lifesession's Full Review: Koss TD-80 Consumer Headphones
These headphones are basically everywhere. In most record stores that have sampler booths, you will see these headphones stacked next to the samplers and plugged into the nearest CD player. There's a reason for this: they are very cheap and provide a long play life and relatively accurate sound.
I've had my Koss TD80's for about 2 years, and they have held up rather nicely. Other than a slight rattle on very deep songs and a massive amount of distortion at high volumes, the overall sound of these headphones is fairly decent. It's a very dark sound, using a lot of bass and a fairly limited mid and high-range spectrum. I've used these headphones to introduce several friends to higher-quality headphones and they seem to work rather well, as they can easily bring out bits of music you'd never hear with earbuds or "stock" headphone units.
I listen to a good variety of music. Classical, rock, electronic. I've always looked for a bass-heavy headphone and this headphone will do the job nicely. The headphones require a good amount of energy to run at loud volumes, but since they are basically completely closed, you don't need to turn them up too loud. I've taken them on airplanes and been able to block out most of the background noise...but the midrange hum of the engines was still very audible. I've also used them in an urban environment, and they allow fairly rich and deep audio while letting you hear loud noises nearby. Don't drive or ride a bike with these headphones, because they're simply too sealed to let you use your hearing to it's best.
The Koss TD80's are a great place to start if you're just getting into higher-level headphones. They have some great features (including the volume knobs on the headphones which are simply GREAT) and the coiled cord is one of the best things about any higher profile headphone. I had to bend my headpiece to fit my head a bit better, and you might want to as well, so take that into account if you have a larger head or don't like tighter-fitting headphones.
If you're not sure about what to buy, and you don't want to spend too much money, check these headphones out. They will certainly be an upgrade from just about any other low-cost headphone out there. For the more serious enthusiast, however, I recommend the Sennheiser HD497's.
Dynamic element for accurate sound reproduction Closed ear cushion design for maximum isolation and deep bass. Volume control on each earcup for easy ...More at Compuplus.com
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