[greentoblack]

Hey guys, I am fairly new to high quality iems and need some advice. I recently was at best buy and bought some ultimate ears 500. Now they also had the s4s for about the same price and I was stuck between the ue's and the s4's. Which one is better. Should i return the Ue's to get the S4s? Thanks guys.

 

[greentoblack]

bump

 

[ljokerl]

The UE500 is pretty new and not many people here own it. Mine hasn't finished burning in but at the moment I'd say it depends on what type of sound you are after. The UE500, like all UE dynamics, doesn't really do anything exceptionally well but if you have to buy at best buy it's probably one of the better things you can grab off the shelf. The S4 has better clarity, more bass, and more treble - if you're into that sort of thing. I like the S4 a better than the UE500 but I'd still only buy it if I was forced to shop brick&mortar.

 

[lebomb]

I bought the UE500s and took them back.  They sounded great on my home stereo, but with my clip+ you had to turn the volume up to about 75% to hear anything.  Also, the right ear was significantly louder than the left.  I guess these UE500s needed an amp.  Anyhow, I replaced them with the S4s and it was like night and day.  The Klipsch S4s sounded so much better with my clip+.  The UE500s sounded great with my home stereo, but with a portable MP3 they were lacking without an amp. 

 

[greentoblack]

Thanks guys, I tried out the Ue500s on my Ipod classic and it seems to drive them fine, and they seem to have good sound quality, still not sure if i'll return them for the s4s though.

 

[Color Theory]

+1 for Klipsch. I prefer the ER-4S for listening in a quiet room, but the Klipsch comes through when ambient noise/rumble would otherwise swallow up the bass.

 

[lebomb]

Quote:

Thanks guys, I tried out the Ue500s on my Ipod classic and it seems to drive them fine, and they seem to have good sound quality, still not sure if i'll return them for the s4s though.

If they sound good to you on your Classic............keep them.

 

[greentoblack]

Yeah I think i'm going to keep them. I can always buy more at a later date.

 

[idvsego]

Quote:

Yeah I think i'm going to keep them. I can always buy more at a later date.

thats the Head-Fi spirit!  Why choose when you can just buy more?

 

[matto]

Don't mean to make it a bit more confusing for you but for $99 you can get the Klipsch Custom 3 shipped from www.adorama.com and I'm sure joker could even recommend these over the S4's or UE500's.
 

 

[greentoblack]

Quote:

Don't mean to make it a bit more confusing for you but for $99 you can get the Klipsch Custom 3 shipped from www.adorama.com and I'm sure joker could even recommend these over the S4's or UE500's.
 

That looks like a great deal, I think I'm going to keep the UE500s though because they are very comfortable and the sound is good, but in the future those definitely look appealing.

 

[50an6xy06r6n]

I've had both the UE 500's and the S4's, and IMO, the UE's are significantly better. I'm not really an experienced audiophile, but from what I heard (and confirmed by my dad, who's a bit of an audiophile), the S4's tend to be a lot bassier, and that seemed to make the music sound a bit darker and sort of boomy. The UE's, however, seemed to be a little more balanced maybe, and have less of a v-shaped sound than the Klipsches. I ended up returning the S4's and I'm currently happy with the UE's. Just my two cents, I guess it depends on your tastes.

 

[ru9]

Quote:

I've had both the UE 500's and the S4's, and IMO, the UE's are significantly better. I'm not really an experienced audiophile, but from what I heard (and confirmed by my dad, who's a bit of an audiophile), the S4's tend to be a lot bassier, and that seemed to make the music sound a bit darker and sort of boomy. The UE's, however, seemed to be a little more balanced maybe, and have less of a v-shaped sound than the Klipsches. I ended up returning the S4's and I'm currently happy with the UE's. Just my two cents, I guess it depends on your tastes.

Same here. I do not prefer the sound of the S4. Too bright and sibililant. Unfortunately, burning will not cure this.

 

[panamafever]

First, let me say how EXCITED I was to find this thread AND this site.  I had the S4s last summer and loved the sound quality; but I lost them, and my wife gave me the UE 500s for Christmas.
 
I'm not an adiophile either, so I can't really comment except to say that I really enjoyed the sound quality of both.
 
What I WILL say is that the UE 500s had SUPERIOR noise-isolating compared to the S4s...and I say this having NEVER TRIED the Comply tips, which after discovering head-fi.org today I realized I should have (supposed to be both more comfortable AND better noise isolation than silicone tips??).
 
I'm speaking in the past tense because after using my 500s for a little less than a month I had to return them today.  The left side was buzzing in my ear when they were plugged in to the speakers in our living room we use for TV/Wii--it sounded like I'd blown the left earphone, but I had never used it at high volume.  I might have STILL kept the pair, but the kicker was that the wire started coming apart right where it meets the jack.  To me, that seemed unacceptable given that I'd used them only 4-6 times in the gym and a fair amount on my Vespa.
 
SOOO...after reading this thread I'm tempted to take the cash from returning the 500s and buy another pair, and just hope that the quaility of the construction is a little better this time.  I really want to try out the Comply tips that I never got a change to before.
 
A few questions tho: has anyone compared the 500s to the 700s or 350s? I like the idea of the 350s being more durable/sweatproof, but they don't include any foam tips.  I read a thread on head-fi praising the 700s, but probably can't afford them unless I can get them under $100 (any ideas on if that's possible?).
 
So right now I'm leaning toward getting a second pair of 500s.
 
Final question---my brother recently laughed at the idea that earbuds could even COMPETE with big headphones in terms of sound quality. I'm not an audiophile but this made me mad because I love earbuds and don't like the idea that they can only produce crappy sounds.  So is he right? Does an $80 pair of earbuds simply not compare to an $80 pair of standard headphones? In my experience, "noise-cancelling" headphones have all been terrible, but I've loved the 500's noise isolation...and like I said, the sound quality was great too.
 
^ Sorry, I had a lot of pent-up questions and thoughts and it's a real relief to find such a great community like head-fi.  Thanks for your repsonses/comments.
 
Michael

 

[lebomb]

Its all subjective............the S4s sound better TO ME with the type of music I listen to.  I prefer bassy IEMs, since I listen to alot of R&B and Hip-Hop.......TO ME the UE iems sounds tiny in comparison with my Mp3 players......both my former clip+ and Sony that I now have. 
 
I dont see how everyone in HF used to praise, but now disses the S4s......... and this IEM wins all the awards?.....  top 5 / 10 best IEMs at many, many MP3 and tech websites.  I think many here hate, just to hate.  I hope Im wrong, but that is the feeling I get.  I dont see how an IEM can go from first to worst overnight.  On another note, I had someone recommend the UE superfi4s to me last year............they were the worst sounding IEMs TO ME, tons of mids/treble, but no bass.  Made all my music sound like a tin can.
 
Like I said, its subjective.  I go by what sounds good TO ME, which everyone should do. 
 
All that being said, I do recommend the S4s personally.  Everyone that Ive let listen to them, says they sound great.  *shrugs*