Customer Reviews

Koss SPARKPLUG - Stereo In Ear Ear Plugs

5 star:		(161)
4 star:		(117)
3 star:		(73)
2 star:		(56)
1 star:		(53)

 

 

Being somewhat of an audiophile, I went researching for a good pair of headphones. I was looking at the product lines from Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Grado, Shure, and Etymotic.

I considered what I wanted these headphones for and it was to study in places like starbucks or barnes and nobles. So naturally, I decided on sound isolating headphones. This left me with either closed full-size over the ear headphones or earbuds. If you haven't seen them, full-size headphones are huge! They pretty much cover the entire sides of your head, we're talking Princess Leah hair buns (star wars). Besides that, the higher quality headphones require an additional portable amplifier to sound good because most portable devices aren't powerful enough to drive them.

Now I focused on earbuds. After reading review upon review about Shure and Etymotic, I would always come across reference to Koss "The Plug" and Sony's isolating earbuds (forgot the model) from an audio forum. Out of the box, the Sony is supposed to be better than the Koss model. However, what I found was that for a fraction of the price of Shure and Etymotic brands (I think the top model is $500) and a bit of elbow grease, the less expensive Koss earbuds could sound better than the Sony's and nearly as good as the Shure and Etymotic. Doing a search resulted in many websites referring to methods of "modifying" the Koss earbuds.

I was convinced and went looking back in April. However, when i got to the store, I couldn't find any "The Plug". All I found was "Spark Plug". I was confused but I bought them anyway. I searched amazon and realized that they must be the 3rd iteration of Koss's earbuds because I only came up with one result, and it said it was added to amazon only 2 days before I bought it locally. Since I've never heard the 2nd iteration (purple/silver) I can't comment on sound. However, aesthetic wise, this new version was definitely designed for use with the Ipod (which I don't own, but that's okay, it matches my stuff anyway) It still has that silver ring with Koss on it, but the rest of the earbuds are all white and more of a retro simplified shape. Looks clean, nothing fancy.

As for fit. No problems here. I read many complaints on the second version about the fast expanding foam. The foam on this version expands slowly. It's quite comfortable and after awhile I forget I'm wearing them. I even wear them in bed sometimes.

Sound wise, out of the box, the bass is really boomy, i prefer a tight bass (as with many audiphiles, thus the mods). If you like to listen to music heavy in bass, like rap or house, or whatever, then you'll like these earbuds straight up. You can feel the bass "pound" in your head.

Unfortunately, for me, I don't listen to that when I study. So, I decided to modify the earbuds. The only mod I felt necessary was the one to tone down and tighten the bass, which is done by covering the ports. Did that with some trimmed clear tape (didn't want to open the earbuds and place eletrical tape inside, as most DIYs state). The result, nice, very nice. With the lower frequencies toned down, I can now hear my mids and highs quite clearly. This is especially important since I listen to mostly light vocal music while studying, such as Sarah Brightman. In fact, after this mod, I can say these are the best headphones I've ever used, especially FOR THE PRICE.

As for sound isolation, the tape mod helped that too. On an airplane it completely drowns at the engine noise on only the 2nd tick of volume (out of 25 or so?!?) Keeping the volume low also cuts back on battery use and distortion. If I study with my friend, he has to wave his hand in my face or shake me to get my attention (again, only 1 or 2 ticks on volume). I've found you don't actually need to compress the foam to get them in your ear, just a little pressure and twisting does it.

I plan to get another pair for my new "workout" mp3 player arriving soon, so then I'll be able to comment on how well it stays in during high activity and sweat.

Pros:
-Great sound for the money
-Sound isolation is awesome, even better than the $300 Bose active sound cancelling headphones (I wasn't impressed at all, not even with the sound of those).
-Looks clean and somewhat stylish (ipod style). Has a sort of classy, expensive look to them, not the traditional black eggshape of most earbuds
-extra pair of foam buds included (they're backups/replacements, not an alternative size, but I don't think an alternate size is needed)

Cons:
-Boomy bass out of the box. Drowns out the mids and highs. This is easily solved by the tape mod, i.e., covering the ports. (porting is a trick used by companies to make bass more "bassy") although this isn't a problem if you like the "feel" of heavy bass.
-no case included. (hey, it probably cuts down on cost)

Concerns:
-earwax (no problem here since I keep clean)
-wires are thin and COULD become tangled b/c no case included (i've had no problem with this actually, because I found the perfect sized case for it from an old mini rectangular shaped flashlight. I've read some people use a 35 mm film roll case/tube to hold it, which would be good too)
-you may have to "play" with the placement in your ear for the best sound quality, I've found what works best for me, just be patient. Depending on placement, the sound may be muddy. For me, that means i have them too deep in the ear.

