Professor Thump

Getting The Most Out Of S4 Headphones

This is a really exciting time at Klipsch! 

Now that we have launched Image S4 headphones, they have taken the public by storm.  So much so that we can't keep up with orders.  This is a nice problem to have these days, and hopefully we will be able to keep up with the demand.  

Everyone is special and sometimes earphones don't fit you well.  To avoid this issue, let's look at a case with some of our co-workers at Klipsch.

It seems like Klipsch has evolved with these new headphones, and this means workers have also evolved.  Some of them are stars!  Well, at least their ears are going public as we post there pinna's on websites all over the world.

Here is a picture of my friend and co-worker Andy.  While wearing the S4, Andy didn't think the product was comfortable for him.  We knew this would be an issue for some because the dual magnet driver in S4 is larger than anything else we have ever done.  Notice the red arrow showing the compression from the tragus of his ear and the S4 chassis:

You can see that the S4 fits him quite tight.  The tragus (flap of skin to the right of the headphone) is in the way of the headphone chasis, thus this is an uncomfortable fit with the proper ear tip.

In this picture of Sara you can see that the S4 fits quite nicely.  The tragus (flap of skin to the right of the headphone) is not in the way of the headphone chasis, meaning she has a good fit with the proper ear tip.

A user writes... 

How should I go about accurately measuring my ear canal diameter?

 ... I am happy with my recent Image S4 purchase (though I wish I didn't have to wait so long to finally receive it via Amazon).

Thanks!"

The photo above with Andy is an example of how you measure your ear canal.  You can use a ruler also to get the width of the ear canal.  Your ear tip should be slightly wider than this dimension in the horizontal axis.  

Here is a picture of my ear with the wire down mode. 

For my ear, the tragus slot is a more undercut shape which allows the headphone to nest comfortably.  You can see this same calculation modeled below in 3D CAD with the cable going over the ear. This data was taken by creating an impression of my ear canal geometry, scanning it with a laser, and importing that laser data to a Computer Aided Design program (CAD).  This allowed me to move the headphone around in the 3D model to understand what angles are needed for the geometry of the design.

Klipsch has taken over 100 ear impressions to review the range of sizes and shapes of ear canals to understand what our customers need in their headphone design.  If it isn't comfortable, it doesn't matter how it sounds - you are not going to wear it if it hurts.

The next view shows an ear pinna 3D model in reference to the side view of the CAD model.  As you can see, the 3D CAD picture below is a much smaller ear (concha) than my own.  That is actually my daughter's ear. 

Reviewing a solution for Andy, I had him try the design with the wire wrapped over the ear and the headphone rotated up 180 degrees.  Now the angle of the nozzle has shifted allowing him to nest the entire body inside his ear concha.

This cured Andy's fit issue by wearing the ear phone in the wire up and over the ear.  You can see that the changing the way he wore the S4 eliminates the problems with the tragus being in the way.  

If you are having issues with the body of S4 interfering with your ear try rotating the body 180 degrees by wearing the wire over the ear as in this picture. 

I hope this helps you to enjoy the full wonders of Image S4!