MetaChat - Headphonesfilter: Kossvana!

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14 December 2008

Headphonesfilter: Kossvana! →[More:]

Finally the search is over for a quality set of headphones and earbuds! Here's the story:

I had a beat pair of old Radio Shack overears that played fantastico, but eventually wore off their pads and then the temple broke.

So I went to Best Buy and mistakenly bought a pair of Sony Studio Monitor earbuds. They sounded like the studio monitor in question was located in an underground bunker somewhere in the next county.

So I returned them, and again repaired to Radio Shack to see what I could find there. I started talking to one of the salespeople, and he turned me on to a company called Koss, who he swore by and who I've heard great things about on metafilter as well.

So, for the same price as the stupid Sony buds (60 dollars) I now have an awesome pair of Koss earbuds (Koss SP3's if you're keeping score), and a pair of over ear phones (Koss Pro35's).

And it's clear! I hear tons of nuance even with the buds. Both sets make me feel like my brain is pulsing. Or like it's trying to tour a mansion made from music. Or put another way:

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.

So rock on, Radio Shack and Koss gear. Anyone else here use this brand?

post by: Lipstick Thespian at: 14:10 | 7 comments

I had a set of Koss over the ear headphones from the Shack for years and loved them.

posted by octothorpe 14 December | 14:13

Koss will still replace/repair its products for life (this is not written, it is something Koss does if you contact them) if they go bad.
Good for you.

posted by buzzman 14 December | 16:47

I prefer Shure e2c earphones for travelling. But then I have always liked a more open, toppy sound than the KOSS earbuds provide. It's like preferring the Neville Marriner version of Mozart to the Georg Solti version. And I still swear by my Audio Technica ATH-A700s for over-ear headphones. My SO bought them for me -- I thought I was committed to my Sennheiser's for life (and the Audio Technicas look ridiculously big, even if they are very light). But now, I would not be parted from them. I realize that the Sennheisers were just an initial infatuation. With the Audio Technicas, it's the real thing ... :-)

posted by Susurration 14 December | 17:10

I honestly have never heard better sound. What I'm loving most is:

a. How each instrument and vocal has it's own spatiality in the sound, not only can I hear everything clearly, I can hear the individual tracks in the mix and where the artist wanted the emphasis.

b. All the music is right smack dab in the middle of my head where it should be, instead of struggling to decide which ear to use.

c. Bonus feature = the buds have a mute button! Now instead of effing around with my Ipod wheel when people need something at work, I can just press Mute, dispatch them to whatever circle of Hell they came from, and get back to my God-given glitchy beat goodness.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 14 December | 18:35

*Rummages through a pile of cords* Lemme see here... Senn 212 & mx560, Sony MD-EX71, Ety 6, Grado SR60, ATH-W1000, and the Big White Eggs from the 70's...

*Looks guilty* I gotta go, the wife said she'd take my wallet if she caught me talking about headphones on the Internet again...

posted by Triode 14 December | 19:19

Triode - seriously, these are great cans. For 60 hard-earned American dollars, you'd be amazed at what you can hear in them.

I'd like to know more about your Ety's - before I found these, I was thinking about going high-end and shelling out the big bucks (i.e. 100 dollars-plus).

It's been mind-blowing how difficult it is to find decent headphones in the market, esp. the earbud/in-ear monitor style.

Yay Koss!

posted by Lipstick Thespian 14 December | 20:21

I keep hearing great things about Koss phones; they're on the list to try for sure.

etys - I made the mistake of buying the "normal" ones, not the "i" model which better suit the impedance of an ipod. So they sound thin, and would be better with an amp, which I am too lazy to build. It also turns out that I'm not too keen on the full in-ear style. I find it gets uncomfortable in 20 minutes. The one saving grace is that the isolation means I need less volume on the train, which long term is a very important benefit. So I'd call it neutral/slightly negative on them. The Grados remain the go-to choice for me.

Darn it, you've got me talking about headphones on the internet again!!

posted by Triode 15 December | 00:16

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