Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphones | 
| Brand: Klipsch
Category: CE
List Price: $79.99
Buy New: $70.99
as of 7/30/2010 17:59 CDT details
You Save: $9.00 (11%)
New (7) Used (2) from $64.99
Seller: CoolStuffForCheap
Rating:  370 reviews
Format: CD
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: N/A
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
Dimensions (in): 5 x 8 x 10
MPN: IMAGE S4
Model: IMAGE S4
UPC: 043878021296
EAN: 0743878021295
ASIN: B001V9LPT4
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| 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 |
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| Accessories:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 370
 Amazing value and quality June 8, 2009
Rudy A. Wong (Portland, OR United States)
173 out of 181 found this review helpful
After seeing a glowing review of the new Image S4 headphones on Cnet, I had to dive in and purchase the day of release from Amazon. I have Bose In-ear headphones and these just flat out blow those away. At $75.00 I cannot imagine that anything can compare to this sound quality. The sound is incredibly well balanced and the fit and comfort is perfect.
Positives:
1) Price/Sound Quality Ratio. Great full sound with excellent bass, but not too deep like the Bose. Great mid and high level's excellent for all different types of music.
2) Comfort: They come with a case and several different sizes of in ear plastic. The Bose headphones had plastic that came off all the time and if you lost them, you would have to find replacements. These will not come off unless you want them too. They feel good in your ear and comfortable.
3) Noise Isolation: Indeed these do an excellent job of isolating outside noise based upon the precise fit of the ear pieces.
4) Cord length: The cord is the perfect length for me. Not too long, not too short. The Bose headphones have a cord that is just too long and cumbersome.
Negatives:
1) Not really a true negative, but if you are not looking for a sound isolating headphone, do not purchase these. I walk the dog outside quite a bit and have a hard time hearing things around me like traffic or trail runners, which at times can be dangerous. Just something to think about.
If you are looking at purchasing a replacement for a lost or broken pair of iPod headphones, save your money and purchase these. The difference in sound quality between these and stock headphones is clear and vast. I really liked the Bose in ear headphones when they were first released, but these just flat blow those out of the water for overall balanced sound quality and comfort.
Klipsch IMAGE S4... Best buds under $100! August 26, 2009
Brandon R. Roison (Kalamazoo, MI USA)
83 out of 84 found this review helpful
CNET recently released their top 5 choices for best earbuds under $100 and so I figured since I already had the V-Moda Vibes (in need of replacing... the 4th broken pair of em) I would buy two other pairs (Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphone,Ultimate Ears SuperFi 3 Studio Noise Isolating Earphones (Black))and compare the three. CNET had the S4's at the top and after two weeks of solid use I couldn't agree more. Klipsch's buds seem to trump the other two in every way. The S4's cord doesn't conduct sound from rubbing like the Vibes, and isn't perma-kinked like the Ultimate Ears. The S4's are as stylish as the Vibe's though seem to be almost as durable as the rugged Ultimate Ears buds. As far as the sound goes the S4's have slightly tighter bass than the bass heavy (which I like) Vibes and more crisp highs than the Ultimate Ears. So here's the break down in my opinion.
V-MODA Vibe Earbuds - Flashback Chrome
Bass 8.5
Mids 7
High 7
Comfort 9
Durability 5 (one year warranty)
Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphone
Bass 9.5
Mids 9
Highs 9
Comfort 9
Durability 8? (two year warranty)
Ultimate Ears SuperFi 3 Studio Noise Isolating Earphones (Black)
Bass 6
Mids 8
Highs 8
Comfort 6
Durability 9
Klipsch IMAGE S4 Incredible Value Providing Sound of $200 Plus Competitors for Much Less December 16, 2009
Will W. Martin (Woodland, CA United States)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
For starters I'm going to address several key observations that need to be considered when looking at the Klipsch IMAGE S4 earphones and then tackle my "listening experience".
