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TIME Magazine Headphone Review April 2014

Heavy26R

Heavy26R

Member
Review of mid range products.

"With apologies to celebrities, NBA players, and extreme sports athletes around the globe, our analysis was not kind to Beats by Dre or Skullcandy. Yes, each brand has a handful of decent products (ex: Beats’ Solo HDs, Skullcandy’s Navigators), but the average, mid-range product from either company likely isn’t worth your money."

http://time.com/74886/best-headphones/

Please feel free to delete if someone posted this already.
 
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Why the hate on Koss? Do they make something other than Pro/4AAs and Portapros (and related sportapros and KSC75s)...

I just checked their website and answered my own question. Nevermind :)

Now why not Sony down lower? There's plenty of turds in that lineup, too...
 
drumminor2nd said:
Why the hate on Koss? Do they make something other than Pro/4AAs and Portapros (and related sportapros and KSC75s)...

I just checked their website and answered my own question. Nevermind :)

Now why not Sony down lower? There's plenty of turds in that lineup, too...
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Koss hasn't developed a new product in about thirty years. They are simply not a player in the headphone industry.


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If there's one thing I've learned, it's not to trust random non-enthusiast headphone reviews. Their experience is usually limited to apple earbuds, and the headphones they are reviewing.
 
Taowolf51 said:
If there's one thing I've learned, it's not to trust random non-enthusiast headphone reviews. Their experience is usually limited to apple earbuds, and the headphones they are reviewing.
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In this case, it appears that the "reviewer" didn't even listen to any headphones, just compiled data from other sources.
 
RamblinE said:
Koss hasn't developed a new product in about thirty years.
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Maybe they don't need to. Their Pro4AA is still the best set of headphones I've heard. The most engaging musical performance I've heard in my home has been a Well Tempered Record Player with Grado Statement Platinum cartridge, Grado PH-1 phono stage, and Grado RA1 headphone amp driving a pair of Pro4AA's. I've auditioned several other products at several times the price, but this older design from Koss still sounds best to me.
 
jrtrent said:
Maybe they don't need to. Their Pro4AA is still the best set of headphones I've heard. The most engaging musical performance I've heard in my home has been a Well Tempered Record Player with Grado Statement Platinum cartridge, Grado PH-1 phono stage, and Grado RA1 headphone amp driving a pair of Pro4AA's. I've auditioned several other products at several times the price, but this older design from Koss still sounds best to me.
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No kidding . My Pro4X Headphones still have the most naturel sound of any headphone I have ever tried .
 
I have the Realistic rebadge of the Pro4s and they are a bear to wear. Way too heavy.


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RamblinE said:
I have the Realistic rebadge of the Pro4s and they are a bear to wear. Way too heavy.
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I can relate to this. I used to have a pair of Koss Pro4AAs and really, really enjoyed the sound quality (particularly the bottom end), but after an hour my head hurt. One of my son's friends recently lent me a pair of his Beyerdynamic cans and while the bass response was not quite up to the Koss level, the comfort factor was just stellar. They were very light with no significant pressure. It made a BIG difference. I think that I could give up a bit of low end response for some comfort.
 
I threw my 4AAs in the garbage. I thought the sounded fine but they felt like giant thumbscrews for the head. So they sat around unused but I thought maybe I'd use them once in awhile, though I never did. Then when the cushions went flat that was it, I knew for certain I was never going to use them again; in the garbage.
 
Spalls said:
I can relate to this. I used to have a pair of Koss Pro4AAs and really, really enjoyed the sound quality (particularly the bottom end), but after an hour my head hurt. One of my son's friends recently lent me a pair of his Beyerdynamic cans and while the bass response was not quite up to the Koss level, the comfort factor was just stellar. They were very light with no significant pressure. It made a BIG difference. I think that I could give up a bit of low end response for some comfort.
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If you like the 4AA's sound but don't like the weight, the koss HV/1A's are the way to go. Open design, light weight but same driver. The foam pads are still avail. from Koss @ 5.00/pair.
 
