Review on 🎧 Koss The Plug - Superior Blue In-Ear Headphones for Immersive Sound Experience by Harry Katab

Koss "The Plugs" are a pair of ultra-budget IEMs, they use a pair of dynamic drivers, have a non-detachable 3.5mm unbalanced cable and a warm signature. the number of rave reviews about these headphones. So I came with pretty high expectations. By the way, there is a big difference between "noise reduction" and "noise isolation". It's not noise cancellation, it's noise isolation. Noise isolation is the blocking of sound by physical passive means, noise cancellation is actual active noise cancellation, noise cancellation requires power and a microphone. All the noise-cancelling headphones you see basically play the "opposite tone" (it's a bit more complex, but generally so) of all the noise around you, so the tone is canceled out in your perception. .These expectations were not justified. But that doesn't mean they aren't without merit. Build Quality: Well, it's as good a buy as you are. Very thin and light wires. The plastic used is light and feels a bit cheap, and the headphones' foam is stained and rough. It's $10 so I wasn't expecting much, it gets the job done. Generally acceptable. Comfort: Decent enough, initially inserting them into your ears takes more effort than most IEMS as you have to crush the foam before putting them in your ears and then wait for the foam to expand back out to give you one to give good sealing . It's light, the foam is very comfortable, you can easily wear it for hours, no problem. They are very light so you don't feel like anything is weighing you down. The foam tips are also the point of contact with your ears, allowing the foam to handle most of the cable friction noise you get from non-in-ear cables. Generally good. Sound: That's a bit ambiguous to me. Considering the price, I haven't found anything at this level that can reproduce really clear sound. Unfortunately, the plug in this price range is the same sonically, its granularity is outrageous. My guide would be the Moondrop Starship, a $20 pair of IEMs, the Starship is only $10 more expensive, but it's a league better than The Plug when it comes to the resolution of the music it can play. It's like comparing a relatively new 1080p LCD screen to an old 480p tube screen. Of course, for a tube TV, the quality of a tube TV is great, but objectively it is worse and quite difficult to see if you are used to high definition and high definition screens. The sound signature is a heavy, simple warm type, the bass is very strong but thankfully not so much that it completely drowns out everything else. The mids and highs are slightly recessed. Accuracy is good when resolution is low. The soundstage is also a bit small, but it is present to a decent degree. Generally acceptable. After all, they are good for their price, but by no means outstanding. If you're looking for a noise-isolating pair of ultra-lightweight, ultra-affordable headphones, these are for you. However, if you're looking for really high-quality sound, you can ignore them. Koss makes a Killer KPH30i that will get you $100-$150 sound for $30, and if you need an IEM, the $20 Moondrop Starship will knock them out of the water for just a little more.