First: These earphones, from my experience, are possibly one of the best values in electronics today. Not just IEM, not just headphones...all electronics. Does that mean they are THE BEST in ear monitors on the market? No. But they are very, very, very good overall and outstanding once price is factored in. Based just on sound quality, comfort and features, the S4 is a 4 star item...based on that and price it's more than a 5 star. I keep seeing reviews where people are saying these are overrated because they don't stack up against model x, y, z and when you check prices on x, y, z they are four and five times the price of these. Would you expect a $20,000 car to stack up against an $80,000 car? No. But if you found a $20,000 car that stacked up against a $50,000 or $60,000 car you'd be thrilled, right? That's the S4, which is easily the best in ear monitor for under $200. That said, there are a multitude of personal preferences when it comes to earphones and the S4 may or may not meet those preferences as I will discuss later.
Second: Do NOT send these back or be upset with the sound of the S4 if you have not done burn in. For those not familiar with what this is, it means playing music through the earphones at approximately 25% to 50% above your normal listening volume (not while you are listening to them of course) for anywhere from 50 to 80 hours BEFORE using them normally. With dynamic earphones like these it is even more important and the S4 in particular seems to require it; out of the box, my pair sounded tinny with no bass and I was pretty annoyed by that (as have been some others in reviews on this site). However, after doing just 50 hours of burn in, they sound incredible.
Third: Fit will be a problem for some and even those its not a problem for due to size issues, it will be a problem because you have wear these differently than other "normal" earphones. The included eargels are, in my opinion, overly small. Even the large eargel seems a tad undersized and the small double flange and small normal (which seems more like a medium) just fall out. It's not like I have huge ears either as with most earphones there is usually an included size that is too big for me so, while I am able to get a seal with the large, I find it disconcerting that I feel like it might fall out. I attribute this to the patented design and the fact that they need to be inserted not straight in like normal earbuds, but at an upward angle; I am going to order the large double flanged eargels from Klipsch in the future in the hope it will help lock them in, but I am a little frustrated that I have to pony up another $13; they really should have included another $5 or $10 in eargels like they do on their Custom 2.
Listening Impressions:
The S4 is incredibly balanced, which seems to both win it fans and alienate others as it doesn't bias any one aspect of the listening experience; it reproduces the mix of the music as it was done in the studio. If you like large amounts of artificial bass, the S4 is NOT for you as its about realistic reproduction which means, if the track wasn't mixed with a lot of bass or doesn't have any, you won't hear any. Otherwise, if bass is part of the track mix it is plenty powerful.
Instrument definition is outstanding; you can hear the separate percussion instruments and multiple guitar lines. When someone slides their finger up a chord or a singer inhales before a high note, you can hear it. I'm amazed but what I am hearing in my music that I never knew was there before-entire parts and nuances to songs were totally missing with other headphones. Plus, you can HEAR quiet parts...especially at the ends of songs as they fade out. Some reviews speak to the harshness of the upper range with these...but I don't hear it. Maybe I'm just not attuned to that as much, but all I know is that nothing about the music I hear coming out of S4 is "harsh" in any way shape or form.
I listen to a wide variety of music: Classical (Mozart), Jazz (Pat Metheny), Bluegrass and Country (Alison Kraus, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, etc), Classic Rock (Eagles, U2, Boston), Rock (Nickelback, Vertical Horizon, 3 Doors Down, Daughtry) so I can speak to what the S4 is able to do across multiple spectrums of music. While it shines across the board, I feel the S4 is at its best (insofar as sounding MUCH better than the competition) on more complex music. I listened to Tim McGraw's Southern Voice album and Brad Paisley's American Saturday Night album back to back with Nickelback's All the Right Reasons album and Daughtry's Leave this Town album and with the former two, the detailed and intricate instrumentation jumps out of the S4 into your ears in a way I've never heard before. With the latter two, the sound quality is certainly better than others I've listened to...but its not like the "hearing the music for the first time" of the other albums because the musical arrangements are pretty simple and singular (just a lot of guitar, drums and bass all smashed together).
