Good sound, fair price, cord a bit of an issue

About three years ago, after going through quite a few different pairs of headphones/ earbuds to find a set that was comfortable and good quality without being hundreds of dollars, I settled on a pair of Koss sparkplug earbuds. The first set I had lasted a little over a year before needing to be replaced (the wires had shorted and I was too lazy to rewire them). The second set I bought also lasted a little over a year before dying for pretty much the same reason (this time it was the junction between the mute button and the earbuds that started to die, so rewiring them would have been even more of a pain). After spending a few days looking through reviews and product descriptions (and finding that I had a $10 coupon for Best Buy), I decided to go out and purchase a set of Phillips SHE9500 earbuds for use with my iPod video. For this review I will both try to compare the Koss earbuds with these Phillips earbuds, since they are both in the $20-35 range, and give my initial opinion on the Phillips earbuds. Let's get going then:-)


Construction-

The Phillips earbuds have a more solid feel to them than the Koss earbuds. The Koss wires were always a little thin, but the Phillips are a bit thicker. Keep in mind though, that both of these earbuds have pretty thin wires, so if you want earbuds with good, thick wires, then I would stay away from both sets. I actually prefer not having the mute button built into the cable like the Koss earbuds, since I think all that really does is introduce another part to fail. Is it really that hard to reach down and actually mute/ pause the device than to hold down a button on the headset?

The Koss earbuds have symmetric wires, while the Phillips earbuds have asymmetric wires. I prefer symmetric wires myself, since I don't like running cables all over my body, but it does feel like the asymmetric cable, when run behind your neck, reduces the amount of stress on the junction between the wire and the earbud itself (or atleast the right earbud). In theory then, that should lead to a longer lifespan for the earbuds. It is worth mentioning though that most of the stress gets applied to the left earbud, since it has the shorter of the two wires, so it might be the first earbud to die. Also, tugging on the wires tends to pull the left earbud out first, and sometimes the wire for the right earbud catches on collars and pulls the earbud out.

I always felt the Koss earbud wires were too long. They would always get hung up on things, and that's really what ended up killing them in the end. The Phillips earbud wires are maybe a little shorter (and I think that's mainly because the cable can be run around the back of your head and take up a few inches), but they are still a little long for my tastes. I am 5' 9", so I really don't need four+ feet of cable to run from my ears to my pocket. What is nice is that the Phillips earbud wires are two pieces. One piece is basically an extender cable that is about two feet long, and the other half is about a foot from the end to the point where the wires split in two and go to each earbud. The wire for the left earbud is about one foot long, and the wire for the right earbud about two feet long (this is the asymmetric portion of the earbuds). The net length of the second half of the cable is really just two feet though (1 foot for the length before the junction and one foot for the left earbud length). What would have been nice is if the asymmetric portion of the earbuds had been 3 feet long and the extender cable another two feet. That way you could effectively use the earbuds without having the extender cable if you are average size or just using a device attached to your belt/ pocket. Then if you are a little taller or are using a device from a backpack or something farther away, you can throw in the extender cable. As it is, you pretty much have to use the extender unless you keep your device in your shirt pocket!

Both the Koss and Phillips earbuds were designed to reduce the amount of ambient noise you could hear (not noise canceling though, so keep that in mind). The Koss set uses foam inserts for that purpose, while the Phillips set uses rubber flanges. For me, the foam gave a much more exact fit, resulting in little discomfort (and I would wear them for hours on end, so I can truly vouch for that). The Phillips earbud flanges come in three sizes, making it very likely that you will be able to fit these earbuds in your ear well and with little discomfort. I did though notice that there was some very minor discomfort after maybe two hours of constant wear. So unlike the Koss earbuds, I probably wouldn't be able to wear the Phillips earbuds all day without removing them at some point to get a break. Both earbuds do a good job of reducing background noise though. One thing that has always been a problem with the Koss earbuds is that if one comes out, you really need two hands to get it back in (squeezing the foam and reinserting). The Phillips earbuds though can easily be inserted using one hand.

