Home > Consumer Reviews > Koss PC300 MP3/CD Boombox

Picked one of these up as a bit of retail therapy (impressed by the price), and quickly regretted it. Read the part in the description about "supports MP3 bit rates of 32, 64, 96, 128, 192, and 256 Kbps" carefully... it skips and pops if you present it with 320kbps, and also possibly with 224kbps, which you will frequently find in a L.A.M.E. -encoded ("--preset standard") mp3.

Everything else worked flawlessly on this unit, which I can't actually say about some other MP3 boomboxes I tried out... If only it could play ALL the mp3 bitrates... I'd happily pay 1.5-2x the cost for a unit that could play the MP3 CDRWs without the skipping or other problems!

Unfortunately, this one will be going back, and the hunt will go on...

[I'm also curious as to why Amazon felt they had to remove the name of the MP3 encoding software I use - it's a recursive acronym for 'L A M E Ain't an MP3 Encoder.' Perhaps they'll see this and leave it where it belongs this time.]

I was able to use the radio functionality probably two week before it just STOPPED working. You could still select radio stations, just no sound comes out. And it only does it with the radio. The CD Player seems to play just fine. I packed up my boombox for about a month and then the radio started working again after I plugged it back in... then it stopped once again (about a week later). I can't say too much for the sound quality... can't complain too much about the price. Although, if I knew I would be limited to just a CD Player, I wouldn't have paid as much. BEWARE! I've heard nothing but bad things about GPX products.

Many mp3 players out there will not play variable bit rate mp3s. This one states up front that it does. It plays several, all the ones that I need. If you need variable bit rate mp3s you should verify that your chosen player can handle them.

So, for me, this unit satisfied that requirement and was the most important selling point.

I bought one of these on Feb 8, 2003, for my parrot, Ziggy. The sound quality is much better than I expected. I have used it at least 10 hours a day since then, for him to listen to when I'm gone, and often when we are together. I make cds for Ziggy, sometimes from wav files, sometimes from mp3s. The mp3s are almost all (>90%) encoded (by me) at 320 kbps (the "brain dead" setting as it is referred to by dB poweramp), but the Koss has had no difficulty with any of the formats. I have used different media, different encoders, different cd authoring programs, and, again, the Koss has had no difficulty in playing any of it. (I do sometimes play "real" cds in it.) I take it with us when we are traveling by auto, so it has been moved around a lot. Sometimes I use it to play meditation/relaxation cds when sleeping, so it has been in use for a full 24 hours many days. In other words, it has gotten a lot of use. It continues to function, and I would not have been surprised had it given out, say, a year ago. I was prompted to write this review because of some of the negative comments regarding defective units, which I discovered while looking for another unit as a gift and as a backup for my current one.

I bought this unit for my 10 year old daughter. Pulled it out of the box, plugged in a CD burned at 52X, played perfectly, impressive sound when extra bass button pushed. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality, much better than I expected considering the price. I tried several different CD's with MP3's, again it played them all flawlessly. I am very happy with this unit for the price. I've heard boomboxes for over $100.00 not sound as good as this. If you expect this to be your main portable player, get real, it's only $40.00. But for what it is and what it claims to be, it offers excellent value and performance. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to buy an inexpensive boombox for a child or for the RV or cottage. If this was lost or stolen, you won't feel too badly, just buy another.