Headphone News

Matthew over at Headphonedeals has pointed out an unusual thing to me, Swedish headphone manufacturer Kossart who seem to produce an interesting range of Koss-like headphones.

Chief example is the Kossart iPro which is unbelievably similar to the better known Koss PORTAPRO. Of course, similar looking headphones aren’t unusual but the PORTAPRO doesn’t exactly have standard stylings.

To be honest, I’ve no idea what’s actually going on here. Sweden isn’t usually known for it’s knock-off electronics goods which makes this all the more unusual. Any ideas?

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At the moment, it seems nearly every new set of headphones released incorporate some sort of noise-reduction technology. But how does it work? And will it work for you?

How noise-canceling works
There are two basic ways for headphones to reduce external noise. The most basic way is to simply block external noise from reaching your ears. This can be done by either encompassing your full ear with a tight seal like the forthcoming Sony Altus headphones or by blocking your ear canal like the Bose TriPort IE earphones.

Both of these techniques work to an extent, but have their down sides. The over-ear design relies on forming a seal with your head which can get very warm and uncomfortable. It also tends to produce large and heavy headphones, fine for use in the home but not so useful in the sort of situations where you’d actually want to block out external noise, for example, on a train. The ear canal design is more successful at blocking out sound but, unless you can find a set of earbuds that fit perfectly, can quickly get uncomfortable. Many ear-canal ‘phones come with a selection of sleeves to offer you a better fit but even they are unlikely to fit perfectly (those with lots of money might try Ultimate Ears custom-fit headphones if they really crave the perfect fit).
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Related Link: Noise cancelling headphones For the biggest range of noise cancelling headphones in the UK visit iHeadphones. Sale starts now on all noise cancelling headphones!

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Sci Fi Tech have a review of the Koss Cobalt Bluetooth headphones and unfortunately it’s quite negative.

According to the review, Koss have made the common mistake of releasing a set of headphones that are so uncomfortable to wear that it over shadows any positive features.

“The poor, bulky design of the headphones themselves makes them pretty much useless, at least as far as I was concerned. I didn’t even have to turn them on to know I would never want to wear them. Anyone used to the small earbuds that come with the iPod or other earphones of that size will have a really hard time adjusting to the Koss’s awkward, uncomfortable design.”

In addition, Sci Fi Tech also found some other aspects of the design to be annoying, particularly the need for AAA batteries in the Bluetooth transmitter when they’d made the actual headphones rechargeable.

Sci Fi Tech do seem reasonably impressed with the sound quality of these phones but again find the design prevents getting the best from them.

Overall, these seem like a set of headphones to avoid, especially considering the $180 price tag. Hopefully Koss will get it right next time around.

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Koss have added to their earphone range with the announcement of the QZ77 Dual Noise Reduction earbuds.

These earbuds offer noise reduction both via noise-isolating earbuds (i.e. they fill your ear canal to block out background noise) and via electronic noise-cancelling technology that attempts to cancel out background noise.

In common with all noise-canceling earphones, the QZ77 requires batteries to power the active noise cancelation system.

These earphones will cost around £75 in the UK (although they can already be found for around £25 cheaper) and are available now.

[Found via Pocket-Lint]

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Koss have announced an addition to their headphone range, the Koss Cobalt.

The Cobalt are behind-the-ear headphones that use Bluetooth for wireless audio. This gives around a 30 foot range from your Bluetooth device or the supplied USB and headphone socket dongles.

These headphones have a built in lithium ion rechargeable battery with Koss promising around 8 hours playtime between charges.

In addition, the headphones have a volume control on the earpiece and are collapsable for easy storage.

The Koss Cobalt are available now for around $180.

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Anyone in the UK looking for a pair of cheap in-ear headphones should check out iWorld.co.uk’s deal on Koss Sparkplugs.

They’re currently offering the noise isolating headphones for only £6.99, down from the RRP of £15.99.

Seems a pretty good deal to me.

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