Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphone
by Klipsch
Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: KlipschModel: IMAGE S4
Color: Black
Product features:
- Exclusive Oval Ear Tips for longterm comfort and excellent seal
- Superior Bass Response from dual magnet microspeaker and oval eartip seal
- Stainless Steel carrying case with headphone organization
- Three sizes of oval eartips (Small, Medium and Large) to achieve the perfect fit
- Piano black finish with chrome accents
- Monster 123872-00 iSplitter Shared Headphone Adapter
- Comply Tx-100 Foam Tips (Black) 3-Pair Pack
- Comply T-100 Standard Foam Tips - 3 Pair Pack
Digital camera reviews of Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphone
Digital camera Review: too much bass...returned them
Summary: 3 Stars
Much of my dissatisfaction with this product relates to who I am as a music listener. A reader of this review should similarly take into account their specific needs and habits when choosing this product.
I listen to a lot of music (read: hours per day) across many genres, but I am not an audiophile (read: not pretentious about equipment and not going to use a lot of jargon). I owned a pair of Shure E4c earbuds (~$170) that I loved, but had slowly destroyed their wires over 3 years of use. When it came time to buy a new pair of earbuds, I found a glowing review of the Klipsch Image S4 on CNET. At $80, they seemed like an obvious choice given the reports of great fit and sound quality.
The "great fit" part was true. The buds had an oval shape that was super-comfortable in the ear canal.
In terms of sound, I found that excessive bass ruined much of the music that I generally listen to. For example, much of the indie music I listen to (e.g. Belle & Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens) sounded strange because the bass drum suddenly became such a prominent (and distracting) feature of the songs. Clearly, neither this sort of musician nor their producers intended to have this much bass in their songs. I have similar feelings about classical music on these earbuds.
That being said, because the problem was excessive bass and not sound clarity, some genres seemed to sound better on these earbuds. In particular electronic, dub, and hip-hop had a lot of oomph in their sound. Groups such as Junior Boys sounded better on these earbuds when compared to the lighter, crisper bass of the E4c buds.
Because I wanted earbuds that were great across a wide range of music I sent back the Image S4 buds. Instead, I bought the Shure SE310 (~$170), which are more or less the equivalent of the E4cs I had before. I have been quite happy with them for a few months now.
As a side note, I believe that if you really want strong bass that does not overwhelm the higher pitches in music, you should consider on or over-the-ear headphones. For example, I was impressed by my friend's Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones (~$200). If you like bass and can't afford to drop $350+ for really high-end stuff, consider switching away from earbuds.
Summary of Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphone
Tune out the external environment and tune into your own private concert experience anytime, anywhere with the Image S4. These noise-isolating in-ear headphones deliver dynamic sound and unequaled comfort for a price that's easy on the wallet.These reasonably priced, high-performance earphones go above and beyond what you'd expect from the stock earbuds that come with your MP3 player or music phone.In fact, you'll find Klipsch headphones are far superior to other brands - delivering unequaled comfort, noise isolation, musical accuracy and bass. Furthermore, Klipsch has managed to take its decades of research and development experience to value engineer the Image S4, while staying true to its audiophile heritage.Cameras and Photo
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