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Koss "The Plug" Portable Stereophones

Koss "The Plug" Portable Stereophones

List Price: $19.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not satisfied; they won't stay in.
Review: PROS: Blocks outside noise, doesn't leak noise. Good bass.
CONS: Impossible to position in ear correctly; full potential of these earbuds goes unrealized.

These headphones sound GREAT when you get them in your ear far enough (holding them in). Good bass, crisp sounds. However, I simply cannot seem to get them to stay in deep enough to enjoy their full potential.

Each bud consists of the purple body, a little plastic tube about 1/2" long, and a compressible spongy foam cover. The foam covers are identical to the type of cheap earplugs many people wear, except these covers have a hole down the middle which fits over the plastic tube. The concept is that it will cancel outside noise just like an earplug, so the only thing you hear is the noise coming from the earphone through the plastic tube.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to compress the foam bud well enough to fit it in my ear. I squeeze it, and by the time I bring it to my ear, it has unsqueezed itself. If I then try to just push it into my ear, it sort of rolls up onto the earpiece, and then as soon as I let go it expands again and pushes the earbud right out of my ear.

With foam earplugs, you can compress them far enough, and you can work them into your ear since after all, it's just a piece of foam. But when you add the plastic tube through the center, along with the purple plastic body on the outside, it makes it very difficult to manipulate the foam cover to get it in your ear.

It would help if the foam part weren't so thick, and I may try whittling them down to get a better fit.

Unless you really need discrete, noise-canceling ear buds, and are willing to spend time working them in just right, I'd suggest going with something else.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: music tunnels
Review: These are the best headphones I've ever had for three reasons: I can listen to them as loudly as I want without worrying that the noise is creeping out (these create a total seal), I can block out all outside noise (which rocks on the subway), and they sound incredible. I really feel like the music is being funneled into my head where it just bounces around and doesn't bother another soul. They work just like those foamy ear plugs: squeeze them to compress them, put them in your ear, and they expand to form a snug fit. The bass is really impressive and they are really loud. For listening at work, one volume stop over 0 on my cd player is quite loud enough.

ONE MAJOR PROBLEM: And I knew this would happen when I bought them- I can't find replacement foamy things. They come with extras, but I found the extras were all different shapes and sizes, I guess so you could get the best fit. But only one set fit me and I can't seem to find them packaged solo. I'm thinking of buying some of the ear plugs and cutting a hole in the middle to slide on. That said, the one pair of foamy things has lasted me probably a year. They're getting a little funky, though.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WoW!
Review: I came to amazon.com to find some in ear headphones and that is exactly what i found. I read some reviews from the customer, the ones that really know what is going on as they are the ones who use the products most and they recomended this product. And now that i have purchased and tried out these headphones i implore you to give them a try. For a relatively cheep set of earphones the bass response is great. Also you hear everything as they are plug style and you hear very little outside noise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best "Earbud" style headphones on the market
Review: I have always liked the idea of the "earbud" style of headphones, but I don't like wearing them for more than 30 minutes, because they start to hurt my ears. True, this may be a small price to pay for Apple's Earbuds, which tout superior sound quality, but I just can't take the pain. Koss delivers the same frequency response (20-20k), with lower impedence.

Koss has innovated this area of the market with The Plug. You do need to practice and experiment with these before they will fit properly, but once in, the sound is amazing. I get similar performance to my Koss TD/65 headphones. The bass is rich, the overall quality is excellent, and they are super-comfortable. I have used them for 2 hours plus, and the only time I had discomfort was when one wasn't seated properly.

I agree, that you need to smush the plugs between your fingers and then quickly insert them into your ears and hold them there for a few seconds for a good fit. You'll know it when you get it, because it won't feel like they're falling out immediately.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unusable
Review: These work for some people's ears and not for others. One reviewer claimed that I must be either retarded or deformed since they don't work for me. That reviewer is best described by words not allowed in this venue.

I'm going to replace the useless foam, others have suggested:
for hunters: Silencio Super Sound Baffler earplugs
from a pharmacy: Flents "Quiet Please"
I believe you have to create the center hole in these products to retrofit them to the Koss' "stem".

