Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Frederico
39
Jan 25, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Extremely Disappointed. After waiting a few weeks for this drop, I didn’t expect to be blown away, but I at least expected to be satisfied for the price and convenience. Pros — Not Many — Cheap at $22 — Included Inline Controller — Gray version isn’t obnoxiously plastic — very lightweight Cons — Everything Else — Uncomfortable — cord is too short — sound is HORRIBLE Apart from physically pinching and hurting my ears after less than an hour, these sound AWFUL; they sound like possibly good speakers that are covered by a pillow. No brightness (until you crank them all the way up past safety); all muffled tones that rob the very joy of music from both the song and my soul. I didn’t expect top of the line sound for $22, but I also didn’t expect it to suck balls, based on the reviews here. I’ve had plenty of inexpensive headsets, and few have sounded this terrible, but for the times I spent under $10 at a gas station in desperation. Yes, I “burned them in” for several hours, hoping they’d “brighten’, but they haven’t, and that’s just sad, myth-ful thinking, anyway. I wouldn’t give these to a child.
Qwervy
464
Jan 16, 2020
FredericoWhat is your most favourite sound sig. now? Just list a few headphones/earphones. I feel like you are probably a treble head which is why you dont like these.
Sissy_Princess
23
May 4, 2020
Frederico"I didn’t expect top of the line sound for $22, but I also didn’t expect it to suck balls, based on the reviews here." Maybe they sound just as good as most reviews say and there are issues with your electronics, source material, listening skills, hearing, or criteria. Even among the very few one and two star reviews, yours is unusual in so harshly criticizing the sound quality rather than the physical construction or reliability. "— cord is too short" According to the product description, the cord should be 4 ft (1.2 m). How long was the one on yours?
Frederico
39
May 4, 2020
QwervyFor cans, I like my Senheiser; for buds my RHA T-20i. The former is too large for travel and portability; the latter is too tedious for quick on/off, as well as too isolating. The sound is just utterly disappointing compared to those, or even Apple EarPods/AirPods with added silicone ear hooks that improve both fit and seal. And, beyond sound, they just fucking hurt my ears after just a few minutes. If I wanted to buy better $15 foam covers, it might solve that to a degree, but then that defeats the purpose of inexpensive headsets. And then they still remain absolutely muddy at appropriate volumes.
(Edited)
Frederico
39
May 4, 2020
Sissy_PrincessLOL! Yep, it must be my optical-out from my Mac Pro to a D1 DAC, or the direct 24bit 48/96KHz analog connector on it or my MBP; or my DragonFly Lightning-DAC, or Apple DAC that somehow make my Senheiser cans or my T-20i or even my EarPods sound magnitudes greater than the $22 KOSS; I must not be plugging it in correctly. And, indeed, my "listening skills" (lol!) must be for shit, even though I'm using the exact same files (most often lossless or full/high bitrate downloads) or whatever games I'm playing from the exact same source as my other gear. I must have been "mis-educated" by 45 years of quality gear, up to today with my Klipsch studio monitors, Audio Engine A5s, etc.. Yup, it simply must be my personal deficiencies. My measuring tape must also be defective; it claims the KOSS cord is barely 37" from stem to can. At least you now make me wonder if I got a "refurbished" pair that were blown out, and had the cord shortened to be resold. So, yeah, maybe all the other reviewers got good units, and I got screwed; or maybe the other reviewers have never compared them to truly great headsets. And before you ask why I even bothered with the KOSS, given my other options, there are very good reasons for wanting a cheap, comfortable, decent sounding pair where your other options aren't desirable for size or ease of use or risk of damage or loss.
