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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
These have great sound and are really comfortable if you put them in right, but less than a month after I got them, the stupid mute switch went faulty. If you accidently bump it, the sound gets all staticky and fuzzy, and now the right earphone works great, but the left can barely be heard at top volume. If you have the skill and patience to remove the in-line switch yourself, then these may be great for you, but otherwise don't waste your money.
from Cleveland Ohio on 10/26/2008
Good sound for about 2 days until mute button shorts out,These are the biggest piece of junk I ever saw,Waste of time and money
from Gainesville, FL on 10/9/2008
I used these earbuds when exercising and on planes. I was very excited about these when I first started using them. The sound was great and they were pretty comfortable. However, the mute button quickly malfunctioned. It was like something had come loose in the mute button. You could mess around with the button and get sound from both earbuds but if it moved at all the sound would only play out of one and sometimes neither earbud. They were low priced and now I know why!!
from Dallas on 10/8/2008
The wires tend to tangle really easily, but the big problem is that #$%& MUTE button. I bought one, the mute button became intermittent, I bought another and it did the same. In about a month. No more.
from Hastings, NY on 9/21/2008
these are accually really nice plugs, if you are smart enough to figure out how to put them in right they will stay in during exercise (im a runner, i would know). that and they do have a high sound quality for how much they cost, they bass is beautifull if you put them in right. they only reason i sent them back is that stupid mute button, who ever put that in is a blithering idiot, it shorts every time you take a step or bump it (i had to hold it when i ran). but other than that they are a good plug, and for those of you that share my veiws, koss makes a pair of the same plugs but, heres the kicker, no mute button!! and they cost less to!! peace
from Los Angeles, CA on 9/16/2008
The Headphones are great....BUT DON"T BUY THIS MODEL! I want to know the guy who decided to put the mute button in the middle of the headphones, why was it a great idea? Becuase it's the worst idea in the world of technology. We are living in an age of ipods and mp3's we don't need the mute button on the headphones. We'd rather pause. The way this button works is; The button is located between the buds and the player. It creates a short in the wireing when you push it, in otherwords they cut the wire connection when you push it. Unfortunatly It poorly constructed, if you touch it or if it bounces off of you body while you're walking it will short and cause your headphones to be messed up with sound only coming out of one side "L" or "R". I liked Koss, but i think i have given up on them since the last headphones I had shorted out at the Bud, TWICE! I gave them three chances, goodbye KOSS! DON"T BUY KOSS.
These are decent sounding noise blocking ear buds. They fit under a motorcycle hemet. Not concert quality but I don't care. For the price, they are good.
very poor quality, mute button seems to be the major problem...seems the wiring has a short or some such...Looks like everyone else has had the same problem. Better off spending $50-100 on a set or the cheap $10-15 pair till they go out.
They are great for canceling out sound weather they advertise it or not. The biggest fault is that they tend to short out at the connection via the bud
head set worked fine until i hit the mute button, ever since it shorts in and out. i spend half my time pushing the mute button to get sound back because it doesnt always work. i have given up on trying to get sound in bother ears and settle for sound out of one. i get very frustrated every time i use them and i feel ripped off that i spent money on a pre broken headset. WILL NOT BUY AGAIN
Here's how to insert the buds so they stay in: 1. roll the foam into a tight tube; 2. quickly place in your outer ear canal; 3. reach over your head with the hand on the opposite side, and pull up on the top of your ear (this straightens your ear canal); 4. quickly push the bud in your ear canal, and press in on the bud for at least 10 seconds; 5. release your ear. You may have to pull your ear slightly toward the rear of your head to straighten your ear canal (ear anatomy varies a little bit). I agree that the mute button is pretty cheap; better to cut it out and splice the wires together.
they are AWFUL. The sound is all over the place...never consistent. And most the time the stupid ear buds don't stay in your ear for more than 3 seconds becasue the foam is not well made. The mute button makes the cord heavy and the buds fall out. You can't walk anywhere with them in. I returned them the day after I bought them. What happened, Koss?