Finally, for a few final recommendations if you choose to purchase the S4:
The tin they come in is a little goofy. If you really want to fit the earphones in it, you have to pull out the padding that is inside or you will crush them. It's compact and its sturdy (more so than an unreinforced zippered case would be) so that is excellent, but its like they needed to make it bigger but didn't out of fear that it would be too bulky.
There have been a multitude of comments about the wires on these in that they seem thin. I agree...they seem a little thin; emphasis on little. Its not like they are the size of fishing line--they're just not fat. I will say this though...the wires, while thin, seem very sturdy. They don't bend in your hand like other lower tier wires do so I don't think breakage will be an issue if you treat them well (as you should if you are paying this much for earphones). Plus the wires are long enough without being too long so that they get tangled in everything. One last thing with the wires: they are really tightly wound in the package and, due to the sturdy material they are made of, they take awhile to naturally straighten out. I would advise you hang them from a safe place at night for a week to hasten that process along.
Finally, though this is not directly related to the earphones themselves, I feel the need to throw out some advice with regards to music quality and the S4. The S4 was specifically engineered for compressed music and it works well with it (whereas higher end phones like even the Klipsch Custom 2 make compressed music loss more evident)...BUT: please, PLEASE, if you have large amounts of music compressed BELOW 160 MP3 or 128 AAC, don't buy these-you are wasting your money. You will not be able to experience the fullness these provide with compressions that high and, in some cases, I found the S4 picked up artifacts in highly compressed music that ruined the listening experience. I had a lot of compressions in my music collection, but when I go these, I re ripped everything I had on CD to 196 AAC with VBR and it's a HUGE difference over 128 MP3 (and a pretty good difference over 128 AAC). I still have a mix of 128 AAC, 160 MP3...but the collection is 80% 196 AAC.
In the end, if you are primarily a compressed music listener (MP3, M4A player, iPod etc) who wants more clarity and definition in your music and you have (or can have) less compressed music files, then the Klipsch IMAGE S4 is, bar none, the best value in ear (and possibly the best value in any headphone) phone on the market today. I would recommend it above ANY other currently retailing under $200 today.
Klipsch image S4 review August 24, 2009
D. Milcic (Croatia)
68 out of 80 found this review helpful
Bla part:
First thing's first - I don't consider my self an audiophile, whatever that expression actually meant.
Second - I believe these aren't the intended to provide finest quality out there which is very obvious when you look at the price tag.
Third - I know a good thing when I see one, and this is one of them so here we go:
Intro part:
I owned Sennheiser CX300, the best selling in earbud headphones out there. Reason for that is price and good sound that goes with it (much nicer than any pair that came with your player). However, after some time it is easy to notice they have much flaws of their own, so you are start to look at better alternatives.
Google this, Bing that and viola... You come across S4 who rocketed into mainstream by one editors choice award (Cnet's), and some other guys out there also gave it thumbs up but you still crave for more - and tension gets higher since you cannot actually buy one, yet only preorder and hope for the best...
In the box part:
Simple packing from one piece follows direction of "smaller-better" logic: Easier to ship, cheaper to produce and not so heavy on environment.
Works nice and after all, we are not here for the box but are searching within:
1 Headphones (Klipsch Image S4 if you didn't know)
3 Pairs of oval silicone ear tips (small one have double "heads")
1 Cleaning tool
and box made from aluminum to put it all in.
Oh, and there's also a piece of paper which pretty much states: don't listen to your music too loud!
That's it.
Actually useful part:
By my observation, the best comparison between CX300 (or some other "simple" pair of earphones) and S4 is clarity, best described in flowing example: Imagine you are standing in front of the room and hear music from it. It's pretty loud and you can hear it well. After a time you get so comfortable with it and start accepting it as "normal". Then somebody opens the door and you step inside. Finally, you have a feeling there is almost nothing between you and the sound. It's much clearer and you can enjoy much detailed sound without anyone telling you what is it you should be hearing. It is very obvious.
