What is this? A random KOSS headphone from the '70s?
Don't run away just yet. These things are a diamond in the ruff. They put my K240 Studios and ATH-M50s to shame. I have never heard a vintage headphone sound this good.
The first thing I said when I put these on was "hoooooly crap soundstage". These things, despite being closed, have an absolutely massive soundstage. Instrument placement is precise and instrument separation is better than any headphone I have. As you feed them power, the soundstage gains size and clarity. The soundstage is wide and deep.
The detail retrieval on this set tops everything I've heard so far. I have heard entirely new parts in my songs with these things. They are a very fast headphone and have a good amount of micro-detail throughout the entire sound spectrum. It sounds like every instrument is rendered separately as opposed to all at once. It sounds less like a recording and more like a performance. The way these things render vocals is absolutely stunning; it sounds like someone is really singing.
The tonal balance on this headphone is neutral with a tilt towards the bassy side of things. They have bass that reaches very low. The midbass isn't emphasized, and the sub bass territory is louder than the rest. It makes the headphones have a huge thunderous low end without being muddy, bleedy, or sloppy. The mids are pretty smooth, though the upper mids are somewhat forward. They have a slightly veiled sound, but not too bad. They don't have good treble extension.
These things do an amazing job at attenuating outside noise. I was riding in the car with my dad during a thunderstorm. The rain was smacking against the windshield very loudly and I couldn't even tell. He had the radio on and we were going about 70, so the wheels were making a very loud roar. Nope, couldn't hear it. My dad leaned over to say something to me and I didn't hear a word of it. He had to wave his hand in front of me. When I took them off I was absolutely astounded at how much noise was around me. These isolate better than anything that has ever been in my ears or on my head. It's absolutely ridiculous.
As far as build quality goes, they are heavy and built like tanks. The yokes are stainless steel and the headband has a steel core. The Adjustments are free-motion as opposed to stepped, but surprisingly it still locks in whatever position you put it in. The headband itself is really tough plastic as are the earcups. The cable, surprisingly, is quite nice; it's not stiff at all and the coil works very well. The earpads are a hard-ish vinyl type material, which allows these to make a perfect seal on your head, hence the amazing isolation that this set has.
These headphones, surprisingly, sound good straight from an iPhone. Using my E7, they get better. Unfortunately I cannot test how they scale further because I do not have any other amps. When I get another amp, I'll report back here how they scale.
Oddly enough the comfort on these isn't very bad at all. They're quite comfortable most of the time. However, the pads are pretty shallow and the plastic baffle plate sometimes hurts my ears a bit if they aren't on the head straight. Most of the time it's fine and when it does happen it's easily remedied, so it's not a problem.* (See below)
Despite the amazing isolation and drive-ability of these headphones, I would not suggest these for portable use. They are heavy, and are absolutely massive. I look quite goofy wearing them. **They do clamp enough to stay on your head most of the time, but more active uses such as jogging cause instability.** (See bottom) Additionally, if you wear glasses (which I do) you won't be able to use both at the same time. With my glasses on, they don't seal against my head and they lose all of their bass, all of their isolation, and sound quite bad. Plus, the clamping force makes your glasses gouge into the sides of your face. Not too pleasant.
One thing I should note is that I have found absolutely no evidence of this headphone's existence, anywhere. The only pictures on google are either mine or are from the auction I bought these from. Additionally, KOSS doesn't have these on their site, anywhere. They don't even show up in their product registration list. I take this to mean that they were probably a very expensive TOTL headphone back in the 70's and due to low sales were quickly discontinued. If anyone else has this set or any information about it, I'd like to know.
This set has absolutely astounded me. I can't believe I got these for only $30. They have totally blown me away. If you see a pair of these, anywhere, grab them right away. You won't be disappointed.
*Another thing to add about the comfort: I put the foam discs from my K240s behind the pads to see what would happen, and it fixed the comfort problem. It also gave even more isolation to this thing. But most importantly, it took away the forwardness in the upper mids, which was quite literally the only thing about this headphone I didn't like. It does cause extra heat buildup, but that's good for me as it's winter where I live right now. These headphones originally did have foam on the inside, but mine has long since deteriorated. There are still chunks of foam stuck to the baffle plate with glue.
** I actually wore these when I walked down to the store, so I ran downhill and stomped my feet as hard as I could, and these didn't move an inch. I was quite surprised.
