Koss SPARKPLUG - Stereo In Ear Ear Plugs
by Koss
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Koss SPARKPLUG - Stereo In Ear Ear Plugs
Customer Review: disappointing but not the worst ever
Summary: 3 Stars
(Please see update at very bottom after a ton of asterisks.)
Well, I bought these because they seemed the solution to my "ear problem" (basically, those earbud headphones drive me whacko, and the over-the-ear ones always slide around, so I've been in a state of headphone trauma for years now). I thought that with their squishy nature, these would allow for a perfect fit, and they kinda do. But. . .
My pros:
1) they do seem to block a lot of noise, which for me is a good thing, since I usually use these on the bus, which means I typically have a LOT of background noise making it hard to hear, which further means I have to put the volume on pretty high, which even FURTHER means I am likely to be deaf as the proverbial stone way, way before my time. Anyway, these block noise better than any standard headphones I've tried, even though these aren't meant to be noise canceling or reducing. If you're listening to spoken word stuff, you're going to love these because that kind of track will come across crystal clear.
2) their squishiness means they are relatively easy to fit into your ears.
That's it. Those are all the pros.
Now, for the cons:
1) they have these little cylinders in them that fit over a protruding cylinder in the main part of the headphone, and if you are putting the headphones on and trying to position them in your ear, you often feel that cylinder (which is NOT squishy in the least) kind of touching your ear canal. You have to really play with these to get them to the point where you have them perfectly placed and not feel that little cylinder.
2) The squishy foam cones fall off. A lot. Especially since you have to position the cylinder of the headphone part perfectly in the cylinder of the squishy cone. Grrr. You get one replacement set, but I can see that if my usual clumsy nature holds, I will be chasing these cones down bus aisles the rest of my life. Or maybe not, as I will have lost them within a few weeks in that case. Then I'll never be able to use these again, as without the little cones, they're impossible to put in your ear.
3) The outside noise is muffled, but so is the sound of your music. ARGH!!! Bruce Springsteen sounds like he's singing in a human-sized cotton ball. Here's an example of what I mean: I was listening to Springsteen's "Promised Land" with these headphones and realized I could hardly hear the piano work (which, if you've listened to this song, is pretty wonderful). Ummm. . .it's like Roy Bittan just got totally removed from the track. I switched out headphones and put on the pesky, annoying ear buds that came with my mp3 player, and whoa! Roy was back! Unfortunately, so was all the other outside noise, and my finger was back on the volume button, sending it into impending-deafness range.
3) The cord is long. Really, really long. Dangling down to my thighs long. I don't know about you, but I want a cord that's comfortably long without being ridiculous. I'm not a tall gal, but hey--I got the cord caught on a doorknob the other day and didn't feel it for a couple of feet. Yow!
I don't know how often you'd be listening to music on these, but I'd say you should find other headphones for that particular task. If, however, you want to listen to spoken word stuff, these should be fine. Just make sure you give yourself an adjustment period.
Update: August 3rd, 2007
I have finally played enough with my mp3 player to find a way to use its equalizer to remedy most of the muffled-music problem. Most tracks sound lovely now, and I can't complain overmuch about these headphones in that respect. It took me a while, but I managed to get them to sound as good as the earbuds but with a whole lot lower volume. Sweet!
I still think that hard cylinder is a pain in the buttocks, and the cord really needs some working on.
Otherwise, I'm good and am using these more than other headphones right now.
Still think these are a 3-star item because of the fiddling I had to do with equalizer and the learning curve needed to not scrape my ears up with that little cylinder and the unlimited bus-aisle chase scenes. :-)
Customer Review: good sound, not quite as good design
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're looking for good sound quality for a really good price, these are a good option... I've found the SPARKPLUG sounds as good as some far higher-end plug-style earphones, and delivers particularly excellent bass response for such a tiny earbud. I noticed a few complaints among reviewers about them being excessively bass-heavy... I doubt it was the earbuds themselves, but most likely caused by the devices they were listening to them with. Sadly most portable audio devices come with a heavy bass-boost by default, to compensate for the poor base response of most earbuds and cheap headphones... combine that with phones that actually have decent bass response, and naturally it will sound excessive. This is easily remedied by adjusting the bass boost/equalizer settings of your device. Listening with my iPod classic with no extra bass boost on the equalizer settings, these have the bass sounding just about perfect for a wide variety of music.