These earbuds do not produce the deep bass sounds that I was expecting from ones with such a frequency range. I would not recommend them for someone who appreciates a deep bass sound
from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL on 6/23/2008
I have had three pairs of these and each pair has failed in one ear or the other. The return fee for the lifetime warranty is just high enough to make it marginally worthwhile.
The mute button only mutes when you hold it down. I find this very inconvenient.
I am very disappointed, because I remember Koss as a premium brand name for many years. I will not buy another Koss.
Nice bass and mids. Out performs the stock iPod buds in that department. The stock iPod phones are brighter but you really have to turn them to hear it. The spark plugs have a higher sensitivity and lower impedance then stock "iBuds" therefore you get a better sound.
To bad these we're constructed by idiots who designed a pretty good product not meant to hold up to daily abuses. You'll get about 3 months out of them.
These earphones have very good sound quality with very clear bass.
The main problem, as everyone has said, is the mute button. It screws over everything, and you have to press it like 5 times to get everything working correctly. (Sometimes sound is soft, sometimes one ear only, sometimes other ear only, and sometimes good.) If it came with an in-line volume control, in my opinion it would have been a 5 star product.
Now I just wish I got the Koss KSC75
These buds are great at work. The foam inserts are very comfortable, and they block out much of the ambiant sound. The in-line mute button is pretty flimsy, and not that great.
Good sound for the price, and good base too.
I would buy these again.
I loved it until the wiring went loose. This is the only flaw and the only reason it isn't worth getting no matter how cheap, because you will, like me, have to return it for a refund within a week or so. It would be perfect I think without the mute button which might be why the wires get loose, as well as it being too flimsy.
worst headphones ever didn't even last a month
the mute button started acting up. Everything was fine, good sound, etc. and then one day the sound in one ear went out and I had to tap/press the mute button to get it working. It's a shame because otherwise, it was a good set of earphones.
These are the worst headphones I have ever owned. Granted they have decent sound for the price but what good is the sound when the construction is so bad. The mute button kept getting stuck and muting when I didn't want it to do so. Also the slightest little bump will knock them out of your ears. If I could have given these no stars I would have.
the buds get lost VERY easily, otherwise they are very good headphones. if you plan to buy these, i think you can buy extra buds somewhere, you should. either that or watch over them very very carefully
These things are comfortable and provide decent sound while muffling out the outside sounds. The only bad part is the in-line mute button. It's very touchy, and barely bumping it causes it to temporarily activate. I ended up removing it and splicing the wires back together.
from Herndon, VA on 4/24/2008
These erbuds will NOT stay in my ears. I am constantly adjusting them and pushing them back into my ears. Also, the button that mutes the sound is extremely sensitive, so I have to hold the cord in such a way that the button is less likely to get hit. The sound often mutes in one ear, and I bought them only three days ago! Do NOT buy these earbuds, I swear.
They do not fit very well; lt bud shorted out during the first week of wearing them.
I just bought these earbuds 2 weeks ago and I already need a new pair. The sound goes in and out of each ear and the mute button sicks all the time.
this is a great pair of ear phones but the mute button gets stuck and you have to move the wires and have them in a certain position in order for both buds to work...idk it thats only with mine though...anyways, they are a good pair, very comfortable and at a good price (make sure you don't have wax in your ears!)
Sound quality is one of the best headphones I've ever had. Deep bass and cancling the noise outside. It falls off easy, the wire is way too long and the mute button is the worst. It would have been the best in the market if it didn't have a mute button
i dont like the mute button. it gets stuck alot!
The mute button caused terrible problems for me. I'm a runner and the mute button flops all over if I don't wrap it around my ipod but when I wrap it around my ipod the mute button seems to malfunction. I've had these about 3 weeks and the last few days the left earphone will not work consistently.What a waste!
from Boston, Mass. on 2/12/2008
I've owned these for 5 weeks. After about the third week, the mute button started cutting out the right side for no particular reason. Requires repeated tapping to get sound back. I'm returning these and getting something else.
