Hi everyone,

 

I just bought  a pair of S4's on the internet and while the price was low ($49 ) it was not that low (Amazon is selling them today for $55). I can't tell if they are fake. They came in a blue box, the tin had the alignment between the logo and the h that elsewhere on this site is taken as indicating a fake, the Klipsch name on the side is resistant to rubbing, they came with 4 rubber buds and a cleaning tool, and to my inexperienced ear they sound OK.  I have very little experience with earbuds and so can't tell if they are genuine. I asked Klipsch directly and got the standard "We are looking into it" and "we can't tell you how to tell the genuine S4's from the fake ones, you might be a counterfeiterlooking for hints,  so go and pay full price at our friends, the authorised dealers, just to be sure they are real" response. You would think that they could tell us at least what previous rounds of fakes got wrong even if they keep the current errors under their hat. This would be some REAL help to people who are trying to be Klipsch customers rather than keeping the margins up for the authorised sellers. So, a question to ask is, While the alignment of the Klispch logo and the h is found on fake tins, is it also found on real tins? That is, is it simply manufacturing variation that has been copied by the counterfeiters. We have two problems here. Accepting fakes as genuine and rejecting genuine S4's as fakes simply because the deal seems to good, My deal was good ($49 vs Amazon's $55) but was it too good? Am I hearing klispch sound quality or not?  Right now, the Klipsch brand is suffering because I, and presumably many others, can't answer the question - Is this really Klipsch sound?

 

John Walker

I wouldn't buy them for $55. That was how much mine that were fake cost. The tin I don't think is a proper indication of whether or not you have fake earbuds. My tin from BestBuy looked just like my fake one minus the fact that the fake one's aluminum was brushed vertically and the real one was horizontal. The four rubber earbuds and cleaning tool came in my fake one, my real one had 3 pairs and no cleaning tool. Question for you "inexperienced ear". Have you ever owned a pair of IEM's? (in ear heaphones). If you haven't, these would sound decent. If you have and they were a decent pair then maybe you just got a steal on these. I don't want to push my musical taste on you but the song that I used to test mine was "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" by Coldplay. If it sounds like you are listening to bass with a background of vocals then sorry, they are fake. But don't worry, the real ones are worth every penny.

John Walker:

Hi everyone,

 

I just bought  a pair of S4's on the internet and while the price was low ($49 ) it was not that low (Amazon is selling them today for $55). I can't tell if they are fake. They came in a blue box, the tin had the alignment between the logo and the h that elsewhere on this site is taken as indicating a fake, the Klipsch name on the side is resistant to rubbing, they came with 4 rubber buds and a cleaning tool, and to my inexperienced ear they sound OK.  I have very little experience with earbuds and so can't tell if they are genuine. I asked Klipsch directly and got the standard "We are looking into it" and "we can't tell you how to tell the genuine S4's from the fake ones, you might be a counterfeiterlooking for hints,  so go and pay full price at our friends, the authorised dealers, just to be sure they are real" response. You would think that they could tell us at least what previous rounds of fakes got wrong even if they keep the current errors under their hat. This would be some REAL help to people who are trying to be Klipsch customers rather than keeping the margins up for the authorised sellers. So, a question to ask is, While the alignment of the Klispch logo and the h is found on fake tins, is it also found on real tins? That is, is it simply manufacturing variation that has been copied by the counterfeiters. We have two problems here. Accepting fakes as genuine and rejecting genuine S4's as fakes simply because the deal seems to good, My deal was good ($49 vs Amazon's $55) but was it too good? Am I hearing klispch sound quality or not?  Right now, the Klipsch brand is suffering because I, and presumably many others, can't answer the question - Is this really Klipsch sound?

