Klipsch Image S4 Review

Design: 8/10

The Klipsch Image S4s are are an extremely well-designed pair of earphones. They look pretty sleek without being too 'quirky' or 'outstanding' unlike the Beats Tour by Dr Dre.

Sound Quality: 10/10

Since I'm no audiophile, to put it across in words for the average consumer, I would say that the Klipsch S4 really excels in having a balanced EQ with sufficient bass, resulting in details being brought out of music. The sound quality difference between these and 50 dollar earphones are like night and day (or between the S4s and Tours haha, the Tours suck, seriously). You will suddenly start hearing the twang or vibrato of string instruments, the piano keys in much more detail. 

Bass - Enough bass to be sufficient for any genre of music without bass boost, but it doesn't come across as being over powered. The bass is also not muddy at all as compared to the Beats Tour which I recently reviewed, in fact, you can hear almost every single detail. Overall, I would describe the bass signature as a slightly sharper 'thud', as compared to Sennheiser's deep 'thump'.

Mids - The mids frequencies are truly brought out in the Klipsch S4.

Treble and Vocals - The trebles are extremely good, and doesn't drown out the other frequencies. But what's exceptional about these earphones are the vocals. The vocals are perfectly tuned for almost any song I listened to, and they sound just right, which is having the limelight without sounding too harsh and piercing unlike most other earphones I have heard.

Sound Signature:

The sound signature of the Klipsch Image S4, to someone switching from the 'warm and deep' sound signatures of Beats Tour or Sennheiser, might sound a bit 'harsh' and 'crisp' at first but not in a bad way. Thus, soundstage might not have as much depth to it as Sennheisers, largely due to the lack of 'oomph' in bass, unlike conventional headphones or earphones such as Beats and Sennheisers. But after listening to it for sometime, you will pretty much get used to it.

Durability: 6/10

Urgh. One thing I hate about premium materials are they never tend to be durable, Klipsch should really just follow Sennheiser and provide durability over a more premium feel. The part where the driver chambers and the wire meet (at the top) is the most fragile part of the earphone, as the connector design will almost certainly rip apart after a period of use.

My friend's Klipsch S4 had totally ripped apart on both sides, so a note to all readers if you purchase these earphones, be extremely careful and take good care of them! I wouldn't say they are even suitable for chucking into pockets either. Hmmm...

*Update: After one year, my Klipsch are falling apart*

Usability: 9/10

These earphones are one of the most comfortable earphones I have ever worn for an in-ear earphone. Their patented oval in-ear gels work extremely well, and you can definitely tell Klipsch did pump in some R&D money into developing the ear gels to be fitted for human ears (like the Apple ear pods), unlike other brands like Sennheiser, which probably just pack in cheap rough ear gels even for their mid-range models.

The oval ear-gels also fit in so well that even if I walk briskly they show no signs of falling out at all. Surprising for an earphone with such a large driver housing design.

Overall score: 8/10

If these earphones were somewhat more durable and can take much more of a 'beating' (Being chucked into pockets), I'd have given them 9-10 points. But too bad they aren't and I'm giving these 8 points because they aren't very durable.

Dismantling the Beats Tour

So recently, I've been thinking since there weren't many people who dismantled their beats products, I thought I might give it a shot for my authentic Beats Tours.

So here's how I did it and my thoughts afterwards:

I dismantled it by simply unscrewing the earphone at the driver housing, pretty simple for a 150USD earphone. Once I got inside, I discovered the parts of the earphone are ridiculously cheap and simple.

Trust me, Dr Dre makes more ugly money out of every single earpiece sold than Apple Inc, the product cost to profit ratio is disgusting. That's why, never ever support dr Dre products, every single one suck from every perspective possible. The product cost of the tour to profit ratio is probably 1:150 in USD :p

Ok, rantings aside, in the driver housing, all you will see is one single tiny speaker unit. I tried cracking it open to see what they use for the diaphragms but to no avail ^_^ The speaker has some sort of rubber band attached to the front. And the speakers are linked to the jack by two thin green and red copper wires.