*** Last thing. As these headphones are quite revealing I've been noticing some clipping in the low end on certain songs. This isn't present on my friend's DT1350s, so it's the E7 clipping trying to drive these. They are NOT easy to drive.. However, given how they still sound great out of the E7, a more powerful amp will probably make this set sound unbelievable.
Updated 11/27/12
Don't run away just yet. These things are a diamond in the ruff. They put my K240 Studios and ATH-M50s to shame. I have never heard a vintage headphone sound this good.
The first thing I said when I put these on was "hoooooly crap soundstage". These things, despite being closed, have an absolutely massive soundstage. Instrument placement is precise and instrument separation is better than any headphone I have. As you feed them power, the soundstage gains size and clarity. The soundstage is wide and deep.
The detail retrieval on this set tops everything I've heard so far. I have heard entirely new parts in my songs with these things. They are a very fast headphone and have a good amount of micro-detail throughout the entire sound spectrum. It sounds like every instrument is rendered separately as opposed to all at once. It sounds less like a recording and more like a performance. The way these things render vocals is absolutely stunning; it sounds like someone is really singing.
The tonal balance on this headphone is neutral with a tilt towards the bassy side of things. They have bass that reaches very low. The midbass isn't emphasized, and the sub bass territory is louder than the rest. It makes the headphones have a huge thunderous low end without being muddy, bleedy, or sloppy. The mids are pretty smooth, though the upper mids are somewhat forward. They have a slightly veiled sound, but not too bad. They don't have good treble extension.
These things do an amazing job at attenuating outside noise. I was riding in the car with my dad during a thunderstorm. The rain was smacking against the windshield very loudly and I couldn't even tell. He had the radio on and we were going about 70, so the wheels were making a very loud roar. Nope, couldn't hear it. My dad leaned over to say something to me and I didn't hear a word of it. He had to wave his hand in front of me. When I took them off I was absolutely astounded at how much noise was around me. These isolate better than anything that has ever been in my ears or on my head. It's absolutely ridiculous.
As far as build quality goes, they are heavy and built like tanks. The yokes are stainless steel and the headband has a steel core. The Adjustments are free-motion as opposed to stepped, but surprisingly it still locks in whatever position you put it in. The headband itself is really tough plastic as are the earcups. The cable, surprisingly, is quite nice; it's not stiff at all and the coil works very well. The earpads are a hard-ish vinyl type material, which allows these to make a perfect seal on your head, hence the amazing isolation that this set has.
These headphones, surprisingly, sound good straight from an iPhone. Using my E7, they get better. Unfortunately I cannot test how they scale further because I do not have any other amps. When I get another amp, I'll report back here how they scale.
Oddly enough the comfort on these isn't very bad at all. They're quite comfortable most of the time. However, the pads are pretty shallow and the plastic baffle plate sometimes hurts my ears a bit if they aren't on the head straight. Most of the time it's fine and when it does happen it's easily remedied, so it's not a problem.* (See below)
Despite the amazing isolation and drive-ability of these headphones, I would not suggest these for portable use. They are heavy, and are absolutely massive. I look quite goofy wearing them. **
One thing I should note is that I have found absolutely no evidence of this headphone's existence, anywhere. The only pictures on google are either mine or are from the auction I bought these from. Additionally, KOSS doesn't have these on their site, anywhere. They don't even show up in their product registration list. I take this to mean that they were probably a very expensive TOTL headphone back in the 70's and due to low sales were quickly discontinued. If anyone else has this set or any information about it, I'd like to know.
This set has absolutely astounded me. I can't believe I got these for only $30. They have totally blown me away. If you see a pair of these, anywhere, grab them right away. You won't be disappointed.
*Another thing to add about the comfort: I put the foam discs from my K240s behind the pads to see what would happen, and it fixed the comfort problem. It also gave even more isolation to this thing. But most importantly, it took away the forwardness in the upper mids, which was quite literally the only thing about this headphone I didn't like. It does cause extra heat buildup, but that's good for me as it's winter where I live right now. These headphones originally did have foam on the inside, but mine has long since deteriorated. There are still chunks of foam stuck to the baffle plate with glue.
** I actually wore these when I walked down to the store, so I ran downhill and stomped my feet as hard as I could, and these didn't move an inch. I was quite surprised.
*** Last thing. As these headphones are quite revealing I've been noticing some clipping in the low end on certain songs. This isn't present on my friend's DT1350s, so it's the E7 clipping trying to drive these. They are NOT easy to drive.. However, given how they still sound great out of the E7, a more powerful amp will probably make this set sound unbelievable.
Updated 11/27/12
