[mythless]

haha I've been listening to them for the past 3 hours, and I have to admit they seem to be getting better. Though, it still sounds muddled and recessed.

The overall build quality reminds me of my NE-7m and PL50 especially the cables. The driver enclosure, however, is excellent. Though, I don't know about the strain reliefs on the L-plug and enclosure connectors, they do look and feel kinda cheap. Let the burn in continue.

 

[TheRH]

I would have to say it took a good 72 hours when they started to really bloom. As of now I think I have around 150 hours on them now, and they sound incredible.

 

[jonhapimp]

my left ear just gave out i've had them for about 4 months

 

[rawrster]

i actually liked the strain relief on the plug..its very different than most strain reliefs you see today. i think i would have worried about the place where the wire meets the enclosure if the only tips i used were the gels. in a sense they reminded me of the ER6i in that in was very difficult to remove from the air and they are small so go pretty deep in your ear. i used olives on them and it made it much easier removing them.

i do wish i didnt sell them but no point in keeping something just taking up space in your desk

 

[jonhapimp]

it's a common problem with klipsch s4(the wire problem) but it should be fine if they live up to the warranty

 

[XAlexander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mythless /img/forum/go_quote.gif haha I've been listening to them for the past 3 hours, and I have to admit they seem to be getting better. Though, it still sounds muddled and recessed. The overall build quality reminds me of my NE-7m and PL50 especially the cables. The driver enclosure, however, is excellent. Though, I don't know about the strain reliefs on the L-plug and enclosure connectors, they do look and feel kinda cheap. Let the burn in continue.

I find that the only time they sounded boated or muddled was when I was listening to a sub-par source. Try some Yo-Yo Ma Cello and also check out the song 6:00 from Dream Theater off of the Awake album. Those will really show you what the S4's can do.

 

[difpersona]

how about the durability of the s4? i'm looking for a replacement for my yuin pk3s simply because of wire problems (my warranty replacements broke on me in less than a month and i was even more careful with them). i'm interested in these S4s after skimming this thread but i'd like to know if i can rely on these to last me a while.

 

[XAlexander]

These phones are built in a solid manner. There is a nice L-joint at the bottom (as opposed to a straight connector) which is made of a durable rubber. Seeing as this is where most wire issues occur, you won't have to worry about it getting yanked on and ruining the phones. The speaker enclosures themselves are made of a very hard plastic with (I assume) aluminum accents. These won't break unless you hit them with a hammer or something.

Now, about the wire its self. Most people argue that this wire isn't durable compared to the standards of other IEM's, but I argue that most other IEM's aren't as small as this, and Klipsch would have been ridiculous to make the wires any thicker. The wires suit the IEMs perfectly. They are small but durable, with a nice and thick rubber coating. I've been working with cables and wires for a while, and I can tell when the rubber on the outside is of poor quality, and that is not the case with the Image S4's. Remember, thicker does not mean better or more durable. Also (FYI) there is a hard plastic reinforced Y joint where the phones split, so there should be no issues there either.

 

[Judge Buff]

What wire problem is common to the s4?

 

[yipcanjo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yipcanjo /img/forum/go_quote.gif All that said, I've noticed a difference between ear tips -- specifically the Shure Olives vs. the Klipsch Gels. The Shure Olives, in my opinion, sound a bit better all-around -- better detail with the lows/mids, slightly more sibilance -- but are much less comfortable. I'm using the smalls Olives, and they hurt my ears somewhat. Makes me sad. The Klipsch Gels give poorer isolation, but are MUCH more comfortable for me. I use the bi-flange small gels, which insert very far, but I find them extremely comfortable. Unfortunately, the gels give me less detail with the lows/mids. Quality vs. comfort... what to do!?!

After posting this, I tried out the Klipsch medium gels again. Interestingly, they showed many of the same qualities that I'd noted with the Shure Olives -- namely, better mids/lows + a slight increase in sibilance. The small bi-flange Klipsch gels really get down into your ear canals, where the medium Shure Olives and Klipsch Gels sit at the entry to the ear canal more. I guess this is the difference. Anyone else notice this?

I know that *most* folks around here like the Shure Olives ear tips, but "dang"... those suckers start to hurt my ears! Love the isolation, though. Hard to beat that.

 

[yipcanjo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonhapimp /img/forum/go_quote.gif my left ear just gave out i've had them for about 4 months

You sure it's not just wax build-up? I'm being serious, actually. This happened *twice* with my kids and their grubby ears...

 

[TheRH]

That sounds funny but could be the case. I make sure that I keep my ears clean.

 

[Judge Buff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRH /img/forum/go_quote.gif That sounds funny but could be the case. I makes sure that I keep my ears clean.

What did you say? Huh?

Seriously, since I had to get a new phone at Christmas, I've been exploring all of my kids' iPod library on my new iPhone. The iPhone 3G S really loves the S4s. Big soundstage, massive bass, crisp highs, but very warm presentation. I've tried amping, but it hurts SQ when using the headphone jack... isn't necessary with this setup.

 

[jonhapimp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yipcanjo /img/forum/go_quote.gif You sure it's not just wax build-up? I'm being serious, actually. This happened *twice* with my kids and their grubby ears...

Nope I'm sure
Quote:

Originally Posted by Judge Buff /img/forum/go_quote.gif What wire problem is common to the s4?

Where one of the earphones give out i'm not the only one that had the problem, i actually expected it to go out earlier because the wire stress on the left side gave after a month

 

[Judge Buff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonhapimp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where one of the earphones give out i'm not the only one that had the problem, i actually expected it to go out earlier because the wire stress on the left side gave after a month

I'm still waiting for evidence that s4s have a "common" wire problem.

I use my s4s daily and generally need to get them out of my pocket or the floorboard of my car. I've never had a problem with anything. I can tell you that if I had any problem such as a wire stress going out after a month, I would have asked for warranty work and also would have examined how I had contributed to the problem.

I see students mistreating earphones routinely. The most "common" mistreatment I see is pulling the wire to get the phone out of the ear. The second is wrapping the wires around the player tightly and shoving the phones into the tightly wrapped wire to hold them.