gloom
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2001
- Posts
- 146
- Likes
- 11
There are a very few things everyone around here agrees on. One is the value of the Koss KSC-35. I didn't believe it, at first. Then some guy on Headwize was selling a bunch at $20 a pop, plus shipping. I jumped.
Well, it's been a week, so I think new toy fever has broken (it's never more than a couple of hours long with something this cheap, anyway.) The verdict? These things are pure fun.
So they're a little boomy, and there's little true extension. Highs aren't the cleanest, and the detail I was accustomed to is often obscured. These are not "audiophile" kit by any metric: price, construction, sound. Oh yes, I hate the ear clips, too, since they take longer to put on than a pair of conventional headphones.
And... I don't care about any of that. See, the KSC-35 is possessed of real magic, a sense of "rightness". They manage speed and verve with a smoothness my SR-80 would have envied. These headphones have some bravado, challenging my HD580, but their big sound has made up 80% of my listening since I got them. They sound big, daring, lively. They're the first "foot-tapper" 'phones I've ever owned. Did I say they sounded "big"? That's not a helpful word with an accepted meaning, like dark or bright or warm or even musical (the dreaded m-word.) But it's the best I can do. They sound "bigger" than they are. They aren't ashamed of their flaws, but present music with a direct, carefree liveliness I can't resist.
Interestingly, I think I can make out complicated relationships between melodies or basslines better than with any other 'phones I've heard (save the SR-325, maybe, but that never overcame the tin knife problem, despite its fancy footwork.) I was listening to Enya's "Storm over Africa" earlier, and had never before realized how the melody and counterpoints worked together. I'd heard everything, but it had never come together like this before. Same thing with Enigma's "Cross of Changes" album - I sat down to listen to "Return to Innocence", got 2 minutes into it, then started the cd from beginning and listened to the end. I played Paul Oakenfold's "Tranceport", and was enchanted: it hadn't sounded this good to me in a long, long time.
No matter what I turned to - Enigma, Pink Floyd, Enya, David Arkenstone, Gladiator Soundtrack, Ceredwen, Vivaldi, Hybrid, BT, Groove Armada, De La Soul, the KSC-35 grabbed my attention and didn't let go. I wonder if there's a headphone as versatile out there. A few months ago I'd have said the V6 was passable with anything, but now that thing is about as fun to listen to as a rotten log. It isolates, which is its only virtue (my computer is still a bit on the loud side.) The KSC-35 is a sapling resplendent in fresh spring green, while the V6 is a fallen tree half covered by snowdrifts. I no longer have a taste for sibilance, harshness, and slow-footed mud - I've heard the KSC-35's deft birdsong.
The HD580 is... well, it's a complicated 'phone, and I don't think I like its basic sonic signature enough to plumb its depths. I don't want to play the expensive-amp-trial game. I have heard speakers I liked a lot better. Now I've heard (close your ears against blasphemy, Sennheiser believers!) headphones I like better. Yes, yes, that sounds absurd. I can hear the cries of disbelief already:
"But you need a God-damned Melos or Headmaster or Max to really appreciate those beauties! Or at least MG Head! And then a $150 upgrade cable! Get a real source you wanker! Oh by the way, the RKV is the One True Amp!" (sorry, Kelly, heh, I couldn't resist.) I don't have the money for all that stuff (well, I did, until I went for a very substantial computer upgrade - priorities, you know.) Actually, I could still afford some good stuff. Maybe some day...
With the KSC-35, I've hit a point where I'm not willing to spend any more money on headphones - I just can't justify it to myself. I'm having too much fun listening to music again. I know it sounds crazy, and I'll probably be kicked out of the audiophile inner circle for my heresies. Maybe I'll be crawling back next week, like a heroin addict, desperate for another fix and a new toy.
I kind of doubt it, though - I've got my methadone!
I've had an epiphany: this hobby isn't about pursuing a rational perfection (unique to each individual's ears, of course.) That would be like falling in love because of a logical argument. Rationally I can accept the HD580 sounds better, even with my mediocre gear... but some part of me obviously disagrees, since the KSC-35 has found its way onto my head significantly more often, of late. Pursuit of sonic love is an attempt to satisfy that... subconscious? instinctual? part. No matter what your brain says, the headphone you reach for when you aren't thinking about it is the one you really love.
