Customer Reviews

Koss KE29E Isolating Earbud (Ebony)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Unbelievable! First off, I want to say all the positive reviews here is why I bought these and that they are true. The one negative one must have been a fluke. I have several pairs of relatively decent headphones/earphones, ear buds, etc. now, and these little beauties are the best.

I got them because I wanted more bass and more noise canceling in an in-ear style and I got that with these, and a lot more.

The bass is simply remarkable. I never heard better bass in ANY headphone, and other in-ear/ear bud types don't even come close! We're talking the difference from a mono AM transistor radio to a stereo with subwoofers here.

These also do an amazing job blocking out sound. When I got them, (at Wal Mart just for speed and convenience) I tried them in the parking lot next to a major 6 lane highway, and they blocked out all the traffic noise. The first night I had them, I had a pair of genuine Noise Canceling headphones on - you know, the ones with the battery just for noise canceling, but I could still hear our bird chirping upstairs, so I thought I'd compare these and I couldn't hear him at all!

And, loud. If you like volume, these are the phones for you. I normally would play my iPod just about wide open on other phones but don't even want to come close with these little powerhouses.

So, that brings us to comfort... all of the above wouldn't matter if they were not comfortable. But, they are so comfortable, I can't hardly tell I even have them on.

The in line small volume control is also nice.

If there's just one minor thing I would possibly like to be different about these phones is if the wires from both ears were equal, unlike the shorter side left. They do sound perfectly balanced anyway, and maybe it's a psychological thing from all my other sets being that way.

I really wish I had discovered these first. If I had, I wouldn't had bothered with the others because these are all the headphones I need.

The price can't be beat as I feel these are of higher quality than sets I've paid 3 times as much for.

Highly recommended.

p.s. These come with 3 different sizes of cushions. I found that if I used the largest ones, I got more bass.

p.p.s. The bass is also excellent at low volumes, too.

I've burned through three of these headphones within the last year. I've put up with it since they were only 12 bucks a pop, but now they're $25 at the local Walmart...

But let's rewind to all the good times before they die. These headphones are the definition of cozy, with multiple earpiece sizes to fit your tiny mouse or elephant ears. They do a great job at blocking out noise around you, and the sound quality is excellent for what you're paying. I found no real need for a burn-in period, as they sounded excellent fresh out of the box.

My headphones were used in tame conditions, when I was either working in a prone position, or just lounging on the bed with the iPod. So remember that in the upcoming paragraphs.

The first sign of aging was the little black foam peeled and fell off. This reduced the sound quality from great to a smidge impaired on the bass end. The next issue was the volume switch. I never used it, yet I eventually had to tweak the "max" end back and forward to have the sound level on the left equal up to the right...tapping the box could nearly mute the volume on the left side. This can take anywhere from two seconds to five minutes of struggling to fix.

Either the plastic insulation or the wires themselves began to...atrophy, I guess. The wires lost any looseness and felt more like thin copper. This is so bad on my last surviving pair that the earpiece ends can stand straight up with no support. All in all this didn't bother me too much, but for those who actively move while wearing this, it may be a cause for concern.

I guess this got so bad that the insulation failed on my last set, and I can now see the bare wire on the right earpiece cord. This was likely hastened from the constant "straightening" required for the headphones to sit comfortably. It hasn't affected performance, but it looks very ugly...

Since work is not as steady as it once was, I've discontinued my use of these headphones and will hunt around for some that last longer than a few months. If you see these on sale for like ten bucks, give them a go with an optimistic outlook; anything more and I'm paying for longevity that's simply not available in these headphones.

Where to begin...if you've ever bought an iPod then you know the "earbuds" that come along in the package. Now I'm not saying that those aren't functional, they're just nowhere as good as these earbuds from KOSS.

When I bought these, they were just a fix because my previous pair (the generic iPod pair) had fallen apart and were beyond use. I was surprised to find the different cushions and carrying case that came along with the earbuds. At first when I tried them out, they didn't make much of a difference to me, but now that I've had them for nearly a year, I wouldn't use any other type of earbud. After you find the comfortable fit for your earbuds, they have a great quality to deafen outside noise, like if your on a school bus and you put these in your ear, the once loud and obnoxious voices become almost whispers. If you have your music up loud enough then you won't be able to hear any outside noise at all.

The one thing that has stood out the most for me was their durability; sure they stood up to my everyday life being in my back pocket, but one evening I was doing laundry and I'd forgotten that they were still in my back pants pocket. So unknowingly, I started up our Washer and headed upstairs. When the load of clothes were finished, I went down and began to unload the clothes into our Dryer. When my eyes fell upon the earbuds, resting on top of a hoodie of mine, my heart sank. Quickly I snatched them and raced upstairs to my bedroom, where my iPod is usually found. I undid the tangle and plugged them into my iPod's headphone jack and selected the "Gears of War 2 Soundtrack". Two or three seconds passed, which felt almost like an eternity, the symphony that is the Gears of War 2 Soundtrack came in crystal clear like it has done before.

To this day I am still totally surprised that my earbuds went through a wash cycle and came out working perfectly. Now I don't recommend you try that at home, because you may end up screwing up a perfectly good pair of headphones.

Other than their comfort, durability and great music control, which by the way the handy switch on the cord has come in handy a time or two, there's not a whole lot more I can say about these earbuds. I would highly recommend them if you're looking for a good way to isolate outside noise or just looking to upgrade from the cheap pair that you receive with your iPod.

