kindofbluetrain t1_j2c8mm8 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 4:17 AM

Reply to comment by Many-Tadpole-4790 in Them: “I just got a new Razer gaming headset with 7.1 ultra surround scout mode and personal ball fondler and it was only 300 dollars.” Me: by goneriah

The price of under $10? I'd say so, but that's just me. If you want to know if it's worth a couple of grand for the headphones they are made for, I'd say, that's a harder question.

If you lined up every current flagship and these Koss with the pad mod, then asked me to blindly pick my favourite without any knowledge of what I was actually listening to. I am certain I would have always pick these 100% of the time, since forever.

Sure, I'd notice they aren't as detailed, and probably lack in various areas, but if it's just about what sounds best to me. They would take it.

And that's comming from someone who owned the eye wateringly expensive Grado flagship headphones these wacky pads are designed for. Also a highly engineerd and analytical Beyerdynamic flagship, and the highly detailed classic Koss electrostatic flagship. Plus about 16 pairs of mid-fi.

I've also heard most of the current flagships that get all the buzz around here.

These hacked up budget Koss do not have the features or qualities that make people drop thousands of dollars for a flagship....

To me. These just make the music breathtakingly beautiful. That is all.

Even the handpicked Grado and Koss Electrostatic flagships I picked out, that aren't conventional flagships, didn't make music that sounded as beautiful to me as these do.

It took me thousands of dollars and a lot of swallowed pride to learn that I don't care about chasing some perfect target or vison. When I'm totally honest with myself very few headphones at crazy price points speak to me the way a pair of these cheap little headphones with some sub $10 Grado (correction:) g-crush pads do.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the ride and experience, but honestly, these and some other experiences slayed my perception of what high quality sound is to me.

I've given up on flagships at this point. I have a couple of my favourite mid-fi pairs around that cover all my needs better.

So. If the question is, is it worth a few dollars for some pads to put on a sub $100 pair of headphones. I'd say. I don't know your life, but if you are buying up budget Koss, then yeah there is a darn good chance they are worth it.

VonDinky t1_j2f9j6o wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:00 PM

I've been in kind of a similar situation as you. However, I have not tried the big flagships, and only owned one pair of Planar Magnetics. But other than that, over the years I've owned probably around 30-50 headphones total. Never really found that exact sound I was looking for. Been happy with a lot, but. There was always something missing. My most expensive cans was around 400 dollars. All the ones I've owned have been over-ear and almost all open-back. I remember trying on-ear a long time ago, and I swore never again. I guess they had too much clamp. Then however, because of all the rave. I decided to try the KSC75. My mind was blown away regarding the sound quality for so little. The sound signature I already knew wasn't to my taste, but the sound quality for such a low cost. I was hugely impressed. I've always heard about the Porta Pros for years. But them being on-ear, I've never cared to try them. Trying the KSC75 changed that. People said they fdidn't find them uncomfortab le, so I took the plunge. I'm so happy I did. The sound is what I've been looking for all along. I now have 3 pair and 2 KPH30i's. The Porta Pros being my preffered because I like the comfort better, but they sound very much alike. Awesome cans! I always say to people instead of starting out getting a pair of HD600's or something like that, they should try one of the 4 amazing Koss headphones they make for a cheap price, and see if they are happy with that. I sold everything else, and only have Koss headphones now, and Monk Plus for train rides/bus, since they don't really leak sound compared to the Porta Pros.