Koss PortaPro – High Quality Sound Stereophone

KMW

at 5:39 pm

Finally, I have found headphones that sound great and feel comfortable. I’ve bought many different headphones over the past two years, trying to find a pair that don’t feel uncomfortable after 30 minutes of continuous listening. Below are two recently purchased headphones I own:

Sennheiser PX200: They didn’t give their full potential because they sit too light on my ear. They do sound great if you push them close to your ear though.

Sony MDR-V300: Sound good with lots of bass, but sometimes I feel like I’m listening to music through a wall and they feel uncomfortable after a 30 mins. For the cheap price they’re good.

The Koss Porta Pro Stereophones are mind blowing. I really can’t express enough in words how good these are and they sound even better now I’ve run them in. The sound is outstanding with superb clarity and bass. I personally don’t think the bass is over done at all, it sounds well balanced. I mainly listen to Progressive, Uplifting, Melodic Trance, for example: Puma White – Copenhagen (Original mix) & Mike Foyle vs. Signalrunners – Love Theme Dusk. These headphones sound great with other genres too and really bring the music alive. The Porta Pro’s sound magnificant when used with a computer installed with a decent sound card, but they also sound great with MP3 players. I use these with my Creative Zen Touch and they are far better than the supplied in-ear headphones.

These headphones look very retro cool and in my opinion they are very cool indeed. They are the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn (I’ve had them on for 3 hours and I’m feeling no ear discomfort at all) and I guess thats why the design has never changed since 1984. They look quite fragile at first but they are actually pretty sturdy.

The Porta Pro’s fold to fit in a small pouch embossed with KOSS which looks rather nice along with a 6.3mm Gold Plated Adapter which is a handy extra.

Overall, If your looking for awesome quality and great value (£23.49 delivered!!! buy ‘em quick, I’ve seen them for £40+ elsewhere) portable headphones that sound absolutely fantasic and feel great weather your travelling, at work or chillin’ at home then look no further than the Koss Porta Pro Stereophones.
Rating: 5 / 5

Mr K Alpha

at 7:58 pm

Since everyone else has concentrated on the virtues of these excellent headphones, I thought it might be useful for people (who have researched) to offer the following subjective insights about the Koss Porta Pro and their main rival, the Sennheiser PX100 (which is also available from amazon at a similar price point).

I own both sets, so I would like to issue the following comments about their relative sound quality.

PX100 – These offer a very beautiful, well rounded sound. Not bass heavy, but very coherent, and thoroughly enjoyable as a listening experience. They tend to improve with ‘run in’, and sound terrific overall.

PortaPro – These offer better bass reproduction, but also sparkling mids and highs. They seem to produce a far richer sound overall, especially when comparing the same songs encoded in the same format (WAV) on a Cowon D2 personal media player.

In short, both these sets are excellent, but if the sole criterion is sound quality, my preference is just slightly for the Koss PortaPros. I have previously owned a pair of audiophile Sennheiser HD 595 headphones, and strongly feel that the sound quality of the Koss Porta Pro, in particular, is quite comparable.

I hope this review is useful to people who are on the fence, especially as no one else seems to have covered this comparison in their reviews.
Rating: 5 / 5

pet2000

at 10:22 pm

First of all: If you are looking for great sound, you are well taken care of by these headphones. Not only good bass but particular good mid-tones. Listening to classical music from a good source, you feel as if you are in the concert hall.

Now the negative: It’s all related to comfort and lasting quality. The metal head band pulls your hair, the foam on the temple support and ears is quite hard. The headphones are very “touch sensitive”, meaning when you touch the outside while listening, the sound is emplified (similar to the in-ear noise=cancelling headphones from Sennheiser).

The overall feeling is of flimsiness (compared to the Sony headband phones). Wire and plug are very thin and I don’t think they will last very long, and why are they so short?. They are also quite noise when handled because the on-ear parts are loose.

Summary: The most important part, the sound, is amazing and the easily best I have had on a pair of portable headphones (and I have used an awful lot over the years). So, 5 stars for sound. But comfort and sturdiness are a let down. It’s your call, wheather comfort and lasting quality are important to you. So, 2 stars for comfort.

I bought mine for £18 from amazon and I wouldn’t pay more than that.
Rating: 3 / 5