Koss Earplug Speakers

I need to listen to music on my Boston commute, otherwise I'd go crazy in traffic! I had previously been using the earbuds that came with my Samsung phone when I came across these Koss earplug speakers. My Samsung earbuds are actually pretty good in terms of clarity and keeping the wind noise down but I figured $19 was worth an experiment. Based on the reviews posted here, the Koss speakers appeared to be a more comfortable option. Well, I can attest that the Koss speakers are very comfortable when in use and would be nice on long rides HOWEVER they sound terrible and they are extremely painful when removing your helmet. At first, I thought the speakers were getting caught on my earrings so I removed those and tried again to take off my helmet very carefully - same painful experience (the metal/plastic part of the speaker scratched the inside of my ear). No matter how I positioned the speakers in my ear, they kept getting caught and it felt like they were ripping the inside of my ears. My ears are still irritated 5 hours later. Perhaps this is a unique issue for me and my ears - who knows? In terms of the sound quality, I wasn't expecting a hi-fi experience but I did expect the speakers to at least perform at the same level as my Samsung earbuds, which probably cost the same to manufacture. Nope. The sound was muffled and the bass was way too loud. I tried adjusting the EQ on my phone and Spotify to no effect. Further, I didn't notice any difference in wind noise compared to my Samsung earbuds. I could still clearly hear all of the important road noises so that wasn't an issue. I'm going back to the Samsung's for now. I will keep the Koss speakers as an emergency backup but I will not be using them for my everyday riding. Try them yourself and see if they work for you!

I have a $400 pair of fitted, hard earplugs with small speakers incorporated into them. The sound is good, but they hurt my ears and don't do a very good job of blocking wind noise. So I wondered if, at only $19, these could do as well without hurting my ears. So, in this review, I am basically comparing $19 ear phones to $400 ones! I would say the sound of these earplugs is better than the $400 ones AND they don't hurt my ears at all! But there is a down side, at least for me. I think I must have unusually small ear canals. I have problems with all kinds of ear plugs because I just can't get them into my ears. And the Koss ear plugs are just a bit too big for my ear canals. So, I cannot get them in far enough to cancel wind noise. And, whenever I take my helmet off, they fall out of my ears. I suspect someone with more normal size ear canals wouldn't have this problem, but I do. Other than that, I love these things and, even with that problem, I still use them more than the $400 set I have.

Best "personal sound appliances" I've ever had. My second set. Better then helmet mounted speakers

Using them with a Garmin GPS not for any hi-fi/audio use. Work fine, inspite of warnings about blocking traffic sounds, I didn't notice a prob. I feel as if the spoken directions from the GPS are coming from inside me head, very clear. Feel the wire leads seem awfully thin, worried they can be easily damages but just a guess. Seem overall to offer good sound quality for a very reasonable price.

I have several pairs of these and have used them on LONG motorcycle rides. They are economical, are very comfortable to wear for a long time (up to 13 hours of riding in a day) and I great sound out of them. I buy at least 4-5 pairs a year since I have a problem in misplacing them. I recommend they highly............

for the longest time I tried to strecth my work ear plug over my ear phones so I could get noise blocked while at the same time hearing someting to ease the bordom. Then wala these came along. Its was like someone read my mind and solved the problem. Ive been using these for more than a decade. They don't come any better, that is the sound, than the over-priced fancy looking ones. Heavier cable and a different jack could improved the durability . The big plus for any earphone is the high teck foam that dilivers the lows that make this im my opinion the best earbuds ever . Try a pair and be impressed.
Augie

So this site sells two practical ear plugs. These Koss and Comply NR-10 Earphones. Well, the Comply version fits/feels better and blocks out sound better, but the Koss speakers will last for years and years but is lame when it comes to blocking out wind noise. So, I took a pair of the orange foam ear plugs they sell here, poked a hole through it (using a red-hot nail) and slid it right onto the Koss speaker tube. PERFECT. NOW we get the quality of Koss with the comfort of the Compy.