[sufficient03]

Alright thanks everyone for the help. Now I'm gonna try burning them just to see if they really do improve

 

[Nafixd]

Sufficient03, I actually think it's just that the headphones either are a counterfeit or are defective. I can't say it any other way. the S4 are one of the heaviest bass IEM (in-ear monitors just incase you didn't know) that you can get for under a $100.
 
I'll tell you my experience with them at first, it was cold and too stiff. It's hard to explain, but the bass was there, but it was stiff and solid (too solid). After burning it in for around 120 hours with white music, the bass became more widespread and the treble became twice as good.
 
Like I said, the bass is there even at low volumes (low for me is around 25%) and I hear them really well around 50%. So burn them in, that's all I can recommend.
 
P.S. Apple earphones have terrible bass (I added a little extension to make it an IEM, it still sucked). The S4 is at least 4 times the amount of bass after burn in. 

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

The S4 is among the most bass heavy earphones around. The fact that you're getting no bass means that you're not inserting them right, or that you don't have a proper seal. Play around with the different silicon pieces that came in the package to see which one fits you best.

This.  They're downright muddy with bass.  What I listen to at home has also warped my sensibilities.  I went from hating the TF10s while using the HD650 at home to changing my home set to HE500 and suddenly loving the TF10s.
 
The S4 are not 'bass-lite' IEMS, but they really lack clarity.

 

[sufficient03]

Okay Nafixd. How and how much do you suggest I should burn these in?

 

[kong]

I'd suggest going to a real store and have an audition on the "genuine" one so you'll have some idea how it should sound like. I'm not telling that yours are fake but if you have some reliable reference then you can make an informed decision / conclusion whether something is wrong with your DAP / IEM or not

 

[Peculier]

Quote:

This.  They're downright muddy with bass.  What I listen to at home has also warped my sensibilities.  I went from hating the TF10s while using the HD650 at home to changing my home set to HE500 and suddenly loving the TF10s.
 
The S4 are not 'bass-lite' IEMS, but they really lack clarity.

That's interesting... I like both the HE-500 and the TF10 too.. But the HE-500 is quite far from having a V-shaped sound signature.. Any thoughts on a reason for this? 

Also, OP, I own the S4i, and there really is no way for you not to be hearing dollops of bass on these unless you have a (seriously) faulty set or you purchased a fake. We know you bought them from Amazon, but it's entirely possible you drew the short stick and got a fake one. Also, mind sharing your previous experiences with earphones? I find it extremely hard to believe that the S4i can have "too little" bass for anybody.

 

[Nafixd]

Quote:

Okay Nafixd. How and how much do you suggest I should burn these in?

I'd recommend at least 4-5 days of burn-in (96-120 hours). I used white noise for the entire process.
 
Before burn-in it sounded cold, after the burn-in it improved and felt a bit warmer (suck at describing sound).
 
And ever since I burnt them in, the sound quality improved drastically 2 MONTHS AFTER the burn-in. It's probably because I didn't burn them in enough. I only listen to music an hour or two a day. So you can try to burn them in for a week, it should work. If you still aren't satisfied, I think you should just go for a new pair of IEM's. 

 

[sufficient03]

Okay

 

[ru9]

Quote:

5 days ago, I purchased the Klipsch Image S4i and was very excited. My first impression was "these are trash"..it still is. I honestly see no big difference in the sound quality of these and the apple earphones (not Earpods) except that the Klipsch has noise isolation and has more direct sound coming in the ear canal. The bass is near non existent and the treble is very harsh. 

 
I agree. Treble is very harsh and sibilant. No amount of burn-in will fix this.
Return them ASAP.
 
The S4 was my first IEM. Got the HF5 and  a reshelled UM TF10  thus  confirming the S4 is "trash".

 

[sufficient03]

Is that true?

 

[Nafixd]

Maybe you guys called it trash due to the genre you guys listen to maybe? I use mine mainly for hip hop/rap/pop/ and Soul. It works perfectly fine for it's price except for Soul where the voices wouldn't be called crystal clear. I wouldn't recommend keeping it if you listen to orchestral music. Like any music with acoustic instruments (excluding guitars for some reason) will sound a bit different and off, especially the high pitches (like on the violin). 

 

[Baroninkjet]

I have had S4s for six months are so. Burning definitely helps a lot of things. What it has not helped is the harshness in highs. You don't hear this all the time though. On some material, they highs are just fine. So I can certainly understand how some might listen to stuff on which they are quite pleasing. But when mine are bad, they  are truly atrocious -- audio equivalent of lens flare you get from pointing camera at sun. I am looking for a replacement.

 

[NNrun]

Did you try comply earbuds. My image 4 has excellent bass. Good price and very high quality.

 

[NNrun]

Did you try comply earbuds. My image 4 has excellent bass. Good price and very high quality.

 

[NNrun]

Best value earphone I can find so far. Just not very good for classical music. For other types of music, it works just fine for me.