Earbud Escapade

Note I will provide links to all products mentioned even though I highly advise (given the details below) you against purchasing the Klipsch S4's.

Klipsch S4's

New Years day 2013, my dad and I went to Best Buy so he could get himself a screen protector which I had been telling him to get since he got his phone a year ago. I went to the headphone section cause I'd been looking for a new pair of earbuds for a while. Sure enough, my dad offered to buy me a pair. I got the Klipsch S4A's, they got great reviews on both Cnet and Amazon.

Audio jack with mic (3 lines)

As soon as we got home I ripped open the box, plugged them into my Android (which is what the A in S4A stands for) and noticed the left earbud didn't work. I twisted the input jack around and found that the left earbud would go in and out of sound. I plugged them into my iPod and they seemed to work fine. For earbuds the sound quality was great and I truly loved the snug fit. I figured it must be a problem with my phone, but decided to try a different pair. So I immediately rushed back to Best Buy and exchanged them for the S4's (no mic input, no buttons), I was thinking it was a problem with the type of jack associated with the mic inputs cause there are 3 black lines as opposed to 2 on regular headphones with no microphone (pics to the right).

I didn't even wait till I got home to open them I wanted to see if they worked. Plugged them into my phone and still same problem. The margin of twisting was much smaller, but still I am going to be shoving my phone in my pocket and the cable doesn't just naturally stay in one position, that is why it is a circle it rotates.

V-Moda Crossfade LP's

Audio jack no mic (2 lines)

I didn't return the headphones. I should have but I didn't. After a few weeks (last night) I factory reset my phone thinking it could have been a software issue, and I was planning on taking it to the sprint store for repair anyway (I thought the charging port was messed up as well). I made the mistake of not testing other headphones with my phone before this reset. I also made the mistake of not testing other cables with my phone. I bought a new cable yesterday that worked perfectly, so I have now come to the conclusion that the charging port is fine, but back to the headphones. After factory resetting my phone I decided to plug in other headphones to my phone, specifically my V-MODA Crossfade LP's (picture to the left), and my samsung earbuds (came with my Galaxy SIII) that I have been using with my iPod in the meantime. Needless to say, both worked flawlessly. I twisted the jack, pulled it a bit, and did my whole jig. No problems. But was I so wrong to think that I couldn't have possibly bought 2 bad pairs of earbuds? And was I so wrong to think that there is no way the micro usb cables I have been using couldn't have worn out all at the same time? Well, I was to think such things.

So, I will be going to Best Buy today to exchange these rubbish Klipsch earbuds for maybe some Bose or Monster one's which I am guaranteed work. After doing more research about the Klipsch I have found that people have had the same problem as mine, but theirs have worn out after 6 months to a year! I guess it is a blessing in disguise that they didn't work right out the box because I am at liberty to exchange to Best Buy within 30 days.

If you want to look at any of these products here are the links or click the pictures above:

Also, the V-Moda headphones are the best  headphones I have ever owned. So comfortable, incredible sound. My girlfriend even asked for them for Christmas after listening to mine. I have tested out Beats, Sennheiser, Sony, Phillips, etc. and can truly say these are the best out of all of them. Anyway if you want a more in depth review I cannot rave enough about those things so drop a comment if that would interest you.

I will possibly update this after my purchase of the new earbuds with the end result.

Thanks for reading and my word of advice: Try with your own device before you buy (or make sure the store has a good policy reguarding returns/exchanges).

ARK