeps the cables from falling back down, and the loops up top allow the cables to flex when I move my head, so they don't rub up against my collar nearly as much..

thought about the idea of wrapping tape around the cords (we've got some cold fusion tape at work that might be well suited to that..  no adhesive, you just stretch it and wrap it around whatever, and it sticks to itself..) not sure how well it'd work though..  afraid the extra weight/bulk would keep the cords from being as flexible and pull on the earbuds every time I move my head..  something like shrink tubing would be nice, but I'm not sure how I'd get it past the earbuds without cutting the wires (which for obvious reasons I'd rather not do..)

as far as getting a better seal, tried cleaning my ears out with a q-tip..  didn't hardly get anything out, but the left one seems to be sealing better than it was before..  who knows, might just be a coincidence..  I have noticed that both sides loose their seals more often when I've been sweating a lot..  maybe that had something ta do with it..  <shrug>

thanks for the feedback, bouncin ideas off someone else never hurts  ;)

-Alan- 

You will also find that the left and right ear require a different setting.  No two ears are alike which means that you will need to adjust each nozzle angle as it approaches the ear canal.  You will also find that a Comply ear tip will give you a good seal.  This is the same material used in earplugs.  The fit won't be as comfortable but you will get a good seal.  The main problem is that the ear tips get dirty quickly and it is uncomfortable when you have to repeat ably remove the ear tips from your ear canals.  But be carefult to put the eartips all the way on.  If you don't they will come off the nozzle and get stuck in your ear.

Just stick it in your ears!