If it wasn't for the mute button, these would be good headphones. The mute button breaks easily and makes the headphones function intermittently with low sound levels at best.
its a great pair of earbuds, great sound quality, rich deep bass and very comfortable.
but, they keep falling out of your ears, and the construction is flimsy. the wire is not normal, its like a sticky wire and if you slightly swipe it with your arm accidentally, then the buds will fly out of your ears. this gets really annoying especially if your biking running or doing some exercise.
ive owned two of these now and the first pair - the left earbud stopped working unless the angle of the wire was in a certain direction, after two to three months of use. with the second pair of earbuds, the right one stopped working unless again, the wire was at a certain angle in relation to the media player.
then after another two months, both pairs (bought at different times, a year apart) stopped working completely. something about the internal construction of the headphones is weak. i could see no external damage or fraying, it was just all on the inside wire material.
they are great quality but terrible durability and if your like me and do a million activities while still needing your music, these will break easily.
I have an old pair of Koss Earbuds that I've had for years. No problem. Purchased these yesterday got them home, mute button did not work. Only mutes when you hold the button in. Called Koss & ask how it was supposed to work. She said return them for another pair. Took they back to the store & same thing happended with second pair. I'm taking these back but still want the earbuds so I'll not use the mute button at all and hope for the best. The mute button does make it heavy plus the cord seems too long.
There seems to be alot of complaints with this mute button, why has it not been fixed ? If I had read all these reviews first, I probably would not have purchased this product. They could just leave the mute button off !!!
I'm a bassist so I always want to be able to hear the bass line as clear as possible. I can hear every note with these no problem. My first pair lasted me from March, 07 up until I lost them today (Jan 3, 2008). When I got my new Zune (which by the way come with VERY good headphones) I switched back to the Koss right away so I could get that great bass. I bought a new pair as soon as I realized that they were lone gone. They stay in your ear pretty well espicially when you squeeze the ear cushions before you put them in. The mute button is handy, yet it does get it in the way. Like everyone else who has reviewed these, I noticed that the mute button does cause the sound to short out a little bit (not completley), but all it takes is a little fiddling with the button and the sound returnd to normal. To me this is a minor inconvienience, but I would understand that it would become very annoying to a lot of people. Also the bass is a bit overwhelming for some songs, which again is allright with me, but may be annoying with others. My biggest problem with these is how the mute button puts extra weight on the chord and if brushed up against can tug the buds right out of your ear. So all in all if you crave bass, these are perfect, if not, these are probably not the right fit for you.
from Houston, TX on 1/2/2008
There's nothing spectacular about these headphones, but nothing bad, either. They're what you'd expect for the price. The only problem that I had was that the earpads are rather easy to lose. They fell off in my purse quite often.
This thing is uncomfortable and flimsy. I would not recomend buying this. I have gotten earphones for half the price that were better. The in ear material is just squishy foam with plastic tubes placed inside them. They are flimsy and are just plain bad. DON'T BUY!!!
Most of the complaints you see here are of shorting out, bad mute button, distortion from mute button. Well look at how these are packaged. Where the wire goes into the mute button is totally crimped and bent back about 180 degrees. You don't crimp wires like this on anything electric ever - especially thin little headphone wires?! Are you kidding me? Are these Koss people nuts? This is a real shame because these headphones are LOUD and clear with excellent bass, mid and high. And, I must be the freak around here, they stay in my ears FINE!! No problems here. Too bad about the poor construction cause these things rock. Though I am on my second pair. :)
I use it everywher their is nothing great about it, the size is rediculous, u put it in the ear and it falls out 10 seconds later unless u stay completely still which never happens.
These headphones gave me a lot of problems. After just a couple months of use, the sound only comes out of one ear, and the rubber things you put in your ear keep coming off and getting lost. I'm so glad that I sprung for the service plan! I would not recommend these to anyone.
