[jant71]

   No need to say much about Koss as they have one of the legendary gateway drugs in the Porta Pro and it's variations. Also of course not a one trick pony with the ESP950, the PRO4A variants, and some new solid entries in the PRO DJ's and SP330 and SP540. Not really much in the budget arena lately though. UR55 was decent but not a giant killer or gonna take the place of the 60 Ohm driver in the hearts of audio lovers. Enter the new UR42i which has some early buzz and looks to have some promise as a new killer budget portable. Quite interesting as it is a closed, over ear folding can with replaceable cable that can be plugged into either cup and has a single button remote/mic. They come in two colors: Dark Gray and White. I opted for the Gray.
https://www.koss.com/headphones/over-ear-headphones/ur42i
 
Okay, my pair of the new Koss UR42i are in! A picture is worth a thousand words so...








Vs. ATH-SQ in size. UR42i have a smaller, slimmer headband and slightly bigger cups.
(Not the stock cable plugged in to the UR42i here but shows most cables will work as it is a flush connection)
 
SPECS:
Frequency Response: 20 - 20,000Hz
Impedance: 35 Ohm
 
SPL: 100dB
 
Weight: Not given but vs. the known SQ5(170 grams) it is probably 180-185 grams or something close to that.
 
Pads Measurements:
  Outside: 85mm top to bottom, 70mm front to back
  Inside   : 55mm top to bottom, 38mm front to back
 
INITIAL BUILD QUALITY IMPRESSION:
  I like the build right out of the box. The cans are plastic and light but they do have a nice metal inner headband. No creaking and the fold flat joints are tight and smooth in thier motion. The top of the headband is rubber and seems to have a little bit of air filling the underside that rests on the head. The headband adjustment moves with a strong and satisfying click that locks in securely. The cable is 2mm thick and a more rubber sheathe and seems quite decent but time will tell if the out of box bends will straighten nicely. I hope the cable relaxes a bit with time and use. Connection to the cups is tight and not wobbly in any way. The earcups themselves are fine. A bit thin on the plastic there but adequate for the price. Not too cheap there but I would not want to drop these a lot
 
 
The early wear and listen went quite well. They fit well but I do not have a big head. There is a bit of clamp and they don't budge! Will see how it goes on a long session. They do fine with my glasses and my ear fit nicely inside. Isolation is definitively above average for me. Sound is mature Koss, certainly a lot of how the SP phones are described. Pretty safe to say the PLX 35 Ohm is used here in some iteration. First impression is well balanced with some low end warmth and thump(satisfying presence; not overdone). Mids are not recessed. Treble quite apparent but not V. More neck and neck with the mids and bass is still a bit in charge. From memory but these strike me as much better then the UR55 was. Certainly want to let them burn in, test the isolation outdoors, and test the comfort on a longer listening session.
 
Early, yes, but seems like the eat some juice nicely and get bigger, more refined, and dynamic. Straight out of my Cowon M2 they were slightly better than the SQ5. Amping does a slight bit for the SQ5 but the Koss is nearly another beast with more power behind it. SQ5 has good synergy with the Cowon and is quite good sounding so slightly better is still quite good(with the Cowon I would change the Joker 7/10 to 8/10 for the SQ5). The SQ5 were also over $100 at one point and better than the SQ505 that came after. Anyhow, sounds real nice but the glowing praise of the reviews seemed maybe a bit of a stretch but with the added juice now seem more realistic  
 
 
That's it for the moment

. Time to take them for a spin and I will update with sound impressions, isolation, etc.

 

[jant71]

Reserved!

 

[CocaCola15]

Listening to them right now, my usual headphone checkout lust, a real eclectic musical playlist. Love the comfort and fit, and I'm not any sound expert but my my, they are a fine value. A bit bassy but not run in at all. The treble is smooth, clean, not harsh (and I gave them my real sibilance test, Gimme Shelter cover by Angelique Kidjo.

Otherwise I think they another budget-fi winner from Koss. I have the Ksc 35s (recabled and nodded), the Ksc 75s and Porta Pros. Need to do a comparison. They hold their own with the Thinksound On1 closed on ears too, a much higher priced headphone (and my current favorites).