- Jeff

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Forced to write my own review...
Review: I'll keep this concise and pertinent...

GOOD
----
1. Very good sound (esp. for the price), just make sure you are not using any bass expansion/extension equalization. Even with old Sinatra (as in Frank, "ol' blue eyes"), using my TDK Mojo's bass expansion sometimes causes distortion, simply because The Plug has exceptional low frequency response. Rap obviously causes a lot of distortion w/ extra bass emphasis; I wonder if this is the 'muddiness' about which some have complained. Flat equalization (at least for bass) is a requirement for these headphones.
2. Excellent isolation and efficiency due to the foam sealing design. Just don't blow your eardrum turning the music up too loud, nor get run over by a bus 'cuz you can't hear it comin'!
3. Excellent overall sound quality; no tinny sound other reviewers have mentioned, unless The Plug is inserted incorrectly (ie - off-axis, or not "aimed" correctly).

BAD
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1. True, the black foamy material does not stay compressed very long, so you have to 'roll' it in your fingers then immediately put it in your ear. I'd say I have average ears and have no problem using these, but I could see that those with small ears may have problems fitting these properly; problem solved by retrofitting a standard foam-type earplug (as others have mentioned). Whether you would or should do this is another question. The packaging does include a few different styles of foam inserts to try; angled, straight, etc.
2. The first pair of these I bought had uneven bass; the left earplug's bass was a lower sound pressure than the right; treble was fine. I verified this with both ears and then with a function generator. I exchanged them and the subsequent pair is perfectly balanced.
3. If The Plug is not inserted straight (not 'aimed' into your ear canal) the sound will lose its midrange (the 'tinny' thing some have mentioned). This would depends a lot on how your ears are 'designed.' I personally don't have an issue with this.

Overall, I think these earbud headphones are excellent, especially for the price.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: save the money, buy better headphones
Review: When my husband bought me these headphones I was thrilled for two reasons. One, my ipod earphones are terribly designed and two, I am always happy to buy a product from a company headquartered in my hometown, however, I cannot stand these headphones, they are contstantly falling out of my ears and they sound tinny, for lack of a better word. They may be cheap, but I would be willing to shell out the extra cash for nicer headphones anyday, especially if you use them often.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great idea in theory, but...
Review: I bought "The Plug" thinking I would be able to block out all sound, but what I wanted to hear. The stereophones are designed like ear plugs. You squish the foam around the sound device together and stick it in your ear. The foam is then supposed to spring back to fill your ear. My problem is that the foam expands right out of my ear. You see, the foam expands so much that it pushes itself back out of my ear and all that lovely foam is on the outside. I have to keep shoving the things back in my ears every few minutes, so I can still hear my music.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: Lots of verbose reviews here, but if you want the short and sweet of it here it goes. These are good, but not great. Sony's earphones - yes all of them - make better sound. Sony is great in my experience. These are ok, but I went back to my Sony non cushy ones (regular basic no foam earbuds) and thought it was a lot better sounding. Too bad becuase these do stay in your ear better - they still fall out sometimes when I run, but I can deal with that as the non foam earbuds always fall out all the time. So, if you don't care about super sound and want something to stay put these are good. Want great sound? then go Sony. Oh, by the way I've had mine for a year now and the foam isn't nearly as responsive to holding shape as it once was so they don't go in easy or grab hold as well as they used to. The upside is they don't hurt if I have them in my ears for hours. It's only a few bucks so make a decision now and get back to the music asap! It's only earphones after all.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Efficient, Broad Response, Custom Fit...at least 4 stars
Review: First, while I'm no audiophile and won't attempt to offer comments about the smooth, deep bass or crisp highs...your results may vary...I will say that I'm personally very pleased with the sound from these earbuds and find the isolation they offer is a real plus. In fact, that's partly why I bought them: Working sometimes in a very noisy environment that necessitates wearing hearing protectors, I thought it would be nice if I could turn them into headphones and at least enjoy some music while working. I've never cared for earbuds that rest in your outer ear, so prone to falling out. With the hearing protectors on over them, it was still rather easy to tug the earbug out of position. "The Plug" stays quite well put, thanks to the soft foam cushions. Away from work, the noise isolation of these stereophones continues to serve a great function, especially when travelling on airplanes or in any noisy environment.

