Koss "The Plug" Portable Stereophones

Rating:
Summary: Great sound
Review: Good solid earbuds. The sound is surprisingly good, really a step up from the cheap sony $9.99 earbuds. They are very comfortable, and stay in your ear well. I can't stand the feeling of that coarse foam that is used on most headphones, so these are a great alternative. Also, the 4' cord is nice, compared to most other earbuds that only have a 3' cord. The only potential problem I see, is that the cord is fairly small gage wire, hope it doesn't break, but they do have a lifetime warranty.

Rating:
Summary: great sound
Review: the only thing i'd like to see changed is the thin cord, other than that the sound is great. i returned a $100 pair of shure e2c's for these because the sound is so much richer. the shure's are better built, more heavy duty but the sound.....ugh. at $20 you can afford to replace them when you lose them like i did once already.

Rating:
Summary: Not that good
Review: The ear buds arent as comfortable as most others on the market and the sony fontopias sound much better, are more comfortable, and only cost a little more. These earbuds also didnt stay in my ear despite their manual on how to customize the fit.

Rating:
Summary: The Pluys
Review: Great headphones for the money. Takes some getting use to with putting them in your ears. After stuffing them in for 2 weeks and having them constantly fall out, I finally got the hang of it. Roll and squish them in your fingers then twist them in, don't force them or it wont sit properly. I've had them for about a year and on my 2nd set (cord broke) after looking at "The Plug" mod site I tried adding a drop of epoxy on the vents on the backside to tame the boomy bass. Damn, what a difference! There is now more definition on bass edges as well as more kick. It seems as if it softened the lower midbass hump and extended the extreme lower end(6db roll off due the close box factor??? Who knows.) The mids seem more prominent also but that just might be in my head. But if you feel like modding them try 1st placing your fingers over the vents as you listen then remove them while still applying the same pressure to the Plugs into your ears. Good luck.

Rating:
Summary: Just OK. Make sure you know what you're getting them for.
Review: I own several pairs of headphones: these, the Sony Fontopia EX-71's, the Creative Labs earbuds, and a big over-the-ear set of Sony stereophones. I have a very varied use for my headphones, and each serves its purpose. As that implies, these Koss Plugs are NOT all-purpose headphones.

These don't work for the gym because the porous cushions will get sweat logged in them and become gross quickly. The Sony EX-71's, by contrast, use rubber cushions which can be rinsed off and stay new for a long time.

These don't work for walking around town because they create a "seal" around the ears which makes navigating around cars and pedestrians dangerous- they block out all exterior sound. The Creative Labs phones are superior for this purpose.

These are, however, fantastic studying headphones. I can take these to a noisy coffeeshop and they create almost full silence without any music on; putting music on softly puts you in your own world.

Generally, these are decent headphones and excellent for the cost. They tend to scratch your ears when you insert them, but this can be fixed by cutting a very small amount off of the ear tubes. The scratching is usually caused by an imperfect seal on the machine that made the tubes, resulting in a little bit of extraneous plastic that can be jagged. Taking the cushions off and cutting this off with scissors or sanding it down solves the problem.

The bass is phenomenal and can actually be overpowering at times, although toying with your EQ with a minute or two fixes this as well. I'm not an audio snob, but even with a proper EQ the mids and highs do sound muted compared to the Sony pair.

Koss could greatly improve the product by including a small earbuds case like Sony does with their pair, which keeps them from getting linty in a pocket. While useful for the Sony set, it'd be even better for these as their design makes them even more likely to nab lint, and lint stuck inside them really compromises their performance.

Overall, these are OK phones which serve the purpose I bought them for- drowning out noise when I want to study, when I don't care too much about the music quality and just want a beat to help keep my mind focused. They're good for the money, but they're not all-purpose.

Rating:
Summary: I have tried a lot of inespensive headphones, earbuds...
Review: There is nothing better than The Plug for portable music listening. The sound you get out of these tiny earphones is enormous. Don't confuse The Plug with earbuds-The Plug offers so much more:

1)great bass without blowing out your ears
2)crisp, clean treble with no harshness
3)they fill your head with music! Virtually no outside noise

The package comes with four pair of cushions. I find the cone shaped cushions that are already on the earphones fit my ear best. All ears are different. You may need to experiment with the other cushions. Roll the cushion between your fingers to insert the earphone. A little tugging on the ear can help position the phone. They will feel funny once inserted. Just turn on the music, you will get used to them. If you don't have a good sound balance, left to right ear, one of the phones might not be in as far as the other, just readjust.

I have a literal drawfull of earbuds and portabel headphones. I use The Plug exclusively.

Rating:
Summary: The Best for BASS!
Review: 127 reviews later, i'll sum up the critical reasons why *i* absolutely love these "stereophones".

i've tried a LOT of different earbud headphones looking for that obnoxious, over the top, chest-pounding heart attack bass sound that typifies my favorite style of music, drum'n'bass. they all fell far, far short compared to the PLUG. i was even willing to spend the big money on those Shure's and Etymotics but i've read they are weak with bass as well. dont bother with those sony ex51/71 fontopia's. they were a huge sonic disappointment and they have that stupid long right/short left cable arrangement. not these puppies. symmetrical cables baby!

bad parts:

1) eventually the foam cushions go "bad" from too much use and dont "inflate" the way they used to after being squeezed, causing them to fall out and dampen that beautiful bass. i used to just buy a new set when this happened (~1 year) but i just found out about these "plug mods" so i'll try that now.

2) ear wax buildup! eeewww! yes, well, what else did you expect? luckily the plugs lend themselves to a very easy clean if you have a paperclip or baby pin. but they do get very juicy pretty fast so dont buy these suckers used or try to share with your buddy.

3) purple color is lame.

4) no case provided and its gross sticking juicy buds in yr linty pants pocket and then putting em back in your ear.

if you are some audiophile nerd who is more interested in highs than lows, i can't recommend these at all. if you've ever said "turn the bass down" out loud to someone, keep searching. but if you like the feeling of a big foam bullet gradually expanding in your ear like a snuggly pillow, pick these up today.



Rating:
Summary: Blocks all background noise
Review: I bought these in January 2005, and the ones I got are apparently the new version. There's no mute button or detachable headband as on the previous version, and the claimed frequency response has been improved to 10 to 20,000 Hz. They are inexpensive, and come with a "limited" lifetime warranty.

As far as sound quality, it is very good. More importantly, they block all background noise so that I can actually hear the music when I'm sitting at the back of a bus or in a noisy location. I prefer to listen to music at a quiet volume and it's nice not to have to blast my eardrums out just to hear the music. The fit is very secure, which I also like (I always felt like my iPod-style headphones were going to fall out of my ears).

Rating:
Summary: Unbeatable for the price and purpose.
Review: For $15, by far the best choice for portable applications, particularly when there's a moderate level of ambient noise. Excellent for Walkman or MP3 player use at the gym; they block enough sound so that I can hear the music, but I can still hear if someone is talking to me (although I have to remove at least one of the plugs in order to hear what they're saying).

Be sure to save the spare ear foam pieces - you'll probably need them eventually, since they don't fit as well after they soften up too much.