Z Review - Koss ESP950 Electrostatic EarSpeakers that aren't STAX
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
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you gotta love koss though. they throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. they end up with a product catalog 90% of what you dont want to buy, and then little gems that could only say koss.
You describe Koss succinctly!
These or lcd 2 ?
..wow, that is Koss....
So much good audio advice and so many lewd wallpapers. Many thanks, buddy.
And then Massdrop goes ahead and sells them for 500 bucks...
But they didn't fix the volume knob...
Also, no bag or battery container.
Hah, I'd actually just asked on the MD forum just now. Damn. That's the only thing that I could really find bothersome about the energizer.
Koss will sometimes sell it for that price themselves around Black Friday
PastafarianLemur g
People don't understand the volume/balance country. It's already balanced if you grasp two at a time AFTER you balanced for your ears (if you hear them differently) then you just have to hold TWO controls at a time and time to just raise or lower volume as it's made too.
It's a clever way to customize the sound to YOUR ears if you NEED to do so. So, thanks KOSS for this option.
Back when the Koss 950s were first released it was in an era where portable music depended on devices such as a Walkman or a portable CD player. This design was meant to allow for exceptionally high quality sound to be brought anywhere before music stored electronically was available.
I haven't laughed this hard at one of your reviews in a while, bravo!
Suddenly this review is a lot more relevant.
Fair review, Z.
I love my ESP950s, they're a unique item. They're not my best headphones, but I love their sound signature for anything guitar oriented, or jazz, but not electronica.
I port them out onto the back porch occasionally, have a cigar and a beer with these, battery pack and all. I appreciate the craziness of using them as portables. They certainly fill a niche.
I've actually loaded the battery-pack and energizer into a fanny pack, 3.5mm jack running to my phone and gone for listening-walks outside, the craziness of it is fun. Of course there's no isolation so everyone can hear what a middle aged guy who wears a fanny pack full of audio gear listens to.
I wouldn't have bought them for the $1K asking price, I was lucky to walk into them as a gift. I actully got to interview Micheal Koss for a hi-fi publication, soon after Koss made another, equally crazy niche headphone that ran off wi-fi. The STRIVA Wi-Fi even had a near-feild wireless dongle as an additional wire-free option. I do love Koss's "visionary" product practices, even if they occasionally hit the ground with a thud.
But I also HATE, HATE, HATE that volume knob. I generally keep it about halfway and use my dac to control the volume.
I'm glad to see you finally review these. Thanks!
Wayde
Several. My headphone reviews can be seen at Audioholics.com
My main headphones on rotation are:
1/ My "fun" sounding headphones, for hard rock, hip-hop, techno/EDM are my Fostex TH-x00 Purpleheart, I bought them off Massdrop.
2/ My main "serious" headphones, my Number One are my Audeze LCD3. Deepest, deep bass with beautiful soundstage and middle-highs are smooth as silk. Female vocals are stunning on them and they play on the low end without artificially pumping up the mid-bass, it's subtle, but music like Massive Attack that has a lot of information in the very low end are translated very nicely with my LCD3s.
I've been lucky to review but don't own the Focal Elear and Utopia. Both stunning headphones.
I don't know if I'd compare the Koss ESP 950s to any of them. They're very different, wonderful soundstage comparable to the LCD3s, but have a definite hole in the very low end. But they do give the LCD3s a run for their money on the sweetness and detail of the upper mids.
Older headphones that don't make my rotation anymore include my Grado 325i, they're nice but I think Z here sums it nicely... Grado are kind of a "cult" headphone, either you love 'em... or you have no reason to love them whatsoever. In the late 90s Grados were the shit, but they just don't compare anymore with the competition since those days.
I hope that helps.
Esp or lcd 2
@@davidmason8212 If you're asking what I would like better between LCD-2 and ESP-950... tough choice, both are great in their own way. You'll definitely get a darker sound with a bit better bass detail out of the LCDs, but the ESP's tend to be more neutral in the detail. I know people often claim neutral/studio-quality sound is what they seek in audio equipment, but it's usually a lie... most people like a non-neutral sound signature that augments the kind of music they like.
