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Koss makes the best stuff. These block outside noise, have great sound quality, and are comfortable enough to wear all day.
You'll know when you do because bass notes easily roll off when the seal and orientation of the plug is wrong. For an earbud these are amazing. The sound quality rivals much larger, heavier and more expensive traditional circumaural earphones.They key is being sure you position them properly. To get the most out of these, compress the foam by rolling it in your fingers and immediately put them in your ears. Twist gently to seat them and you will be rewarded with good clear sound.The lifetime warranty is a plus.For the price these represent a truly great value
I'm thinking bass heavy headphones in a sealed ear may be bad for the innards, but I could be wrong.I can confirm that this model here does NOT have the volume control in-line, thankfully. These do not have stunning audio quality, they lack in high end clarity. One word describes the sound quality - adequate. One downside, you're at the gym and the village bike comes around to make small talk, and every time she interrupts your workout, you need to take an earphone out to understand what her enhanced lips are saying. The bass response is very good, surprisingly good, but sacrificing the high end. For the gym, they're great because they simply will not come out, I sweat like a primate and I run violently. Finally, when you've warded her off, then its time to put the ear bud back in, which can be a small project considering you need to smash them and then stuff them in your ear before they expand. Repeat for each pass she makes.Other than that, these are well worth the $12 I paid.
For a younger person with perfect hearing these might have less fidelity than others. And, they don't have the fall out problems associated with typical ear buds. However, these are extremely comfortable. The isolation from the outside noise is better than most other ear bud style phones. Koss, "Sparkplug" earphones are also worth consideration. The Sparkplug model earphones sound about the same, but have a little higher profile out of ones ear.
Once in your ears, these stay put, no matter what your activity- running, jumping, rowing, biking, eliptical training, stair stepping, etc. I still can't believe it. NOISE CANCELING- Since the memory foam forms into your ear canal, these plugs excel at noise canceling. I have noticed that they are no longer carried in stores, I wonder what gives. While other headphones give a "tinny", hollow, or "faded" sound, these plugs delivery rich and life-like sound.
I have owned and used religiously a set of them for over 4 years, and they're still going great (though all the color has rubbed off, and I've replaced the foam cushions a few times- which were included).Since I travel a lot, I am concerned of losing and/or finally breaking them, so am buying a few more sets just to have on hand, and/or to gift to other audiophiles still using inferior headphones, lol. So, since I can't find them in the store anymore, I am stocking up on them, no other headphone will probably do it for me.Another element to price. ESPECIALLY FOR THE PRICE.There is full frequency reproduction, and satisfying bass sound. I have experimented with all other sorts of headphone configurations, including behind-the-neck sport 'phones, wrap-around-the-ear 'phones, clamp-to-your-head, and hang-in-your-ear 'phones.
I travel quite a bit, and put these in as soon as I sit down on the plane, and all the noise of babies, engines, blabbing passengers, etc fade away. Unbelievable. FUNCTION- The majority of my headphone usage occurs during workouts, so stability and no-fuss headphones are paramount to me. They all fall out, wiggle out of place, or place too much pressure in or on my ears that I can't use them for very long, or require constant fussing and thus detract from workout focus.The Koss plugs comfortably form to your ear canal and stay put. this prolongs device battery life, and also your ears.
I have tried just about every small headphone/earplug/wrap out there, and feel that hands-down these are the best.The sound is incomparable. I wear them even if I'm not listening to music or movies.These plugs are also a low enough profile in your ears that you can sleep comfortably with them in, another bonus for air, train, or bus travel.COST EFFECTIVENESS- For the price ($12 to $20, depending on package and included parts), these can't be beat. These have out-performed and out-lasted other headphones ten times their cost (I laugh at my gym friends who routinely have to replace their $100 headsets from broken cords, dead buds, or dropped/crushed parts). Every once in a while I try another headphone, either having left mine at home, or convinced that there must be something special going on for a headphone to cost $150 or so, and every time I find the Koss plugs still have them beat. Since the memory foam of these plugs form into your ear, much like squishy safety earplugs (but smaller and more comfortable), size is not a problem. With other headphones, I've found I've had to almost double the device volume to be able to "hear" the music, and then had to change/recharge my device's batteries more often.Obviously, I can't say enough about these headphones. The $100 headphones that boast "deep bass" fall unbelievably short of these 'phones, its almost comical (especially in the price difference).The quality of these phones is also stellar.
Get them. End of story.COMFORT- I have small ear pockets, such that normal "bud" style earphones that hang in the crook of your ear, leave my ear aching and sore after 10 minutes of use. And, with some models of these plugs, Koss includes extra/replacement foam cushions, for differently sized/shaped ear canals (I suppose, though after having tried all of them over 4 years, they are all fine). I have found that since the Koss plugs deliver the sound directly into your ear canal, the volume on your device can be set to very low and still deliver quality, full-reproduction sound. You won't regret it.
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