Now the bad news... with a cheap price comes cheap design. This is the second pair of SPARKPLUG earbuds I've owned--they're a bit flimsy, and my first pair bit the dust when one of the cords pulled loose from the earbud after a slight tug. That was after a year and a half of heavy use though, so considering the dirt cheap price, that's actually not an unreasonable lifespan. I was a bit disappointed to find that the design had been cheapened even more on the second set I picked up... since the first pair I purchased, numerous design changes were made that were subtle but eventually noticeable, because none of the changes were good:
- Sticky rubber cord- the first pair I had came with a glossy-surfaced cord that remarkably avoided tangling far better than most earbud cords I've dealt with before. The second pair had a completely different sticky rubbery material coating the cord that allows the cord to tangle easily, and worse, gets stuck on things easily... combine tangling + getting hooked on things, and you end up with a spontaneously shortened cord yanking the earbuds out of your ears all too frequently.
- Less supple foam for the ear plugs- the original pair had rather supple foam plugs that could easily be twisted into a shape and size that fit into the ear quite well and provided great noise insulation... the downside was that it would also come loose from the earphone itself quite easily, so it was easy for the plugs to fall off after a few months of use. The newer pair has the opposite problem--now the foam is too rigid and doesn't allow the plug to fit as securely in the ear. But at least the plug doesn't get lost all the time. Both the old and new models also had a little yuck-factor to deal with... the foam collects earwax easily, but that's kind of too be expected as they go *in your ears*. Usually any detritus is easily brushed off the plug, and if they get too dirty, the plugs are replaceable (a few extras come with it, and if you can track them down, Koss also sells cheap multi-packs of additional replacement plugs).
- Switch from 90-degree angle plug to straight plug- a nice design feature of the earlier models was a 90-degree angle plug that didn't stick out too far from the side of the device it was plugged into (and happened to make it fit nicely with my iPod flip cover). Newer models have a straight plug that sticks out almost an inch from whatever its plugged into... the combination of sticky cord and straight plug mean its much easier to get the cord snagged and either yank the earbuds from your ears or the cord out of your audio device.
So in summary, I'd say for the bargain price of around $15, you're getting darn good audio quality, but in terms of the physical qualities of the product, well, you're getting your $15 worth.
Customer Review: Koss Spark Plugs Rock!
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading for several weeks about sound isolating earbuds I settled on the Koss Sparkplug earbuds with self expanding foam earpieces. I read everything from that they were ok, or junk, all the way to being the best ever. IMHO these were my observations. 1. I never could get standard earbuds to fit right or stay in my ears without one side or another constantly falling out, and if I did manage to finally get them to stay in, my ear(s) would hurt and I would get a headache after a very short period. with these because of the self expanding foam, these fit fantastic and after a while I even forget I'm wearing them! (That is a huge plus to me) by the way, Koss includes an extra set of the foam pieces. 2. despite what the naysayers are saying, these are hardly overrated, people are buying so many of them because they sound good. The sound is incredible coming from such a small device. I never have had such deep rich bass from any earbud no matter what the price, and I've owned very expensive sets. The sound I get from these rivals my full size headphones, and that is saying a lot. most any earbuds in this price range are tinny sounding pieces of junk. These sound incredible. I've read that for some folks these are too bassy and there are simple modifications such as covering the little holes on the back of them with common tape to tighten up the bass and bring out the mids and highs better. With my setup at home I have an EQ so it was no trouble for me at all to dial them right in for superb sound. For folks using portable devices without an EQ, they might want to try the simple mod or even try placing them less deep in the ear. Some folks said after experimenting with them a bit, they found a "sweet spot" for great sound without mods of any type. 3. I am a music freak, an audiophile, and a musician, and a producer for a popular radio program, and in my opinion they are awesome. What does that mean? NOTHING! why? because sound quality is subjective to each individual. To my ears these sound great, and the stereo imaging is incredible, I'm hearing things I never noticed before. I have heard before that this a common trait in Koss products. but to others they will sound different. The sound isolation for me was perfect, but people should take care using these in area where the might have to hear, such as jogging near traffic etc. 4. PRICE,- as inexpensive as these are, they sound better than ANY other earbuds I have owned regardless of price! I saw one person mention in review that even with any mods they still only sounded like 11 dollar headphones. maybe to him they did, I disagree entirely. At full retail they run about $15.00 but I have seen them higher and lower, but they are definitely worth the risk to try them for yourself and experiment a bit. I LOVE mine. If you don't, get a refund, or give them to your kid, or a friend. I guarantee someone will love them! 5. The no questions asked Koss lifetime guarantee. - if something happens to them, it doesn't matter what, stick them in an envelope and mail them to Koss with $6. and they will repair or replace them and send them back to you. So if they short out or anything, or you step on it by accident, no worries, you can get a new set for about half price forever with no limitations. you just can't beat it.