I switch between the LCD-3 and ESP-950s depending on the music. They're both fine headphones but honestly, IMHO, I give the edge to the LCD-3, which are a bit more refined but similar to the LCD-2.
@@Unwise-
Thanks for your honest opinion
I feel like I live in a parallel universe, were portable gear instead of getting smaller is getting bigger and bigger.
Late 90s ipod
00s thumb sized mp3 player
lade 00s phones with mp3 player
2010 hi-fi portable flac player
2016 portable flippin tube headphone amp
2018 portable electrostatic system
2021 portable backpack sized discrete tube dac with tube electrostatic amp, powered by Tesla battery.
Keep in mind these first appeared in 1992 IIRC, and in 1992 the definition of portable devices... wasn't exactly the same as it is today. So their seemingly clunky charming lunacy was practical and normal.
The amp is a real POS. Yes, do get an adapter and try them from that 353x, they'll sound a lot better.
The drivers lack dust covers. This means that dust will eventually make its way into the drivers and cause them to squeal. This sucks, but Koss does have that awesome lifetime warranty with no questions asked. If you own these, you will use it.
These headphones are an interesting relic, a real dinosaur compared to modern headphones, but it also does answer the question of how far we've come. In terms of sound quality, the answer is - not as far as you'd think. These still sound very good today. But then again the Stax SR-Omega from 1990 is as good as anything ever released. And the Stax SR-Lambda from 1979 isn't far off the best either. Exceptional headphones existed back in the day... but of course, the average these days is far, far better.
Yeah, these are clunky, charming, and weird... I need to fix mine so I can use them again.
I have a pair of AKG K340's from the early 80's. An electret, a dynamic, a crossover-esque circuit and 5 passive radiators per ear. It's not the best headphone, but man is it unique and pretty impressive to listen too. It has crisp, clear highs and tight bass, all well separated. Point being, old stuff can still be exceptional. For £100-120, I don't think you can buy anything as interesting. Price doesn't include the old hifi amp you need to drive the bastards though! :)
When you started walking around your apartment like that I was in tears, literally my first extended LOL at the internet experience.
A wonderfully funny and entertaining review - loved it!
I bought my Koss ESP 950's in the early 1990's and I am still using them today. For most of the 25+ years that I have had them, I thought they were pretty good, fairly detailed with very fast transients, and not doing anything overtly wrong over the audio frequency spectrum except for a bit of exaggeration in the treble and lack of bass weight, which I prefer to overly boomy bass, but nothing really special, except due to their light weight, they are the most comfortable over the ear headphones I've ever had.
However, when I recently fed them from my Little Bear P8 tube pre-amp and Cayin HA-1A tube headphone amp in single-ended triode (SET) mode, the ESP-950's went from plain vanilla to tutti-fruity colorful being richer and more dynamic than I ever heard from them before - their sound became something special.
He is sooooo right about the annoying stacked volume/balance knobs!
When I bought mine, they were considered the poor man's almost Stax electrostatic headphones. I don't remember what I paid for them, but I am sure I would not have spent more than $300 on any headphones in the early 1990's, which would correspond to about $500 inflation adjusted for today. So the estimate of them being worth about $500 stated in the video is right on the money. I was shocked when he said they are being sold for about $1000 nowadays.
The fake leatherette coating on my original ear pads is starting to flake off, so I may get the Darren Fong ear pads mentioned in the video.
I had the bag and accessories, but I lost them in multiple moves over the years. It never even occurred to me to try using them as portable headphones for listening on the go. I used the bag to take them to my audiophile friends' homes so we could compare them to various headphones that they had.
Not too much bass to cheap dynamic phone. Organs sound bland on the Koss ESP which surprised me.
The design still seems to pick up a low level hum that goes away if you touch something metal on the energizer. You can run a wire from something metal on it to your body and it will quiet down.