It is the isolation offered by the ear cushions that surely attribute to their efficiency. Even low-powered headphone outputs on portable music players will likely still have all it needs to drive these plugs sufficiently for enjoyable listening. The drawback of the ear cushions is, as others have said, that they do mean you must be careful about how you position the plugs in your ears, as that will affect overall sound quality. The bass is excellent yet can become "boomy". That is why I say "your results may vary". But, for anyone willing to spend some time getting familiar with "The Plug", I think they will be happy with the sound potential provided.

Now...about the custom fit. Yes, they really do custom fit to your ear canal if you choose the appropriate size cushions from those included. However, again as mentioned, the provided cushions do not remain compressed very well while attempting to insert the plugs in your ears. Moreover, while the foam does seem to be the best I've experimented with in terms of comfort against the skin and general acoustic performance, it doesn't hold up very well over time. So, this led me to exploring for a substitute, and learning in the process what a difference in sound the type of foam makes.

As I write this, I'm wearing my plugs, modified by replacing the Koss foam cushions with some I made myself from Aearo E-A-R Classic foam ear plugs. The beauty of this approach is that as the ear plugs are designed for hearing protection, they do compress very well and hold their compressed shape longer, making it easier to insert the plugs into your ear canal, for a better and deeper fit. But, therein lies the rub...it is that more deep, secure fit that affect sound quality. My observation is that the impact is primarily upon the bass...making it even deeper and risking again a potential "boomy" quality. I'm pleased with the results I obtained from the Aearo ear plugs after trimming them down in diameter so there wasn't quite so much foam to "bulk up" in my ear. While the Aearo plugs work well and sound good, I've found an even more comfortable and better-sounding (I think) alternative in using Howard Leight Laser Lite foam ear plugs. The latter have a Noise Reduction Rating of 32 and are made of a softer, smoother-textured foam than the Aearos. I think the Aearos have a similar NRR, but they are not labeled with it.

Now, how do you go about making your own ear cushion? The approach I took was to compress one end of the foam ear plug down until it was basically flattened squarely against the other end on a flat surface. Then, holding the "pancaked" plug in place, I heated a large nail over a flame and then pierced the center of the ear plug with the tip of the nail, pushing it gently through the foam so as not to tear the foam. Rotating the nail tended to help. Once the hole was pierced through the foam to the other end, I lifted the foam off the surface and pushed the nail fully through, this also serving to tug the foam along enough that it helped it to stretch back out along the nail shaft. Once the nail cooled a bit, I slid the plug off the nail and had a rather cleanly pierced ear plug that I could then slip onto "The Plug". If the new ear cushion was too long or too thick to fit my ear well, I'd trim it down gradually with sharp scissors. In the end, I made up several pairs of cushions to interchange as I like. The Aearo plugs were rather easy to modify since the foam is stiffer and thus easier to pierce with the hot nail. But, with care, the Laser Lite plugs could also be pierced without tearing the foam and they are smaller in diameter such that I found no need to trim them, except in length. When the modified plugs are slipped over the sound delivery tube of "The Plug" earpieces, ensure the tube does not get crimped and extends fully through the cushion so as to deliver the best quality sound.

This may sound like a lot of work for such inexpensive headphones, but they are great-sounding headphones for a small price and can be customized to your own liking with a similar approach to what I describe.

When I'm not using "The Plug", I switch to my Koss KTXPRO1 Titanium headphones...another pair of excellent headphones that I don't think can be beat for the price. They too sound great and have very good efficiency, at about the same price as "The Plug". They are better-suited for an office environment where you need an open-air type earpiece to hear conversation through, rather than being isolated. The volume control on the cord is also a real convenience and is the only thing I find missing from "The Plug".


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