[jaysins]

How do you think the S4's stack up against the denon C751's I see you have listen in your sig jleewach?

 

[jleewach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysins /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do you think the S4's stack up against the denon C751's I see you have listen in your sig jleewach?

I'm probably not the best person to ask about the C751's since I HATED them w/ a passion. The weight of the stupid modular cable & awkward fit of the earpieces made them constantly pop out of my ears, and I thought they were the strangest sounding iem's I've ever heard. Bass & treble was there, but it felt like there was absolutely zero midrange. It sounded completely hollow to me, and the treble was pierce-ingly painful to my ears. In my opinion, the 751 are the worst iem ($100+) that I've ever tried. The mids on the S4's are recessed to an extent, but nowhere near the degree of the 751's.

 

[dweaver]

I can't say anything about the Klipsch but the TB really do need burnin to sound right. Out of the box they are very boomy and the mids and treble is subdued. After 20 hours or so of burnin the bass settles down a bit and continues to do so until about 100 hours. During that time the mids and treble improve ALOT. Having said that I do now find them to be very much an in head sound versus and open sound. This is caused from my using open full size headphones though which will never be a fair comparison.

 

[jleewach]

Granted, I should have prefaced my comment by saying the comparison was based solely on inital impression. Both are very good iem's. I just prefer the Klipsch. I am a bit of a Klipsch fanboy though... Perhaps my comments should be taken w/ a grain of salt.

 

[dweaver]

I think you mentioned they weren't burned in Jleewach, I just wanted to comment on the fact that there was quite a bit of change in my experience with theTB's. In fact I really enjoyed the almost daily changes that took place as they burned in while I used them. BTW I am a big Audio Technica fan myself, so I know what it's like to find a manaufacturer you like

.

 

[IpodHappy]

The bass of the Turbines was indeed powerful, but the mids and highs didn't have the power to compensate. I listened to the Turbines all of about 30 minutes before returning them to the store where I got them--one of the few IEMs I've ever taken back. I have the Klipsch Custom 3s, and, except for the cable microphonics, have enjoyed their sound balance.

If you can get the Klipsch's at a place where you can return them, that's your best bet. Who knows, you might even like the Turbine's if they fit your style.

One other issue to watch out for on the Turbines--their drivers are a bit heavy. If you plan to walk with them, they will jostle in your ear canals with every step, creating a squashing sound. The lighter the drivers, the less apparent is this noise when walking.

 

[Ncc3711]

I just got the Klipsch Image S4's at Best Buy today and I love them so far.

I recently got Shure SCL2's and they were very uncomfortable so I returned them to Amazon. Image S4's were my runner up choice so I ran to Best Buy and got them after confirming you can return within 30 days, that's not happening though because they are good :]

The Image S4's are super comfortable, like they're not there at times. The bass has punch and the treble is crisp, these are 2 things I care about, I like the bass for my electronic music and the treble for my hardcore. I suppose these are just day one impressions but I've seen the Klipsch do better with reviews anyways, I was interested in the Turbines when I saw Monster made them but they didn't review so well. My vote is buy the Image S4's at BB and if you don't like them return them.

 

[ductrung3993]

Unfortunately, I dont live in the US and all I could do is to ask my relative there to buy a pair and bring it back to me in Viet Nam

Therefore, I put most of my time doing research and asking. And thanks all for your feedback, I'm looking forward for more info from the owners

PS: @IpodHappy: can you describe the Turbine's treble and mid compare to other IEMs that you own? Thanks!

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IpodHappy /img/forum/go_quote.gif The bass of the Turbines was indeed powerful, but the mids and highs didn't have the power to compensate. I listened to the Turbines all of about 30 minutes before returning them to the store where I got them--one of the few IEMs I've ever taken back. I have the Klipsch Custom 3s, and, except for the cable microphonics, have enjoyed their sound balance. If you can get the Klipsch's at a place where you can return them, that's your best bet. Who knows, you might even like the Turbine's if they fit your style. One other issue to watch out for on the Turbines--their drivers are a bit heavy. If you plan to walk with them, they will jostle in your ear canals with every step, creating a squashing sound. The lighter the drivers, the less apparent is this noise when walking.

I'm glad you took all of 30 minutes to carefully consider and evaluate the Turbines for life. What took you so long?

 

[dweaver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ductrung3993 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unfortunately, I dont live in the US and all I could do is to ask my relative there to buy a pair and bring it back to me in Viet Nam Therefore, I put most of my time doing research and asking. And thanks all for your feedback, I'm looking forward for more info from the owners PS: @IpodHappy: can you describe the Turbine's treble and mid compare to other IEMs that you own? Thanks!

Not to sleight IpodHappy but I don't believe he will be able to give an informed opinion of the true sound of the Monster Turbines. He can give you an accurate opinion of what they sound like out of the box (scary bad bass canons with no other redeaming value). But that is just their initial sound, they change SUBSTANTIALLY after as little as 20 hours of burnin (i.e. they become listenable) and then they improve daily until around 100hrs of use. The sound at the end of the 100 hours is an IEM that has good bass when needed but not bass that over powers the rest of the sound. The midrange is decent, not to forward and not seriously recessed or veiled, the treble also has pretty decent extension. The TB's weaknesses are poor soundstage (but not a bad soundstage considering they are sealed IEM's) and detail (again they are not bad and certainly fun to listen to just weak especially if you come from decent mid-fi to high-fi full size open headphones). When I need strong isolation or I am using public transit these are my phones of choice.