Sissy_Princess
23
May 5, 2020
FredericoThe Audioengine D1 would not me my choice to drive 60 ohm headphones as it has a high output impedance (10ohms). That, and its weak output, is why I retired mine and replaced it with separates (standalone DAC and standalone, AC-powered headphone amp. I've not heard of a Lightning version of a Dragonfly DAC. I hope its better than the Audioquest Dragonfly 1.2 that I have (and couldn't get $50 for on craigslist). "my "listening skills" (lol!) must be for shit, even though I'm using the exact same files (most often lossless or full/high bitrate downloads)" Listening skills have nothing to do with which source files you use or the quality of those files. It's like saying that I have superb visual acuity because I most often look at artwork that is printed at 9600DPI. "My measuring tape must also be defective; it claims the KOSS cord is barely 37" from stem to can" I never suggested that you measured wrong. I just asked "How long was the one on yours?" Chill. "or maybe the other reviewers have never compared them to truly great headsets." Yep, that must be it. The 95% of reviewers who would recommend these must not have compared them to "truly great" headphones. The guy who compared them to his Sennheiser HD 58x and 6xx clearly doesn't have truly great headphones worthy of being compared to these $20 Koss cans. When you weren't being openly sarcastic, you made a very good point: Perhaps the ones you got were defective -- and not just in cord length. That seems far more likely to me than the notion that the 95% of 440+ reviewers who recommend these are all inferior to you when it comes to evaluating headphones.
(Edited)
Frederico
39
May 6, 2020
Sissy_PrincessI was only sarcastic because you came across as utterly condescending and dismissive. We can argue about DAC quality/matching all day long, but at the end of the day, one does not need “listening skills” to A/B test one analog set of headphones to another set of analog headphones plugged into the identical analog connector on any device that includes an analog jack using identical source files and identical volume settings, either as measured by output gain or in effective decibels. If I plug this $22 KOSS trash into any iPhone, iPod, iPad, or Mac; any media amp, laptop or game console, using native analog jacks — or even an Apple Lightning DAC dongle with newer devices; or any “pro” DAC of any price range matched to exact standards and specifications — if they’re as great as everyone says, then they shouldn’t sound like muffled, muddy, soulless shit behind a pillow at safe listening levels. One need not be a professional audiophile, reviewer, or possess your definition of “listening skills” to ascertain dramatic quality differences between two or more analog headsets that are ostensibly designed to work with any device, as is. Yes, if you crank them up to the point of aural pain and beyond, they start to sound cleaner, brighter, and quite possibly even as great as others believe. I’m just not going to suffer said pain, along with the pain of the digging and pinching my ear skin and cartilage, and permanent hearing loss to join with the 95%. When I received them, I immediately looked into warranty and RMA or return, and that was to and will teach me to never use Drop again for anything that isn’t a high-cost, killer deal, exclusive and well-backed. It simply wasn’t worth the cost or effort to land another set that I had zero faith would sound any better. At least with Amazon, this shit could’ve gone right back on their (my Prime) dime. The only reason they didn’t get excised from my house is that they’re in the box of crap I have to take to recycle (strict laws here), else I wouldn’t have been able to even respond with an accurate measurement. Send me a shipping label and you can have this piece of crap.
Frederico
39
May 6, 2020
Sissy_PrincessPS: I never even noticed before just now, but there are quite a few endorsements on my review, so apparently it’s not just me.
Sissy_Princess
23
May 6, 2020
FredericoPerhaps I "came across as as utterly condescending and dismissive" because your review came across as as utterly condescending and dismissive of everyone who reviewed the headphones positively. You basically said hundreds of people who praised the sound were cretins who couldn't recognize that these "suck balls" and sound "HORRIBLE" and like "like possibly good speakers that are covered by a pillow." You doubled down on that, saying that "maybe the other reviewers have never compared them to truly great headsets." And in your last reply, you wrote "I’m just not going to suffer said pain, along with the pain of the digging and pinching my ear skin and cartilage, and permanent hearing loss to join with the 95%." Right, because the 95% who rated the headphone positively must be idiots who have permanent hearing loss from listening at way too high SPLs to headphones that cause them physical pain. Don't you see how that comes across? You could have left a negative review without insulting every other customer whose review was positive: 'Maybe the ones I got were defective, but...' 'On my gear, which is decent quality, these underperformed relative to my expectations and my other headphones...' 'I found the high end to be drastically attenuated when compared to my Sennheiser {model} headphones...' "One need not be a professional audiophile, reviewer, or possess your definition of “listening skills” to ascertain dramatic quality differences between two or more analog headsets that are ostensibly designed to work with any device, as is." There's no such thing as headphones that are "designed to work with any device, as is." That's why Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones come in 16 ohm, 32 ohm, 80 ohm, and 250 ohm impedance. A headphone's nominal impedance, impedance curve (frequency vs. impedance), frequency response, and efficiency all affect how well it works with a given headphone amp. People can ascertain sound differences between things and still prefer the one that is less accurate. I am not saying that you do -- I don't know you or what you like. "and will teach me to never use Drop again for anything that isn’t a high-cost, killer deal, exclusive and well-backed." I'm not a big defender of Drop. The Topping D10 I ordered saved me $20 and the shipping was horrible, with the product just sitting, unmoving, for days at a time. It spent over a month in transit once it finally shipped. My HD-6XX headphones came with torn inner foam discs and Drop wouldn't send out a pair of the cheap foam discs. Nor would they exchange the product. My options were to keep it as-is with a partial credit or return for refund. Not horrible, but not great.
