Had mine for 14 years.
By Connor
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2025-04-29
I bought a pair of these in, I believe, 2011 at the latest. (Perhaps even 2008 or 2009) Its now 2025. I sent them in one time for warranty replacement, then decided to modify them to address their main weakness when they broke a second time.
Mainly, I replaced the thin flimsy dual-entry cable with a GE 3.5mm audio cable which I was able to split into the two channels and run one of them over the top of the headband, to make them single-entry.
Why the effort though? Because very few things sound as good at these in certain aspects. They are incredibly transparent sounding, which makes their spatial audio exceptionally good. Better in some ways than my Sennheiser HD6XX, though I would say the Senns are better for most things, including most music.
In terms of sound, (including) the modifications I have done, they have a bit more treble and a bit less bass extension than the HD6XX, and a bit less warmth. By comparison, the HD6XX sound veiled. Dark. With the stock earpads intact, and without my modifications, they were closer to each other in sound, though the HD6XX had better bass extension.
With the UR40, for voices in particular they have an extremely realistic quality, to the point you end up looking around to see who is talking if you hear a background voice in a recording.
Also, they feel like a cheat code for games with good spatial audio, like Counter Strike. When you play a game like The Finals (which has terrible/non existent spatial audio), you feel like you've lost a limb. That's how good these are at spatial audio.
For use in VR, these are excellent. They are very light on your head, give a very accurate representation of the audio environment you're in in VR, while also not isolating you from room sounds and the sound of your own voice, as closed back or IEMS do. I cannot stand using my Moondrop Chu II for VR or gaming, though they are great for music.
My main complaints about them are that the stock cable is literally trash, the ear pads are not very durable (mine are only foam at this point), and the mesh on the headband breaks very quickly.
Even so, the plastic is so light that its not uncomfortable. (Unlike my HD6XX which I cannot wear for more than an hour with their heavy pressure point right on the top of my head, where they decided not to put any foam.) Though, I could do without the folding mechanism, especially if it meant a better mesh for the headband.
Also, they are fairly sensitive for a 60ohm driver, and can be driven to very loud volumes even with a smartphone like my LG V60. However, they tend to sound SIGNIFICANTLY better at a slightly lower volume setting. If you typically turn whatever it is you're using all the way to max volume, these will probably sound boomy or unrefined to you. Its possible using my Fiio A3, to push these to distort. If you turn the volume down, they lose the boomy quality and have incredible midrange and good high end without uncomfortable peaks or sibilance.
Even with these drawbacks, I have not found anything else yet which has similar strengths anywhere near this price, which makes them so very worth it for me to keep around.
(I compare my HD6XX to the UR40s while using my LG V60 as a source, and using a Fiio A3 headphone amplifier, my LGV60 by itself, output from my Scarlet 2i2 audio interface, among others.)
Skimpy & Short Wire, Fragile Construction, Weak Sound
By Eliyahu
Rated 2 out of 5
Date: 2022-01-25
I have the Koss UR20 headphones, and have been very satisfied with them for years. When B&H was out of stock of the UR20, and I needed another headset, I tried these.
I was disappointed. The sound is not as robust as the UR20's, the ear cups are light with speakers that have little volume capacity, no highs and lows, tinny sound.
The wire is very cheap and very short, so that it keeps catching on things while turning my head or reaching for something, even nearby, while wearing them. Since the wires are a two-wire design (the UR20 is of one wire design, that dangles from the right ear), so that two wires lead out from each ear cup, the wires flop around the upper arms and shoulders with every slight movement. Also the wires seem to be of a very light gauge. It's constricting, and it feels as if they're going to get torn apart at any second. They're not solid, durable wires.
up
I mistakenly assumed this would be an upgrade from the Koss UR20, but, in my opinion, even if this model costs more, the UR20 is a much better desktop headphone set.
I believe this model is designed to be collapsible, and is made for travel, for packing into a suitcase. It has three articulated joints; one in the top, and two more, above the right and left ear cups. I tried to collapse it down, and it does fold up to a certain degree. I've had other folding headsets that collapse down much more, though.
This model would be good for limited use, in a hotel room, attached to a laptop. I do not recommend this for home use, at your computer desk. It's not intended for home use, it's a travel unit (if you're looking for an indestructible, heavy duty, good quality, entry level, Koss headphone, for use at the computer desk or for connecting to an audio system, go for the UR20). This is not a good headset for regular home use. The wire is too short and fragile, and the general design is not robust, the sound quality is marginal. I'd only recommend these for travel & occasional use.