I often hear the HV/1A favorably compared to Grados. And as former fan of the Grado line, you need to drop $400 on the RS2i before you get any kind of low end grunt.


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RamblinE said:
I often hear the HV/1A favorably compared to Grados. And as former fan of the Grado line, you need to drop $400 on the RS2i before you get any kind of low end grunt.


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I like my HV/1A's a lot but are not the end all be all. They certainly go as low as my M50's but are more laid back and less in your face. They are not efficient and don't do much until they are powered sufficiently. They are certainly worth being a part of one's headphone collection. Here's a couple of pics of mine.
 

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gbroot said:
If you like the 4AA's sound but don't like the weight, the koss HV/1A's are the way to go. Open design, light weight but same driver. The foam pads are still avail. from Koss @ 5.00/pair.
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Thanks for the info about the foam pads still being available from Koss.
 
TIME Headphone Review: Doesn't help the consumer much

The problem is it appears that the brand scores are an average of an amalgamation of all the scores of a companies products. This doesn't say too much, since some companies produce a variety of headphone products that compete in different price points in the market. This is why I think Koss is so low on the list; they make headphones that compete in every section of the market, including the low end. Heck, I saw a pair of Koss earbuds at Tuesday Morning the other day for $3.99! How many of these type of products do they make?

On the other end, Grado makes more high-end products relative to most other manufacturers, and their cheaper products are still well regarded in their price range. Hence, their rating.

I'm honestly surprised to see Klipsch so high on the list. I think of them as a loudspeaker manufacturer that just happens to make other audio products. I knew they made headphones, but never heard anything about them one way or the other.

All in all, when you look at the ranges of products that each manufacturer makes, this list is fairly predictable. It also doesn't help much for anyone looking to buy headphones since all those companies do make headphones that can vary so widely in price/quality.

There are also manufacturers not on the list that I'd like to see; Fostex, Stax, HiFiMan, etc.
 
The problem with Koss is their product range. I would differ in opinion with you that they cover the whole market as they do not. Between their Pro4s and their electrostats is a wide gaping hole. A hole that Sennheiser, Audio Technica, AKG etc don't have in their lineups. Almost everybody has progressive improvements between their monitoring cans and their flagship models except for Koss. To me this signifies Koss' nature as a generally low end company.

The second problem is the lineup they do have. They persist on one good flagship and cult classics. I don't understand how that's viable. The design behind the Pro4 and the Portapro are antique. Other headphone makers have both of those models outclassed by newer and better hardware. Okay, so Grado still makes the venerable SR60 but it is now at its third revision. Sony still makes the V6 but they've since upgraded it to the 7506 and while offering both models. Even the original models are newer than the Pro4s. The DJ100 from Koss is a newer model yes but it hardly transcends the KRK KNS6400 or the ATH M50. Whatever marks the Pro4 may still hold for sound are beaten into the ground by weight and comfort of its competitors.

And then if there's one antithesis to the continued existence if the antique classic car license plate worthy Portapros, it's the excellent Sennheiser PX100, now on its second revision.


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RamblinE said:
The problem with Koss is their product range. I would differ in opinion with you that they cover the whole market as they do not. Between their Pro4s and their electrostats is a wide gaping hole. A hole that Sennheiser, Audio Technica, AKG etc don't have in their lineups. Almost everybody has progressive improvements between their monitoring cans and their flagship models except for Koss. To me this signifies Koss' nature as a generally low end company.
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I didn't realize just how big of a hole there was price wise between the electrostats and the Pro4s. I could've sworn that I saw something they made to fill in that gap. Taking that into account, it's not too surprising how far down they are on the list.
 
Look...the source is Time. Doesn't that say enough? I have to be honest in that I don't even trust Consumer Reports anymore. I've seen them give some good reviews to some pretty lousy products.
 
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