The best headphone value
Written: Jan 08 '03 (Updated Jan 15 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Balanced, detailed sound with good bass response
Cons: Sound leakage; cloth cord on older model frays and tangles easily.
The Bottom Line: These are the best portable earphones under $50. As long as an open design is okay for your listening needs, you should get these earphones.
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| brandonbarr's Full Review: Koss KSC-50 Consumer Headphones |
I have had my Koss KSC-50 earphones for over a year now. I purchased them without doing any research. Now that I am researching and trying out many other higher end headphones (I need a closed set for noisy situations), I am continually surprised by how difficult it is to find a more expensive set that rivals the sound quality of these $20 clips.
Before I get to my subjective take on the KSC-50s, here's the specs for you dataheads:
Frequency Response 15-25,000 Hz
Cord Straight, Dual Entry, 4ft
Plug 3.5 mm
Impedance 60 ohms
Weight 1.0 oz.
Sensitivity 101 dB SPL/1mW
Distortion less than 0.2%
Now, I don't think numbers are really worth looking at much. What really matters is the sound. And the sound you will get from these headphones beats nearly every pair of headphones under $50. The bass is deep and present, but I haven't found it to be overpowering. The trebles are bright and well presented. The KSC-50 also does a good job of blending the two ends of the spectrum; it doesn't feel "analytical" like some of Sony's headphones. Overall the sound from these clips is very open and surrounding. In my opinion, the sound from the KSC-50s is nearly indistinguishable from the sound from Koss's famous Portapros. This should be expected, I guess, since the KSC-50 uses the same drivers, but it is still suprising to get that high of quality from a set of $20 earphones. They are nearly as good as the Grado SR60s. Really.
When I first purchased them, I was sure having headphones clipped to my ear would be painful. I was wrong. Koss's clips are made of rubber with a wire insert, which allows the user to get a comfortable fit. I can wear them over 3 hours comfortably; after that, they start to bite at the top of my ear a bit. Now, I'm finicky about my ears, so three hours is quite a long time: I get earaches from earbuds after a half hour, and most circumaural cans (especially at this price point) become uncomfortable to me after an hour or so. My only quibble with the earclip design is that, when lying down, the clips slip down the ear a bit, moving the driver from its optimum placement over the ear. So they aren't ideal for listening to in bed.
My only other quibble with the KSC-50 is its cord: the cloth-covered cord on my set has frayed in several spots and tangles easily. However, the newest version has fixed this problem by replacing the cloth-covered cord with a nylon one that feels more durable and is designed to eliminate tangling.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
brandonbarr
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Member: Brandon Barr
Location: Rochester, NY
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Brandon is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rochester, where he shovels much snow.
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