Koss Ear Clip Headphones: These Just Might Be The Ones!
Written: Oct 26 '03 (Updated Dec 01 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound for the price. More comfortable than most others I've tried.
Cons: Won't stay put during strenuous activity. Lacks bass at high volumes.
The Bottom Line: Good buy for the money. More than adequate sound for average users. Not recommended for very quiet environments, very strenuous activity.
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| tesseract's Full Review: Koss KSC-50 Consumer Headphones |
This is the sixth pair of headphones I’ve tried in as many months. Really. If you don’t believe me, go check my other reviews. I have four requirements: They must be comfortable; they must provide pretty good but not audiophile quality sound; they must be portable enough to use with my MP3 player; and they must cost no more than $35. There are plenty of headphones available for under $35, but nothing gave me the right combination of comfort, sound, and portabiilty. I’ve tried all kinds-- earbuds, deluxe earbuds with clips that go behind the ear, earplug style, street style, clip-ons, semi-open headband style, full ear cup style. The only type I haven’t tried are the ones that are like earbuds but vertical. Most of them either were too big for my petite ears, or gave me a headache for one reason or another. Let’s just say I’m getting real familiar with the staff at my local Circuit City and Best Buy.
As you can imagine, my enthusiasm has waned considerably with each new pair of phones I bring home, try, and reject. I already tried a pair of Sony clip-ons a few months ago, and rejected them as uncomfortable with weak sound. So I was reluctant to try clip-ons again, but I was literally out of options. (Ironically, I just posted a review yesterday in which I claimed I had totally given up on clip-ons, and here I am carting another pair home. Go figure.) I actually carried my new Koss KSC50 Ear Clips into the house and sat down with a heavy sigh. “Well, I guess I’m gonna try out my new headphones,” I grumped. Not exactly what you’d expect from someone with a new toy.
Sound
I got the first pleasant surprise of this whole headphone fiasco. When I put them on, I was pretty darn pleased with the sound right out of the starting gate. They provide a nice blend of rich but not mushy bass and crisp treble. At lower volumes, the bass tends to dominate, and the highs lose some clarity, but it’s still pretty good. I just turned up the treble boost a notch and it was fine. When you crank it, they really rock. Those who are not fans of treble might find the highs a little too bright, but I like my treble to come through really clearly, so I think it’s perfect. The higher I cranked the volume, the brighter it got and the weaker the bass got, so I had turn up the bass boost a bit at the high end of the volume. Those who like to groove at high volumes with lots of bass may not be pleased with the sound, but I'd say it's fine for average users. Their specs include a frequency range of 15-25,000 Hz, which is the same as the Koss KTX Pro 1’s I bought yesterday, and better than most comparably priced headphones.
How They Wear
If you’ve never worn ear clips, they can be a little hard to put on, and wearing them takes some getting used to. They’re very light, and they hang on the tops of your ears with legs just like a pair of sunglasses. Once you get them on, they’re rather loose, and constantly feel like they’re going to fall off. If you want to be sure they’re seated correctly, just lightly tug on the cord, and you’ll feel the legs wrapping around your ears. After wearing them for about an hour, I had some minor discomfort around the tops of my ears where the slight weight of the clips hangs, but so far their comfort has surpassed any of the other phones I’ve tried except the Audiobahn Noise Cancelling headphones, which I rejected for their terrible sound. The legs are slightly rubberized for increased comfort, but unfortunately only about ¾ of the length is rubberized, and it’s that stiff hard plastic at the top that bugs me at the top of my ears. Even the rubber part isn’t very soft. So they could have been designed a little better for comfort. I’d like to see better padding, and the entire length of the leg padded. Koss, are you listening?
There are two main problems with this type of headphone, logistically. First, because the only thing holding them in place is gravity, they’re not terribly secure on the ears, and sudden head movements tend to make them fall off. I could look down and bend over fairly well, but as soon as I looked at the ceiling, they fell off. So I don’t recommend them for anything particularly strenuous or high-impact. They’re probably all right for the stairmaster or stationary cycle at the gym, but no good for running or high impact aerobics. I was able to-- carefully-- lie down flat on my back on the bed, and they flopped a little looser, but didn’t come off. You could listen to them in bed if you’re careful.
Second, they don’t insulate your ears at all from the outside world, and sound easily bleeds both ways. This is both good and bad. It’s good, in that I can listen to my music at a pretty good volume and still easily carry on a conversation with someone as if I weren’t wearing them at all, but it’s bad, in that annoying outside noises can very easily intrude on your listening experience. In spite of this, they still seem to be pretty good at delivering effective sound even in a noisy environment if you just turn the volume up some (or a lot). In the other direction, if you’re running significant volume, anyone near you can hear some noise from them. Unless you’re listening at truly massive volumes, it’s not enough to be a problem in most situations, but I wouldn’t recommend them for a quiet library.
The silver color matches both my MP3 players perfectly, but they make me look goofy (I mean goofier than usual). They look a little weird on anyone with longish hair in the ear area, because the hair tends to poof out over the clips.
They Beat the Sony Ear Clips In Every Way
They sound better, they’re more comfortable, they’re cheaper. Period. The Sonys made my ears really hurt after only a few minutes, and didn’t have enough bass to overcome the loose fit. And the Sonys cost $20 compared to $18 for the Koss. (Actually, the souped-up Sony LQD clip-ons cost $30, and I’m not sure what’s better about them.) They’re identical to the Sonys in terms of how well they stay in place, which is not very well. The only thing that might be better about the Sonys is that they come with two sets of covers so you can wear them in blue or silver. Big whoop.
And like all Koss products, they come with a lifetime guarantee. Bless the good folks at Koss for making quality phones at reasonable prices and standing behind them!
UPDATE: After an additional day of testing, I discovered a few more pros and cons:
1. It only took me a day to learn to put them on easily, and it didn't take long for them to begin to feel normal on my ears. The discomfort factor is basically nil once you get used to them.
2. When carrying them around but not wearing them on your ears, they can be a little awkward. You can't hang them around your neck by the headband because there is no headband. But you also can't really drape them around your neck by the cord like you can with a super-light pair of earbuds, because they're heavy enough that they slide down one side of your neck.
3. I tested them at the gym and they did mostly fine on the elliptical machine, but I couldn't shake my head around, which I like to do to cool off while working out, and I couldn't easily run my hands through my hair to get it off my face like I could with my earbuds. I'd recommend them for sitting around, walking around, and commuting, but maybe not for exercising.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tesseract
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Member: Tesseract
Location: The Fourth Dimension
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 19 members
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