I have had my Koss ESP-950's for over 10 years & love them! I am using a Stax energizer adapter with a mod cable. The bag is real leather (the life time warr. includes the bag, too).
Hilarious! I had these in 1995 and took my discman with a CD wallet in that dorky travel bag. In the day, these were incredible - until the bass farted when I got too loud. But as a high school kid I was in love. But to see these sold (unchanged) in 2023-2024 its a bit bonkers. Oh, and that C-cell battery pack lasted about 4 hours and cost a crap ton to replace in the day. Koss should update these to modern standards.
15:01
Nobody:
Koss: ESP950
Protip, if you want these wait until Koss does their annual website wide sale. Yes they'll even sell these for close to half of their MSRP
FrostyP what time of the year does this usually happen?
You have to be careful though. Sometimes Koss excludes the ESP-950 from their sales. Read the fine print.
As soon as you showed the Duracells I began to laugh uncontrollably. How are you able to do all this alone? The production value of this review was fucking out of this world. If you've got a CV, go tear it up and just hand out cards with nothing but a link to this video from now on. Koss, please keep doing what you do. Zeos, please keep doing what you do.
Given that I just went for the open back endgame and bought a SR-L700 and SRS-353X, I let out a very audible sigh of relief when you said these don't compete with Stax.
This ESP950 was designed in 1980s and came out in early 1990s. Bottom line it sounds great and balance. And for this price point, no others come close to it. Plus Koss offers lifetime warranty and they never fail their customers expectation.
The red LED is to tell you when the batteries get low!!!
Was it mentioned that this came out in 1990 and has been basically unchanged? Koss seems to not change things and sell them forever. Explains the C-Batteries, the weird connector, and the substandard knobs. Oh oh and the CD-Case holder slots ;)
I love watching your reviews. Reminds me of how me and my friends go off when we talk about tech stuff. Videos are too long for me though. There is nothing wrong with that though
Talking about weird I once owned a cassette sony walkman that was waterproof and solar panels that covered the entire front side. It came with a detachable battery pack that holds one AA battery. The crazy thing is that after an hour use solar lost power and the battery took over. One battery made the player work an additional 15 minutes. This was a tape player and radio so the radio lasted much longer.
Zeos, you have to check out the new portable stax amp on this year's canjam.
and review/mod if ness 007 & 009
Finally, been waiting forever for this review.
i like the 80's vibe =)
You can kind of take the HD600, HD650, etc... apart the same way.
Hi Zeos! Thanks for the video. My ESP-950 setup is the leather pads from Darin Fong, an extension cable converting the Koss plug to STAX pro-bias plug, and a almost ancient STAX SRM-1/MK-2 driver unit. What I can tell from the STAX driver is they do add detail/resolution to the sound. A feeling similar to watch Full HD video instead of SD video. Also, the STAX driver improves the headphones base, making it more solid. Though I never have problem with the base on the original E-90 energizer. The E-90 has a smooth and natural tone. Comparing with E-90, the STAX driver has a leaner/dryer tone. I guess I do like the 'air' feeling and extra detail STAX driver add to the system, which seems similar to what you have described on other STAX earspeakers.
Frank Feng have you tried plugging it into the ridiculously priced tube amps for electrostats?
FrostyP Haha definitely a pleasant thing to do if I get a chance. For now I am happy with the STAX amps. It is already a great leap comparing with the original Koss amp.
Bought the Porta-pros for the GF...She was like WTF when she first saw them, then put them on and was blown away! Her words were literally "Thanks Zeos!" Gonna have to get the Black & Gold limited editions for myself now!
That Shure KSE1500 electrostatic IEM will prob blow his mind! Can't wait to see that on the channel
T-60rp? T-60RP? T-60RP!!!!!!
Good catch. much excite
between Sennheiser HD800s and Koss ESP950 which one do you prefer
What the heck you search to find these wall papers.. You're a god there, and kewl review, as always :)
I have loved mine since i got them, I have taken then on trips and between locations, and yes the worst part about them is the volume knob.
