[Grr Argh]

Hi all,

I just made a semi impulse purchase of the Klipsch Image S4i earbuds for use with my iPhone. At £90 for a pair of earbuds I was excited. Now having listened to them... I was expecting a lot more. Not only that but on initial side by side testing my existing earbuds appear to sound better!

I have been using a pair of Sony MDR-EX082 earbuds. To put this in perspective: I don't even know if these are available to buy seperately. I got them about a year ago with my filler DAP the Sony Walkman NWZA828K 8GB Video with Wireless Headphones which I bought because as far as bluetooth headphones go these were recommended. It cost me £79.90 and these earbuds were bundled in as a wired backup spare set for when the bluetooth headset ran out of battery.

Now, the S4i's. The main issue appears to be that whilst I can detect an element of clarity not present in my Sony's in the upper ranges, the mids and lows just sound muddy. In my opinion this appears to be caused by an overdone amount of enchanced bass.

I've had a modicum of success by enabling the "bass reducer" preset in the iPhone's EQ but I feel like I shouldn't be doing this.

Can anyone offer me any advice?

[psikey]

I also recently purchased the S4i after using Shure SE530 triple drivers because the Shures didn't deliver the bass I like with the iPod/iPhone and the EQ is cr*p on the Apples. (The Shures were fantastic on a Walkman).

I also found the S4i muddy with bass a bit too much but then read on Head-fi that their Dynamic drivers which need to burn in to achieve ther full potential. With some stating 20hrs and other 100hrs.

Basically your supposed to leave them playing at around 20% above your normal listening level to achieve the "burn".

I've done mine for around 36hrs now and they sound much better already. Personally, I prefer the single driver S4i with my 64GB Touch more than the triple driver Shures.

My best listening experience is using a Walkman with Shure SE530's but I use iTunes extensively with Dynamic playlists hence the reason for using Apple.

[SBanga]

Sounds like a fit problem to me. The S4i are in a completely different league to the ones bundled with the Sony Walkman. Have you tried all the different sized tips?

[Drubbing]

Originally Posted by Sunil Banga

Sounds like a fit problem to me. The S4i are in a completely different league to the ones bundled with the Sony Walkman. Have you tried all the different sized tips?

I'd agree.

Even if you don't prefer their sound, they should be clearly better. I assume they come with different sized tips, have you tried those?

[psikey]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

I'd agree.

Even if you don't prefer their sound, they should be clearly better. I assume they come with different sized tips, have you tried those?

I wouldn't, poor fit is usually charaterised by poor bass response. What he's describing is what others on Head-fi have reported on, that the bass is a bit harsh & muddy overpowering the mids & highs, which the "burn in" tones down.

[Drubbing]

Oh please, burn in... with canals?

If they sound bass muddy to begin with, they'll always sound like that. If they sound 'better' later, it's because he'd get used to it.

I say if you don't like how something sounds to begin with, get something else.

[Grr Argh]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

I'd agree.

Even if you don't prefer their sound, they should be clearly better. I assume they come with different sized tips, have you tried those?

I have tried all the different tips and settled on the mid sized single tips as the most comfortable. I also had my girlfriend try out these earphones and she was also very surprised at the overwhelming bass.

As I said in my initial comments I noted that the mid-highs were clearer. But it's just the overall sound is at present masked by the ridiculous amount of bass.

Originally Posted by psikey

I also recently purchased the S4i after using Shure SE530 triple drivers because the Shures didn't deliver the bass I like with the iPod/iPhone and the EQ is cr*p on the Apples. (The Shures were fantastic on a Walkman).

I also found the S4i muddy with bass a bit too much but then read on Head-fi that their Dynamic drivers which need to burn in to achieve ther full potential. With some stating 20hrs and other 100hrs.

Basically your supposed to leave them playing at around 20% above your normal listening level to achieve the "burn".

I've done mine for around 36hrs now and they sound much better already. Personally, I prefer the single driver S4i with my 64GB Touch more than the triple driver Shures.

My best listening experience is using a Walkman with Shure SE530's but I use iTunes extensively with Dynamic playlists hence the reason for using Apple.