Beats by Dr Dre Tour review

Hello! I'll be doing a review of the Beats Tour by Dr Dre ^_^

Design: 9/10

The design of these Tours are extremely sleek, and they definitely look very good when you are wearing it.

Sound Quality: 7/10

Since I'm no audiophile, to put it across in words for the average consumer, I would say that the Tours sound quite good with a strong bass, vocals and trebles but with high distortion. The soundstage is definitely very good, perhaps due to the driver chamber design (which is quite large). 

Dr Dre's personal EQ has extremely high distortion, lol. However, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, some people might like this EQ, while others might not. The EQ pattern goes something like this:

Bass - Good thump, very muddled and distorted, some emphasise but not overpowering neither underpowered (Unlike some people who describe it likewise)

Mids - Virtually reduced to none, creating a very 'deep' and good soundstage.

Treble and Vocals - Very, very high emphasise, much more than the bass, but not shrill, sharp or overpowered.

So thats how I would roughly describe the EQ (Note that it might not be fully accurate as I am by no means an audiophile :( ). Distortion is very, very evident, however it doesn't twist the song into something completely alien. Thus, I can only conclude that audiophiles would only hate the Tour's to the extreme. Since I'm no audiophile, to put it across in words for the average consumer, I would say that the Tours sound quite good with a strong bass, vocals and trebles but with high distortion. The soundstage is definitely very good, perhaps due to the driver chamber design (which is quite large).
However, when I compared it to Sennheisers and Klipsch, the difference is like night and day. The Tours lose too much details for music to be worth recommending at its price. Dr Dre never fails to disappoint :)

The Tours are definitely good enough for the everyday consumer, but maybe not so for audiophiles. Definitely overpriced for the sound though.

Sound Signature:

The sound signature (in my opinion) feels slightly 'warm' (not harsh sounding), but also muddy at the same time. The clarity of premium earphones thats found in brands like Klipsch and Sennheisers are definitely not present.

Durability: 9/10

These earphones are extremely well made and durable, and they hardly show any signs of wear and tear from day to day usage.

Usability: 7/10

These earphones also stay put extremely well when you wear them, and unlike the iLeaf pro by Ounuo, aJays or any other flat cable earphone I have tested before, these earphones hardly fall out.

My only quibble is, sometimes, when you walk with these earphones, you can actually hear the sound of the cable rubbing against your body, thus making the music go 'thump thump' as you walk.

Overall score: 7.5/10

While these earphones might definitely be really distorted, they don't sound bad in particular. However, the EQ seemingly makes the music sound better in certain cases. This is probably due to the fact that I mostly only listen to Japanese electro-pop and acid jazz, maybe not classical music haha :X

However, these earphones are definitely overpriced for its sound, and there are many others which are much better and priced much lower such as the Sennheiser CX500, and certain JVC, TDK, Sony and Audio-Technica earphones.

iLeaf Pro by Ounuo review (Update in progress)

Hello fellow web user, today, I'll be doing a review of Ounuo's iLeaf Pro earphones. I recently picked these up to replace my Sennheiser CX280, which gotten stolen (Lol). These earphones are extremely solid, well designed, sounds great and durable right out of the box. According to the company, they are designed to be extremely eco-friendly, and even the packaging is eco-friendly as it once you open it up there's no way of resealing it :|

I recently did a search for the review of these earphones, but I couldn't even find a single good and comprehensive review, so here goes mine (one of the first :D) :

Design: 9/10

The design is extremely beautiful and minimalistic, and it goes extremely well with my iPhone 5 rugged WorkMate casing. However, the design is almost identical to the Beats Tours, except for the back of the driver housing, which is flat like a leaf as seen in the image above.