 

John Walker

 Actually, there were two offers from Amazon at the same time, both about $55. One was from JTT, not an authorized dealer, and the other was from Amazon, an authorised dealer. Klipsch confirmed that it was the real deal  (--If it says sold and shipped by Amazon, it's real--) and so I bought a pair. I'm going to compare the real ones with the fake ones pretty carefully and I'll let you all know the results. Amazon has since returned the price to about $64 (in response to someone saying it was too good a deal? - I don't know ).  I doubt Amazon sold them at a loss, so perhaps the price is not a good guide to the fakes after all. Perhaps some sellers are looking for high volume sales of the real deal. We still have the question of  how do we know that they are fakes? How many of us have a real pair from low margin sellers that we are returning simply because we think the deal is too good. The cheap ones I bought certainly sound good to me but I have never had a pair of ear buds before IEM or otherwise. This is my first MP3 player. I've always preferred  audio via speakers and not headphones. I never had a walkman. So I am quite literally an earphone virgin.  I wanted a good set of earphones and relied on a review as to which ones to buy. I'm eager to compare the real S4's with the presumed fakes and both with the earbuds that came with the MP3 player ( I got it yesterday), So far, the "fake" S4's sound a lot better than the buds that came with the player, let's see if the real S4's outperform the presumed fakes. I might have 2 pairs of real S4's. 

 

John

 

 

 

 My set from Amazon finally arrived after almost 2 months of waiting. Big difference. 

 

For the record, i think they were an older set of white headphones. They were cheap at ~$50, and come with all the same stuff as my fake ones did so I don't think there is really a way to tell them apart except for the sound quality. The only real difference between them was the box was blue (which i assume is just a revised box style) and the tin has arguably better quality metal. No difference in the logo for me. Those fakes are amazing replicas. If only they could replicate the sound as well as they replicate the appearance. :P

 The fakes really hurt to wear because i had to jam them into my ears pretty far to get any decent sound. These sound perfect after putting them in and giving them a slight twist to set them in place.  Really digging the new headphones despite all the hassle it took to get them. Thanks guys.

Wow!  Very interesting indeed.  To bad to hear that there are fake/counterfeit copies of these fine headphones out there.

To give perspective on the logo-fading thing.  Below is a picture of mine, that I've had going on a good year or so now (bought at a local Best Buy shortly after these first hit the market, as I was in the market to replace a pair of Sony headphones that finaly died on me at the time) and you can see that the logos and the chrome are practically brand-new.  There is a very slight wear on right side (the bottom part of the 'c' is somewhat missing.   Bear in mind that I've been using these things just about every other day at the gym continuously for the past year, so these things get used and they get used hard!  I cannot imagine a pair of the fake ones holding up that long given as hard as I am on these things.

I don't have the original box on hand (although I might still have it around), but I do have the (albeight pretty dented up now) tin and the earwax cleaning tool as well the three pairs of extra eartips (although I've ordered some additional medium sized ones and already replaced one pair).  The medium tips seems to fit me the best.

As for the sound quality, I am still amazed at just how good thes things sound, especially for an $80 pair of headphones.  When properly fitted, you should get good clean highs and mids.  On a good recording, you should have no trouble picking out the detail in the music.  The bass should have authority, but not overpowering.  It should sound good, tight and clean, with no muddiness/distortion/boominess (again, assuming a good recording being listened to at a reasonable volumn).  Don't expect huge bass out of these things (ala some jackass thumping the woofaz in thier car at high volumn).  Sounds like those fake ones are using some cheap driver and very heavy on bass to the point of being muddy/distorted.

As was already indicated numerous times, the only sure-fire way of ensuring you are getting a legitimate pair is to buy them from an authorized dealer, preferably a local one.  Yeah, you are going to pay more, but at least you know you are getting good product.  However, that being said, it is still nice to know if there is a way to tell the fakes from the reals, especially if somebody is looking to buy a pair second hand.  Lets face it, everybody would like to save a buck here and there, so I can see how the $40 ones on eBay can seem tempting.  Sometimes, when it comes to stuff like this, you are better to error on the side of caution.  These things should last quite a while if taken cared of and it is sometimes worth it to just pay the extra money at the authorized dealers and be ensured that you got good, correct, legitimate product.  Also, as was also already mentioned, sometimes the authorized dealers will have sales, especially if they need to get rid of extra inventory (typically when a product line is being phased out), so sometimes good deals can be had on legitimate product.

the logo has always faded on me and i always buy from a klipsch authorized dealer. 