Thank you for the reassurance here, I let them burn in for several hours on my desk whilst working yesterday and on the way home they already sounded better. However I have to have the bass reducer EQ set. I agree that the iPod EQ's in general suck but I gather this is because for such things as increased bass the preset increases the lows to over the threshhold for distortion. I am therefore more confident about using the bass reducer setting.

Regarding the purchase generally, I think my negative impressions were exacerbated by the fact I have effectively paid £90 for a £60 set of earphones (S4i v S4) and I came from using the best bundled set of earphones I have ever come across. That and I think sometimes reviewers can be overenthusiastic in their recommendation of a product that is deemed superior to the competition.

Regarding the fit, are there any custom tips available that are recommended? Even though I tried all the different tips they are still not especially comfy.

[psikey]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

Oh please, burn in... with canals?

If they sound bass muddy to begin with, they'll always sound like that. If they sound 'better' later, it's because he'd get used to it.

I say if you don't like how something sounds to begin with, get something else.

I'm no Audiophile myself but do take on board what some of the "old-hands" on head-fi advise. The Shure SE530's are passive type which do not need a burn and I haven't noticed any change over time with those, but these Klipsch are apparently Dynamic type (can't say I know the technical difference myself) and I have personally noticed them taming down with the bass after the burn period.

Theres a thread on Head-fi covering this if the OP wants any further reading.

With regard to your last sentence, I bought mine last week and listened to them for about an hour & came to same conclussion as OP. Then went on Head-fi to see what others were saying and read about the "burn-in". Then left them on constantly with my iPod Touch for over 30hrs before trying them again & immediately noticed an improvement, so its nothing to do with "getting used to them".

[psikey]

Originally Posted by Grr, Argh!

Regarding the fit, are there any custom tips available that are recommended? Even though I tried all the different tips they are still not especially comfy.

I find cheap sony in-ear ones to provide the best comfort for me, even better than the Shures which are consider comfy by many.

I'd read the Klipsch were also comfy. When I got mine I used the medium caps (as I do with all other in-ears & use) and didn't find them comfy, feeling they went too far into my ear. I then compared the sizes to my other caps & realised the large is actually more similar to the medium of the other sets (the small ones are Tiny!). I'm finding mine with the large caps as comfy as my Sony's with the medium caps.

[Drubbing]

Originally Posted by psikey

I'm no Audiophile myself but do take on board what some of the "old-hands" on head-fi advise. The Shure SE530's are passive type which do not need a burn and I haven't noticed any change over time with those, but these Klipsch are apparently Dynamic type (can't say I know the technical difference myself) and I have personally noticed them taming down with the bass after the burn period.

Theres a thread on Head-fi covering this if the OP wants any further reading.

With regard to your last sentence, I bought mine last week and listened to them for about an hour & came to same conclussion as OP. Then went on Head-fi to see what others were saying and read about the "burn-in". Then left them on constantly with my iPod Touch for over 30hrs before trying them again & immediately noticed an improvement, so its nothing to do with "getting used to them".

I don't care what old heads on head fi say, I've spent plenty of time there, and some are frootloops who argue over burn in for cables and connectors too. Anyone with 13,000 posts up in a few years clearly has way too much time to overthink everything.

Burn in is, and always will, remain contentious until someone comes up with a way to measure 'difference'. How else would you explain that I have 3 phones that all have threads attached on head fi arguing all sorts of (differing) changes that occur at x number of hours, and I've heard no change whatsoever.

I'd suggest the power of suggestion has more to do with suddenly hearing the change you were expecting, or hoping for, based on what people will tell you definitely happen, after leaving them without listening to 'burn in'.

All that stuff aside, if OP feels better than he hasn't completely flushed all his money, that's the main thing.

[psikey]

I'd totally agree with you regarding "audiophiles" talking theselves into buying expensive gear. One of reasons I originally bought the Shures was on advice from there, but I actually prefered my much cheaper Sony's so I sold them only loosing around £20.

I'm not easily swayed and all I can re-iterate is that these Klipsch do sound different (more controlled bass) after I did this 36hr Burn. Can't explain it but as I said, its not like I gradually got used to them I also bought these for £89 after selling my Shures for £180 so its not like I'm trying to mentally justify the cost seeing as I've actually saved money!