After 6 months, the mute button needs jiggling once in awhile.
THEY SUCK!!!!! I had mine for about four days now and the stupid little mute button installed makes it so that the equilibium and volume between the two headphones screw. It is a waste of [$] No wonder...
from Chicago, IL. on 10/14/2007
They work great for about 2 or 3 weeks, then every thing just fall apart. I've had 5 pair in 2 years, with and without the mute button. They just keep shorting & distorting!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
I finally had to solder the wires together so that the sound would quit going in and out everytime you moved.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
The main reason for the two stars was the mute button. After having it for a couple of months the mute button started making the music sound distorted. I had to constantly play around with it to get decent sound. I liked the bass these headphones put out but the sharpness of the sound wasn't the best. Also, what I didn't like was the fact that you had to squish the earbuds before putting them in your ear, and once you inserted them you had to hold them in until they were firmly in place. After about six months of frustration with these inconveniences, I threw them away.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
i just bought them. they are ok..... but they keep falling out.....
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
ok this is like my 6th set of headphones in the last 6-7months and probably one of my favorites , i have been traveling back and forth by air from nj to fl 2x-4x a month since jan thats 8mos, im watching movies on my sons psp with theese, 1st as far as noise cancelling goes, this simply is not true , theese ear phones are very LOUD by comparison to others so it seems like your getting NC when your not. next if you like bass theese are for you but when watching movies the movie voices or when people speak at times sounds muffled , now i read hear you can put a peice of tape across or on the air ports to boost the treble or cut out some of the bass , well im going to try that. but for [$] theese are a decent set of phones, im sure there are better, but not many for under [$]. if you find them let me know.. oh BTW sony and phillips simply lack power or db's and or are also very bassey/muffled, ive been recomended to altecs and i tried the triport bose over ear they show some promise at [$] but i was told theyre over rated and priced i tend to agree and then theres the size of the bose.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Anaheim, CA on 9/15/2007
For the price, I wasn't expecting much. I was looking for something to cut back on the noise of practicing in a band. They isolation is amazing! I plugged them into a headphone amp off of our mixer and it makes for a great in-ear monitor. The mute button is annoying, but I'm not complaining that bad. Also the freq. response could go a little lower, but all I really use it for is so I can hear vocals when I practice. Not too shabby!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
good sound hurt ears mute button is stupid
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
okay it has good sound but its uncomfortable and kept falling out. the mute button is a complete disaster! its not even click you have to hold it to mute the sound. any touch to the mute button will cause the mp3 player to mute. after a while mute button messed up and sound turned terrible... worse buy ever!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
These sound fine, but the inline mute button is wa-a-a-ay too sensitive, and when de-pressed it tends to only unmute one side; you have to keep pressing it over and over to get both earphones to turn back on. Only useful if you are sitting completely still. In a 45 minute workout it will self-mute 10 times. Also, the cable is too long. I threw these away after two weeks.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Columbus, OH on 8/12/2007
I was HIGHLY disappointed. These were my first noise canceling headphones I had ever bought. The first day I got them I went to the fair and decided to test them out there. I put them in and they felt good on my ears, although a little evasive, nothing I couldn't deal with. Once in, me and my girlfriend got onto a simple marry-go-round ride. Not 30 seconds into the ride they fell out, and considering it took me about 2 minutes to get them in, I was highly upset with this, because this meant that jogging, biking, etc. was out of the question. But the real reason I HAD to return these is because of that [*]mute button! It was so sensitive, and then after a while I didn't even have to touch it for it to mute one of my headphones (OR BOTH), so then I would have to tap at it for a minute to get my sound back and even then it would be low and distorted. Please save yourself time and energy. Don't get these.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
You actually have to PINCH these earbuds before putting them in your ear, then you had to hold them in so that they stayed put. This whole ordeal took about a minute for each headphone. They cause too much frustration and were a huge waste of money. I hated the hassle and when they fell out of your ear (which was often) you had to pinch them AGAIN, then hold them AGIAN. I severely regret buying these horrible things.
