Leanne's Blog

My entry into the canalphone-type headphones was inside the form of the well-liked Sennheiser CX300's.

My entry into the canalphone-type headphones was inside the form from the common Sennheiser CX300's. I didn’t possess a require for anything too extravagant, as I had my full-size headphones for house use that had been positive to outperform all but the finest canalphones. However, owning an costly pair of full-size headphones left me wary of what sort of transportable ones I’d be willing to endure, and I knew I needed a happy medium. The CX300's have been in a fair cost range for what I sought, but I was never totally satisfied with them. I told myself it must have been purely that they were $80 and I’d become spoiled with my numerous full-size sets ranging from $400-600.

It wasn’t until I had the pleasure of listening to the Klipsch Image S4 headphones I would get some extra perspective.

CHARACTERISTICS

I apparently have small ear canals, as each headphone of this variety I have tried has needed the smallest plug sizing. The smallest dimension on the S4 worked the most effective in the 3, but I nevertheless had some minor issues acquiring and maintaining a appropriate seal although wearing them. That said, although, they have been snug once in place.

The plugs themselves go in deeper than the CX300's did, which surprisingly is no much less relaxed and simpler to maintain a great seal with. I imagine this also improves noise high quality, specified the way these type of headphones function.

The cord is really a “Y” design, which I like. The CX300's I employed previously employed a “J” design, that is to say 1 side was lengthy than the other as to be wrapped around the back of your neck and head up for the ear. This can relieve wire tension or make it harder to pull out accidentally, but I discovered it cumbersome. The S4's twine is reasonably thin, but no much more so than any other wire in their class of headphones.

An all-plastic style is utilized, which makes them much less resilient than other models that use metal. There have been reviewers inside the past complaining from the part that connects the speaker chamber to the rubber earpiece snapping, but it feels fairly sturdy to me nonetheless.

THE Audio

Having a correct seal, these headphones possess a quite solid performance across the spectrum. The low-end is deep as well as the influence is excellent, coming as a nice surprise from my previous CX300's. Their bass (CX300) was thick but somewhat muddy, and overall lacked a real sense of influence. On the contrary, the Image S4's bass is tight which has a fair volume across any genre of music.

1 from the most glaring downfalls of your Sennheiser CX300's was the upper mids being numerous decibels hot (particularly 6KHz - 8KHz). This created guitars sound harsh and cymbals noise artificial. This is not so with the S4's. While there’s nothing noteworthy in this location, at least giving an average performance bring them ahead right here as they are not fatiguing like the CX300's had been in this region.

The vocals are really clear and forward with out detracting from instrumentation. Female voices are smooth and sexy, and male voices are full bodied and properly represented. The Klipsch smart is absolutely present in these headphones, which would be to say the bass is tight and warm, along with the highs are a bit bright. Still, at no time did I come across them fatiguing for lengthy listening sessions.

CONCLUSION

I admit I was curious what a Klipsch headphone would seem like given their respectable reputation in speakers. I’m impressed, particularly given that they outperformed a Sennheiser-which has an equally respectable reputation in headphones.

Simply put, I locate the S4's superior on the CX300's in each way. They’re additional comfortable, stay inside ear better, and have superior sound in every category. Provided that they’re essentially the same value, this creates very a sense of value. The fact that there was a big to-do about counterfeit CX300's on the net and even in several retailers a year or so ago doesn’t aid, either. Genuinely, Klipsch has just produced a superior product and a solid contender from the headphone market.

Do they smart as good as my full-size headphones? Surely not. But I by no means expected a headphone at this price tag point would. For the dollars, although, these are genuinely pleasurable to listen to though I’m at operate or out somewhere. I don’t come across any particular region lacking, and although they’re not my Denon AH-D5000's I certainly don’t discover myself continually thinking “I’m user a cheaper headphone”. Klipsch has genuinely created a excellent middle-of-the-road headphone right here, which need to appeal to casual listeners with a sub $100 budget too as additional serious listeners seeking some thing portable which has a decent cost to smart ratio.