[Luca]

I just got these today and wow, are they amazing. A little intro to this product: they're clip-on style headphones by Koss that cost $20 (MSRP, actual price is $15-$20 almost everywhere).



Keep in mind that I'm not a huge audiophile. I can tell the difference between a 128 kbps iTunes Music Store download and a 200-210 kbps VBR MP3. I prefer a dedicated sound card to a computer's built-in sound output (and can tell the difference between a PC's integrated sound and a dedicated sound card; Macs are a bit different in that their output quality is almost as good as a separate sound card in a PC). But I am not trained to notice subtle differences between two sets of $300 stereo monitors. I don't spend hundreds of dollars on headphone amps and such. I just plug my headphones into my iPod like almost everyone.

That said, these headphones are amazing. For the money they are absolutely impossible to beat. In fact, I think they even sound a little better than my Sennheiser HD497s:



Those have come down a lot in price lately, so now they're only $30-$40. Still, the Koss clips seem to sound better, probably because the drivers are held really close to your ears. The clip-on mechanism is great. It's super comfortable (I was wearing the headphones for two hours straight at work today with no discomfort) and very secure. Unlike the earlier KSC-50, they are pretty light so they don't pull down on your ears. And unlike the even earlier KSC-35, the clips do have a little flexibility to adjust the fit. All three of these models use the exact same drivers, btw, so any difference in sound quality comes from their physical attributes.

The cord is four feet in length, which is just right. I think it's a little longer than the cord on the iPod earbuds, but I'm not sure. One thing that annoyed me about my HD497s (other than their really silly appearance) was that the cord was about ten feet long. That's great for some people, but I never need that much length at home or on the go, so it just got in the way. It's a shame, too, because they are lightweight enough to go well with a portable music player (again, other than the appearance).

The only complaint I have isn't really the headphones' fault. I have pretty long hair and a lot of it only stays out of my face because I tuck it behind my ears. With the ear clips in place, I can't really do that, so I'm getting hair in my face all the time. I can temporarily fix that by getting the offending hair wet and kind of slicking it back and out of the way, but in an hour or two it's back to being frizzy and difficult. As I said, it's not the fault of the headphones, I'd encounter the same problem with any clip-on or street-style headphone. Also I guess they won't work well if you wear glasses, for the same reason.

These are highly recommended for anyone still using those infernal white earbuds. I really can't stress that enough. The improvement in quality is astounding, and the price is very reasonable.

Sorry for making this sound like a big ad for Koss but I just had to share this with someone. I'm so happy with these! Oh, and they're out of stock in a lot of places. I got mine from Amazon, where they kept popping in and out of stock. I quickly ordered one when they became available and received it just two days later.