I still have mine. I can still buy c batteries but we don't have rechargeable ones here where I'm located. I'm also amazed when i saw the battery pack too. :)
Good thing Mass Drop sells them for $500 now. Think I might consider them.
Way up there with Z's "funniest home videos."
I just had the scariest thing thought ever....
ESP might stand for ElectroStatic Portable.....
What the actual fuck Koss.....
I bought the Stax SR5 Gold headphone and the SRD Pro energizer for 250 euro 2ndhand. The energiser is also portable and has a Normal and Pro headphone output. But it needs 8 batteries.
That happened with my AKG Y50BT. Right earphone snapped off as soon as I got it out of the box. A major build flaw that many have experienced.
I have used the lifetime warranty twice already because the energizer apparently isn't designed to last more than two or three years. I just send the system back at my expense along with the $9 check for return shipping to me. In a few weeks I have a new or rebuild energizer and headphones.
One day I may get tired of the hassle and just switch over to Stax but I understand that Stax doesn't even honor their warranty outside Japan and their power supply wall wart is the wrong voltage for the US. So you have to use a special power supply that would void the warranty if it even had one in the US.
Perhaps the high voltages needed to energize electrostatic headphones contributes to the energizers' parts failing so soon. If most electrostatic headphone energizers are as unreliable as the Koss energizer then I may as well just stick with the Koss brand that at least lets me get a new or refurbished one every two or three years for the price of shipping.
Gregory Good
There are US spec driver units for STAX. US STAX dealers will have proper voltage driver units. STAX driver units are a nice step up from the plastic toy that is the E90. An SRM-323S driver unit is a good match for the ESP950 and helps bring out more detail and a little better bass, can be found used for around $500.
I forgot to mention in my post, the warranty is amazing. You don't even have to go through any proof of purchase or anything. I've sent them to their Milwaukee repair facility from Canada and they send them back having replaced several parts, all brand new cables etc. No questions asked.
I've read some negative feedback here, I guess if you're listening to hip-hop or electronic club music, they will definitely suck. But the detail in the upper mids is quite astonishing.
I also use the LCD3s, which have more of a warm tonality, I find they beat the ESP950s in just about every way including deep bass.
I live in a Milwaukee suburb and I still have a distant cousin of the Porta Pros I purchased in 1986. If I break mine I just toss them in the car and stop into the factory store when I'm in the area. Takes about 2 minutes to park run in and run out.
your reviews are kind of wierd, but i like it! It makes you unike, seem genuine and I kind of feel like home :) Keep it up! (yeah, i subbed)
Btw, really love that you tell us all the good stuff and what pisses you off about a product.
Love your reviews as always. I like my Koss Porta Pros
On a side note, how do you even find your wallpapers? Any specific search terms on Imgur.
Who uses imgur to find things?? Reddit has a network of anime genres. My job is to find the least NSFW ones.. Well mostly SFW really.
I believe the beyerdynamic's custom series also has detachable parts for easy replacement.
This vs the HD 6XX?
This must have been a design from the original Walkman cd player era. The giant bag and portability was a brand new thing back then. I remember using a full size VCR camera that I rested on my shoulder.
Equivalent Exchange;
If the build quality is too good then they won't sound good.
You must sacrifice one or the other.
This also goes for the hifiman he4xx
Your reviews are fun to watch
@Zeos actually stax sr-5 detaches from their headband like that too
I like mine, had the Fidelio x2 before hand. Light on bass but the details in the low end are there. Still haven't tried a stax setup yet. But I thought with that lifetime warranty it was hard to pass for a first estat.
You are aware by the fact that the headphones were released in 1990, times were different back there...
You didn't had the portability like it is now. I think you would remember :)
Btw..the prices on these headphones were 499$ sometimes :D
So any plans to get the Audeze Mobius?
Ares those don't release until June
"plans" did you read the comment? I didn't comment "do you have the Audeze Mobius right now I want a review of them right this moment"
Z never reads or sees the news about the audiophile community
He only hears about new stuff in podcasts , when they sent stuff to him and when he goes to CanJam
Well I bet you'll be surprised that Z purchased the Mobius the day it went live on indiegogo (also the day i posted this comment) and he said that he'll probably get a review out by December.
