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We've recently released our Test Bench 1.8 update for Headphones! Read the R&D Article to learn more.

Koss KSC75 Headphones Review

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1
Reviewed Aug 01, 2017 at 02:23 pm
Latest change: Test bench update Nov 21, 2019 at 11:24 am
Koss KSC75 Picture
5.3
Mixed Usage
7.1
Neutral Sound
4.4
Commute/Travel
6.3
Sports/Fitness
4.8
Office
4.2
Wireless Gaming
6.0
Wired Gaming
1.5
Phone Call

The Koss KSC75 are budget on-ear headphones with a stable ear-hook design. They're compact and will easily fit into your pockets. They also have an open design and a decently well-balanced sound which makes them a very affordable critical listening option but they may lack a bit of bass for more casual listeners. Unfortunately, they're not very durable and look a little cheap.

Our Verdict

5.3 Mixed Usage

The KSC75 like the Koss Porta Pros are not the most versatile headphones. They're flimsy and lacking in features. They also don't isolate much and leak due to their open design. However, they produce a decently balanced sound that lacks a little bass but should be good enough for most listeners. This makes them a decent option for critical listening but they might not be well-suited for other use cases.

Pros
  • Above-average sound quality.
  • Stable and portable design.
Cons
  • Poor noise isolation, by design.
  • Subpar build quality.
  • Leaky at average volumes, by design.
7.1 Neutral Sound

The KSC75 Have a decently balanced sound. They have a good reproduction of Mid Range frequencies so instruments and vocals sound full and decently balanced throughout the mix. They lack a bit of Bass and their Treble Range is a bit inconsistent so they may sound overly sharp on some tracks. They have a relatively good Soundstage despite the small ear cups thanks to their open design which makes them a decent, budget option for neutral listening but they won't be the ideal headphone for fans of Bass.

4.4 Commute/Travel

Not ideal for commuting. They do not block a lot of ambient noise and won't perform well in loud environments.

6.3 Sports/Fitness

Mediocre at best for sports. They're lightweight, compact and have a stable clip-on design. The open ear cups also allows you to monitor your environment. However their non-detachable cable may yank the headphones off your ears, they have no control scheme and they're also not as breathable or as comfortable as the Koss Porta Pro.

4.8 Office

Subpar for office use. They leak at higher volumes and don't prevent the chatter of a lively office from seeping into your audio.

6.0 Wired Gaming
  • 5.3 Mixed Usage
  • 7.1 Neutral Sound
  • 4.4 Commute/Travel
  • 6.3 Sports/Fitness
  • 4.8 Office
  • 4.2 Wireless Gaming
  • 6.0 Wired Gaming
  • 1.5 Phone Call
  1. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
  2. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
  3. Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
  4. Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
  5. Updated Aug 01, 2017: Review published.
  6. Updated Jul 30, 2017: Our testers have started testing this product.
  7. Updated Jul 28, 2017: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
  8. Updated Jul 21, 2017: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Compared To Other Headphones

See our recommendations for the best on-ear headphones, the best headphones under $50, and the best travel headphones.

Koss Porta Pro KTC

The Koss Porta Pro are a slightly better headphone overall when compared to the Koss KSC75. The Porta Pro have a better-balanced sound and a more comfortable on-ear fit that you can wear for longer than the KSC75. The Porta Pro also have a better more durable design, although not by much. On the upside, the KSC75 are bit more portable and have a slightly more stable design if you plan to use them for sports.

Test Results

Design
Design
Style
Type On-ear
Enclosure Open-Back
Wireless No
Transducer Dynamic

The KSC75 are budget clip-on on-ears. They're only offered in one color scheme and feel somewhat like airline headphones. They won't stand out and won't be a fashion statement. However, their simple utilitarian design may appeal to some listeners.

6.5
Design
Comfort
Weight 0.1 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs

The KSC75 are lightweight and moderately comfortable headphones. They're on-ears with an ear-hook design that's stable but slightly uncomfortable. The hooks put a bit pressure behind your ears at first, and it's particularly worse if you wear glasses. However, the hooks stop feeling as intrusive after having the headphones on for a while.

0
Design
Controls
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use N/A
Feedback N/A
Call/Music Control No
Volume Control No
Microphone Control N/A
Channel Mixing
N/A
Noise Cancelling Control N/A
Talk-Through
N/A
Additional Buttons N/A
8.8
Design
Breathability
Avg.Temp.Difference 1.2 °C
7.7
Design
Portability
L 2.5"
W 3.3"
H 2"
Volume 17 in³
Transmitter Required N/A

These headphones have a small footprint and are quite easy to carry around on your person. They have a simple ear hook design, so they do not have a headband, and you can easily fold and fit them into your pockets. They do not come with a good case however, which is a little disappointing.

0
Design
Case
Type No case
L N/A
W N/A
H N/A
Volume N/A
5.5
Design
Build Quality

The build quality of these headphones is sub-par and feels cheap. The ear cups are not particularly dense, and they have thin non-replaceable audio cables. They're lightweight headphones, so they won't get damaged by a shoulder height drop. However, their build quality doesn't feel durable which is to be expected for their budget price range. On the upside, they also benefit from the Koss limited lifetime warranty.