As far as the design and style points go, Phillips easily beats Koss in this respect. The Koss earbuds really do look like spark plugs, so not the prettiest design ever seen. In comparison, the Phillips earbuds are rounded with the outer portion (the portion that sticks out of your ear) made of a dark purple plastic that looks more like something you would see in a car's interior. Within that purple plastic is an opening that I would assume allows air into the system for making all that crisp sound.

Finally, and this is pretty minor, the Koss earbuds were white (I've never seen them in black at least) and these are black, so they do match my black iPod much better. Also, if you're someone that doesn't like to advertise that you have an iPod by having the white accessories, the Phillips earbuds give you that choice.

Final verdict: solid construction, but there are still a few areas that could have been tweaked to get better results. Grade- B


Sound quality-

The sound quality is more than adequate from the Philips earbuds. They do a good job with mid tones and treble, but are a little weak on the lower end. The Koss earbuds definitely produce better bass notes than the Phillips. Both earbuds get a little tinny at higher volumes, but the distortion is greater in the Koss than in the Phillips earbuds. One thing I immediately noticed is that the Koss earbuds are louder in general than the Phillips. That probably is directly related to the Koss earbuds going further into the ear canal than the Phillips earbuds, so much more of the sound from the Koss earbuds is directed into the ear. For my Koss earbuds, I couldn't turn my iPod beyond 75% volume without my ears ringing (100% volume would truly be painful and be fairly distorted). My general listening level then was about 20%, going up to 40-50% if I was biking or in a very loud environment. For the Phillips earbuds, I can get up to 75% and the sound volume is still very bearable. Even 100% volume wold be ok for short stretches (maybe a song or two). I've been listening to my iPod then at about 30-40% volume and 60-70% in loud environments. If you care more about volume than overall sound quality or like to have more bass in your music, then I would go with the Koss earbuds. If you care more about overall quality though, the Phillips earbuds are a better selection.

Final verdict: Good quality overall sound, but lacks some bass. These earbuds should reduce the chances of accidentally turning the volume up too loud and blasting your ears, as you really have to work to get them that loud. Grade- B-


Overall verdict: Considering the next level up for earbuds and headsets will push you into the $50-$100 level (and you can easily pay much more than that for a quality set), these are a good set of entry-level earbuds. If they were another $5-10 cheaper, that would definitely make them a perfect choice for buyers on a budget. If I could make a few tweaks here and there they would be perfect for my needs, but for others, they may be designed perfectly. I haven't tried biking with these yet, but I don't anticipate many issues there (these earbuds do seem to "whistle" a lot more just from air passing over them than the Koss do, since the Phillips will whistle even when I'm just walking). Overall grade- B


************* Update 1/13/08 **************
I have discovered the fatal flaw of these headphones. I mentioned before that the cable feels a little sticky, and it turns out this is a "design feature". The problem then is that the sticky cable catches on a lot of things that other cables probably wouldn't. After two months of regular use, I noticed the sound dropping out of one ear on occasion. Within a week, I had a full short in the left earpiece, so 80% of the time I was getting nothing from that side. The short is in the connector, which is L-shaped to reduce stress on the cable and connector. You would think that since the headphones are in two pieces (the headphone and an extension cable) you could just purchase a new extension cable. I have yet to find a 2 foot extension cable, and there isn't one available on-line through Phillips.com or other retailers. I could replace it by buying a new set of headphones that also have an extension cable, but that would mean spending as much for the repair as a new set of headphones wold cost. I contacted Phillips and was given a toll number to call for help, and I doubt they are going to just send me a replacement cable for low-end headphones. I ended up buying a pair of Koss headphones of a similar design (review should be available by now), so until I run across a new extension cable, I'll by keeping the Phillips headphone in the junk drawer.