Koss KSC75 Portable Stereophone Headphones
by Koss
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List Price: Our Price: $10.48 You Save: $9.51 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Koss KSC75 Portable Stereophone Headphones
Customer Review: Great value, good sound
Summary: 5 Stars
Most people that have gone through a lot of headphones, both for home and portable use, can agree that these are the best value anywhere. The sound quality is very good for the price, the clips have pros and cons, and they are genarlly quite durable.
These are open-ear headphones. This means that outside noise comes in quite readily, so it's not good for airplanes but will work pretty much anywhere else. Usually it's good to be able to hear something. The open-ear design also allows for better sound quality (anyone with Grado Labs headphones knows this). Outside noise issues aside, the sound quality is excellent (for the money).
Detail is present throughout highs, mids and lows. The bass is not especially strong (as with, say, most Sony headphones) but it is certainly present enough for you to hear the detail. For comparison I have Sony EX-51's and 81's. Those Sony earbuds sound pretty good and provide more sound isolation, but the Koss's blow them away in a side-by-side comparison in terms of detail and soundstage.
The clips that keep these on your ears are not especially comfortable at first, as many reviewers have commented. But on the upside, they do a very good job of keeping the phones in place. I wear glasses, which is annoying in combination with the clips. Usually I put the headphones on before I put my glasses on, or else the glasses' temples get caught between the clips and my ears.
As for durability, I just got my second pair after some wiring issues at the connector caused the left channel to work only intermittently. I bought the previous pair in December of last year. They would have lasted much longer, but I abused the hell out of these on a daily basis.
So for $15 (or less) these are an amazing deal. I use them daily, on a 25-minute walk each way to/from work, and they have served me well in every way. The only downside is wearing them with my glasses, which may be a bigger deal for other people, but I've been able to deal with it just fine.
If you need some new portable headphones, you can't go wrong here.
Customer Review: Hard To Beat For The Money
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked these up based on recommendations from various web sites. They are used with my iPod Nano and 5th generation iPod. Currently they are not being run through a headphone amp of any type. They are used at home, at my desk at work and walking the dog. In addition to these headphones I also use a pair of Sennheiser 212 Pros and Sennheiser 580s. While this isn't a comparison of the KSC75s, I mention my other `phones to give you a sense of what I'm used to.
These headphones are, as the title suggests, an excellent value for the money. For under $20 delivered they are light years ahead of the buds that ship with iPods. Among my other problems (mostly mental most would say) the canal in my right ear is deformed slightly. This makes in ear monitors like the buds that ship with iPods and other DAPs extremely uncomfortable. These `phones clip on to the ear and rest nicely on the outside. When compared to the in ear phones it would seem that these would not want to stay in place but that isn't the case at all. They stay planted where you put them for the most part and aren't fatiguing either on the ears or when listening to them.
The cord is, well, a cord. The length is right and it has a nice right-angle connector. This may sound like a small thing but it helps a lot.
The sound is wonderful. Nice and crisp mids, slightly subdued highs and respectable bass for such a small driver. I found the presentation to be very accurate but since they are of an open design outsides sounds will make it to your ear (a good thing when I'm walking my dog). If you are used to full size, expensive cans you will not be overly impressed by the sound. If you are using ANY phones that shipped with your DAP you will be astounded. I had a chance to A/B compare these with a pair of Sennheiser PX100s and PX200s. Even if they were the same price the KSC75s would still be my choice and I'm a hardcore Senn fan.
If you're using stocks buds, do yourself and your music a favor and spend $20 on a set of these. You will not be sorry!
Customer Review: Value for your $14...
Summary: 5 Stars
I needed a replacement for the default iPod phones. (Which, by the way, was not a smart move on Apple's part. You're selling a $300 product for audiophiles, the least you can do is throw in headphones that are worth more than $3.) After about a week, I picked Koss' KSC75.
I read reviews before I purchased this that this set is on par with $100 headphones. I'm not sure if I agree with that generous an estimate... they probably couldn't match up to $100 noise-cancelling Sonys or similarly priced behind-the-ear Bose phones.
But if you're on a budget, and you like behind the ear headphones - you really have only three choices - Panasonic's hs48k for less than 10 dollars (or the similar hs52), Sony's q22lp for 16-18 dollars, and these Koss pads for about $15. I picked the Koss, and I'm glad I did.