I don't have a lot of technical stuff to say, but $45 shipped, Koss crushes it again.

I am not sure but I didn't find an iPhone cable, just a standard cable. I looked and looked but nothing. I have one here, from the On1, so I can use that. Love the replaceable cable. $45? Just amazing.

Looking forward to more Jant impressions.

 

[jant71]

Listening to them right now, my usual headphone checkout lust, a real eclectic musical playlist. Love the comfort and fit, and I'm not any sound expert but my my, they are a fine value. A bit bassy but not run in at all. The treble is smooth, clean, not harsh (and I gave them my real sibilance test, Gimme Shelter cover by Angelique Kidjo.

Otherwise I think they another budget-fi winner from Koss. I have the Ksc 35s (recabled and nodded), the Ksc 75s and Porta Pros. Need to do a comparison. They hold their own with the Thinksound On1 closed on ears too, a much higher priced headphone (and my current favorites).

I don't have a lot of technical stuff to say, but $45 shipped, Koss crushes it again.

I am not sure but I didn't find an iPhone cable, just a standard cable. I looked and looked but nothing. I have one here, from the On1, so I can use that. Love the replaceable cable. $45? Just amazing.

Looking forward to more Jant impressions.

 
That will be helpful as I have no other Koss on hand to directly compare to and from memory is not worth very much.  I grabbed my Cardas 1M HPI and plugged it in last night and found it a bit more separated and had a bit tighter bass with slightly better impact. that and put my Cowon on the Crystal Clear EQ and it was pretty sweet for a crisp clean and very transparent sound way above the asking price. The stock cable really isn't holding it back much but there is more there if one has some good cable/s on hand.
 
I do think that Koss did it again. With a different form factor and on a higher level but a near giant killer that can be modded and tweaked with the big cups and cable so easy to change out. Would seem easy to tape off and paint the cups and lower headband to customize in that way as well. I expect this is the start of plenty we will hear about this can for a long time. Look at the Mikros 90. Wouldn't be surprised to see the UR42i exceed that in popularity and have people buying more than one pair to try and compare mods etc.

 

[danmlr]

Good to see this thread. 
 
How do these compare to sennheiser 600 and 650 if anyone has those as well? The senns are supposed to be  the benchmark for mid priced neutral headphones. 

 

[Zelda]

Thanks for starting the thread Jant. and congrats on the buy of the UR42. looking forward for more impressions and comparisions

 

[jant71]

  Good to see this thread. 
 
How do these compare to sennheiser 600 and 650 if anyone has those as well? The senns are supposed to be  the benchmark for mid priced neutral headphones. 

 
I think that might be a stretch as one is something you mostly use on the go with your phone or something and the others are $300+ standards that are full size and need power or don't apply. Though the UR42i does seem to scale pretty well like the Senn and most people, including me, tend to like/enjoy both the Senn and Koss sound. Koss are neither mid-price nor neutral. I am sure some might have room for both and will buy and compare but I doubt they would really be able to match them. Not that they have to as they are different purpose really.
 
They deserve more burn in time but the Koss are not quite as good as my CD666 with Senn HD497 pads. That phone is equivalent to a Beyer DT250-250 SQ level but I like the sig better than the Beyer's. The UR42i is very good and performs above the price and may be able to be tweaked for untapped potential but let's not hype too much

.
 
Though being supposedly that close to the OPPO and even closer to the Beyer, which is also an old standard, they may just deserve some decent hype!

 

[CocaCola15]

   
That will be helpful as I have no other Koss on hand to directly compare to and from memory is not worth very much.  I grabbed my Cardas 1M HPI and plugged it in last night and found it a bit more separated and had a bit tighter bass with slightly better impact. that and put my Cowon on the Crystal Clear EQ and it was pretty sweet for a crisp clean and very transparent sound way above the asking price. The stock cable really isn't holding it back much but there is more there if one has some good cable/s on hand.
 
