Koss PortaPro - Headphones ( semi-open )

I bought these after I bought my Grado SR80i, so comparison will ensue
 
Audio:
They say the same drivers as the... Clip on Koss headphone - too lazy to steal them from my mother
But the Koss PP are more bass and are clearer
Good highs
Lacking mids, but there
Good heavy bass, but little muddy
Great for a starter hifi and will give you the "I never heard that before" feeling in your music
 
Design:
Horrible. Seriously
You don't notice the top band, but you have to adjust to your head every time you get them out so long assembly time for every listening.
The band does go from baby to fat head size. And the band does not grab hair as well as others.
It does adjust the pressure but still is a chore to do and keep adjusted
The cable is thin and too short for me, but can be used well.
Plastic is hard and may cut people
the "ipod compatable" jack is stupid. Koss is a suckup
They hardly fold up and I would rather bring my mdr v6's then these because they fold up to the same size
 
 
Comfort:
They do have nice pads and adjust for comfort, just a pain to do.
They do not go around the neck well, but can be possible
 
Overall great for a starter Hifi headphone and will keep you coming back to them as a standard of audio quality. I recommend these to anyone before they buy a more expensive headphone

After my previous skullcandys my parents gave me as a present broke, I went to a store for electronic stuff in general and tested some headphones. The standard Porta Pro as well. The bass was cool, especially because it came out from nowhere.
 
Some days later I bought the anniversary edition in full black. Maybe the sound was a little bit better, I don't really know. First their design is really striking. I haven't seen such a headphone before, only earbuds, IEMs, over-ears, clip-ons and head-sets, but not this one. After adjusting the metal band to your head, there is almost no pressure. There were several times I totally forgot the headphones were still on my head. The less punchy, more muddy bass can be a benefit if you use this headphone primarily on the subway or other loud places. If you happen to dislike it because of usage at home or simply your personal preferences, you can mod it. I just used tinted HD414-Pads which increased the comfort even more and took a bit away from that bass. Only the portability somehow wasn't that good anymore, because the big pads prevented them from being simply folded in.
 
Some friends of mine reported to be strangled by them when they wore the Porta Pros around the neck. Mine just ripped out some hair. Another con is that they tend to break even if used with care. Most times it is the cable itself, because it is too thin for longer use. Sometimes the remaining plastic. And if yours manage to survive, the pads anyways need to be replaced some day. Except if you out HD414-Pads over them, then the wear is much less. Although folding them is possible, I advise against it, because it isn't good for them. At least you have a long (Germany) or even lifelong (US) warranty, but it still sucks to have certain parts replaced over and over.
 
Maybe someone invents a mod with an interchangeable cable like the Grado ones. That would make them the ultimate portable headphones next to the KSC-series which I haven't tried out. Who knows, it could happen at some day that I get some broken ones to experiment and make this true. Still got to learn how to solder properly.

The Koss Porta Pro is actually one of the oldest headphones still around - and it´s alive and kicking! Since I bought them, I tried several others (like Sennheiser CX-300) but I always came back to the Porta Pro. The sound mixture is just so easy to enjoy, the sonic design was done with a lot of taste.
 
They look and feel very cheap but they are surprisingly sturdy nonetheless. Much has been written about the sound: "too much bass, not crisp, etc." While this is not untrue let me explain a bit. Most portable players attentuate lower frequencies, this was a fact 20 years ago and it´s still valid today (unless the headphone output is amplified digitally). The Koss Porta Pro simply compensates for that. Also, did you ever notice while for example riding a train that when you were listening to music with a very open headphone you couldn´t hear the bass anymore? The slight overamplification of frequencies around 100 Hz also helps to compensate in that situation. Furthermore, I never had the impression that the bass sounds muddy or drowns the mids.
 
They also attentuate frequencies from 3,000 to 7,000 Hz - effectively turning them into very charming sounding headphones. While this certainly takes away some attack & drive it could be of help with harsh sounding portable players. One should be aware of this before buying the Porta Pro.
 
The rest: they have a fantastic soundstage (considering that they are portable and very inexpensive), they have no resonances whatsoever and also sound very dynamic with much precision. The fantastic soundstage comes at a cost of course: you won´t be the only one hearing your music while using the headphones in public. Your neighbours inadvertently will take part of your sonic experience, the Koss Porta Pro is - as I´ve mentionend before - a very open headphone.
 
But for me, all the cons are minor obstacles. Because I still marvel at the wonderful, realistic soundstage, the grown-up bass, the precision, the dynamic and that they sit very comfortable on my head.

A very good introduction to Hi-Fi headphones.
 
Cheap, light, easy to carry on the move with a very good price-to-sound-quality value.