7.5
Design
Stability

The KSC75 have an ear hook design that's stable enough to run with. They're lightweight and barely move once you achieve a good fit. Unfortunately, they have a non-detachable cable that may get caught on something and yank the headphones off your ears. You can limit this issue by passing the cable under your clothes, but this means they won't be the ideal headphones for the gym or strenuous exercises.

Design
Headshots 1
Design
Headshots 2
Design
Top
Design
In The Box

  • Koss KSC75 Headphones
  • Manual

Sound
Sound
Sound Profile
Bass Amount
-7.44 dB
Treble Amount
-0.43 dB
8.9
Sound
Frequency Response Consistency
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.22 dB

Very good Consistency performance. The maximum amount of deviation in the Bass Range across our human subjects is +/-3dB at 20Hz which is decent. However, the Mid and Treble Ranges show excellent consistency up to 10KHz with very little deviation.

Sound
Raw Frequency Response
6.3
Sound
Bass Accuracy
Std. Err.
4.98 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
62.59 Hz
Low-Bass
-9.76 dB
Mid-Bass
0.26 dB
High-Bass
3.23 dB

Mediocre Bass Range performance. Low-bass, responsible for low-end thump and rumble, is lacking by more than 9dB which is typical of most open-back on-ears. Bass is relatively balanced but shows a tilt towards high-bass. High-bass is overemphasized by more than 3dB, adding a bit of boominess to the sound.

8.3
Sound
Mid Accuracy
Std. Err.
2.25 dB
Low-Mid
2.53 dB
Mid-Mid
1.21 dB
High-Mid
2.19 dB

Very good Mid Range performance. Low-mid is over our target by about 3dB, making mixes slightly muddy and cluttered on these headphones. Mid is very consistent and well-balanced. High-mid shows a bit of tilt towards higher frequencies, nudging the upper harmonics of vocals/leads to the front.

6.8
Sound
Treble Accuracy
Std. Err.
4.48 dB
Low-Treble
3.06 dB
Mid-Treble
1.79 dB
High-Treble
0.22 dB

Average Treble Range performance. Low-treble is over our target by about 3dB, giving excess presence to the vocals/leads. Treble and high-treble are relatively well-balanced, but slightly inconsistent.

7.0
Sound
Peaks/Dips
Peaks
1.97 dB
Dips
1.49 dB
7.5
Sound
Imaging
Weighted Group Delay
0.27
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.14
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
2.92
Weighted Phase Mismatch
24.3
5.5
Sound
Soundstage
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
5.07 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
-1.74 dB
PRTF Distance
7.87 dB
Openness
9.8
Acoustic Space Excitation
6.5
6.8
Sound
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.219
WHD @ 100
0.715
Isolation
0.6
Isolation
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-0.66 dB
Noise Cancelling No
Bass
-0.05 dB
Mid
0.78 dB
Treble
-2.54 dB

Poor Isolation. Due to the open-back design, these headphones isolate very little. They provide no reduction in outside noise in the Bass and Mid Ranges, and provide only 3dB of isolation in the Treble Range.

4.7
Isolation
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
51.16 dB

Poor Leakage performance. The significant portion of Leakage with these headphones is between 1KHz and 20KHz which is a broad range. Additionally, the overall level of Leakage is loud.

Microphone
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
N/A
In-line
N/A
Boom
N/A
Detachable Boom
N/A
Mic No
0
Microphone
Recording Quality
Recorded Speech
N/A
LFE
N/A
FR Std. Dev.
N/A
HFE
N/A
Weighted THD
N/A
Gain
N/A
0
Microphone
Noise Handling
Speech + Pink Noise N/A
Speech + Subway Noise N/A
SpNR
N/A
Active Features
not tested
Active Features
Battery
Battery Type
N/A
Continuous Battery Life
N/A
Additional Charges
N/A
Total Battery Life
N/A
Charge Time
N/A
Power Saving Feature
N/A
Audio While Charging
N/A
Passive Playback
N/A
Charging Port N/A
0
Active Features
App Support
App Name N/A
iOS N/A
Android N/A
macOS N/A
Windows N/A
Equalizer
N/A
ANC Control
N/A
Mic Control N/A
Room effects
N/A
Playback Control
N/A
Button Mapping N/A
Surround Sound N/A

No Compatible app.

Connectivity
0
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Version
N/A
Multi-Device Pairing
N/A
NFC Pairing
N/A
Line of Sight Range
N/A
Default Latency
N/A
aptX Latency
N/A
aptX(LL) Latency
N/A
0
Connectivity
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
Non-BT Line of Sight Range
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
9.0
Connectivity
Wired
Analog Audio
Yes
USB Audio
No
Detachable No
Length 4.3 ft
Connection 1/8" TRS
Wired Latency
0 ms
Connectivity
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC / PS4 Analog
Audio Only
PC / PS4 Wired USB
No
PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
Connectivity
Xbox One Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
Xbox One Wireless
No
0
Connectivity
Base/Dock
Type
N/A
USB Input
N/A
Line In
N/A
Line Out
N/A
Optical Input
N/A
RCA Input
N/A
Dock Charging
N/A
Power Supply
N/A