So, after many many hours of research I finally found a headphone that sounds good and it doesn't go over my limit of $70 in Canada. If I had lived in the U.S. I maybe would have picked up the CAL! instead... but I'm sure glad I didn't! Some impressions:
Comfort:
Here's where they fall really short. Comfort. My ears are rather large so the koss sitting on my ears for hours on end (I usually get home, put on my headphones and don't take them off unless I go eat/restroom or go to sleep) gave me some earaches. It wasn't horrible but was uncomfortable nonetheless. However, I've heard that m50 pads enhance them so I decided not to do a review until I get them. Until then I taped my old headphone pads to the koss ones (looked like the most ghetto pads you've ever seen in your life) but were still better than stock. Now that I do have the m50 pads however, the comfort is definitely better than before. The new pads still don't cover my ears fully and just barely touch the bottom part of my ear but their soft texture makes it unnoticeable.
Sound:
Sounds excellent but is lacking in bass for me a bit. No worries for me as I've EQ'd it through windows but without EQ the bass is barely noticeable. Yes, it is there, but I want to feel the punch during the bass hits (kinda like how the m50 sounds like). Mids are excellent and the high's are alright. Now I'm no audiophile, but the m50 pads definitely add more treble to the headphones. It was a pretty big difference so I thought of EQing that down to sound like before but after a few minutes I got used to it and appreciated the new clarity and detail in songs now that the treble is a bit higher. Soundstage is great and is even better with the m50's. Highly recommend the dolby headphone trick in foobar to greatly increase soundstage. Search around, you're bound to find it somewhere.
Design:
On a white background it kinda looks alright but when I put them on my head, they looked rather good so that's another good point for this headphone. Seems really sturdy and has excellent feel to it.
Value:
For $50 it's a steal. I'd still buy it if it was $70. However, I REALLY recommend some m50 pads as it improves soundstage and comfort.
The coiled cable does get annoying but I can live with it. Maybe I'll mod it later on to have a removable cable.
Comfort:
Here's where they fall really short. Comfort. My ears are rather large so the koss sitting on my ears for hours on end (I usually get home, put on my headphones and don't take them off unless I go eat/restroom or go to sleep) gave me some earaches. It wasn't horrible but was uncomfortable nonetheless. However, I've heard that m50 pads enhance them so I decided not to do a review until I get them. Until then I taped my old headphone pads to the koss ones (looked like the most ghetto pads you've ever seen in your life) but were still better than stock. Now that I do have the m50 pads however, the comfort is definitely better than before. The new pads still don't cover my ears fully and just barely touch the bottom part of my ear but their soft texture makes it unnoticeable.
Sound:
Sounds excellent but is lacking in bass for me a bit. No worries for me as I've EQ'd it through windows but without EQ the bass is barely noticeable. Yes, it is there, but I want to feel the punch during the bass hits (kinda like how the m50 sounds like). Mids are excellent and the high's are alright. Now I'm no audiophile, but the m50 pads definitely add more treble to the headphones. It was a pretty big difference so I thought of EQing that down to sound like before but after a few minutes I got used to it and appreciated the new clarity and detail in songs now that the treble is a bit higher. Soundstage is great and is even better with the m50's. Highly recommend the dolby headphone trick in foobar to greatly increase soundstage. Search around, you're bound to find it somewhere.
Design:
On a white background it kinda looks alright but when I put them on my head, they looked rather good so that's another good point for this headphone. Seems really sturdy and has excellent feel to it.
Value:
For $50 it's a steal. I'd still buy it if it was $70. However, I REALLY recommend some m50 pads as it improves soundstage and comfort.
The coiled cable does get annoying but I can live with it. Maybe I'll mod it later on to have a removable cable.