Build Quality: 9/10

The build quality feels extremely premium and solid. The rubbery flat cable makes it feel expensive, and the metallic earphone housing definitely feels durable, though I feel this will pose a problem to the usability of the product as it might be too heavy and keep falling out.

Sound Quality: 8/10

Sound quality is almost top notch, and is on par with 100 dollar earphones such as Klipsch and Sennheisers. Audio is extremely clear, and bass is sufficient. Instrument clarity is also superb, with every instrument being heard pretty clearly when I listened to Elbow's 'One Day Like This'. However, as with all in-ear earphones, what these earphones lack is mostly soundstage, due to its enclosed design.  But overall the sound quality is good enough for everyday use, with sufficient bass.

Usability: 3/10

I must say, the weakness of these earphones lie in their extremely large design, just like the 'Beats by Dr Dre' Tours (I believe the mold is the same). When walking around in these, I sometimes have to keep pushing the earphones in as they tend to loosen after a while if you make any sudden turns or movements. This fault is due to its extremely heavy 'flat cable', and also the weird driver housing design (exactly like the Beats Tours), which is unusually long and heavy.

Anyway, I have never onced liked the design of Dr Dre's Tours simply because its just too impractical to have such a heavy driver housing that will keep falling out, and I have no idea why Ounuo did not even improvised. My theory is they wanted to cut costs, thus they used the same mood to make the driver housing and cable as the Beats Tours.

*Update after a week's worth of usage*

These earphones are extremely heavy and impractical, due to the extremely heavy housing and flat cable design. They tend to fall out almost every time I start walking, and would only stay put if I sit down or stop walking. I do not know about the other users, but this design problem is bugging me a lot.  The earphone is rendered almost useless by the weird design, as there is practically no point in owning an earphone that is not meant for mobility.

Durability: 7/10

The build quality of these earphones are really good, and you can stash them in your jeans pocket or bag and expect them to last.

Overall score: 4/10

These earphones fail to meet my expectations, simply because of the poor design. These earphones were clearly designed for style over function, as the flat cable and the metal driver housing makes it extremely heavy, thus making it fall out all the time. I could not walk around without it not falling out. Thus, I wouldn't recommend these earphones to anyone, bottom line, they suck terribly due to the idiotic design. Who would want to use them?

Apple iPhone 5 Earpods review

Quoted from my Facebook status: "Wow! The Apple Earpods are a complete blow away experience! It can totally replace my everyday earphones :D satisfying bass on par with HTC's coveted 'Beats Audio' (if u turn on bass booster), and this is coming from a person who has owned Bose in ears, Sennheiser in ears and over ears and Beats in ears ^^ Much improved clarity and mids too, very balanced EQ."

Hit the YouTube link below for my unboxing review:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYUq06SU7c

Review:

The Apple earpods are by no means a low quality earphone. When you wear them, the full thump of the bass will definitely blow you away! As expected for all Apple earphones, these earpods are superb when it comes to instrument clarity and separation too.

Bose IE2 review

Product Overview:

These pair of earphones are the third generation Bose in ear series, that are targeted at the high end market.

Design: 9/10

These pair of in ear earphones are extremely well designed and really sleek in my opinion. They are also pretty big and eye catching. These earphones will definitely turn heads when you wear them outside, and Bose's design language is very unique for in ear earphones. Bose has definitely done a good job at making these earphones look and feel premium, which obviously should be the case as people will be paying a premium for these earphones. The brushed metal feels extremely premium, and also the metal grills covering the speakers. The cable housing is also very unique, with its black and white alternating design.

Quality: 6/10

The build quality is the only part where these earphones does not exceed in. In my personal opinion, the way the audio jack connector is designed feels extremely weak, as its pointing upwards diagonally. I do not really know the reason on why Bose designed it to be like this, but it feels very weak.