I hate to inform that I've today joined the ranks of the swindled on receipt of a pair of Klipsch S4s purchased from an ebay seller that exhibit all the characteristics of what are described here. I have a genuine pair to compare with, and the sound quality is noticeably worse. Extremely bassy with muted mids and highs; although, to be fair, better than a lot of headphones I've tried. I feel so sorry for all those 'satisfied' customers of this seller, they mustn't know what they're missing! Anyhow, I did notice some easily-identifiable differences between the real and the counterfeit, to help those who might have the same problem.

• 1 - The stem onto which you attach the earpiece has a ridge that the rubber 'clips' onto. On my real pair, this ridge is hard and sharp; on the fakes, it is smooth and rounded
• 2 - If you pull off the earpiece and look closely INTO the stem (closely) with a torch/flashlight so that you can see the inside of the bud, the real buds have a visible metallic grille; whereas, on the fakes, nothing much is visible, just some white plastic.

Hope this helps :/

I too was duped into buying these headphones off eBay. As soon as I got the package in the mail I was suspicious. I work in the printing industry and noticed the printing on the packaging didn't seem as professional and crisp as it should be. I doubted myself and thought it was just my eyes at the time. I opened the package and listened to them. They sounded better then your standard cheap headphones but did not sound at all like what had been described by reviews online. It's amazing just how close these knock offs look. They have managed to create an extremely detailed copy that will no doubt fool most consumers. I immediately did what I should have done it the first place. I went to Best Buy and paid the extra $20 for a real pair for side by side comparison. Most of the following has already been mentioned in this forum but I have added a few things I noticed and confirmed to be true when compared. 1) White type does not appear crisp on fake packaging. 2) The word "image" on box front is very light on counterfeit packaging and much more visible on the legit product. 3) L shaped plug on fake instead of the straight plug on legit. 4) Ear wax tool included in fake. 5) 4 total sets of ear tips with the fake buds. Included in a little zip lock bag. A total of 3 sets with the real ones. 1 on the buds and 2 loose in tin. 6) The stem onto which you attach the earpiece has a ridge that the rubber 'clips' onto. On my real pair, this ridge is hard and sharp; on the fakes, it is smooth and rounded 7) If you pull off the earpiece and look closely INTO the stem (closely) with a torch/flashlight so that you can see the inside of the bud, the real buds have a visible metallic grille; whereas, on the fakes, nothing much is visible, just some white plastic. 8) Fake tin finish is brushed vertically instead of horizontally. 9) Very muffled heavy bass response. 10) Fake manual is folded into a square and has line drawing of headphones on cover. Real manual is folded to fit length of the box and has B&W picture of headphones on cover. I did NOT notice the printing on the headphones to rub off easily. It makes me wonder if they may have got wise to that issue and have begun to improve the way they print the Klipsch name on the earbuds themselves. It appears that several sellers may carry these on eBay. My seller has a cash back return policy that I hope they honor. I have already emailed them and will be sending the fake ones back ASAP. Do yourself a favor. Pay the extra $20 up front and be sure to get the real deal from an authorized Klipsch dealer.

Ok..just to make things even more confusing for those like me he has bought these cheap , some points raised ealier mine seemed ok on , some not...