Two thumbs way up!!

I purchased the Koss K29E earbuds to replace a stock pair which came with my laptop. I bought it based on the good things I had heard about Koss from friends and relatives. I also liked how the earbuds came with their own volume control. In fact, the volume control is quite useful because every time I used these earbuds I had to push the volume all the way to max on my computer and these earbuds to be able to hear anything at a decent volume.

The soft rubber cushions feel more comfortable than the sponge cushions that normally come with earphones, but the benefits of this to me were lost because none of the three pairs that came with them fit in my ear. The two smaller sizes were too small and resulted in the earbuds falling out of my ear constantly. The largest size fit barely and as a result of this I could not get decent suction. I could not enjoy the great bass that other users mentioned about these earbuds without pushing on them with my fingers.

It's a shame that such nice looking earbuds were not crafted to fit in a wider variety of ears because maybe if they were they would have sounded better. Overall, unless if you're certain these will fit your ears, do a bit more searching around. You wont regret it.

The earbuds that accompany my iPhone, leave much to be desired with regards to sound quality. I frequently have volume on high just to listen on the plane. Another gripe from earbuds/headphones is that loud music disturbs people next to me.

The Koss Isolating Earbuds give a lot of function for the money. Not being a true audiophile, I personally have not appreciated the value of earbuds costing two to twenty times the cost of these. I am a casual user looking for functionality with a good cost/benefit ratio. The earbuds are comfortable and attenuates a lot of ambient noise in the environment. They also keep the sound where I need it, in my ears, and not distracting people around me. The ability to adjust the sound through the integrated volume control is useful and convenient for me.

Construction

The length of the cord is appropriate for use. Construction is solid glossy plastic and there are a set of replacement earpieces. The volume control is big enough for even the 'biggest' of hands/fingers, and just slides to your liking.

Performance

Sound quality is quite good and this has a strong base and high frequency range. The mid-frequency is acceptable but significantly a step up from entry level earbuds. The quality of sound from gaming on the iPhone, movies, and music are well appreciated.

Conclusion

This is a solid set of earbuds with quality which rivals some of the high end/boutique ear buds for the price.

I highly recommend them.

Two thumbs up!

I have had at least two pairs of these headphones, almost to be three. Even with the fatal flaw within the cords I keep coming back for more. I love love love the bass. They are amazing and I will never stop buying these earbuds.

Pros:

-Bass is excellent.

-Really isolates you from other noises

-The in line volume is great

-And an excellent price for the quality

Con:

-The fatal flaw is after so long the wires will become faulty. They have done this to two pairs. An ear bud, generally the left, will stop working. It angers me greatly. I would really love these headphones more if I didn't have to buy a new pair every 3 months the left ear bud stops. I have tried taping the cords into place but it will only work for a few weeks.

Overall:

Like I said I won't stop buying these headphones, just needs to get the faulty wiring fix. My prediction is the fact that the cords are different lengths putting more strain on the left side than the right.

They don't last that long. They would definitely be a great choice for the price, with a deep bass and good noise cancellation, but when you figure how long you'll go before you need a new pair they're probably not cost effective. I've had various models of Koss earbuds, and these in particular have a weird design. The left earbud has a shorter wire than the right one, which I'm assuming is to prevent the wires from jumping around when running or jogging, but the durability suffers for it. I've had two pairs of this model, and both ended up needing to be replaced by the same frayed wire. Koss has a generous lifetime warranty; I sent the first pair back to Koss for a replacement, but had to pay nine dollars for shipping, processing, and material expenses. That was very cool of them, but since the new ones lasted for even less time--three months tops--I decided to try another brand instead.

I def had gotten MUCH LESS wear from these headphones than my others. I feel like I barely used them and already the connectors are acting up and making my music sound fuzzy or broken up. Sure, all headphones die after a while of being curled up but these started malfunctioning pretty quickly. I used these headphones to and from the gym, and headphones are expected to be carried around, and these just aren't made well for that.

Also I found the built in volume annoying. It would move on its own (it moves easily) when I would carry it. I much more prefer to have one volume set consistently on my iphone and don't have to worry about tinkering with the volume on my headphones.

I bought these earbuds about a month ago and they are broken already. When they worked they were pretty decent, but I had trouble keeping them in my ears. My main uses for them were for jogging and playing my electric drum kit, but any sort of jostling around would cause them to start to fall out of my ears, even with the largest earbud sleeves on. Today the right earbud stopped working.

The sound from them is pretty good as long as you get them in your ears pretty tight, but if they start to come out at all you will lose a lot of tone from them and it will sound very trebley. They do get pretty good bass in them (again this is only if you can get them to stay in your ears). I guess they would be good if you are not planning on moving around much while wearing them (ie. on a plane, or at a desk) but even walking around will cause them to start to come loose.

The main problem that I have with them is that they broke already. I have a pair of Sony earbuds that I have been using for the same purposes for about 3-4 years and they are still working great with the one exception of the earbud sleeves are getting old and worn which is why I bought these. I guess I will go back to my old Sony earbuds.

So I got these headphones and loved their sound quality and comfort... for two weeks. At that point some of the manufacturing glue came undone and the earbud cover became separated and exposed the open speaker. It may be repairable but regardless, this is some shoddy construction..