Koss KEB79 Portable Isolation Earbud (Black)

 (6 customer reviews)

These noise isolation earbud stereophones work very well with exceptionally high quality sound. They work great to listen to whatever on the noisy bus or plane or train. They block out too much surrounding noise to be used while jogging around traffic, making it so you may not hear the big truck behind you, etc. The only drawback I have experienced is the built-in mute button sometimes pulls the left earbud out (hence, the four stars, not five). I have found some clever ways to avoid the problem by creatively routing the cord under my shirt or jacket so the mute button hangs from the collar of my shirt or jacket and not by the cord going to the left earbud. Several engineers in our office have tried various noise isolation earbud stereophones and it is a unanimous vote that the Koss noise isolation earbuds have all of the competition beat hands down. You just have to get creative with the mute button and the way you route the cord on this particular model.

I initially researched various earbud reviews online like CNET's Editor's Choice. CNET recommended the V-moda Vibes which I bought. They sounded terrible, which made me wonder who does the testing over there at CNET.com. Went to WalMArt and bought some Koss KE29 earbuds which sounded way better, had an inline volume control switch and lots of tight bass. So I decided to move up to the KEB79's. The first thing I noticed was how comfortable and snug they were. I wore them for hours and didn't have to constantly fidget with them to keep them in. The audio is absolutely incredible. I found myself listening to tracks that I usually skip. Even my more boring tracks sounded incredible through the KEB79's. And I don't know how anyone could complain about a lack of bass. The bass is awesome without being boomy or overwhelming. These are simply the best things I have ever put in my ears.

The surrounding effect is very very good. I have a sennheiser mx400II, to compare, I will recommend Koss for pop music.