 

[ductrung3993]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not to sleight IpodHappy but I don't believe he will be able to give an informed opinion of the true sound of the Monster Turbines. He can give you an accurate opinion of what they sound like out of the box (scary bad bass canons with no other redeaming value). But that is just their initial sound, they change SUBSTANTIALLY after as little as 20 hours of burnin (i.e. they become listenable) and then they improve daily until around 100hrs of use. The sound at the end of the 100 hours is an IEM that has good bass when needed but not bass that over powers the rest of the sound. The midrange is decent, not to forward and not seriously recessed or veiled, the treble also has pretty decent extension. The TB's weaknesses are poor soundstage (but not a bad soundstage considering they are sealed IEM's) and detail (again they are not bad and certainly fun to listen to just weak especially if you come from decent mid-fi to high-fi full size open headphones). When I need strong isolation or I am using public transit these are my phones of choice.

Yeah, burn in 's such a significant part as we all know. By the time I asked I thought that IpodHappy would obvious has his burned in which's quite abrupt

And by the way, do you find these heavy pair comfortable and what do you think about the wire's durability?

 

[dweaver]

The weight is OK when in ear but they really do clink around out of ear. I personally have had no issues with the cable myself, it doesn't have many stress relief features though so may be problematic if used under extreme conditions.

I have liked my TB's but I do have to admit the thought of a big sound stage which the one main review of the S4 here on Head-fi suggests it has would be tempting to me. But I say that after going the ATH AD700/900 route for full size headphones which have great mids and a huge sound stage but are considered bass light by many OP's.

If I were you I would read the S4 review and decide how important bass is to you in comparison to the two qualities just mentioned versus the weight or the cables since it's all about the music in the end.

 

[ductrung3993]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver /img/forum/go_quote.gif The weight is OK when in ear but they really do clink around out of ear. I personally have had no issues with the cable myself, it doesn't have many stress relief features though so may be problematic if used under extreme conditions. I have liked my TB's but I do have to admit the thought of a big sound stage which the one main review of the S4 here on Head-fi suggests it has would be tempting to me. But I say that after going the ATH AD700/900 route for full size headphones which have great mids and a huge sound stage but are considered bass light by many OP's. If I were you I would read the S4 review and decide how important bass is to you in comparison to the two qualities just mentioned versus the weight or the cables since it's all about the music in the end.

Thanks for your suggestions

Actually I did read lots of review about these two, especially the S4.

From what I found, these two phones has similar great bass but their mid and treble are just ok, esp the turbine and the S4 has a good sound stage while the Turbine's sound stage's just average (pls give me info about this). And about comfort, the S4's spectacular but I really like the Turbine's style so its such a great dilemma for me

 

[dweaver]

LOL I can't give much more info, I'm half tempted to pick up a pair of Klipsch's just to do a comparison but that's not going to happen because I just bought a pair of AD900 which broke the bank. I would say that if all else is equal between the phones in other sound areas the added soundstage would tip the scales in favour of the Klipsch for me. This is because I use open full size headphones that are all about soundstage and I prefer that sound signature now.

The TB's are actually very comfortable in my opinion BTW, I have a severely offset ear canal and found if I used their largest tip i could fill my outer ear with it's bulb and after a few minutes would forget I even had them in my ear. I also used Sony HYbrid tips and used their large tip and got the same effect. The difference in the tips was interesting as the Sony expanded the soundstage somewhat but the stock tip added something to the bass of the TB's (timbre maybe) that I really liked, so I would carry both tips and switch them back and forth when mood suited me.

BTW the TB's are a very nice looking phone so I can inderstand your dilemma in that area, but I do think in the end because they are so small this is secondary. Also if you live in a cold climate you might find the metal of the TB's getting colder than the Klipsch will.

 

[IpodHappy]

As Kwkarth mentions, I did not burn in the Turbines. I took them out of the box, put them through a listening test with some of my favorite music which pushes highs, mids, and lows. This music set includes electronic and classical music. During the listening test, they performed okay, but sounded like a cheaper set of phones than I would have expected for the money. I was looking for something with a powerful bass bump on top of a relatively flat mid and high. What I found with my un-burned in Turbines was a relatively smooth roll off from strong bass through weaker treble. I then compared the Turbines to a subset phones: the Shure e500c's, the Etymotic ER4s, and the UltimateEar Super.Fi 5s. I liked each of these better than the Turbines.

I ended up getting the UltimateEar Triple.Fi 10s a week after returning the Turbines. I have been quite pleased with these. Since I got them on a sale at Amazon, they weren't that much more than I paid for the Turbines.

Unless burn in would have made a substantial change in the sound signature, I don't think I would have been happy in the long run with them.

So, as mentioned, you might enjoy the Turbines. Many do. It was after reading the Turbine thread here that I decided to purchase them.