.jpg)
Everywhere I go people are listening to music. Whether it be out walking the dog, at the gym or sitting in the park, they usually have earbuds in their ears as they listen. More often than not it’s the ubiquitous white Apple earbuds that I see. That isn’t too surprising as though there are other MP3 music players for sale, Apple has over 70% of the market with the iPod. What is so surprising is that so many people use the standard earbuds that come with the iPod. They don’t sound that very good and to make matters worse, they are really uncomfortable. Here’s a story about a great alternative.
Klipsch has been in business producing premium quality audio components since 1946. They started out making speakers, and over the years they’ve branched out to a wide range of audio products. Their products cover a large range of solutions that are designed for any life-style, application and budget.
The product I'm going to tell you about today are their Image S4 in-ear headphones. These headphones were designed by Klipsch to provide a much better listening experience than the standard earbuds that ship with iPods and other MP3 players. The concept is to provide much better sound quality at an affordable price.
When Klipsch offered me the opportunity to try these, I initially told them I wasn’t interested because I find in-ear headphones very uncomfortable. My Klipsch contact person told me that these are different and I should try them. I relented. Why are they different? They use a patent pending oval ear tip. As it turns out, nearly everyone has oval-shaped ear canals.
Klipsch
Back in 2007 when Klipsch engineers started looking at the headphone market their engineers were astounded to find two things: Ear canals are oval and no one was manufacturing an oval ear tip. This was quite a revelation to me and it really started to make sense. I knew why standard earbuds, like Apple’s were uncomfortable, they are hard and one size is supposed to fit all. All the higher quality in-ear headphones fit better, but were still quite uncomfortable after wearing for a while. I gave up on them and started wearing over the ear headphones all the time. Now I know why the earbuds were so uncomfortable, I have oval ear canals.
An additional huge advantage of the oval tip design is a better seal, while they remain comfortable. Why is a better seal important? If the headphones don’t seal well we lose bass. Bass response is sort of the holy grail of headphones and it’s very hard to achieve at all, no less when you have a less than optimal seal in the ear. Also, a good seal means less intrusion of ambient sound or noise, this is a huge plus, especially in noisy environments.
So these fit great, they are comfortable, seal well and stay in place. This is a very good thing. In addition to the oval design, Klipsch provides three different size ear tips with the headphones. It’s easy to find the right size to comfortably fit virtually any ear.
Now let’s back up a little and talk about some other features and benefits of these headphones:
Packaging
When I opened the shipping box I was extremely pleased to see that the Image S4 headphones didn’t come in a blister pack. I hate blister packs, they are no fun to wrestle with and cutting them open can be quite a dangerous task. Kudos go to Klipsch on the nice packaging.
Esthetics
These are very nice looking headphones, very attractive in black and silver. They have a very high quality look and feel to them, they feel like a quality product. The materials used were not skimped on, befitting their not insignificant selling price.
Klipsch
Carrying case
An aluminum carrying case is included. The case has a padded interior to hold a cleaning tool, the extra ear tips as well as the headphones when they aren't being used. While the case will protect the headphones, I'm not crazy about it. It reminds me of an Altoids tin and it is kind of bulky. I travel a lot and space savings is a concern of mine when packing. I would have preferred a leather or vinyl zipper type case. Regardless, it will keep everything together and protected.
Speaker technology
When you first see the S4 headphones you notice they are far from the smallest in-ear headphones you’ve ever seen. There’s a reason for this. The housings are larger because each one uses a Klipsch exclusive dual-magnet micro speaker. By giving these micro-speakers larger diaphragms the S4 headphones provide more output as well as better musical accuracy and bass response compared to other headphones in their price range.
Ease of use
My experience with these headphones was quite pleasant. I opened the package easily, popped the headphones and carrying case out of the package, experimented with the various ear tips to find the best fit and hooked them up to one of my iPods. There really isn’t anything difficult here. Finding the best size ear tip to use and plugging it in is the extent of using the product. That’s a good thing, because the provided instruction sheet is minimalist at best. I would have liked to have see an explanation of the ear tips, getting the right seal and why it’s important to have a good fit.