The ear buds that come with the iPod won't stay in my ears and those little foam slip covers always come off and they just generally drive me crazy. So I normally use good over-the-ear headphones. But I needed some in-ear phones to wear at certain times. These Koss ear phones have been great, and you could buy 10 pairs or more for the price of some others!

I'm not an extreme audiophile, but I do demand good clean sound. I like medium-strong bass (but not as much as many people), but it has to be clean and not muddy and not overpower the rest of the frequencies. The bass in these Koss plugs might be just a bit too much, but certainly not enough that I'm going to bother trying to modify them with straws, duct tape, WD-40, and whatever. You can adjust the position of the phones in your ear to reduce the bass, too. Overall, the sound is quite good, but not as clear and bright as I would expect from very expensive phones.

Someone said they look funny in your ears - I don't think so. Besides, who cares?

In summary, they sound very good (but not excellent), they are comfortable and stay in my ears, and they are incredibly cheap! Highly recommended. (P.S. please be careful with volume levels to avoid long-term ear damage. Really. Can you imagine not being able to enjoy music when you're 40 years old? How horrible! Turn down the volume and your ears will adjust to the lower level.)

I don't demand the utmost in sound fidelity, but like so many others have commented I also found the bass on these earplugs to be so overwhelming that it drowns out all other frequencies. I put tape over the back of the plugs, and that helped muffle the bass enough that I can now hear the higher frequencies.

Still, these are cheap earplugs, so don't expect top sound quality. I find that the foam tips on these earplugs fit my ears better than a pair of more expensive Sony earplugs that take those replaceable foam covers. Granted, the sound quality is less than those higher-priced earplugs, but I can wear these Koss earplugs for far longer in comfort.

I bought these things because I needed a replacement for my broken earbuds.. I have owned some nice Koss studiophones, and I know they make good gear.. So I decided to grab their earbuds off the shelf instead of Sony's.. Wow! These things are incredible! Hearing is believing.

My only complaint is that they are a bit bass heavy. EQ is kind of a must. Also, I like to trim a bit off the end of the "plug" with some scissors. I have listened to all kinds of music through these things, nothing is muddy, not deep house, not trance, not trip-hop, not bluegrass, not anything. Clean and crisp. Amazing.

I've been using Koss Plugs for about a year. I forgot them in my pants pocket once and sent them through the washing machine. At first the high frequency was a little messed up, but after a few days they returned to normal.

I threw away the foam pads that came with them almost immediately and fitted them with a pair of normal squishy earplugs. These are the kind of earplugs that are made of memory foam that you roll between your fingers and let them slowly expand in your ears. To prepare the earplugs you have to shorten them a bit with some scissors then "drill" or actually melt a hole through them with a hot piece of coat hanger. Then you fit them over the plastic tubes that come out of the Koss Plugs. To me the prepared ear plugs are much more comfortable and seal much better than the foam pieces that come with the Koss Plugs.

I have a Sony active noise canceling headset, which is good for environments with low levels of back ground noise, but are not adequate for very noisy environments, such as when you are using a leaf blower or working around heavy equipment. In this type of situation I use the Koss Plugs and a pair of muff style hearing protectors. When using them like this however you must be very careful because the sound isolation is so great that even persons shouting will have a very difficult time getting your attention.

The Koss Plugs take much less energy to run compared to other headsets. You must use a much lower volume setting. The sound quality is excellent. They are cheap and durable; unlike ear buds they stay in your ears when you are working or playing.

wow.
very very impressive. paid 20 bucks including shipping, and these headphones put my bose, sonys(DJ and fontopia) to absolute shame....treble response drops out a little early for my liking (not hearing much of the 16+kHz range, even the 14k band on the eq has little effect, but i have yet to hear a pair of truly full-range headphones...except the shure 2 way's, you;re not gonna get it.) midrange response is very clean, bass response is actually not muddy at all....perhaps they changed something? many of the other reviews that i found helpful in making a choice mention muddy bass.....im not experiencing it at all honestly...I'm an audiophile and im a straight up prick about audio....spent thousands of dollars in my life on audio electronics (im 20)...and although it's no rocket science, im a junior in the e.e. curriculum at school, and ive managed to aquire a decent amount of know-what about what can be expected what differnt headphone designs...and i am simply amazed by these headphones. main idea is, simplicity and efficient design. number one thing i look for with ear bud headphones is shape, efficient headphones will establish an airtight space between your eardrum and the driver (speaker) of the headphones; that way, no (generally) sound energy is wasted at all. these headphones defintley do that, the music also seems considerably louder, which is expected after pulling the foam off to see that there's a tube piping the sound straight to your ear drum, i have over 4kilowatts of audio power in my car and i listen to that mighty loud, yet when i crank these headphones, they are loud, very very loud.

havent had them in my ears for more than 20 minutes but they seem like theyd be plenty comfortable to wear for many hours....

hope this review could help somone decide as the others helped me alot.