Sissy_Princess
23
May 6, 2020
FredericoPS: I never even noticed before just now, but there are quite a few endorsements on my review, so apparently it’s not just me. Neither of us is an inexperienced kid. I'm sure you've seen positive and negative customer reviews with many "likes" -- sometimes even before the "reviewed" products is in the hands of the public. I've seen the backend of things where a single IP address goes through endorsing every negative comment on a merchant's site, or every negative comment about a particular brand (like Apple). Let's not read too much into nine or ten people liking a review. Hey, look, someone endorsed this! Oh yeah, it was me. :)
(Edited)
Frederico
39
May 6, 2020
Sissy_PrincessSee, now, come on man. Now you’re just being semantical and cherry picking statements so you can argue on the internet. Let’s review a few facts. First of all, my review is 15 months old. The reviews on which I based my buying decision were fewer than 100 at that time, from 2018. The vast majority of the people you are asserting that I am insulting with my original review, their reviews came well after mine. That leaves plenty of room for the idea or possibility that KOSS improved any possible defects in the meantime. Just like many online commodities are originally made to a high-quality standard, and then the quality goes downhill after they garner several hundred positive reviews and cheapen the product, cut costs, or hire sloppy workers to meet demand. Defects may even appear year to year, or even month-to-month in a bad batch, leading to lower reviews. It can go either direction; crappy products can survive mediocre reviews with good customer service and they can revise and improve. At that time, there were plenty of honest reviews in the middling ranges, and to my recollection I read no review that remotely compared them to Sennheiser‘s or Bose or Sony or anything of quality/expense in a favorable manner. What sold me were the several comparisons to the more expensive KOSS porta-pros, which I had used and found quite acceptable, even great in many aspects. Several made clear not to expect greatness, but for the cost of essentially disposable/lose-able throwaways, it was a great deal. I was in a hurry, and my main criteria was a decent set with inline controller and mic (we’ll overlook that the Drop was weeks late, and I had to buy something else in the interim), which at that time were even more difficult to find of any quality in a decent, inexpensive headset that weren’t earbuds. Which brings me to your semantics; you’re being willfully obtuse in trying to make this an audio engineering technical lesson; you and I both know that this product was specifically designed for use with portable devices, nearly all of which adhere to a reasonable technical standard and variance such that no additional specs-matching or considerations are generally required by the average consumer. This product incorporates an in-line mic and controller design that was driven by the popularity of the original controllable iPod, then iPhone, iPad and MBP (Android was dragged kicking and screaming to use the controller standard because iPhone was the 800 pound gorilla driving sales of more-expensive accessories, but they got there); the point being, this means that this product should match well and work to its best possible level with everyday devices, of which mine were at that time, and still are. so please quit pretending that we need to agree about or quibble about ohms and impedance matching; these should sound just as good on my Apple products as they do on someone else’s Android, game boy, or whatever; sans garbage phones that use crappy DACs to save money. And, no, I’m not saying Apple uses the best possible integrated DAC, either. at the time I joined this drop, if I recall correctly, the average rating was more like a high 3, maybe a 4; it certainly wasn’t a 5, and for $22, I didn’t expect it to be. I just expected it to be at least as good as KOSS Porta Pro. No worse, no better. Those were the reviews I relied on. and, yes, we’re neither kids; we all know that bot-shilling is a real thing, but do you honestly think that’s happening here? Do you really think bots create accounts here for the sole purpose of endorsing my negative reviews on a $22 headset? If it’s even happening at all on this site, it’s happening for the 4s and 5s; Drop isn’t like Amazon and Walmart where competition feels like it has to cheat to damage its competitors. and you