Mute button starts malfunctioning after about two days
I just bought these about 30 minutes ago and already I need to take them back because I have no sound in the right speaker. The sound in the left though is bad, it sounds hollow. Maybe if they both worked it wouldn't be so bad but I wouldn't know or maybe if I need to be istening to music rather than a person talking. My husband has similar headphones (different brand) for his cdplayer and loved them so I thought they would work for my transcription machine for work. Alas, I was wrong. Yes, they are comfortable, but that's about the only good thing I can say about these.
I like these dor 3 days, than mute button started to mess up, it is too sensative, and after a 2 weeks they don't work at all. I lost my reseipt, so I can't return them. May be I'll just cut it off and insalate with tape?
Great quality, best ive heard in my life!
I had a problem with the mute button, but i exchanged it for the same thing and it was fine.
Sound quality was fine. The problem for me was the ear buds wouldn't stay in my ear when I went out for a walk. No problem staying in while sitting in a chair but no good when even mildly exercising.
These earphones are one of the best pair I have. I also have a pair of Bose QC3s and these koss give those $300 Bose pair of headphones a run for the money. The only "negative" I have about these earphones is the 5-10 secs needed for the compressed foam to expand to my ear canal. Otherwise they are awesome and I highly recomend them as a good price/perfomance value.
The spring on the mute button for the headphones was extremely sensitive to pressure. After three days, the button malfunctioned causing the sound to fade in and out in one ear bud. Probably one of the worst buds I have ever purchased, does not work well in the gym, sound quality and wiring is extremely poor.
After about 3 days one of the earbuds came apart but i was still able to put it back together and it work, but it was frustrating. Ok sound quality, but the left side would always go out and I would have to mess with it to get it to work. (Edited by moderator) Not reccomended
Good sound, comfortable, they actually stay in my ears. BUT: the spring in the silence button is inadequate and one side--sometimes both--unpredictably go silent and it takes some fiddling to correct. Not calculated for quiet listening enjoyment.
well i loved these headphones and they sounded really good untill about 5 months later one side went silent it was kind of dissipointingbut i still loved them
These earbuds are GREAT! they have great sound quality, the bass sounds as good as my surround sound system. And they cancel out outside noise. IDK why everyone says they mute button is bad but i like it because when ppl talk to me i can easly mute the music and be able to hear what they say cause u cant with music playing, and its not heeavy its very light, and to me convienent. to summ it all up these are a GREAT buy! get them trust me there awsom! just make sure u squeze the foam b4 u put it in your ears so u get the best sound u can. later all! PS: the only reason i gave it a 4 for ease of use is because they take a while to get foamed up in ur ears. like 10sec but its not a big deal.
These earphones are a great buy. The foamy surface fits comfortably into your ear. It works best to squish the foam down with your fingers and then put them in your ears, because it expands and matches the contours in your ear. They have great bass, just as it says on the packaging and altough the mute button is very annoying and adds unnecesary weight, it's fun to play with sometimes when you're bored.
This has the best sound I have ever heard. Better than all of my headphines and earbuds. Only complaint is the mute button that adds unnessesary wieght and would be better in all black. But all in all a great deal for anyone who likes music
I've used these headphones for 2 1/2 years (a pair lasts me about six months of daily usage). Here's what I've found. 1. The random mute button - pop the plastic face off of the mute button and it stops randomly muting. 2. Get a small aligator clip from an electronics or hardware store...clip it on your shirt or jacket to overcome the mute button's weight, and it'll stop pulling it out of your ear. 3. It's still the best for blocking out ambient noise, has great sound quality and stays in your ears well. Shame it has the silly mute button (what's it for, anyway???) but there are ways around it.
Good headphones but there is a random mute button. Not only does it make the unit heavy and really annoying when working out , but the button broke within a week of using them. Headphones didnt work after that.
These headphones are perfect. They beat like a car.