[PointyFox]

I prefer the stock and Drop velour pads to the Vesper sheepskin ones, and the Drop velour pad to the stock pad due to better breathability.

 

[theangelboy]

Speaking of pads for the 95X, has anyone tried the Yaxi pads that were released a little while ago? They seem interesting and the few Google translated reviews I've found seem positive (but those reviews might be paid for...).

https://www.yaxi.jp/product-gallery/esp950/

 

[PointyFox]

Ooh, Alcantara. Probably pretty similar to the Drop velour pads that I like.

 

[jeanba3000]

Hello and happy new year !
I own a KOSS/Drop ESP 95X and, as the Koss amp can originaly work with a simple battery pack (6x1.5V batteries), I was wondering if it could nicely work with a powerbank like this one that can deliver the 9V ?
I guess voltage is ok but I was wondering if the bank inner circuitry would emit electic noises that could be heard through the ESP headphone ?

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hello and happy new year !
I own a KOSS/Drop ESP 95X and, as the Koss amp can originaly work with a simple battery pack (6x1.5V batteries), I was wondering if it could nicely work with a powerbank like this one that can deliver the 9V ?
I guess voltage is ok but I was wondering if the bank inner circuitry would emit electic noises that could be heard through the ESP headphone ?

Try it and let us know

 

[the1andonly]

ugghhh the HD800 has kind of ruined these for me, loved the performance, especially for the price, but always hated EQing them and now they are outperformed by a headphone I don't have to EQ, any way to fix the fr without EQ? Pads I am guessing? Any way to actually have bass?

otherwise I am going to be getting rid of them

I'm kinda feeling some seller's remorse for getting rid of these a year or two ago. What's the going rate of these on the non-X model on the used market? I'm kind of a sucker for that 90s aesthetic leather carrying case. If it's too much more I might just opt for the 95X, though.

I'm half-tempted to sell/trade my LCD-3 to reacquire a set of these.

Don't doo it, getting muh LCD-3's soon, the bass blows away Koss, and it does outperform it a bit overall... I will say with LCD-3/and 95x i can keep both, but adding the HD800 to the mix it's like... naw mayn

 

[rgs9200m]

Sad to hear about the passing of John C. Koss, the founder of the company.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/business/john-koss-dead.html

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

Sad to hear about the passing of John C. Koss, the founder of the company.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/business/john-koss-dead.html

You're a bit late.

PS: Do you realize that's an article we have to pay for?

 

[rgs9200m]

Sorry, I didn't know about the paywall. My mistake.
I got a couple of ESP950s about 25 years ago and still recommend them to people.

 

[Cheetoyogurt]

Hi there, recently got in a pair of open-box koss x massdrop esp95x off ebay. Totally clean, spic and span, and looked great, got them set up and they sounded great too.

Then today, I turned off the energizer, put the headphones down, and walked away to take care of something. Came back and turned the energizer back on the left ear cup is now hissing and popping and angry. Any time power is supplied to the device the left ear snaps and pops and hisses, it occurs at the same volume no matter what I do or where it is plugged in. Nor does changing the source change this hiss. I have tried light tapping on the speaker, light air blown through it, all to no avail. I will be ordering a new power supply first thing, as the one that came with it was not original and QUITE cheap, but if that isnt the case I fear I may be out 400 dollars very quickly.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hi there, recently got in a pair of open-box koss x massdrop esp95x off ebay. Totally clean, spic and span, and looked great, got them set up and they sounded great too.

Then today, I turned off the energizer, put the headphones down, and walked away to take care of something. Came back and turned the energizer back on the left ear cup is now hissing and popping and angry. Any time power is supplied to the device the left ear snaps and pops and hisses, it occurs at the same volume no matter what I do or where it is plugged in. Nor does changing the source change this hiss. I have tried light tapping on the speaker, light air blown through it, all to no avail. I will be ordering a new power supply first thing, as the one that came with it was not original and QUITE cheap, but if that isnt the case I fear I may be out 400 dollars very quickly.

Koss used to honor the warranty for anyone, so you can try the warranty path and just say you lost the receipt if they ask. Also, if you just got it and you paid with PayPal, you can try a claim with them.

 

[timb5881]

You can try what I have in the past. I use a keyboard vacuum and vacuum both inside and outside the ear cup. Make sure the headphones are unplugged and discharged before vacuuming

 

[the1andonly]

I hadn't used my Koss ESP95X much in the last couple months, mostly because I've put together a small collection of stats I'd been playing with and occasionally modifying. Most recently a Nectar Pollinator that I'd modified with better pads, headband and dust protection. After a head to head comparison, I had put my Pollinator's as my 2nd favorite stats - and my ESP95X at 4. I was debating whether to sell the ESP95X, but had been thinking for months about what might happen if I removed all the damping, and decided I had little to lose. I've loved modding headphones as a release during the pandemic.