This is like going from VHS to DVD. And don't go japing about Blue-ray now - if you have "vhs", you gonna love this.
I can only guess that moving higher from this kind of quality is never that much of a difference.
Although, to be honest, first time I listened to them was some kind of disappointing. I was a bit nervous and didn't know what to expect. First thought was: they're ok but i guess i could of saved my money. It was only the day after that I begun to realize the benefits of S4.
S4 sounds very nice, clarity is good (no mater what is playing, Fleetwood Mac or AC/DC, richness of the sound stays preserved) and I find them precise, meaning you can determine position of every instrument/sound. They are without a doubt on warm side of sound spectrum and are pretty universal if we talk music genres. I wouldn't recommend listening to much electronic music with them (or any other headphones for that matter). Bass is decent but not overwhelming. Some prefer more of it but I think to much bass will choke your music and it is only but artificial way to create atmosphere. Balance is needed and balance is achieved.
Apart mentioned above here are few other bands I listened with these: Bon Iver, Beastie Boys, The Postal Service, Kings of Leon, Devotchka, Final Fantasy... and many others in self-made compilations. Point is - they all sound great on S4
As many before stated, one of the biggest surprises was how many songs sounds differently and one starts hearing sounds that were not there before. Of course, when earphones are new you are hearing music more analytically, but even now, almost month later I find myself turning of my ipod just to check does the sounds I'm hearing come from the music or outside.
Then it gets me - you can't here the sounds from outside with these on :)
Here we come to the other very important point which some will appreciate even more than quality - their fit.
Using oval ear tips is common sense and it is pretty sad truth that no one thought of this before (I don't mean you, you and you, but the guys who actually work in industry). Klipsch has them for some time now and this was my first experience with them. I am thrilled! They work flawlessly and are by far most comfortable I tried to date (haven't tried my Comply's though (made from foam)). I needed few days to make friends with them but now I can have them in my ears for 2 hours with almost no discomfort at all (for me, this is a lot).
Very important thing almost no one mentioned is you can ware them behind your ears!
Since they are oval, all you have to do is take them out, turn for 180 degrees and put them in again. Now you'll have your wires up instead down and all you have to do with them is put them behind your ears. This position is much more practical for running since you cannot feel the pull from the wire.
One more thing I would like to mention is they are smaller then they look on the pictures, yet they feel very nice in hands and are ridiculously easy to put in ears!
Accessories part:
One more detail to expand fanciness is cleaning tool which is basically nothing else then piece of plastic with a little bent wire on the top, but nevertheless it keeps one happy (there's a Klipsch logo imprinted on the plastic) and does the dirty job well (but you have to clean the space between wires with a toothpick afterwords).
Finally, the box.
People seem to dislike it and call it unpractical, yet I find it rather good. Since made from aluminum, it will keep your S4 safe from harm. Therefore i find it better than some small case made from polly or lather. One thing that should be better is closing system since case can easily open by itself, especially if earphones are not inserted correctly. In my case it is stored in little bag that goes around waist and there is not enough space in there for it to open.
Conclusion part:
I was never so happy to listen music, it's if I'm waiting for some excuse to put these earphones on. I find them excellent buy for everything they are: good sounding (clear, warm, precise), comfortable (silicone oval ear tips, can be worn behind ear, great for running, easy to put in), nice (fine design yet securely robust) and practical (safe aluminum box and cleaning tool).
At the end I just want to state I bought these from soundearphones.com and didn't receive them from Klipsch as a demo (in case you find my positivity fishy ;))!
A "BURN-IN" PERIOD IS NECESSARY FOR THESE GREAT EARPHONES! January 30, 2010
Alexander Kunlun (New York, NY)
28 out of 31 found this review helpful
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: YOU MUST BURN-IN THESE KLIPSCH IMAGE S4 EARPHONES TO GET THE BEST SOUND OUT OF THEM!