 Mine were £36 (Obvious Warning sign..or is it ? ...aghhhhhh)

1) My logo does not fade or Rub off ..spent weekend giving it a rub every so often like aladdin  (no geenie too report yet)

2) Arrived in blue box

3) Logo Tick (v thingy ) on metal tin is in exact correct position (But tin is Steel not Aluminium as stated by earlier poster as poss fake indication)

4) 3 spare tips in bag , 1 set on headphones + Cleaning tool in separate small bag in case holder position so could be fake but another post has Klipsch stating they may of changed qty in package so not good indicator

5) PRINTDUDE helpfully mentions closely looking into the port of headphones with torch , mine looks like metal grill sort of thingy (hard to describe

but defintalty not white plastic...)  think more like metal oval disc with 3 half circles cut out around the edge of oval forming sort of  single "Y" shaped pattern grill...

6) My instructions are also folded up into small square printed on Shiny paper 2009 (PRINTDUE mentions this as possible indicator)

7) PRINTDUE mentions Print / quality of package .. Seemed ok when i first looked ..but will need to check later on this point.

8) My metal bit on headphone that the tips are next up to is very small and can hardly feel it if move finger over.

9) SQ ...ok this will be hard to tell for me as A) Never in my life have owned decent IE headphones , B) i listen to dance music mainly so

these seem too have very good bass and i can hear the mid range and high end ok , but cant tell if there should be more of these two (see reason A)....

 so all in all i have no idea if these are real or not, as the only way to really tell is pay 90 or get one of you Audiophiles to listen and say .."oh my ..thats not right ".

if they are fake then they are seem to me Very good fakes ....because i would be happy to spend 20-40 on these...being a poor person i dont

have the luxury to buy another set too compare .

I would be happy to send  (+ pay for return ) to Klipsch and ask them to say yes or no if this was possible ?

 thanks all

 

 

 

 

"5) PRINTDUDE helpfully mentions closely looking into the port of headphones with torch , mine looks like metal grill sort of thingy (hard to describe" That was actually me who brought it up, but nevermind :P The absence of the grille in the fakes was the most glaring difference. If yours have it, I think they are likely to be genuine. If you do ever get a chance to listen to real ones, you will know immediately if the ones you have are fake. See if you can listen in a store. The difference is enormous, even to the untrained ear. Like night and day.

I think I've been duped by an ebayer too. Think I'll go pick up some from Best Buy today just to see. I paid $55 from user "betteroptions4u" on ebay with 100% feedback rating and lots of s4i buds sold in August. Mine don't sound as good as my ME M9P-SL buds but they're shorting out. They have a very smooth ridge and no grill inside the phone. Although I've gotta admit, an amazing replica all around, just the treble and highs are lacking.

After reading this thread I began to have concern about my S4i, so I started rubbing my S4i with my fingers and then scratching it with my nails that’s when I began to tear off. I had my mine for 1 month

I got mine here: www.headfoneshop.com/eshop in Toronto. He said HEADFONEshop is an authorized reseller of AKG, Audio-Technica, Jays, Shure, Klipsch, Sennheiser, Westone, Alo and NuforceI’m not sure if his telling the truth.I went to his store he had different types of headphones (Shure SE215, 425, Klipsch X5 etc) he give let me try them out first. I also got 2 years warranty.

Rubbing it with my fingers did NOT tear off the “KLIPSCH” logo, however…Scratching it with my nail did the job. It took a while for the logo to come off, and as you can see I’m still having trouble scratching the right earpiece off.Even though the logo was scratched off, the chrome part was still fine.

As for the sound, I can’t give my opinion because I’m not an Audiophile.

I’m going to my Local BestBuy tomorrow to try to scratch off the Klipsch logo

The Klipsch Logo can be scratched off.

Here's some pictures:

More Pics here: http://imageshack.us/g/845/dscn3591.jpg/

 

 

.

.

I can tell by your photos that those are legitimate. I have a pair of genuine and a pair of fakes. The logo does eventually come off the real ones, too. In your photos, the ridge on the stem to which you attach the earplug has a hard edge. The fake ones have a soft edge. Also, if you look into the stem with a light, if you see a metal grill, that also indicates a genuine product.