know which 5 star reviews I ignore? The ones which do compare these with far better headsets, and use flowery audiophile-snob-ese language with no qualifiers regarding the cost, comfort, fit, or durability. Reviews that discuss esoteric trivialities, that don’t express the kinds of music they are boasting about are of no value to me. take a look at the top dozen reviews here, that carry the most endorsements; they each, for the most part, place numerous qualifiers that align, in large part, with what I originally said; but they aren’t as bothered by it. More than a few set reasonable expectations for $22. Many still gave it 4 and 5 stars, but elucidated the imperfections, balanced against the sheer cost. I can accept those; I write those kinds of reviews myself. You can have a $20 5-star product meant to do the exact job as a $200 product, but there is nearly always a good reason(s) for the difference that can be articulately justified. So here’s what I’m doing to address your affront at my honest review of this shit pair of KOSS: first, I’m going to ask a few people who spend their day with headphones listening to music as I do, to compare and rate them over the next several days. I’m not going to say a word beyond “Hey, check these out; I got them for a great price and I’m interested to know if you like them as much as I do.” (All while practicing safety and hygiene, of course.) Second, I’m ordering the same pair for $30 on Prime, and though it will likely take several days, I will do an honest comparison, and if they somehow reveal my existing pair is defective or subpar in even the slightest way, I’ll update my review to reflect both my, and my solicited opinions. if they really are awesome, I’ll spend money on Yaxi Pads or other, figure out how to make them more comfortable, and put them into regular use. fair enough? Until then, my original review stands; and I don’t believe for a moment anyone was the least offended by it. Baffled? In Disagreement?Dismissive? Sure. We each hold our own opinions and have our own tastes. Happy Tuesday
Sissy_Princess
23
May 6, 2020
FredericoWhy don't we just agree that your original review was fine, in both content and tone, and my reply was in the wrong? You can get on with your life and not spend more time defending a 15 month old review. You can even bookmark this page to share with others to show how you put me in my place. Fair enough?
Qwervy
464
May 6, 2020
Sissy_PrincessSorry for intruding but his last proposal, whilst clearly frustrated was actually quite fair. However, @Frederico I was actually mildly offended by the review, but I understand where you are coming from and I take everything with a grain of salt.
Sissy_Princess
23
May 7, 2020
QwervyI never meant to imply that his proposal for a follow-up evaluation was anything less than fair. My intent is to provide a way to wind this down that he finds acceptable and face-saving. I expressed my thoughts on his wording and approach to posting a negative review. He was unconvinced by my arguments. I see no point in him expending so much time, energy, and some additional money, trying to confirm, or possibly refute, his initial findings regarding the performance of the headphones.
Qwervy
464
May 7, 2020
Sissy_PrincessI see, your previous comment came across slightly as passive aggressive. I think he was trying to finish the conversation as well with his latest post and in what I consider to be very reasonable in finding a compromise. At least we can respect that he has double - checked and is being totally honest.
Sissy_Princess
23
May 7, 2020
QwervyIt was a genuine attempt to finish the conversation without him spending hours of his time, and $30 of his money, to confirm (or possibly refute) his earlier findings. I wish that I could privately message you, but I cannot. So I'll just say that my primary point was not whether he was correct about the subjective sound quality.
(Edited)
Qwervy
464
May 7, 2020
Sissy_PrincessI think I see what you are saying. Different people are different levels of sensitive, usually if someone says something negative its hard to not offend anyone. What you are suggesting is fair, although I am quite curious to see if the unit he received is actually defective or not.
justincz
5
Jul 21, 2020
Fredericoi can follow you easily. they are pretty muffled in the high-end, ksc75 are way brighter.
WallySpace
3
Mar 1, 2022
justincz$20+ not $200+. Get real.
PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE
Trending Posts in Audiophile