PROS:
small
awesome midrange and bass
um.....can you say CHEAP!
efficient, i.e. loud.

CONS:
i could ask for more high-end trble
thin cord im sure will be prone to tangling
you'll look like the rest of the world with white heapdhones lol
...cant think of aything else....
perhaps the foam pads will get dirty....thats always a pain with in ears 'phones...

hope it helped.
-pat

I have used Koss' "The Plug" earphones for the past couple months - they are a great addition to my ipod shuffle/armband combo for exercise. So far, the original "The Plug" headphones had been the best headphones - hands down - for exercise. They sound great and generally stay put no matter what. However, I have trouble once in a while with the original plug's buds staying in my ears. Once in a while when I am running, one of them pops out - think a watermelon seed pinched between two fingers, and once a sweaty foam earbud is out of the ear, there's no way to get it to stay back in. Enter Koss' "The SPARK Plug," which seems to be an updated version of the plug. The most important improvement is the material that is used on the actual in-ear bud - instead of the quick-expanding (and somewhat slippery) foam that was used on the original plug, the new spark plug ear buds are a tougher, more slowly expanding (and therefore more likely to stick in your ear) foam material.

This is good.

However, there are some drawbacks to this version of the plug, most of which were not present in the (more) original incarnation. For example, the sound quality is M-U-D-D-Y. There is absolutely no comparison between this version and the original (the original was much better). I am no audiophile, but there is absolutely no denying that the sound on this version of the plug is muddled and boomy. Also, although the new spark plugs are ipod-white, they look pretty rediculous. They are rather big, and you'll look like Frankenstein if you walk around with these white "bolts" sticking outside the side of your head.

Anyway, although the concept of the plug is a great one, it seems that Koss simply still hasn't gotten the formula right. I'd recommend sticking with the original. Although you might have some frustration getting them to stay in your ears, they are generally just a better buy.

Theses Headphones are one of the best. Ive used the regular Koss "The Plug" and it blocks out all outside noise. These new Spark Plugs are even better in which the foam is now expands Slower. I would highly recomend these headphones to anyone who wants some exclusion from society.These headphones are also extremely comfortable. I once fell asleep with them on and when I woke up, they were still on! A good thing about these headphones are also the low price. If they break, you could either send it back for the repair covered by the lifetime warranty or buy a new pair.

Pros:
Low Price
Best Isolation from outside noises
Allows Cd Player/Mp3 player to play at a lower volume conserving battery length
Great Quality
Deep Bass
Very comfortable
Lifetime Warrranty

Cons:
Takes longer than average to put these headphones on.
While eating with these, you hear yourself chew.
Not very safe in which you cant hear warnings.
Not advised to share with friends if they have ear wax.

I bought these for a replacement for the standard ear bubs that come with the IPOD. I could not be happier. I have uses these every day for the last 4 months and I think the sound is great. I have had more expensive ear phones in the past and I honestly can not tell the difference. Why pay alot for great sound. The trick to great sound is placement with in the ear canal. I alway squish my plugs down and insert then. You can actually feel the plugs expand to an air tight fit with in your ear canal. The closer to the ear drum the better the sound. Also remember that if something does not sound good, do not belame the headset. The original source recording could be poor.

As many have said, the cord is thin and does tend to tangle alot. The foam pads do get dirty and waxy often. My solution is to use warm water an alcohol swab to clean then and the small plastic tube. I do this weekly and I have not damaged them a bit. I still using the original bud that came with the phones. I am very happy with these and if these break an going to buy these again. They are cheap enough!!!

The sound on these headphones is incredible, if you make one quick modification first. You will notice that every complaint about these is for the overpowering bass, and this is definitely true. But this problem is easily remedied, take a small piece of tape (i used regular clear scotch) and trim it to a circle and tape it to the back of the ear piece where the holes are. This corrects the problem and gives greattttt quality sound, better than any other pair of earbuds i have and well worth the 10 dollars.

To any who already have these, try this, you will be amazed!

In short, because of the price and the great sound and the isolating fit, I highly recommend these. With a little tweaking you will be blown away.