[thope]

Hi everyone.

i have been using ue-sf5 pros, Jays-d, SF4vi and Klipsch custom 2's for past 2 years. when I made the jump to sf5s from sony ex85s I have been strictly using armature based speakers with the exception of future sonic atrios that imho sound a bit hollow when switched immediately from other phones.

I heard a pair of klipsch s4's yesterday and was thoroughly impressed with the bass. so, i have decided to make the jump back into dynamic driven phones. i did a bit of research and found that these are the earphones more or less in this segment although very subjectively priced. please help me in figuring which one is best in breed.

With much curiosity,
Rahul

 

[Kobra]

I have the Klipsch S4i and the NuForce NE-7M. The NE-7M's have wider soundstage and a bit more sparkle at the top. The S4i has a bit tauter low end and are more forward sounding. Some people have complained about harsh highs on the S4i, but I don't. To be honest I think I've could have used a bit more in the highs

The S4i has much better build quality than the NE-7M, and the S4i are more comfortable to use ( oval shaped tips). The NE-7M is unfortunately rather good at picking up noise from the cable rubbing your neck or clothes, which is undesirable.

I've used them both straight out of my iPod, iPhone and MacBook Pro. And I've used them with a NuForce Icon Mobile AMP/DAC. Neither of the two needs amp'ing to sound good.

So, out of these two my preferred set of IEM's is the Klipsch S4i

 

[thope]

how efficient is s4i compared to NE-7M

 

[thope]

Alright guys, since I didn't get much feedback here I decided to go all out and buy all the earphones and post a review.

Koss -> Excellent bass impact but no treble or midrange to speak of.

Denon -> Klipsch -> Akg -> Ep-830: Almost same sound signature. Good mid bass, laid back mids and sharp but colored highs. all of them except the creative and klipsch sounded unnatural. They sound like someone used an EQ and turned the bass and highs up.

sony EX300 , EX500: similar sound signature except ex 300 has less bass than ex90 and better highs while ex500 has similar bass to the ex90 and treble is like ex300.

Sony XB40: totally surprised by this one, sweet and tight bass plus remarkable mids and highs though bass can be very excessive when enhanced. my iphone pairs very good with it but nokia is a very separate story. It's first time I couldn't bear the bass impact coming through earphones. I got a sharp pain in my left after about 30 seconds and had to stop testing for 10 minutes.

Ne-7: perfect on paper, good highs and everything but it's just not harmonious everything feels overly emphasized like a ue super.fi 5 EB with less highs.

I liked the Klipsch and XB40 the most but these were all tested straight out of packaging. I have observed that sony's earphones generally gain more bass and start sounding natural after about two weeks. I will leave all these for about 15 hrs burn in and re-test them.

Cheers.

 

[wild_wilds]

wow, thanks..
from the earphones you buy, which one has the best performance to value rate?

 

[thope]

This one: Amazon.com: Ah-c351k: Electronics

 

[Sabbir]

Thope bro...

you had more than 15 hours.... so which one do u think is better between xb40 or ex300sl?

and btw ex500 doesn't exist anymore on the sony website...

what I am looking for is loud bass and overall good sound quality...

Please reply back as soon as you can because I am going to buy one of those two tomorrow..

take care

 

[Sabbir]

sorry bro ex500 does exist my bad...

but the only difference between ex500 and ex300 is frequency...

and the price difference is $80!

 

[thope]

sorry guy, i totally forgot about this thread. don't even bother about ex500 for SQ. ex300 and ex500 are basically the same except for a little bit treble extension on the 500s, they sound exactly similar except for ex500 looking better and feeling more reliable. just like ex85 vs ex90. After burn-in and hours of switching between ex500 and ex300 I have decided they sound more or less the same. I am sure my ex300 will hold good for a while but the construction is nowhere near as good as the ex85 series.

And, xb40ex although constructed, look and feel much better than current sony's offerings, are very genre centered earphones, they are exceptional when they stand alone but if you start comparing, they will fall short on a lot of fronts. however, in my case I felt that they are still worth $50 and the bass extends very low and will satisfy headphone users without all the shaking and hovering over ears experience.


Also, I wanted to add that klipsch s4i are very delicate earphones and are basically useless to take to the gym. I also scratched my ex300s already, they came under the bar while bench pressing but still working strong. and, I returned the creative, denon and akg as they were more or less cx300 series variants and didn't look very appealing to my taste. also I sold the ne-7m to a friend of mine as he liked them very much.

to sum it all up, I am still in love with sony even though the new line doesn't even sound remotely similar to their previous offerings.

 

[Sabbir]

I have planned to buy ex300 over xb40 because I found out xb40 is all about bass!!!...I listen to classical music too so I think ex300 wud be a better choice...

 

[thope]

good choice.

 

[SkillsToShow]

I'm planing on buying the S4i, how does it hold up in a gym on a treadmill sweating like mad?

 

[swampy11]

What is your opinion or have you tested the Head-Direct REO (HiFiMan)? I have read very good reviews.
Thanks in advance.
`swamp