*whistles* I'm in lo-ove!
Well, it's been a week, so I think new toy fever has broken (it's never more than a couple of hours long with something this cheap, anyway.) The verdict? These things are pure fun.
So they're a little boomy, and there's little true extension. Highs aren't the cleanest, and the detail I was accustomed to is often obscured. These are not "audiophile" kit by any metric: price, construction, sound. Oh yes, I hate the ear clips, too, since they take longer to put on than a pair of conventional headphones.
And... I don't care about any of that. See, the KSC-35 is possessed of real magic, a sense of "rightness". They manage speed and verve with a smoothness my SR-80 would have envied. These headphones have some bravado, challenging my HD580, but their big sound has made up 80% of my listening since I got them. They sound big, daring, lively. They're the first "foot-tapper" 'phones I've ever owned. Did I say they sounded "big"? That's not a helpful word with an accepted meaning, like dark or bright or warm or even musical (the dreaded m-word.) But it's the best I can do. They sound "bigger" than they are. They aren't ashamed of their flaws, but present music with a direct, carefree liveliness I can't resist.
Interestingly, I think I can make out complicated relationships between melodies or basslines better than with any other 'phones I've heard (save the SR-325, maybe, but that never overcame the tin knife problem, despite its fancy footwork.) I was listening to Enya's "Storm over Africa" earlier, and had never before realized how the melody and counterpoints worked together. I'd heard everything, but it had never come together like this before. Same thing with Enigma's "Cross of Changes" album - I sat down to listen to "Return to Innocence", got 2 minutes into it, then started the cd from beginning and listened to the end. I played Paul Oakenfold's "Tranceport", and was enchanted: it hadn't sounded this good to me in a long, long time.
No matter what I turned to - Enigma, Pink Floyd, Enya, David Arkenstone, Gladiator Soundtrack, Ceredwen, Vivaldi, Hybrid, BT, Groove Armada, De La Soul, the KSC-35 grabbed my attention and didn't let go. I wonder if there's a headphone as versatile out there. A few months ago I'd have said the V6 was passable with anything, but now that thing is about as fun to listen to as a rotten log. It isolates, which is its only virtue (my computer is still a bit on the loud side.) The KSC-35 is a sapling resplendent in fresh spring green, while the V6 is a fallen tree half covered by snowdrifts. I no longer have a taste for sibilance, harshness, and slow-footed mud - I've heard the KSC-35's deft birdsong.
The HD580 is... well, it's a complicated 'phone, and I don't think I like its basic sonic signature enough to plumb its depths. I don't want to play the expensive-amp-trial game. I have heard speakers I liked a lot better. Now I've heard (close your ears against blasphemy, Sennheiser believers!) headphones I like better. Yes, yes, that sounds absurd. I can hear the cries of disbelief already:
"But you need a God-damned Melos or Headmaster or Max to really appreciate those beauties! Or at least MG Head! And then a $150 upgrade cable! Get a real source you wanker! Oh by the way, the RKV is the One True Amp!" (sorry, Kelly, heh, I couldn't resist.) I don't have the money for all that stuff (well, I did, until I went for a very substantial computer upgrade - priorities, you know.) Actually, I could still afford some good stuff. Maybe some day...
With the KSC-35, I've hit a point where I'm not willing to spend any more money on headphones - I just can't justify it to myself. I'm having too much fun listening to music again. I know it sounds crazy, and I'll probably be kicked out of the audiophile inner circle for my heresies. Maybe I'll be crawling back next week, like a heroin addict, desperate for another fix and a new toy.
I kind of doubt it, though - I've got my methadone!
I've had an epiphany: this hobby isn't about pursuing a rational perfection (unique to each individual's ears, of course.) That would be like falling in love because of a logical argument. Rationally I can accept the HD580 sounds better, even with my mediocre gear... but some part of me obviously disagrees, since the KSC-35 has found its way onto my head significantly more often, of late. Pursuit of sonic love is an attempt to satisfy that... subconscious? instinctual? part. No matter what your brain says, the headphone you reach for when you aren't thinking about it is the one you really love.
*whistles* I'm in lo-ove!