I do think that Koss did it again. With a different form factor and on a higher level but a near giant killer that can be modded and tweaked with the big cups and cable so easy to change out. Would seem easy to tape off and paint the cups and lower headband to customize in that way as well. I expect this is the start of plenty we will hear about this can for a long time. Look at the Mikros 90. Wouldn't be surprised to see the UR42i exceed that in popularity and have people buying more than one pair to try and compare mods etc.

Well, my unprofessional reviewer thoughts are the UR42i, due to their form factor, are just a different sound signature, but stand on their own. Comparing an open and closed headphone just seems odd. If I had to choose, I would say I would stick with the PortaPros for my sources and usage patterns (Plenue D, amped iPod Classic, iPhone 6-Plus). And that in no way denigrates the UR42i very smooth, engaging sound. It would be tough to decide which one to buy as a gateway drug, honestly. I guess that would depend on your use patterns. Certainly, if you are out in public, the UR42i makes for a better option if you had to choose one.
 
I;d just own both, which I do. As for the Ksc35 and Ksc75, I actually prefer the Porta Pro over them, so same holds here in terms of the UR42i.

 

[danmlr]

Fair enough. I do think a closed set of koss phones would be awesome. Great for just a bit of noise isolation. 
 
Let's see if the price drops. It's already super affordable. 
 
It is quite amazing that koss headphones are so frequently compared to far more expensive headphones though.

 

[jant71]

So, anyone else jumped on board yet?

 
In the mean time, I have used them outside for the first time and the isolation is nice. A nice step up from the on-ears I have and also the SQ5.
 
Some more hours on them and they sound a bit cleaner and the range of the bass thump has narrowed more towards the sub-bass as things have tightened up.
 
Depending on ear size they seem to have a little bit of a sweet spot when moving them around where they sound a bit bigger and cleaner. Just a bit better. I seem to like to seat my ears more back and lower. Of course the jawline/face shape will come into play here esp. on the bottom rear edge of the pads and how they seal.

 

[jant71]

Koss' Black Friday code (FRIDAY35) makes the UR42i and Porta Pro both $32.49. 

Can't be used on the Limited Editions though

 

[tsamba]

Bought these recently and really enjoy them, but the headband dug into my head a little bit during long sessions. Put an inexpensive Beyerdynamic-style snap-on headband cushion onto them and now they're comfortable as can be! (The cord is actually plugged into opposite ears in each pic.)
 

 
 
 

 

[trellus]

I suspect the just released BT539i are based on the UR42i as they certainly look a lot alike:
 
 

 
They're priced $50 more than Koss UR42i.  

 

[alstone]

I bought a pair in white and I like them a lot. They are pretty darn stylish and sound quality is good. There's some degree of noise isolation as well, although they would hardly qualify as earmuffs. They are also relatively light as well, a nice bonus. 

As far as cons, there are a few. First of all, and this may be a personal idiosyncracy, but I find the headband to be far too short for adult use. And there isn't any padding per se on he bottom of the headband. Instead it is a hard rubber like compound and the combination of a short headband and hard unforgiving "padding" on it's underside, lead to a less than pleasant extended listening experience. Just a bit more headband extension, along with a more forgiving "cushion" would be very very welcome indeed. 
 
As far as sound quality, I like it. The sound signature is inoffensive, generally neutral, with a bit of treble rolloff and a slightly narrowish sound stage. These are terrific for a longer listening session: the sound signature is non fatiguing and reasonably accurate. Those looking for bass slam or detail retrieval due to embellished treble should look elsewhere. 
 
Don't look for the highest degree of noise isolation. These sit squarely between foam earplugs and totally open or semi open headphones. These are quasi closed headphones with a few small vents on the outside of the enclosure. I estimate isolation at 15 db or less. In a noisier cafe, you will definitely notice ambient sound, albeit slightly muted. 
 
I think the 42's look very stylish in white. The ability to share the headphones with a second line out is a fun feature as well. Overall, a fantastic value but with a few annoying cost cutting quirks which compromise functionality, especially comfort and fit, a bit too noticeably. 
 
Overall grade: B-
Considering value: B. 

 

[cargoload]