Also, one must be extremely careful and take good care of the earphones, if one wants it to lsat. You must place these earphones in the provided pouch all the time after use, if not they might not last. A unit of these earphones would probably only be expected to last 2 years on average, unless you take extremely good care of it.

Sound Quality: 9/10

Sound quality is especially decent for these pair of earphones, even for a non in ear. The bass and its sound stage will probably be its selling point if you were to ask me to sum up its overall sound experience. The bass provides a very satisfying thump, without being too loud, but it can be slightly muddy at times. The sound stage is also one of the best for earbuds, you get a very good feel of the sound stage, firstly due to the fact that they are non in ears, and secondly its 'open back' design. Apart from that, mids and trebles were acceptable, and vocals doesn't come across as overly piercing, though a bit loud in my opinion.

Usability: 7/10

These earphones are very good for normal everyday use, due to its good sound experience and extreme high level of comfort when you wear them. However, the audio jack connector design results in you having to be more careful than usual when you slide your phone with the earphones connected into your pocket.

Durability: 4/10

I highly doubt these earphones would last for more than 2 years without getting a replacement pair. All of my friends are already experiencing some problems with their IE2s as the physical condition deteriorates very quickly if you don't take good care of them. My friend's pair is falling apart (Bose IE2) after approximately a year and a half's worth of usage. For his unit, the rubber cable connectors between the cable and the main drivers themselves are already tearing apart, and also the audio jack connector, like I mentioned earlier. For my own pair, I actually had to send in my unit one for a replacement pair, as I accidentally snagged on it once, the rubber cable housing already had a small tear on it.

Overall Score: 6/10 

You should only get these pair of earphones, provided that your lifestyle demands you not to subject these pair of earphones to more rugged environments. These earphones are not really built to last, however good the comfort and sound quality is.

Sennheiser CX280 review

Product Overview:

The CX280 mid tier Sennheiser in ear earphones are good for normal everyday use. These pair of in ears also features a volume control compatible with Apple iPods.

Design: 7/10

These pair of earphones are moderately well designed. They stand out well from normal earphones, thanks to its unique zig-zag pattern on the earphones. However, these pair of earphones aren't overly attention grabbing, due to its dull dark colours. Therefore, these pair of earphones are perfect for those who are looking for a pair of discreet earphones with solid sound! 

Build Quality: 9/10

As expected of the Sennheiser company, these in ears are extremely durable, and also feels tough and solid. The plastic used to make these earphones are extremely strong, and the cable housing is also slightly rubbery and feels strong (slightly stiff, a good sign of quality). When on my daily commutes, I usually just stash them in my pocket along with my phone, and they show absolutely no signs of wear and tear at all. Unlike most other earphones, the audio jack connector is L-shaped, thus its extremely reinforced and durable, which eliminates the problem of the cable housing wearing off at the jack connector, unlike most other earphones.

Sound Quality: 9/10

These pair of earphones offers very decent sound quality, as expected of Sennheiser. Clarity was very good in the in ears, and the violins and cellos felt alive when I listened to Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons - Spring'. The sound stage is also quite decent, or even better than most other in ears. Bass was strong, not overpowering, but yet clear and satisfying at the same time. In fact, they have even more bass than Dr Dre's iBeats.

As for the mids and trebles, they were pretty average and neither is lacking. Vocals were also clear but not piercing. Overall, for its price, the sound quality is very good, I even feel that they can go on par with higher end earphones, such as the Klipsch S4.

Usability: 8/10

There wasn't many problems with using these in ears. Comfort is very high and sound quality is good. My only complain is the cable often feels slightly heavy, due to the volume control located near the wire splitter. 

Durability: 8/10

These earphones are definitely made to last, from the way it is designed! Jacks, connectors are all really well made. 

Overall Score: 8/10 

Though these are not an extremely high end pair of in ear earphones, the sound quality is definitely very good for normal everyday use, and are even on par with higher end earphones like the Klipsch S4. You definitely will not regret getting these pair of earphones!