So for 2 days I listened to the Koss ESP95X with Stock pads to re-accustom myself to them. Again - they do nothing wrong, and have a nice relaxed, airy presentation. I decided I definitely preferred the more fun/full presentation of the Nectar Pollinators. So I decided to take a risk and open up my ESP95X.

**Disclaimer - I take no responsibility for damaging your Koss stats if you try this, this mod is not reversible and likely voids your warranty. I was prepared for the possibility I might accidentally destroy my headphones. Second Disclaimer - at 43 I know I'm not too treble sensitive. My reasonable listening maxes out between 14-15 Khz.

I removed the headband first, and the pads. Under the pads is a stick on filter, that's pretty thick. I'd previously removed it alone - as I'd reported previously with some improvement in resolution. BUT taking it off requires patience, and it definitely tears as you pull it. I had to be careful not to accidentally put a finger through the dust protection underneath, nor the driver.

Once the filter was off, I had to undo 4 screws and expose the driver/stators/dust protection which are bound together in one assembly I did not disturb. I pulled the whole assembly by lifting up at the cable strain relief, paying attention to how the headphone cable is slotted in. The driver assembly pulls straight up if you have the headphones laying flat.

Behind the driver assembly is a thick sheet of paper - that I figured would make little difference sonically, but I was wrong. It connects to the grill at 4 points with 4 spots of glue. I carefully pried those 4 spots with a tiny screw driver so as not to tear the paper. I was relatively successful - but the paper now has 4 circular holes and I don't think it would be easy to replace.

After that - I just reassembled. At first I considered whether I would replace the thick filter paper with speaker cloth for added dust protection - but I don't think I will. Connected the way it was, at just 4 points - it didn't offer great dust protection to begin with.

To make a long story short - listening afterwards was a night and day difference in clarity and microdetail. I feel these are MUCH faster and more resolving now, among the best I've heard. But they were very fatiguing with the stock pads, and sibilant as well. I tried my thin Vesper leather pads, and had much the same experience. Finally - I tried my perforated Dekoni leather pads, added a sheet of speaker cloth over the dust protection on the pad side, and the sibilance and fatigue went away. I've listened 4 hours straight at a sitting. Though I usually prefer solid leather on the outside - I've found that perforated leather or pleather inside pads goes a long way towards killing sibilance and reflections.

I then compared my ESP95X and Pollinators for 3 hours connected to my Stax SRM 717 amp. They both played at the same time, and I was switching between the Pollinators and the Koss often during songs. It's quite obvious the Koss were less congested and picked up every detail, where the Pollinators suddenly seemed slightly "hollow" by comparison. The Koss did seem to lose some sound stage, the mids were more intimate. But to me, classical music and female vocals never sounded so good. The bass quantity was still much lower on the Koss versus the Pollinators. The Pollinators have bass I could FEEL in my chest - and for the same notes, I could only HEAR it on the Koss. The bass was very resolving and layered on the Koss, just not a lot of quantity. I used a tone generator at my regular listening volume - and could hear down to 20 Hz, but the slam of the bass just wasn't there.

Right now the Koss ESP95X without damping are my 2nd favorite headphones, and I'm dying to do another head to head with my Stax L700's. The only reason I haven't done so is that I disassembled the L700's to design better yokes. I ordered the hopefully upgraded yokes - but due to the recent weather, they've been stuck at Fedex for over a week. I'm hoping they'll get here by the coming weekend.

One last note - I previously sent my Koss ESP95X for warranty repair, since my right driver suddenly had a huge imbalance. They came back repaired. When I took them apart - the repaired right driver was clean, but the left driver had white dust between the dust protection and the filter paper? I wonder if that dust might be from construction - and can cause the buzzing some people have heard? In my case I just blew out the dust - and have had no issues. *crosses fingers* But again - getting to the driver assembly probably voids your warranty, so please proceed with caution.

What type of dust protection does it have under that black foam layer? Is it rigid? like some metal screen maybe?

 

[ferorake]

Bought them one time 2 years ago, left channel had an "hum" clearly noticeable. I sent it back to USA, 3 months, and got another. Same problem, I sold them.
Now I've got one pair used, and they have the same problem, just now is the right channel. I don't get how they can sell a product with so much defected units. Embarassing policy

 

[PolloLoco]

What type of dust protection does it have under that black foam layer? Is it rigid? like some metal screen maybe?

It uses crumpled mylar as the dust protection it looks like, which I've read is the standard.