Cool
TBH Sold That Feature has been Returned, Portable hifi Audio I have no Problem lugging this around in my backpack :D
Awesome channel. Subscribed!! Quick question, if you have a second... Thinking of Jotunheim (buy) + HD660s (have) + LS50 Wireless (buy) for my home office desk. Any other suggestion? Thought of these to keep it as simple and clean as possible... Cheers
At 18:14 you mentioned $550/$600. From what I've noticed, these are included in the 40% year-end mark down every year.
Step 1: remove Fiio X7
Step 2: attach original Game Boy
Step 3: watch portals to both heaven and hell open
coders have gotten so advanced in this day and age that they could optimise crysis to run at 1080p max settings with 4x AA on an OG gameboy
Massdrop has the ESP950 for $599 every once in a while, that's how I picked up mine. I like the clean yet laid back tone they produce, but do prefer the STAX SR-L300 over them - the L300 are so dynamic sounding and have some of the best bass I've ever heard (when EQ'd.) The stock E90 driver unit is not really that bad sounding, the knob is a pain though (but I find the E90 easier to balance the L-R versus the STAX SRM-323S driver unit...) With the ESP950 driven off the SRM-323S using a KOSS-STAX adapter cable, there is more detail to the sound with an overall fuller sound and better bass.
Bass is still not enough for me, so I have a Schiit Loki and its just about right with the 20Hz knob @ ~3'oclock. I have gone beyond the SRM-323S though, and picked up a Mjolnir Audio reworked/modded vintage STAX SRD-7 transformer which I am powered off my NAD C275BEE stereo amp (which was my front channel amp for my HT system)... that was an even better improvement over the SRM-323S...bass, dynamics....VERY NICE!
I will give the KOSS ESP950 comfort over the L300... MUCH more comfortable...and so light, one of the lightest full sized phones! I tried the Darin Fong pads but actually prefer the stock pads, because of the slight veil and sound difference introduced. The stock pads are comfortable enough, and EQ works fine to bring up the bass.
Never have tried the battery pack.
Some pictures:
'With E90...'
photos.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Audio/n-6fh3fz/i-J3cwdcF/0/af0359ff/X4/i-J3cwdcF-X4.jpg
'With SRM-323S and dynamic friend...'
photos.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Audio/n-6fh3fz/i-CZ6LBMk/0/3d63b76e/X4/i-CZ6LBMk-X4.jpg
'Mjolnir & ESP950'
photos.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Audio/n-6fh3fz/i-ZM8fXNm/0/c7cc2b5a/X3/i-ZM8fXNm-X3.jpg
'Powered by NAD C275BEE'
photos.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Audio/n-6fh3fz/i-G2Zvtz7/0/ac8a36ea/X4/i-G2Zvtz7-X4.jpg
'ESP950 & L300'
photos.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Audio/n-6fh3fz/i-M4pZxFZ/0/5015d520/O/i-M4pZxFZ.jpg
Do you prefer the esp 950 over the lcd 2
The dual volume separate L/R control makes sense only for extreme music lovers. Last I checked the bag was gorgeous leather and the cushions that come with them are gorgeous looking and very comfortable and better than I have seen from even DROP.
The battery portability is for when you take it on train or car rides, idiot. I like that feature. Yes, you can take it out for a walk if you want to. Personally, I think people walking with headphones is stupid.
This phone has probably the BEST midrange of anything out there EVER! and according to RAT himself had the FLATTEST response of any phone he has used for monitoring. So it's not the softening of either end of response but the FLATNESS of response of the phone giving you the TRUE sound of a recording.
Zeos FFS I laughed my ass off when you did the portable thing. Look at how old these cans are. Made around 1989 1990 :-)
I’ve owned these twice by the way lol. The only competition back then was the hd580. I got these for 499 at j&r back in the early 90s
They come standard with the battery pack and I think my volume locked left and right hmm not 100% sure but I usually would remember an annoying thing like that.
