I was thinking about buying these cans when they were released, they sounded pretty good with my iPod, but i found the price too high, i thought i´ll wait. A few weeks ago i found a pair on eBay for 60$, brand new, i thought i risk it. Although i´m using an Fiio X3 II now, not my iPod, it was still a great deal. (With my iPod they still sound better tho, I´ll explain later). I opened the box, took out the headphones, plugged them in my Fiio, put on the song "Butterfly", from Brian Bromberg´s album Wood II, turned thevolume to max, and these cans blew my head off my neck. Wooooow. My first imressions were great, after half an hour i wasn´t THAT happy anymore. They can sound great. But, although i love deep, rich bass, these phones provide simply too much, overwhelming bass. The dynamics are amazing, the highs, mids are nice too, no trace of any distortion, even on extreme volume (in this sense these are probably the best cans i´ve ever heard), but even with low gain, equalizer off, the great quality FLAC recordings sound bass-heavy. So, if you are a true basshead, and you are looking for an affordable, good set of phones, give these ones a try. If your recordings are highly compressed MP3´s with low dynamics, then these Monsters are the ones for you. But if you are looking for a true hifi product, sort of linear sound, look elsewhere. I still love them,for certain recordings, as they are really comfortable too, so i haven´t regretted my purchase at all. Before i forget, i mentioned earlier that they sound better with my iPod Touch than with my Fiio. Yep, they do, because my iPod´s sound isn´t that dynamic as my Fiio´s, (and of course there are MP3´s on it, not lossless tracks), so in this case a bit "flat" sound provided by my iPod makes these Monsters more listenable, as that overwhelming bass isn´t there that much.

I bought this product via eBay, paid a ridiculous 33 dollars for it, from Japan, shipping included. They are almost free, but only available in Japan. Here are my brief expressions. I opened the really simple package, plugged them in my Fiio, switched on... And I´ve been blown away. Seriously, after reading lots of very positive reviews, and despite the low price, my expectations were pretty high. And these cans could live up to them, quite easily. They are simply amazing, Very dynamic, lively, full-bodied sound. Of course, they aren´t perfect. The highs are a bit coloured, the mids aren´t neutral too, on really high level the sound gets slightly distorted, but we´re talking about a set of 30 dollar cans. If someone is looking for a more than affordable set of cans with great sound, don´t even look further. Just order, and enjoy. Seriously, i´ve got a nice collection of headphones from cheap to pretty expensive, but i´ve heard some 150$ phones which weren´t as enjoyable as these ones. Especially, if you have a cheaper DAP, with highly compressed MP3´s or so, you will love these cans as they can add certain dynamics to flat sounding recordings too. I love this product, was probably my greatest buy ever. Well, about the cons, As i said, the sound isn´t really neutral, sound is not for everyone (not totally linear), no in-line controls, and it doesn´t seem too sturdy, the plastic hinges won´t last long i guess, but maybe i´m wrong. But for 33 bucks... So, order it, and enjoy it. You will.

I bought these cans, based on positive reviews, and, honestly, because of it´s appearance. Simply beautiful. I know it shouldn´t be that important, but of course i tested it briefly too, before i paid for it. First, looks and comfort. As i mentioned, these phones are just beautiful, perfectly engineered, simply a joy to look at them. The earpads are extremely comfortable, soft, the leather just caresses your ears... After roughly 35-40 hours of listen, here are my thouhts. This is pure HIFI, just something what you expect from such a company like KEF. I´m using an Fiio X3, and an X3 2gen, with uncompressed FLAC, different genres, from electronic (Black Dog, The Chemical Brothers) to jazz (Brian Bromberg, Bugge Wesseltoft), rock, metal (Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, etc...), blues, acoustic, everything. Well, if you like really linear presentation, with sweet mids, lots of details, and great dymamics (i love the sound of the snare drum), and you are looking for some really comfortable cans, definitely should give these a try. Listening to Brian Bromberg´s album Wood II, you can just "feel" the music, the strings, the presence of the instruments. Such a great experience. No distortion at all, nowhere. I even tested it with full volume, high gain, with a crazy techno track (Trachno from DKaos), i could hardly keep them on my ears, but still i haven´t heard any rattle, grain, whatever. Amazing.On the other hand, if you like really deep, punchy bass, look elsewhere. KEF M500 isn´t for bassheads, I would recommend them if you are listening to mainly jazz, blues, classical,vocal music, metal or electronic isn´t something for these headphones. And, importantly, if you have some low quality, flat sounding recordings on your DAP; you´re gonna hate these phones, as they will sound flat too. Finally, about the price tag... Well, i paid 200 bucks for them, considering the sound and the looks, it was a pretty sweet deal. I´ve seen them on eBay for 300, but for that much, I´m not sure. Ohh, before i forget, i have to mention a really weird issue, originated from the design. I´m a tattoo artist, wearing a pretty big metal piercing ring in both of my ears. (Roughly 1.5 inch diameter).  During walking, the rings are moving, and keep touching, scratching on the alu frame, causing a very annoying noise on lower volumes.