7. In conclusion, at this price point, or even at a much higher one, you'd be hard pressed to find a set that sound this good, so take a chance and find out for yourself. Don't trust my opinion or anyone else's' - you can always get a refund or give them away if they don't sound good to YOUR ears! :)
Customer Review: Sounds great, but hit or miss for some.
Summary: 4 Stars
I was looking for something that would fit in my ears better than the Apple earbuds and wouldn't constantly fall out. These seem to work pretty well for that. Haven't done anything really vigorous, though, so jogging could be a different story. However, whether they fall out or not is only a tiny part of why people are buying these up.
$12 through Amazon. That's all I had to spend and shipping was free. I'll have to admit that I believe I spent too little for these, because these certainly rank up there with high-class earbuds. Many reviews seem state that some modification is recommended to get them to sound less bassy and muddy. One review, though, said that simply pulling the buds a little further out of the ear could help tremendously, and I agree. I still modified the buds though. All it took was covering up all but ONE port hole on the outside of the earbuds. Now they sound great. Unfortunately, still not as bright as I'd like.
I've read a few reviews of these here and elsewhere and some people say they're terrible and others say they are perfect. They're not perfect, but they're very, very good. Even if price wasn't a factor. Those that think they are terrible are probably doing something wrong, modified them incorrectly (covering up the ports entirely will result in a very tinny, unpleasant sound), don't know what they're talking about, or don't have the right ear shape for the foam inserts (which can be fixed by modifying some standard ear plugs. Just search for 'modify koss the plug' and it's right at the top).
Plus, don't expect miracles from earbuds. These are designed to go in the ear and are very weak compared to a nice set of over the ear phones or a high end, well placed hi-fi system. You want something that, to your ear, has a defined bass, vibrant and clear vocals and mids, and tingly, bright highs. I think some are assuming that these are going to perform as well as say their home theater system or some such.
Also, consider the source from which you're listening. iPods sound pretty nice, but if you're using a generic MP3 player or you've plugged it into a computer with generic onboard sound, you're probably going to get generic results. In fact, I plugged them into a computer with onboard sound and tried to listen to things with iTunes and I couldn't hear the vocals AT ALL. No amount of equilization settings or even turning it off helped.
I give this only four stars because I have noticed that they do get a little uncomfortable for extended periods of time and they're just not as bright as I had hoped they would be. This is a minor point considering the price, and the fact that I can hear things in music that I have never heard before, even with my $140 Bose Triports. That's pretty damn amazing for $12. And if I lose them or they break, hey, whatever.
Customer Review: Huge, average sound
Summary: 4 Stars
By reading all these reviews, I was expecting thumping bass from these. Granted, these do provide more bass than everything else, but the overall sound quality wasn't impressive. The treble is piercing, so you have to roll it off to acheive a balance, and even then it is still overwhelming at high volumes. Techno was the best genre with these, hip hop second, and then classical. I would recommend them for these genres. Rock wasn't too bad but there are better for the price, since 85% of what I listen to is rock and my JVC MArshmallows are better for this by a landslide, they won't work as my main set, but for that 14% techno and 1% 3OH!3 they are great. If I have these on I always end up listening to techno since they are the best techno buds I've had, but they just aren't impressive for rock. The bass is good, but vocal quality is unimpressive and the mids are lacking. They sound pretty good when hooked up to my computer, but they are worse on my iPod. FYI, the "small speakers" setting is the best, and if you have a different player, choose the custom option, boost the bass, and reduce the treble.
They arent the easiest to get in, as they are huge. They fit my left ear well, but it hangs out a lot more on my right side. Dunno why that is. I can't see an explanation for that other than my ears are probably different. AT first they feel uncomfortable but that fades away to the point where you can't feel them.
They are big and unsightly. Plus the white is boring. I prefer the neon purple of my JVC Marshmallows. I've owned many sets of earbuds, and my favorites are the Marshmallows. They're foam like these, but about 1/3 the size. Plus they sound better and come in cool colors. They have less bass, however it is still very impressive, but it is the overall balance and quality that give them the edge. The vocals sound amazing, whereas these sound nasaly. The mids and highs are crisp and clean. You can also listen to them at higher volume with less distortion. They have a very war, rich tone. Overall just better. The Panasonic RP-HJE300's are also better, they have the most balanced tone and detailed sound. They have a brighter tone (not tinny), but I prefer the warm tone of the Marshmallows. The Sony's I've owned are somewhere in between. They have good bass, but it drowns out the other frequencies to the point where you can't hear things like cymbals. Plus theyre plagued with durability issues stemming from the microscopic jack. They have an average life of 1 month for me.
In the end I recommend the JVC MArshmallows, unless your music taste is entirely made up of techno and hip hop.