Koss Tugo

On first glance, the Koss Tugo looks like a standard set of full-size headphones, with two oval earcups attached to an adjustable, padded headband. Closer inspection reveals some important differences, notably the lack of a cord for attaching to an audio source. Of course, this is because the Tugo itself is the audio source--a 512MB MP3 player is built right in. The right earcup houses some basic controls that indicate this purpose. There's a play/pause key, track shuttle buttons, a volume knob, and a power switch. A standard mini USB port sits near the bottom of the earcup and is covered by a rather flimsy rubber cover. Koss includes a nice, hardshell case for protecting the Tugo during transport.

There are a few things worth noting about the Koss Tugo's design. First, though the earcups are cushioned with a soft leatherette padding, the fit is pretty tight and can put some pressure on the jaw. Proper adjustment should alleviate this for the most part, but if you wear post earrings, you'll need to take them out for comfort--there's no getting around that. Also, while the headphones are closed-back in design, sound does leak out at high volumes. They still do a good job at blocking external noise for the listener, though. Finally, we think the cordless design is great, but an option to attach an audio cable--and thus an external sound source--would be nice. Considering the price and the fact the MP3 player offers only 512MB of memory, we'd like to be able to attach another player and use the Tugo as standard headphones.