[GanChan]

Uh, pretty much what the title said.

 

[stallion11msu]

Not IMO. The Philips HP170 gets my vote.

 

[MD1032]

Yeah, but for 10 bucks for you can get the 35's, which are a lot better although they use the same drivers (positioning makes all the difference!).

 

[GanChan]

I thought the 35s were a little pricier than that....

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally posted by MD1032 - although this only as example, and not used as a personal 'attack'... ...although they use the same drivers

Common misconception here I feel...

By the logic that people are using here, the drivers in the Sony CD1700 / CD2000 / CD3000 / R10 are al the same, along with the Senn HD535 / HD545 / HD565 / HD580 / HD600 / HD650 being the same...

Lets put it this way, the diaphragm fabric between the KSC35 (clear) and KSC50 (titanium finish) are different...

Same driver design may be - but, to be honest I really do not think that they are the same... not at all

 

[MD1032]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Common misconception here I feel... By the logic that people are using here, the drivers in the Sony CD1700 / CD2000 / CD3000 / R10 are al the same, along with the Senn HD535 / HD545 / HD565 / HD580 / HD600 / HD650 being the same... Lets put it this way, the diaphragm fabric between the KSC35 (clear) and KSC50 (titanium finish) are different... Same driver design may be - but, to be honest I really do not think that they are the same... not at all

This is the thread that brought me to Head-Fi. I was looking for a comparison and found this:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...?threadid=1568

The drivers are *exactly* the same. In fact, the only difference is that the KSC-50's are coated with titanium dust and the 35's are not. It does NOT affect the sound. If you put the 35 drivers and the 50 drivers in the same enclosure they would indeed sound the same. As you can see, fit is everything (reason I took my KSC-50 pads off! What a difference!)

 

[jona]

I own both the KSC 50's and the 35's. I prefer the sound of the 50's as I find the bass to be somewhat exaggerated with the 35's. Others disagree, perhaps due to differences in fit of these cans on their ears. Most seem to find the 35's more comfortable, but the 50's fit my ears equally well. The 35's are more fashionable (if this matters to you), harder to find, and more $$ than the 50's. I have not dissected my cans to comment on the "same driver" controversy.

Despite wasting the price of HD580's on many cheap cans over the years (embarrasing but true!), I have never heard better sounding sub-$20 cans than the 50's.

Jon

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by MD1032 The drivers are *exactly* the same. In fact, the only difference is that the KSC-50's are coated with titanium dust and the 35's are not. It does NOT affect the sound. If you put the 35 drivers and the 50 drivers in the same enclosure they would indeed sound the same. As you can see, fit is everything (reason I took my KSC-50 pads off! What a difference!)

To add to this, if you've purchased the newer KSC-35 (the ones Koss recently offered "for a limited time"), you'll find that they have the "silver colored" drivers, as well.

Sorry, Duncan, but I've torn both apart, and they really are identical

 

[frozenSolar]

another note:

Thank you for contacting Koss Stereophones.

The KSC/35 that is for sale today is the same design as the previously manufactured ksc/35 - we have not re-designed this stereophone.

in case anyone was wondering.
(i asked if the previous ear clips were different)

 

[Patrickhat2001]

I'm willing to bet that there is a difference in the cabling used as well--it that is what appears to account for the major sound difference between the 35s and the Porta-Pros (check this thread) Also, I feel that amount of plastic behind the drivers could also be making a difference--the 35s and 50 may use the same drivers but their enclosures are different.

Oh, and to answer your question I'd take the KSC-50 over the Philips HP170. I find the 50s to have a fairly detailed sound with only major flaw being that they are a little weak in the bass which can leave some recordings sounding a little thin. The Philips HP170 are nice as well--I like their soundstage quite a bit--but I found them to have an unpleasant offcolor tone in their midrange that turned me off from them. The Philips are a little bass weak as well. Oh, and the KSC-50s are also much more portable than the Philips.

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Sorry, Duncan, but I've torn both apart, and they really are identical

Pah! - Why will no-one listen to logic?

There is NOTHING conclusive in your old thread to CONFIRM that they're identical... only your word...

I repeat what I said up above, by that logic, all of the line-up from the Sony CD1700 all the way through to the R10 use identical drivers... and I tell you something, i can guarantee that all R10 owners would feel robbed if that were the case

And why the sound difference between the Porta / Sporta / 35 / 50? - if nothing else as i've said before, that titanium 'dust' (yeah, right!

) would add weight to the diaphragm, and slow it down... - which in turn means its not the same

Unless I see something conclusive from Koss, i'm sorry - but i'm not buying this.. going back again to my previous post... i've taken apart most of the older Senn line, and I can assure you that all of the driver elements look the same - but swapping them into different housings (for example swapping the HD565 into HD600 housing) does NOT yield a magical transformation... You can't get cheap HD600s by putting the HD565 elements in their shell....

...Funny thing is, even if you ask Koss - I very much doubt they'd tell you

 

[Duncan]

...To add to what I say above...

I will officially apologise to all those who believe they are the same drivers, if someone can remove a pair of '50 drivers, and insert them into '35 housings, and vice versa, and still think that a 35 sounds like a 35, and a 50, like a 50...

Its over to you

 

[MacDEF]

Duncan:

I think you missed what I stated earlier in the same post you quoted:

Quote:

if you've purchased the newer KSC-35 (the ones Koss recently offered "for a limited time"), you'll find that they have the "silver colored" drivers, as well.

I received a brand-new pair of KSC-35 from Koss a few weeks ago. Instead of gold writing on the side, they have silver writing, and instead of the "clear" drivers, they have the "silver tint" drivers, just like the KSC-50. In other words, were I to take this picture today:

the two would be indistinguishable!

And here's the kicker. The newer ("silver diaphram") KSC-35 sound exactly the same as my older KSC-35 ("clear" drivers), and different from my KSC-50!

So the whole "but the drivers are different colors so they must be physically different in some way" argument doesn't seem to hold much water. The only differences are the enclosures and fit.

I hope this clears things up.

 

[lini]

GhanChan: I haven't heard the Koss, but I'd recommend to compare the Sennheiser HD 433 and the Philips SBC-HP200.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Nice work Macdef, but I must ask, did you try switching the cables (if it's at all possible with mutilating them) between the KSC50s and 35s? It's my bet that the cabling is what is causing the differences in sound, especially if the sound differences remain after removing the enclosures (the silver, dome shaped peice of plastic, not the black plastic that actually surrounds the drivers) of the KSC50s.