Koss KSC75: Looks can be (very) deceiving
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| This Koss KSC75 unit was purchased from the kopfhoererboutique audio store in Vienna, Austria. |
- Introduction
- Looks, build and comfort
- Sound quality
- For the clueless: How audiophiles describe sound
- Tonality
- Technicalities
- Modding
- Comparisons
- Koss KSC75 vs Koss PortaPro
- Koss KSC75 vs Sennheiser HD650/6XX
- Conclusion
Introduction
When selecting a pair of headphones, many tend to overlook options under 100USD because most of the headphones in this price range lack proper research into the drivers of the headphones, making a lot of them sound rather unnatural, bassy or too sharp. That's why lots of people opt for models like the AKG K361, Sony MDR-7506, beyerdynamic DT770 Pro and audio-technica ATH-M50x for closed-back options, and Sennheiser HD560S, Sennheiser HD6XX (USA only) and beyerdynamic DT880 Pro for open-back options. But what if your budget on headphones is limited to 100USD and you can't go overbudget?
Meet the Koss KSC75. Koss KSC75 is a successor of the legendary Koss PortaPro released in 2004/2005 priced at around 20USD. It uses a single 40mm titanium-plated dynamic driver on each side. KSC75 is a pair of open-back on-ear earclip headphones, which means that you can hear your surroundings while wearing it, other people may be able to hear what you're listening to if they're near you and it doesn't fully enclose your ears. Unlike closed-backs, open-backs don't isolate your music from your surroundings. So if you value isolation, these are not suitable for you.
Looks, build and comfort
However, these cans are very comfortable to me. They don't sit on your head but on your pinna and the earclips rest behind the pinna. The pressure applied to the ears is minimal, which allows me to use this pair of headphones for several hours straight. But some people may feel discomfort due to the metal part of the earclips. Additionally, the plastic part of the earclips is flexible so that you can adjust the KSC75 to fit your ears.
Sound quality
My unit of the Koss KSC75 is driven by a Moondrop Dawn Pro plugged into Xiaomi 11T using Hiby Music Player.
I will divide this section into three parts:
1. For the clueless people: How audiophiles describe sound
2. Tonality
3. Technicalities
For the clueless people: How audiophiles describe sound
You will notice on several other forums, Discord servers, YouTube reviews and websites/weblogs that, just like with food, audiophiles use certain terms to describe how transducers - be it speakers, headphones, in-ear monitors (a fancy term for earphones with eartips), earbuds - sound.
To better understand these terms, Headphonesty has published a site which roughly defines what each term used to describe sound means.
To understand the tonal and technical section even more, I would recommend reading The Tonal-Technical Dichotomy by crinacle first.
Tonality
Sub-Bass and Bass (20-200Hz)
The Bass starts with a roll-off below 100Hz, which makes the rumble on all music inaudible. Following this roll-off there is a slight peak at around 120Hz, which causes kicks and snares in this frequency range to be slightly emphasized. Therefore, Koss KSC75 can be described as "punchy" or "slammy".
Tracks used:
ALESDA! - Electric Sunrise - This work "normally" sounds very rumbly on my IEMs but on KSC75 it has less of that rumble.
Marshmello x SVDDEN DEATH - Triumphant - This one has a very strong Kick fundamental in the 120Hz region and clearly shows the elevation in that frequency range.
Mids (200-4000Hz)
The mids on the Koss KSC75 are pretty much "flat" to my ears. There is an intended 2-3kHz peak ("ear gain") to compensate with the loss of sound pressure in this frequency range. You would normally get that effect on studio monitors like Genelec 8030c or speakers in general in a natural way. However, that 2-3kHz peak is also slightly emphasized. Compared to the (sub-)bass, the mids will sound "shouty" due to the lack of sub-bass.
Track used:
Diamond Eyes - 23 - Vocals sound natural to my ears, but they can get a little shouty, especially at higher volumes.
Treble (4000-20000Hz)
KSC75's treble is quite spicy. It's definitely elevated in this frequency range and therefore makes it sound pretty bright. It can become sibilant and harsh for some people used to darker/bassier stuff.
Track used:
ROY KNOX, Lost Wolves, SOUNDR - Unsteady - Vocals become sibilant with KSC75 and the synths can become harsh.
Technicalities
This section will be rather short.
To begin with, the timbre on the KSC75 is fairly natural - when compared to the rest of the headphones market, without considering the price. For the price offered, it has the best timbre of all headphones under 100USD - I might even dare say under 200USD. This can be heard clearly in music like "River Flows In You".
Soundstage and imaging are the most impressive aspects of this pair of headphones. Surprisingly, KSC75 has a very wide soundstage for a pair of headphones and pretty sharp pin-point imaging. My test music "Paradise" by Au5, Derpcat and HA!L and my own music "ultima" work well for testing that. With KSC75, "Paradise" now has growls with a very clear position, and "ultima" sounds surprisingly wide.
In terms of transients, KSC75 has a tasteful amount of decay, making the bass sound dynamic and hard, and the decay is also not too long, so the treble doesn't smear. The last section of "ultima", which is challenging for headphones with "bad" transients, is a perfect example to demonstrate this.
On the other hand, pure resolution on KSC75 is rather mediocre. Some of the small artifacts I can hear in "ultima" on higher-end headphones are hard to hear on KSC75. However, the majority of the small artifacts can be heard sufficiently.
Modding
To fix some tonal issues on the KSC75, you can make easy modifications to tame a fair amount of treble and boost the bass. First of all, you can change the foamy stock earpads with the Yaxi earpads for PortaPro to tame the slightly spicy Treble. Moreover, you can easily take off the earclips and replace them with a headband to increase sub-bass.
You can, obviously, make some more complicated mods for KSC75, like the MMCX mod, to get rid of the low quality cable, but for starters, it's recommended to do the easy modifications.
Comparisons
To make comparisons with other headphones, I used my Moondrop Dawn Pro DAC/AMP connected to my Xiaomi 11T using the Hiby Music Player app.
Koss KSC75 vs Koss PortaPro
PortaPro is essentially a warmer sounding, more expensive version of the KSC75 priced at 55USD. Everything on PortaPro will sound bassier and darker. Both are also essentially in the same league when it comes to technical ability. That means that rather than an actual upgrade, Koss PortaPro is a sidegrade to KSC75 and is more suited for listeners who want more bass than treble.
Koss KSC75 vs Sennheiser HD650/6XX
A rather unfair comparison, Sennheiser HD650 clearly takes the win in sound quality here. HD650 still has an audible amount of sub-bass compared to KSC75. Additionally, the timbre on HD650 is much more natural. Pure resolution on the HD650 is also better than on the KSC75. However, Koss KSC75 wins when comparing soundstage and imaging with HD650. HD650 has a rather claustrophobic soundstage and somewhat diffused imaging. What can be compensated with the lack of soundstage and imaging on HD650, though, is the fact that they scale with better sources (DACs/AMPs), which can be pretty expensive. So, Sennheiser HD650 clearly wins in every aspect besides soundstage and imaging.
It is important to note the price difference, since the cheapest iteration of the HD650 (Drop x Sennheiser HD6XX) is around 10 times the price of Koss KSC75.
Conclusion
Koss KSC75 is an excellent choice for people on a limited budget who don't mind the fact that KSC75 is open-back. It is comfortable, it has a pretty nice sound signature and has sufficient technicalities for the price of only 20USD. The fact that the imaging on KSC75 is impressive makes it a great recommendation for gaming as well, making a lot of options for gaming under 200USD obsolete. If you have a limited budget and want to try something actually good for audiophiles, get Koss KSC75. It's very affordable.
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