Burning in a dynamic-driver based earphone means that a period of use (usually ranging from 80-120 hours) is required for the dynamic drivers of earphone to achieve the best sound quality. You can do this by programming your ipod or whatever to play a wide range of music at a little louder than normal listening volume and leaving it to play overnight for a few days before you really listen to the earphones to evaluate their sound quality. This works by allowing the sound producing diaphragm of the earphone to relax and break-in a bit. Balance armatures, another type of earphone driver, don't benefit as much from burn-in, but it doesn't hurt, either.
On a hi-fi forum, a man and his friend put this idea to the test by buying two pairs of Klipsch Image S4 earphones. One was left unused (the control pair) and the other was burned in as described above. At the end of the burn-in period, they compared the burned-in earphone with the unused one and found that there was a very clear difference in sound quality. The treble had become much fuller and lost any tinny quality, while the bass had relaxed and the overall sound was more cohesive. The sound of the burned in pair was much better.
So, give your Klipsch Image S4 earphones a chance to burn-in and remember that their sound quality will reach its best after about 120 hours of use.
THE MORE YOU KNOW and all that.
(And mark this review helpful so others can see this before they buy these (or any dynamic driver based earphones)
Okay, on to the actual review.
These are a very fine sounding pair of earphones and a good value for the price.
Sound Quality: These have a strong and robust (but not overdone) bass kick and (after burn-in) the treble and mids are quite good. The Klipsch sound signature seems especially well suited to vocal music, they come out warm and clear. I think these earphones are aimed squarely at the largest audience who listen to pop, rock and dance music, as I think these earphones are more or less perfect for what old people (ha ha, sorry!) would call "rockin' out". Having said that, they play Bach's Easter Oratorio beautifully, with all vocal and orchestral voices articulated clearly.
Comfort: These are very light (which is important) and they are very comfortable if you fit them correctly (they come with several ear tips and you should take some time and find what works for you--if you really want you could even buy comply foam tips as these fit Klipsch earphones). It's important to take the time to fit them correctly not only for comfort, but also for the sound quality. Any of the crybabies who 1-starred these earphones for having a lack of bass (which is ridiculous, these earphone pump out great bass) clearly didn't take the few minutes necessary to fit their 'phones.
Also, you'll need a good fit for sound isolation. These can be great for air travel, subway commutes, snoring husband (they should see a doctor!), etc.
One important note is that Klipsch noticed that the human ear canal is not circular, it's typically an oval shape. So, their ear tips are oval-shaped. Now, an oval is different if it's upright versus sideways, right? Make sure your Klipsch ear tips are oriented the right way to fit your ears (doesn't take long and it's not hard) and you'll find these are very comfortable earphones.
One other thing: Here's a trick that works for these earphones and a number of other ones for reducing microphonics (sound from touching the earphone cord) and for some people, a more comfortable fit. You can switch sides--taking the left earphone and putting it upside-down in your right ear, looping the cord over your ear and doing the same with the right earphone in the left ear. Take a moment a get a good fit. It really works to eliminate microphonics. Neat, huh? Something to try if you want to work out with your earphones in. Again, not only for these earphones, but it works for some other ones, too. I ran today through the streets of NYC with these earphones in this way and it was great.
Quality: The plug is reinforced and L-shaped, which is good because that's where a lot of problems can happen otherwise. There are stress-relievers in the cord at the Y-junction and at the earphones. So, it's actually pretty well-built. Just because earphones are light doesn't mean they won't last with proper care. There's also a 2-year warranty with Klipsch (just keep your receipt!) and they are pretty good with customer service--did I mention you should keep your receipt? Oh, okay.
Bottom line: These are a great sounding, comfortable pair of earphones and they are a good value for the price. If you take the time to fit them and give them time to reach their best sound, you will be happy with these earphones.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 370
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