Klipsch S4 Headphone Reviews

These headphones gain great press across the interweb & I'd like to share my experience.

I believe they're aimed at the portable MP3 market and at £50-£60 they're certainly not an impulse purchase.

Common complaints are that the cabling is thin, cheap & noisy when moving.

The truth is the cable is surprisingly resilient & it's the movement of the earpiece within the canal that's mistaken for cable noise. There's a generous amount of cable supplied & I've not had any issues with 'tugging' or movement.

I don't like that these are advertised as "Noise Cancelling" headphones - there's no active circuits or DSP going on: they're "Noise Isolating". Though with the right eartips for you, they're very good at isolation. They're advertised as -16dB (presumably at 1kHz) & I'd say they're reasonably consistent above that frequency.

I can understand why complaints could arise from the limited range of eartips included, though I think with their conical design there is a comfortable fit for all.

Once inserted, the drivers definitely have a characteristic frequency response.

I found the instant sound to be very dull & massively disappointing considering the price. Playing with my limited EQ I had to roll ~600Hz right back. Perhaps it's a resonant mode of my ear canal as it was shockingly bad!

Also, those sparkly highs are certainly not present. They won't be winning any awards for clarity.

Having said that, playing with & tweaking my MP3 player's EQ I eventually found a happy compromise.

2.2Kz - 16kHz have all been boosted 3 - 6 dB, so quite considerably. With that nasty resonant 600Hz controlled, the lower frequencies are very tight & defined.

Please understand in cases like this I try to gain a level playing-field & then tweak to my tastes.

The single drivers actually are really nice. With that compensating EQ they deliver a very neutral drive across the spectrum.

I was worried that I'd made the wrong purchase, but these drivers are genuine gems & definitely worth the £50 I paid.

Stereo Imaging (Soundstage) is fine, no complaints & no binaural praises to be made! Comfort is great. Eartips are secure yet easily changed. I'm not a fan of the term "bass impact" though think I've covered the area elsewhere.

To conclude, there's a lot of false information/reviews surrounding these headphones. Out-of-the-box they are frankly disappointing. With some time compensating for some ill characteristics, these are great headphones with excellent drivers. They're in a completely different league to your "free with purchase" set.

Have really enjoying this earphones. Do work excellent for me. They fit good in my ears but there are only 3 rubber types so maybe for other less luck.
For this price I would all suggest this earphone.