Nice review one of a kind very descriptive
Try wrapping some black tape around the knob on the amp maybe. It might look like shit but it should keep them locked right?
*If anyone watching this is interested in buying a pair of these, get them on the Canadian Amazon site. As of this post (March 20, 2018), they're going for $804.08CAD. That's about $615 'Murican dollars. Go get 'em while you can. ;)*
the only other headphone i know about that detaches for the headband is the Pryma 01's
When are you going to upload your JBL 305P review? Do they sound good enough to overcome their uglyness??
What song were you playing while walking around with the "portable" setup ?
Hey Z, Haven't been following you like I used to, but what are your thoughts on the massdrop sennheiser pc37x?
If you have the spare cable, why don't you just solder your own DIY adapter? Given they have the same pin counts.
A state wide power outage is the reason.
Wait the koss pro DJs were your first review? thats the first video I watched WAAAY back when I was interested in them.
Steelseries Siberia 5hv2 and v3 also has the ability to come apart. Not that it is a good headset by any means (it's horrible) but it can do that too.
These or these?
A Steampunk electrostatic!
16:09 Such a lust for quality...
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?
Seeing the Fiio x7, does this mean another DAP review coming at some point?
If someone makes velour/leather ear-pads like that in Stax shape I will pay them copious amounts of money.
I am on a bit of a limited budget, do I get these for $500 or the Stax SRS 3100?
Time to Frankenstein a portable Schiit stack.
Solid State or Tube Amp for gaming?
----HD650
Schiit Lyr 3 Multibit
Or
Schiit Jotunheim multibit
The name of any headphones refers to a pair of headphones, this because headphones is an abbreviation of ‘a pair of headphones’. Saying e.g. 950s refers to multiple pairs or 950. What bothers me much more is that every other reviewer refers to headphones with singular, e.g. headphone, which refers to only one side of the pair. Imagine calling jeans just jean.
The bag is leather...I'm 90% sure.
Song playing during Zeos' walk about?
I so love these headphones!!!!
Yes, please..Sennheiser HE1 and L700 shootout!
Random question should I get the audio gd nfb 11 as one of my first amp DACs or should I start smaller, my best pair of headphones right now are the k7xx
Where is a good place to sell headphones? I’m trynna sell my 840s for something different or better if possible. Closed back and Maybe a boost in the low end I’m currently looking at dt770s hd380s and a few others any suggestions??
The ultimate portable setup
Not related to this review, is there an IEM section on r/Zeos/ or am I blind?
I own a set. Never used them portably. There's a reason the battery pack and the bag scream "1990s". That's because Koss has produced these since the early 1990s without change, and in fact much of what you see out there is NOS from the original production. The magic of these is not the portability, IMO, but rather the lifetime no-questions-asked warranty. If anything goes wrong with these (including the energizer/amp) at any time, even if you have a third-hand set you bought on eBay, pop them in the mail along with a $20 check for return postage, and Koss will fix or replace them. Period. No documentation of original purchase required. That makes them a complete no-risk purchase on the used market (meaning you can get them for MUCH less than $1K. I paid under $400 for my set). P.S., Yes they do sound better if you get the adapter and run them off a Stax amp.
$599 on Massdrop. You can find them for a lot less than a thousand.
25 minutes to not say anything about the sound. Irritating waste of time
Why is the t60rp on your wall? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS
@13:45 - 15:00 *facepalm*
Hey @Z Reviews Have you tried the KPH30i's?
Harman Kardon CL and BT are also detachable
zeos, whats the song at 14:00?
My Shure SRH840 comes apart like that... When it's broken.
Want to buy headphones for gaming, have a fiio q1 for amp and dac, I have a pair of sony's for music, just need new for gaming please reply.
beyerdynamic - 110 pounds
philips shp 9500 - 100 pounds
Thank you
The 6 C batteries had me dying. WTF
really want you to review the Head Phone App called "Sonarworks True-Fi, wanna see what your opinion is.