The bass is better than anything I've heard on any headphones I can remember wearing. It's a deep reverberation only a few light years away from a $500 Logitech 5.1 surround system, and that's really saying something. Listening to Linkin Park and Jay-Z's Numb/Encore, and Eminem's Sing for the Moment, I couldn't believe the sound quality. Ditto for the other side of the spectrum - Sinatra's Over the Rainbow.
The fit is also really good. Possibly a little too big, but it still feels somewhat snug. If you're in a hurry, you can still fit it on quickly and have it stay on for a rapid walk (but not for a run). If you spend a few seconds securing it right, it's great for vigorous exercise.
The cord's comfortably long - quite right. Can't complain.
For the narcissists such as myself: it does look fairly cool. It's not white as depicted in the snaps online. It's a deep metallic gray, and does look appealing. It's not the coolest looking pair of headphones I've seen; but it's more than good enough in that respect. Besides, looks was not my primary consideration in this purchase.
I'm throwing my iPod headphones in the trash right now.
Customer Review: UH-MAZE-ING! Extremely phenomenal for the price.
Summary: 5 Stars
I am EXTREMELY picky and VERY critical. I RARELY let good things wash out bad things about a product. These headphones are phenomenal for the price.
First and foremost, they are headphones, so I have to say that they sound very very good. The bass is rich and accurate. The highs are clear and not tinny. MOST importantly, the highs, mids, and lows almost never interfere with one another. This is critical for any traditional headphone set with speakers in the earpieces because this is what most cheap sets suffer from. These headphones sound like an $80-100 set EASILY! They would put $100+ sets a run for their money in terms of sound and clarity.
build quality is cheap. what did you expect? they're $10. that being said, the important parts that are likely to break are beefed up such as the ear clip and its hinge. the rest of it looks like it suffers a little from cheap production methods. the most notable down side to this is that the wire they use is very cheapish, but they're good enough. the quality is nothing to really complain about. its plenty good and more than sufficient.
they stay ON your ears. I suffer from 'odd-ear-itus.' Most sets just fall off my ears within minutes with me just sitting here. these will DEFINITELY hold up while running. they are also comfortable for extended periods of time.
the biggest problem with these is that they are MADDDD ugly. but whatever, they're not absolutely horrible. they're headphones, and they're not really that large so nobody's gonna make fun of you for it.
the ONLY other problem is that you probably shouldn't plan on using these in the library since there is no real privacy factor to them. they are actually traditional headphones without the part that goes over your head...
but really, for 10$ you can't go wrong. they are especially good for the gym/working out because of the deep rich bass, ear stability, and cheapness in case they break.
Customer Review: For the price, these are downright incredible!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are looking for a good pair of cheap headphones, look no further. A friend of mine spent some time scouring the web for some nice headphones he could wear while rollerblading and he came across these. I was looking for something to replace my horrid earbuds that came with my mp3 player, so I had him order a pair for me too. I was instantly impressed- excellent, accurate highs and midrange, good bass. They require very little juice to power so if you have a player that always seems too quiet, these will help. The other bonus of this is that you can run your player at a lower volume to conserve battery life while still retaining full sound.
One downside is that these are not very "private." If you tend to listen to music in a very quiet setting, say a library, I would probably recommend something else (probably an around-the-ear model) as people in close proximity might not be too happy.
Prior to owning these, I had never had any clip-style headphones. It took a little getting used to but the style has it's advantages. They stay on, almost too well. It is painful to just yank these off, instead you need to rotate them on and off around your ear. If you are in a situation where you tend to take your headphones on and off a lot, this gets to be annoying. As someone who wears glasses, this is even more bothersome (I tend to take my glasses off before putting these on, and then put my glasses back on). The flip side is that you would be hardpressed to find a better pair of "work-out headphones." My friend, the rollerblader, agrees. They stay in place, are very durable, and if they do break, at this price no tears are shed.
Basically, if you have $300 to spend on headphones, go ahead. The fact that you would be looking at $13 pairs is silly. Otherwise, these hold their own against much more expensive sets. I think even the most stringent audiophiles would agree.