Klipsch Reference S4 In-Ear Headphones (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Before we get started, i will clear something up that confused me at first. These Klipsch Reference S4's are the same as the Image S4's, i spoke to a few people at klipsch, and read many reviews that mention the "reference" series is just a "flashier" version of the Images. Same sound, same build. it is just a color change. If I accidentally say Image S4's, i mean Reference S4's, even though they are the same thing.I must tell you, these are by far the best In-Ear Headphones i have ever had. As a matter of fact they are better then any over the head headphones i have had too.Here is a little of my history with products in the past:I have always known klipsch to be an amazing brand. My first pair was a set of Klipsch image S2's, and i absolutely loved them, I talked so greatly about them i never would have thought they could be beat.I have owned a pair of Bose In-Ear Headphones, which were OK, although they sounded much like Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, lots of bass, but that's it.The Bose ones also did not noise isolate, and often fell out of my ears.I never owned a pair of Beats, but I have listened to every model they have. And i cannot stand them, they remind me so much of the Bose, lots of bass, but everything else gets so muffled out. No amount of equalizer adjustments made them sound good, in my opinion.The image S2's had OK bass output, and everything else was great, except they did hurt my ears.The S4's:The klipsch Reference S4's have everything I wanted/was missing with previous pairs. They fit perfect, I am writing this review while listening to them from my computer and I cannot even feel them, even when i think about them. The size differences in the Ear Buds themself are great, lots of choices. I have the Mediums in and they are great. (try ALL sizes, even if you find a set that fits good, listen to a song or two with each size!)The sound out of the S4's is incredible, i have the equalizer on my computer flat, with +1 bass, because I enjoy bass and most of my music does not have much. They sound perfect, and they have not even had time to break in, I am writing this review with about 20 minutes of play time on them. I cannot wait to break these in! I am going to leave them playing overnight on the desktop to burn them in properly.If anyone is considering these, don't even second guess yourself, Just buy them. I paid about $50 and they are worth it.My only complaint is the cord will need to be straightened out. I will be trying the hair-dryer method that someone else on here mention.Even if the cord stays in a tangled mess state like it is not, it is worth it.-Evan

So far I very much enjoy these earbuds. Previously I had only used what I could find at Best Buy because I needed them now and didn't want to wait for shipping, but it seems that the "nicest" Sony earbuds available there keep getting to be lower and lower quality so I decided to try something better.I heard many good things about Klipsch before buying them so I had high expectations and for the most part they were met. The earbuds sound great once you find the earpiece that fits right (for earbuds) and I have no complaints as far as functionality goes other than they do seem quiter than some others I had previously had.Pros:-Good Sound quality-Comes with case-Durable (looking) cord-Several ear inserts making it easy to find one that fits you comfortablyCons:-The cord is stiff and seems to wand to stay in it original position so it always accordians instead of staying straight. This can really get annoying but doesn't really hurt anything.-The case that it comes with has a nice slot for the earbuds and then a big open area for the cord and the cord always wants to get out making shutting the case very difficult (I have stopped using it because it pissed me off too much)