What’s in the box:
- Image S4 Headphones
- Small/medium dual flange ear tips
- Medium and large single flange ear tips
- Ear tip cleaning tool
- Crush-resistant aluminum case
Conclusion
Hands down, these are the most comfortable in-ear headphones I've ever used! Sound wise they sound quite good and the sound quality is about what you’d expect for their price. They do have very nice bass response and mid-range as well. If I had to nitpick I'd say they fall a little short in the higher range. To get the most out of them, remember to make sure you have a good seal.
Are these the best in-ear headphones available on the market? No, you can get better quality sound but you will pay for it. In fact, when it comes to audio, there is always something better and more expensive. These are a huge improvement over any earbuds included with an iPod or other MP3 type player. For $79.99 (U.S. MSRP) they are a good value and I don’t hesitate to recommend them.
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElectronicsX
Comments
I can't use the original iPod earbuds for more than an hour, $79.99 is a good price, because of the oval ear tip I want to have one.
klipsch image s4 are not available in market,
then how did u tried,
Klipsch sent me a pair for evaluation and review.
Klipsch is a great company for home entertainment but how do these earbuds compare to the Bose earbuds...they give amazing sound with all the deepth of real speakers.
Thanks for the thorough review! I've been looking for a decent replacement for my stock ear buds - this seems like a good investment.
Appreciate the S4 review. I, too, tend to shrink back when I think about using earbuds/in-ear types (prefer my expensive HD studio monitors, but they don't travel well). I've gone through a dozen in-ear type and there are two aspects (other than sound quality) that most fall short. 1-Cord. Length/thickness/material [don't like if too short or too long, needs to be flexible, but durable...this extends to material...had high-end Sony's that I liked but after working out with them the sweat just ate right through the sheathing of cable and got really sticky, gross.] 2-Flange [by this I'm referring to where the cord/cable meets the in-ear speaker part. I have high-angle ear canals and anything with a hard stick or piece jutting out just forces them to move and then slip out and makes them uncomfortable]
Anyway, these look worth a try as they don't seem to be affected negatively by these two factors. would love sweat test of cable material, but that's probably not a real option (lol). Think I saw these at Costco for a little cheaper than your list price, so I'll check them out in person on my next trip there.
thanks again.
This was a timely review for me, thanks. The earbuds I have now were a gift from my daughter, because I had simply refused to deviate from headphones. While they are reasonably comfortable, they actually seem to amplify background noise instead of reduce it. I am very curious how the Klipsch compares in sound quality to Bose. Jay? If you know. Thanks.
It took how many years for someone to take a look at the shape of the ear they were making a product to fit into?... about time. Nice review. I hate blister packaging too! Someone should market oval ear tips that adapt to all other earbud products.
I was in the CE industry for over 20 years and a decent rule of thumb is 10:1 for earphones to speakers. In other words, a pair of earphones that cost $80 is roughly equal to a pair of speakers that cost $800. While a great pair of speakers matched with great components are truly awesome to experience, a great pair of earphones can provide a lot of that experience for a fraction of the price. Remember, though, don't short change your self on the source material. Instead of just an Ipod or similar device, plug your headsets into a good CD player and listen to a music source that doesn't compress the bandwidth as much as MP3 players do. Enjoy!
I have owned these for about a week, and I can say these are the best earbuds I have ever owned. I used to buy cheaper phillips ones to replace the ipod ones, then I decided I needed something better, and more comfortable. That led me to sennheiser cx300, which are also great for the money. The wires tend to be too flimsy though, and I have owned, 2 that have broke. One time it was the wire, the other time, one of the buds began playing much softer than the other. I also tried Shure earbuds about a year ago. They were $100 dollars, and sounded fairly good, but the bass/lows weren't that impressive, and the wire was too thick, ie, not flexible enough, and so the wire cracked up near the bud. So far, these earbuds combine the best of all the ones mentioned, full range of sound, very impressive lows, and the mids and highs are very clear, to me anyway. The wires seem in between too thin, and too thick, and they were affordable. As far as I'm concerned, I have found the perfect earbud!
The gist of this poor review? The "sound quality is about what you'd expect for their price" (about as subjective as can be) and they are comfortable! Oh, and they're easy to use, as if that meant anything regarding the normal and 'difficult' use of a pair of headphones. This entire review is rubbish. Why even bother? Oh, right...
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!