i spent the year 2014 with testing budget earphones and koss company never disappointed me. buying kdx100 was undoubtedly my best decision. it was kind of unplanned because my intention was to find something better than ruk30; and kdx200 as the pricier one, was looking like a better target.
but i decided to give a chance to this one. because it was looking very different (open back, long nozzle), maybe i was on a wrong path after all ? it turned out so, koss knows how to deliver good bass and mids but their products performing a little low on the treble side and my biggest concern about the ruk30 and kdx200 was on that side. fortunately, kdx100 helped a little to this situation.
treble production of kdx100 still not the best. not lifelike as brainwavz r3 or detailed as ostry kc06a. but only this two can beat it (among the products i tried of course). and while this two have weaknesses involving bass or mids, kdx100 really shining with it's complete structure and lower price.
more about the treble: it's attack duration/detail level is still a little low compared to ruk30 and other devices on it's level. but clarity level is improved and it delivers itself more directly to your ear, sounds dedicated enough, like coming from another driver. listen to ruk30-kdx200 or alike for long hours and get back to kdx100, you'll notice the more clear treble production instantly.
the bass of kdx100 is still the strong kossbass but the upper range of it's bass frequencies (125-250-500hz) comes highly overamplified by default, i think koss wanted to deliver all they can by doing this but it affects very badly to the most songs which this frequencies are already amplified, the result is: painful distortions. it's 1khz frequency also comes amplified, which affects to some songs includes vocal peaks. if you hear weird vocal peaks causing you to remove the earphone from your ears with pain, just lower 1khz from your equalizer.
using kdx100 without the needed frequency decrements is suicide, don't say i didn't warned! you'll look like this hifihacks.com writer who suggests klipsch X1 istead:
but i decided to give a chance to this one. because it was looking very different (open back, long nozzle), maybe i was on a wrong path after all ? it turned out so, koss knows how to deliver good bass and mids but their products performing a little low on the treble side and my biggest concern about the ruk30 and kdx200 was on that side. fortunately, kdx100 helped a little to this situation.
treble production of kdx100 still not the best. not lifelike as brainwavz r3 or detailed as ostry kc06a. but only this two can beat it (among the products i tried of course). and while this two have weaknesses involving bass or mids, kdx100 really shining with it's complete structure and lower price.
more about the treble: it's attack duration/detail level is still a little low compared to ruk30 and other devices on it's level. but clarity level is improved and it delivers itself more directly to your ear, sounds dedicated enough, like coming from another driver. listen to ruk30-kdx200 or alike for long hours and get back to kdx100, you'll notice the more clear treble production instantly.
the bass of kdx100 is still the strong kossbass but the upper range of it's bass frequencies (125-250-500hz) comes highly overamplified by default, i think koss wanted to deliver all they can by doing this but it affects very badly to the most songs which this frequencies are already amplified, the result is: painful distortions. it's 1khz frequency also comes amplified, which affects to some songs includes vocal peaks. if you hear weird vocal peaks causing you to remove the earphone from your ears with pain, just lower 1khz from your equalizer.
using kdx100 without the needed frequency decrements is suicide, don't say i didn't warned! you'll look like this hifihacks.com writer who suggests klipsch X1 istead:
"So anyway how is the sound? Uhhh… bad. The bass is large but not tight or balanced. The mids are muddied sound like they are coming down a long pipe… which I guess they are (did I mention how long those rubber things are?), and the highs are abrasive."
taken from http://www.hifihacks.com/?p=134
Bass:
deep bass feels tighter due to 125hz amplification, removing it will release some 30-60hz deep bass power if you find it too tight. kdx200 still has a slightly more complete deep bass but difference is barely noticable. kdx100 sounds better overall.
Mids:
ruk30 and kdx200's mid acoustic were good and slightly better than vsonic vsd3/s but they were not a brainwavz r1 or vsonic g/r02 after all. kdx100 offers a little improvement on that side. instruments on the front of the stage are feels a little more clear/dedicated. differences about this are not on a day/night level between all of this products but every point counts
good work koss!
Treble:
overall better than other koss offerings. better than a lot of rivals. but it's still a creature of bass & mids.
Amplification Requirements:
close to none. easily able to reach high volumes with minimal bass distortion. brainwavz ap001 will be more than enough.
Equalizer Requirements:
comes with 125-250-500 and 1khz amplified on different levels. highly unbalanced device, you'll need multiple settings to retain a natural sound with different songs. i mean calibrating with only 1 song and using that setting with all songs will cause you to lose some naturality. you need to test all of your songs and find the ones best suited for different type of records. 12-16khz treble frequencies are a little laidback, you'll need to amplify more than usual to hear them correctly.
after writing this review, i experienced the koss plug which is selling for $10-15, it's the same product. only without the triple flange tip and with softer nozzle, just go & buy it.
here's my short Plug introduction
taken from http://www.hifihacks.com/?p=134
Bass:
deep bass feels tighter due to 125hz amplification, removing it will release some 30-60hz deep bass power if you find it too tight. kdx200 still has a slightly more complete deep bass but difference is barely noticable. kdx100 sounds better overall.
Mids:
ruk30 and kdx200's mid acoustic were good and slightly better than vsonic vsd3/s but they were not a brainwavz r1 or vsonic g/r02 after all. kdx100 offers a little improvement on that side. instruments on the front of the stage are feels a little more clear/dedicated. differences about this are not on a day/night level between all of this products but every point counts
good work koss!Treble:
overall better than other koss offerings. better than a lot of rivals. but it's still a creature of bass & mids.
Amplification Requirements:
close to none. easily able to reach high volumes with minimal bass distortion. brainwavz ap001 will be more than enough.
Equalizer Requirements:
comes with 125-250-500 and 1khz amplified on different levels. highly unbalanced device, you'll need multiple settings to retain a natural sound with different songs. i mean calibrating with only 1 song and using that setting with all songs will cause you to lose some naturality. you need to test all of your songs and find the ones best suited for different type of records. 12-16khz treble frequencies are a little laidback, you'll need to amplify more than usual to hear them correctly.
after writing this review, i experienced the koss plug which is selling for $10-15, it's the same product. only without the triple flange tip and with softer nozzle, just go & buy it.
here's my short Plug introduction
