Customer Reviews

Koss SB45 Multi-Media Headset (156043)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a game developer and audio tech. I appreciate a headset with high-quality sound reproduction (especially bass!) and a sensitive noise-canceling electret condenser mic. It's confortable, durable, and even has a "no questions asked" lifetime warranty. It's THAT good.

This headset is extremely comfortable even after 6 hrs of solid usage; and the wide, heavily-padded headband equally accomodates my size 9 head down to my 2-yr old's head. The full-enclosure pads even filter-out ambient noise better than most passive noise-cancellation headphones...t'was a real treat! (Note that the pads ENCLOSE your year; they don't rest ON your ear!) The mic is extremely sensitive and is perfectly clear whether you have a bass or soprano voice. The side-boom mic is metal wrapped in soft rubber, allowing it to be bent into any position you want while providing a high degree of flexibility which is very handy if you tend to bump your mic around like I do; it also rotates up and entirely out of the way. It's got a thin 8' cord (mine's actually 9') with separate gold-plated mini plugs, both stereo. Oh, and did I mention that this headset folds up for convenient storage? Nice. Very nice.

Ok, so much for the physical features...

I own a half-dozen headsets and over a dozen headphones; most are made by Koss. (Take a gander at Koss' heritage some time...you'll be surprised!) This Koss SB45 headset has superb audio reproduction (18-20,000 Hz) and mic pickup (100-16,000Hz); for movies, music, games, and VoIP, this headset can't be beat. If you use Ventrilo or TeamSpeak a lot like I do, you'll especially appreciate the mic's abilities.

Note that this headset filters-out nearly all ambient sound. So if you want a headset that doesn't restrict room noise (TV, telephone, doorbell, people talking, etc), get something more like a Koss R70B that passes through more sound. If you want uninterrupted audio, then the SB45 is superb.

Great headphones at a good price. We use them with our Kawaii Digital Piano's. Seller shipped item quickly. They work excellent.

The sound quality of this headset is very good, the microphone works very well, and I find it comfortable enough to wear for hours. This is probably the fifth headset I've purchased and the only one that I've been satisfied with. For the price, you really can't go wrong.

The microphone is officially the worst microphone I have ever used. It's choppy, super quiet, and sounds like you're talking through the bottom of a wriggling pillow. I sell my voice for a living, so I've used quite a few mics over the years.

I am very sad and a bit miffed about this purchase.

After reading rave reviews about this headset i decided I'd give it a shot. I bought a new laptop which i use for music, movies and various video games and i needed something that would put out some serious sound so i wouldn't disrupt everyone around me but would deliver the output i wanted.
Pros:
-the speaker sound quality is very very good, truly a multimedia headset. deep bass and clear high ends (loved it when i watch netflix instant steam, listen to music and played games). sounds better than a lot of my friends built-in speakers
-long cord is nice if you want to sit/lay down without the device having to snuggling with you
-collapsible: very nice for storage/traveling. everything folds into each other so there are no extra parts hanging out, waiting to snap off
-comfortable: i thought the set was very nice to wear, not a pain to use for a long sitting. fit snugly on my head but wasn't too tight

Cons:
-long cord (yes, it is also a pro) looks kinda messy and can get everywhere and knot up
-gives me serious headset hair (big dimple across the top of your head)
-microphone... i was so excited for the microphone seeing as the packaging prided the whole set on "clear voice technology." perhaps i got a lemon out of the batch but after getting yelled at by many in-game players for the mic; i had to go back to typing... first being too loud i tuned my settings until the volume was fine but my voice kept clipping and crackling (the microphone was not too close to my mouth nor was i speaking too loud) making me completely unable to communicate with my friends and teammates.

I really wanted to love this headset but instead i'm forced to like it, tried to contact Koss but received no email back. Currently in the market for a new headset that will appease me in both sound and voice. If your not worried about the microphone then you cannot go wrong with this headset. *1 thumb up*

*NOTE, the input on this set is NOT usb, using a dual jack system (Green/pink) for one headphone and one mic so be aware if your device does not have these jacks

They are good headphones for the money. I do find that I have to adjust them as the left side sits a little heavy on my ear and makes my ear sore. Overall they have a great sound and they do what they promised.

I am very pleased with this product. I bought the headset to participate in an online class. The quality is good. I would recommend it to anyone that is needing a headset and wants to block out noise.

The earphones get a little uncomfortable after you've had them on for a couple of hours - maybe that should be a clue that it's time for a break? ;-)

I think my next headphone / microphone will be wireless, though. For now, these work reasonably well.

I've gotta tell you, I purchased these for my son for X-mas. In the past 4 years, he's had no less than 6 sets of headphones
for PC, XBox, and audio systems use (five of which were completely different makes). Needless to say, he is "very hard" on his
headsets. His most recent set were purchased exactly 1 yr. ago for X-mas 2009. They were great out of the gate, but not much for
stamina (if you know what I mean). Within 5 months, sound began to cut in & out, wires were exposed & splitting, and one of the
ear pieces broke at the swivel joint. These were basically a gaming headset & microphone, working well with the PC & XBox, but
that was about it. Suffice it to say I paid well over twice the amount for those than I did the Koss Headset.
The company was great, and replaced them no charge... This time, just over 6 months...and once again same result. These new Koss
headphones have more uses, and are equally good at every application. They have far better sound quality w/ almost no backgrnd.
noise, better microphone sound w/ virtually NO feedback, large ear cups for better comfort, and they block out any surrounding
voices and noise from within the house, (which by the way is a real plus for a teenager) and, just as importantly... these
headphones are "rock solid"!! You're going to really enjoy these...

Well the sound quality of the mic is great because it doesn't come with some added effect of cheap simulated bass like others, it's clear, clean, and it's sensitivity is just right. Very comfortable, I use them even for my music player and for when I'm not going to use the mic during gaming. They fit my head but more importantly my brothers head which is bigger than mine, he probably wears a 9 or 10 sized hat. The fact that it's not u.s.b is great because u.s.b devices usually are a bit unreliable to work and these having two jacks is great because, like I said, you can use them for listening to music although I don't recommend it if you like added bass effect and don't like real, straight forward sound. And if you don't feel like talking it up on what ever game your playing you now have the choice by simply not plugging in the other jack, which are color coded and labeled so you know which one to plug into what port on your computer.