Klipsch® Image S4 and S2: FAQs
Find out everything you ever wanted to know about our recession-proof headphones
What is the difference between the Image S4 and S2?
Aside from price, design, finish and the type of accessories included with each model, there are a few other differences between the S4 and S2. The S4 has angled nozzles and larger housings, while the S2 has straight nozzles and smaller housings.
The S4 housings are larger because each employs exclusive dual-magnet micro-speakers. By giving these micro-speakers larger diaphragms, the S4 headphones deliver more output as well as category-leading musical accuracy and bass response. Klipsch believes the S4 sounds better than most headphones within the $80 to $150 range.
The S2 delivers superior bass response when compared to other models within the $50 price range, while also combining comfort and style. Like all Klipsch headphones, the S2 solves two of the biggest issues with all in-ear designs: they are extremely comfortable and offer a good seal for superior noise isolation—you won’t find these attributes anywhere else in this price range.
What makes Image headphones so comfortable?
Unlike other in-ear headphones on the market, our patent-pending oval ear tips are anatomically shaped to accurately fit inside the human ear canal. These soft silicon tips reduce ear fatigue and provide excellent noise isolation for superior audio performance.
Why are Image ear gels oval-shaped instead of round?
When Klipsch started studying three-dimensional ear impressions, it was discovered that nearly everyone has an oval-shaped ear canal. The company couldn’t believe that no one else had yet considered the anatomical shape of the ear canal when designing in-ear headphones. Aside from their comfort value, our oval ear tips load quickly and easily into the ear canals as well as virtually disappear from view.
Why should I choose an in-ear design over a traditional on-ear headphone model?
First of all, the music source is closer to your ear drum, which in turn, makes the sound more accurate. Secondly, your ear lobes won’t get hot and sweaty after hours of use. Not to mention, in-ear designs won’t mess up your hair.
Are in-ear headphone designs bad for your hearing?
Anytime you put something in your ear or listen to loud music, there is a health risk involved. However, when you wear an in-ear design, such as the S4 or S2, with a good seal, you typically don’t have to turn up the volume as much because a good seal dramatically reduces background noise.
These headphones are too loud and my ears are ringing! What should I do?
You have your volume set too high. These products offer a far higher quality of sound than most people expect from headphones, and you might not always realize that you are listening too loud.
Why am I not getting enough bass response?
It’s probably because you don’t have a good ear seal. Be sure to try out the various ear tip sizes. You may also want to try pulling the ear tip out slightly, as it may have collapsed.
How do I know if I have a good seal?
When no music is playing, your voice should sound louder and ambient noise should sound quieter, very similar to wearing a pair of ear plugs. Creating a tighter seal is simple. Insert the ear tip (while connected to the nozzle) into the ear canal, gently rotate it left and right and then slightly pull it back. This adjustment eliminates virtually all external noise so you can play your music at a lower volume, for a longer period of time, without experiencing ear fatigue.
Will I still be able to hear my music if I am traveling on a noisy bus, train or plane?
Yes, that is the best reason to use our noise-isolation headphones. Keep in mind though; you must have a good seal. By inserting Image earphones properly, you’ll easily be able to tune out screaming children, brake sounds, tire squeals, and engine roars. You CHOOSE your audio environment.
Will Image headphones work with my iPhone?
Image S4 and S2 headphones are compatible with the iPod, iPhone and any device with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
What if my ears are wax magnets?
If used regularly, it is natural for you to experience wax buildup in the ear tips. Image S4 headphones come with an ear tip cleaning tool that easily removes wax buildup from the ear tip’s acoustic opening. Plus, you can clean the exterior of the silicon ear tip with rubbing alcohol.
What compression format should I use to get the most from my Image headphones?
When it comes to the superior delivery of your digital music, the compression format you choose to import your songs makes a huge difference—especially when you listen with high-end headphones. The more compression, the more sound quality is lost. In iTunes, you can select between five different compression encoders when ripping music files from your CD collection: AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, MP3 and WAV.
If you’re into serious audiophile listening and want to get the full impact of our headphones’ performance prowess, you’ll need to select a WAV, AIFF or Apple Lossless format for your music. While WAV and AIFF are raw audio files from CDs in computer-readable formats, Apple Lossless preserves a CD’s original quality, while cutting its size in half. You might compare this lossless encoding to a zip file: smaller than the original, but with no data loss. Keep in mind that these three formats take up a lot more file space than the standard AAC and MP3 encodings. In other words, you’ll get fewer songs on your iPod or other device, but they’ll be delivered at a much higher quality.
Another thing to consider when choosing these compression formats is that only iTunes and the iPod can support Apple Lossless files and just about every other piece of music-playing software will be able to play WAV files. AIFF files are specific to Macs, so if you are planning to listen to music on a PC, WAV is your best choice.
Because they sound pretty good and achieve the best compression of the five formats, most iPod users choose between AAC and MP3. AAC, or advanced audio coding, is the standard default on iTunes. When compared to an MP3 format, AAC gives better sound at the same bit rate. However, only iTunes and the iPod can support AAC; MP3s can be played on just about every digital music player.
PC users can make their compression selection in iTunes by going to the edit drop-down box, selecting preferences and then clicking on the importing tab. Mac users can go to the iTunes drop-down box, select their preferences, then click on the importing tab.
How does bit rate influence Image sound performance?
The second variable to consider when trying to get the best sound performance out of your digital music files is “bit rate.” Bit rate refers to the rate that data is flowing in bits per second. The greater the bit rate, the more data is played back every second.
Most often, files are compressed to 128 kbps, 160 kbps or 192 kbps. The standard bit rate default in iTunes is 128 kbps, but you can customize your rate to go as high as 320 kbps (you make your bit rate selection when choosing your compression format). Kbps means kilobits per second—the higher the number, the better the sound and the more space a music file will consume on your computer or iPod. Conversely, the lower the number, the lower quality of audio will be and the less file space you’ll take up.
To give you an example of how bit rates works, a 4-minute song requires about 3.7 MB of iPod/hard disk space at 128 kbps and about 4.7 MB at 160 kbps. If you go to 192 kbps, you’d have a 5.6 MB file, and file sizes increase accordingly each time you move to a higher bit rate.
You may find that your music sounds fine at the 128 kbps rate, but if you want true audiophile-quality sound to fully appreciate your Klipsch Image headphones, you should go to a 192 kbps or 256 kbps rate. Bit rate and file size don’t usually pose a problem unless you have tons of music and want to fit it all on your iPod. That’s when you have to make a choice: better sound quality and fewer songs, or lower sound quality and more songs.