Let me start with my history of using headphones/earphones. I have owned more than 30 pairs and out of which, at least 10 are critically acclaimed models. I usually go for the headphones/earphones that are rated as the "best in price range." They include the entry level Monster Turbine(retail @ $180 but I paid for $75 on Amazon), Sennheiser HD25-1 II(retail @ $250 but I paid for $180 at J&R), Bose OE Headphone(paid the retail $150 like a sucker), and some other Sennheiser, Sharp, Sony and Ultimate Ear earphones that were extremely good for their prices.My latest pair is the Klipsch Reference S4. I couldn't find that many legitimate/reliable reviews on this particular model. Most reviews I found are for the original S4 and S4i models, so I was taking a risk by getting this pair. But hey, $60 is totally worth it if my gamble pays up. And it paid WELL. I haven't even "burnt in" the earphones and I'm already impressed. Just imagine how much better it will be after the burn in is complete.Straight to the point, Reference S4 ranks 2nd among all of the cans I have. It only lags behind Sennheiser HD25-1 II, and beats the XXXX out of Monster Turbine. The ear tips really make huge differences. I tried all of the tips that came with the box, and found the optimal size(some of them provide NO BASS at all!); which confirms what other reviews pointed out: you MUST find the right ear tips for your ears. Once you do, the music is going to sound so good you wouldn't believe you only paid so much for this pair!(I paid $60)More details: the bass is clean, crisp, and just as strong as Sennheiser HD25-1 II and Monster Turbine. However, the bass does not muffle the mid and high like Turbine does. The voices/vocal and instruments are crystal clear and the bass definition is almost as good as Sennheiser HD25-1 II. The only time you may hear a clear advantage from HD25-1 II is when you turn the volume up a bit or play with your equalizer. Monster Turbine's bass overwhelms the vocal and muffles almost everything; it's only good for rap/hip-hop like the Monster Beats family.I compared all 3 pairs by using iPhone 4S and iPod Classic(160GB 6th generation 2nd revision) paired up with Fiio E17 Alpine. Both aren't the best mp3 players in terms of sound quality, but that's all I got for now. I used the following genres for benchmarking: pop, country, rock, rap, hip-hop, classical, instrumental, trance/techno, k-pop and j-pop. Most mp3's were encoded at 320kbps.Bottom line: if you are looking for a pair of earphones for your phone/mp3 player without any DAC or amp, then you can't go wrong with Klipsch Reference S4. With mediocre mp3 players like iPhone and iPod, they sound almost as good as Sennheiser HD25-1 II and WAY BETTER than Monster Turbine. Especially considering the price you are paying, it's a steal.Note: if you plan to use/buy a quality mp3 player with good DAC/amp, then this pair may not be the best choice. At high enough volume and manipulation in the equalizer, Reference S4 falls behind HD25-1 II even though not by a huge margin; you can still a clear difference. But at $60 the sacrifice may be worth it, depending on your ears.This deserves 5 stars because of the price/performance ratio and the practical application for majority of the music listeners(those who use mp3 players like iPods without DAC/amp).

I just bought these headphones a few months ago and they are already broken (you cant hear voices).The sound quality is really good, but they don't last long.How does the warranty work?

Ce sont des écouteurs sympathiques dont le rapport qualité prix est bon.Niveau solidité je ne sais pas combien de temps ils vont durer, sachant que la manufacture ne me parait pas mauvaise, surtout au niveau des écouteurs. Je suis légèrement plus dubitatif au niveau du câble et de la prise jack.La tenue est très bonne que ce soit dans une position classique ou bien dans la position pour laquelle le câble passe derrière les oreilles.En ce qui concerne le son, sans en avoir essayé des dizaines dans cette gamme de prix, je pense qu'il est difficile de trouver mieux, le son est neutre. Il manque peut être un peu de pêche. Sinon le tout est bien équilibré. Seul petit bémol en ce qui concerne les aigus qui sont un peu trop brillants à mon goût et qui peuvent être un peu dérangeant lorsque la note est trop haute.Dans la boite sont présents quelques paires d'embouts, sur ce point des embouts en mousse ou encore un petit adaptateur vers une prise avion serait bien venu. Mais pour ce prix je suppose qu'on ne peut pas trop en demander non plus !

Fit, sound quality and price = happy times. These are much better in every area compared to the Beyerdynamic DTX101iE

son bien équilibré, basse présente mais sans étouffer, intra très confortable avec les doubles flanges. Un petit bémol cependant, le câble un peu trop rigide à mon gout.

Having owned these for about 2 months now I have come to really love the sound they produce especially considering the price. The only con is that the cable is an incredibly cheap plastic. As long as you take care of them they probably won't break but that doesn't change the fact that they become tangled incredibly easily.