gmarcm

If you bought them from Klipsch then contact them and return them. Pretty simple process. You must have just gotten a bad pair. No one is perfect.

Cost reduced always means that something was removed from them, but at what cost to the audio quality or comfort?

Very serious. Break them in right and they will sound way better. Hate to say it pal, but it sounds like you got knock off 'phones. The real article will not buzz or hum. I hope I'm wrong. Where did you buy them?

I had a set of Shure SE530 that were over 2 1/2 years old. One of the nozzles broke off. I contacted Shure and returned them. They sent me a brand new replacement at no charge, and the replacement was the new model SE535. No questions asked. Hard to beat that kind of customer service. I may be wrong but I would think that Klipsch would do the same thing. They cannot take a chance of you telling a bunch of people that they wouldn't take care of a problem regardless of whether it is in warranty or not. If it is from abuse, that is a different story, but under normal use they should certainly last longer than that. I will be surprised if they don't take care of you. Among several sets of IEM's, I own a set of the S4 and I really like them. An incredible bargain - I paid $65 several years ago. After at least 100 hours of break in (yes, it takes that long for ANY quality headphones or speakers) they really come into their own and sound as good or better than others costing twice as much. Throw away the tips that come with them and get some $15 Comply tips. The difference in sound and comfort is huge. Good luck,

I guess I had better qualify what I said about break in. If you are using low bit rate files like the stuff that comes from iTunes and most other download sites, then you probably won't tell a whole lot of difference. Crap in, crap out. But if you are listening to high bit rate files or at least CD's, then yes, there is a major difference.

You should always break in any headphones or speakers. Not full blast, though. When I get a new set of earphones or headphones I don't even listen to them until they have had at least 50 hours of break in other than making sure that they work out of the box. And I don't think they are fully broken in before 200 hours. I take an iPod with lossless music files, put it on shuffle, plug in the new 'phones at about 40% volume and put it in the corner for a week or so. Recharge it a few times, etc. The difference in sound between a brand new set and a well broken in set is dramatic. Night and day.