Well, I´m not a pro, just an enthusiast, an owner of some good cans, so i won´t write a review, just share a couple of thoughts about this amazing little thing. Koss Portapro is something what you have to have even if you don´t need it. Just as in my case, I´ve got several pair of cans, but when i saw the Koss in a nice small audio store in NYC, i immediately bought it, just out of curiousity.It turned out to be a great decision... Especially because i paid less than 34 dollars for it. I tried it immediately with my Fiio X3, and i was blown away. Basically, i didn´t have too high expectations, from such a cheap thing, but what i got, was waaay above what i expected. First of all, the looks. Very old school, I like it, but of course it may not be everyone´s choice. Comfort: great. So light, the soft pads sit on your ears very nicely, really nothing to complain about. And most importantly, the sound.I was surprised how good these little cans were straight out of the box. After a few weeks of listening, my impressions are: if You are a "squarehead hifi maniac", don´t even consider buying Koss PortaPro. These cans have their own limits, but what´s left is, sweet as sugar. I always think about PortaPro like an instrument, rather than a pair of headphones. It has it´s own signature, nice, deep bass (surprisingly great from such a small thing), a very listenable, warm, sweet middle, and pretty good highs as well. A pure joy to listen to, nothing more than that. It doesn´t go really deep, or really high, but what it gives you, is a very special, characteristic approach to the music, a superb presentation. So, if you need a small, foldable, easy-to-carry set of cans, with sweet, joyful sound, don´t even hesitate. Just go, buy it, you won´t regret at all. Well, i should mention the cons too. Nowadays in-line controls are a must, but this is a classic model, I can live without it. (in the meantime i switched from X3 to X3 2nd gen, which does have in-line controls). The carry bag included in the box is pretty bad quality, and simply too small even for this pretty little thing. And, of course it leaks sound, so not the best for commuting, if you listen to your music very loud. But, for less than 34 bucks, i don´t mind these issues, and you wouldn´t either. Just go, buy, and enjoy.

I bought these headphones based on positive reviews, mainly here, on head-fi. I own a few good ones, (Sennheiser PX-200 II, JVC Victor HA-S500-B, Sennheiser HD 415, Klipsch Image One, a House of Marley Destiny TTR, and some more), as source i use an Fiio X3 filled up with FLAC, and i still have my iPod Touch also, but since i have the X3, i don´t really use that. The reason i bought these was the arrival of my X3. For the iPod my Klipsch Image One was absolutely perfect, a bit bass heavy, but really sensitive, so without an external amp ithey provided insane loud and heavy sound, without distortion, which i like. (My House of Marley cans were perfect too, of course those are different league, cost 3x more as the Image Ones, but as they are heavy, big, i use them at home, not really on the go). But, after i bought my X3 (i paid 120 euro for it, brand new, what a deal), and started using it with high quality lossless audio, i noticed the drawbacks of my Image One. The recessed highs, a bit overwhelming bass. Listening to Bowers and Wilkins Audiophile Recordings in FLAC, i noticed that the guitar doesn´t sound natural, i cannot hear the strings as i should, becuse of the recessed highs. On my TTR´s Allan Taylor´s "Colour to the Moon" sounds just fantastic. So, i looked for something with more open treble, with the same dynamics, and also portable ones. I´ve read mainly positive reviews about the Urbanite XL´s, and as i had positive experiences with Sennheisers, i bought a pair. Was a huge mistake. Although all of my other cans i kept sounded pretty well straight of the box, i didn´t have too high expectations, as i knew that they need some time to break in. But, what i got, was a lot less than i expected. Since then, i gave them agood 30-40 hours to break in, maybe isn´t enough, but i don´t have more patience. I just don´t think it is worthy to waste more time. The sound is still unbearable. The lower section of the bass is just not there at all, (i visited hundreds of concerts, live music events from death metal to acoustic blues, jazz, classical, and i´m still visiting at least one event a week), and what´s left, is really annoying. The treble is too sharp, sounds kinda "metallic", on higher volumes starts to pierce my ears. The snare drums sound like someone threw a bunch of bamboo chopsticks on a plastic table. The foot drum has no bottom at all. Listening to Sara K´s "Would you beak my heart", poor lady has a sooo bad metallic coloration on her voice, the song sounds like it´s been sung by C3PO of Star Wars. On top of that, i cannot listen to my music too loud, as these bad cans cannot stand high volumes, they start to distort the sound, and rattle really badly, on a level where my Image Ones still sound perfectly. I thought maybe my cans are fake of faulty, but i bought them from a very reliable retailer, and since then i compared them to a n another pair, and they sounded similar. I didn´t pay too much for them,119 euros, but i honestly say, that my 35 euro JVC HA-S500 cans sound a LOT better. I mean a LOT: And, on top of that, i tried these with my iPod touch. I had to laugh. Despite these were made for iPods, because of their low sensitivity, the music wasn´t loud enough even on max volume, and sounded dull, with no dynamics at all. So, better to look for an alternative, there are hundreds of better ones outside, even lot cheaper ones, than these patethic ones from Sennheiser.