Thanks to an industry focus on gym-geared Bluetooth headphones and chunky, stylish on-ear headphones, we are seeing far fewer wired in-canal earphones than we used to. That makes the Klipsch Reference X6i a rare treat—this accurate-sounding $179 earphone pair is aimed at the serious music lover. If you're after a massive bass sound, this is not the pair for you—the X6i is all about balance throughout the frequency range. It produces rich lows, clear mids, and crisp highs, but nothing is really boosted or sculpted drastically. It makes for a sound close to what the mix engineer intended.

Design
Available in black or white, the Reference X6i features a wire with a translucent casing that allows for a brown-tinted view of the coiled cables running from the earpieces to the 3.5mm connection point. The hardwired cables from each earpiece join together at roughly mid-torso, with the left-side cable housing the inline remote control compartment, which hangs at roughly chin-level. Because the earpieces are so lightweight, the eartips are able to provide an exceptionally secure—and comfortable—in-canal fit.

With a gold-colored central multifunction button and two dedicated volume buttons, the inline remote (with microphone) controls playback, track navigation, and call management. All of these operations are accomplished by the multifunction button, depending on how many taps you give it. The volume controls only adjust volume, and work in conjunction with your mobile device's master volume levels.

The Reference X6i ships with a detachable shirt clip and six pairs of black (or white, depending on the model) eartips—small, medium, and large versions of a simple rounded silicone eartip, as well as a flange-style eartip. A billfold-style black leatherette carrying pouch is also included. It looks pretty cool, but it leaves the earphones a bit exposed rather than enclosing them.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass presence, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Reference X6i delivers powerful, thumping bass that doesn't distort, even at top, unwise listening levels. At moderate levels, the Reference X6i still provides plenty of deep bass response, matched by a healthy balance of higher frequency presence.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with less in the way of powerful deep bass, gives us a better sense of the Reference X6i's overall sound signature. The drums on this track can often sound overwhelmingly massive on heavily bass-boosted earphones, but through the Reference X6i, the drums sound modest—neither thin nor brittle, but certainly not thunderous. This is a good thing if you're after an accurate sound signature. Callahan's baritone vocals sound rich in the low-mids, but not really boosted much in the lower range, which allows them to remain clear instead of getting muddy. The guitar strumming stands out brightly and pleasantly in the mix. This is a sound signature that doesn't invent bass where it doesn't exist, and gives equal time to lows, mids, and highs.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives just enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain a sharp edge, slicing through the layers of the mix—though the overall mix could stand just a hair more high-mid presence. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat possess a solid low frequency presence, but the lows here sound nothing like they often do on earphones that boost the deep bass to subwoofer-like levels. Again, this is a balanced sound signature—purists will find plenty to like here, but big bass lovers will find things a tad mild.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound fantastic through the Reference X6i. Lower register instrumentation is given a lovely, rich presence in the mix—nothing is too boosted, but there's a little added body that is apparent at certain moments. The bright presence of the higher register strings, brass, and vocals is neither harsh nor overly exaggerated. Just about every element of the frequency range sounds as it should, which makes these earphones a solid choice in this price range for orchestral and jazz music lovers (or anyone else) seeking an accurate mix.

For $179, the Klipsch Reference X6i delivers an audio experience that will appeal most to those wanting to hear something close to what the mix engineer had in mind, and less to anyone seeking thunder and rumble in the lows. If it's more bass you're after, you're in luck—you have a plethora of options that deliver massive or strong-but-reasonable bass. We like the Bowers & Wilkins C5 Series 2 ( at Amazon) , the Yamaha EPH-M200 ($59.00 at Amazon) , and the pricier RHA T20 ($257.27 at Amazon) . If you're after a balanced in-ear sound signature but want to spend less, consider the RHA S500i ( at Amazon) . 

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