S4i - new purchase

[DrWho]

So I finally got around to picking up a pair of S4i's, and I gotta say that I was a bit surprised by the bang for the buck. I've never been a fan of in-ears because they've always been fatiguing and uncomfortable...

A couple pilgrimages ago I had the opportunity to hang out in the lab and listen to an early prototype of the Image series (can't remember the model number). Professor Thump asked me for my opinion and before putting them in I told him that I really don't care for in-ears and that I'll probably only be able to stand it for like 10 minutes or so. About an hour or two later, he comes back asking me what I think and I just about forgot I still had them in. Needless to say, that experience definitely got me intrigued about the new ear tip technology...

So fast forward to today and I was waiting around in the Apple store trying to get my iPhone repaired and saw the S4i's on the shelf and figured I'd give them a try. After uploading my favorite tunes and choosing the smallest ear tips, I head outside to mow the lawn. Apart from the occasional tug on the cable, it was the closest in-ears have ever sounded to listening to my home stereo. The best part was my ears weren't ringing afterwards (gotta love the sound isolation). I've had them in for about 3 hours now and still no fatigue.

One thing I've noticed is that when I've got a really good seal, that I actually have too much bass. In fact, it sounds a bit one-notey at around 50Hz or so. If I let the seal break just slightly, the bass sounds natural again...although you lose the content below 50Hz. Sadly, the tone controls on my first gen iPhone are a joke so I'm not really able to tweak to taste.

But ya, for $100 I'm quite pleased.