Is my Koss Porta Pro defective?

[BlackSushi222]

Hi audiophiles, awhile ago I started a thread "Has the Koss Porta Pros changed in sound?"
 
The reason for the question was because of the bass which I was expecting, was weak in the set I received compared to what people online were all saying (deep bass, overwhelming, etc).
 
Friendly replies have stated that my ears were probably too used to the bass, since I switched to the PPs from some Skullcandy Ink'd IEMs.
 
However.. yesterday I went to Saturn (German electronics store), and they had the PPs there.
 
On the spot I compared my PPs to Saturn's PPs, and I noticed right away the bass was way more powerful at the store! In fact it had the sound I was looking for!
 
They played Boom Boom Pow, which I also had on my Ipod and computer with a Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro Series sound card, and it never sounded like it did at the store . I also played the song on my computer directly from the CD album, and was ripped at 320 and 48000 to be synced into my Ipod.
 
Is my set of PPs really defective?
 
Thanks.
 
I would also like to mention that I have compared it to the possible fakes that have been floating around online. But in every way, the boxing and details in the cans themselves, show that they aren't.
 
But also... The right side is louder than the left side...

 

[BlackSushi222]

Bump, please dear people at Head-fi. I need to decide if I should return them, or send them to Koss.

 

[nycbone]

I picked up a pair of PP 25th anniversary and the bass is a bit on the heavy side for my tastes (Grado SR125i being nearly perfect).
 
Return/exchange them if you aren't happy.

 

[BlackSushi222]

Ah ok. So then my pair is really defect or something, cuz mine isn't heavy at all.
 
Have u had experience with Koss's warranty? And is it better if I send it to them, from where I am (Germany). Or just return it to Amazon.de?

 

[nycbone]

One of the ear cushions on my ca. 1986 Pro4X deflated after a few years (after the warranty expired) and I was able to buy a replacement without any problem.
 
But... that was over 20 years ago.

 

[mitkooo]

Check with Amazon if they would send you a new pair from their stock or if they send it to the koss distributor. If they send it to the distributor, you may as well send it straight there to avoid the wait.  
 
I have tried the koss warranty in Slovakia, and well, it did not impress me a lot. took them 4 weeks to repair it( they refused to exchange for a new pair) and cost me 1/3 of the price of a new one. The cable broke again in 2 months. It was the KSC75, which I liked a lot. 

 

[BlackSushi222]

Alright sounds good. What I just did is setup a return for a refund. Once I get my money back I'm going to get the Sennheiser PX 100 this time. Thx for the reply guys.

 

[nonsupremous]

I have a question.  Did the computer at the store also have some sort of external amplification hooked up to it? 
 
it's like walking into Best Buy here in the States and putting on the Monster headphones from Dre and they absolutely pound away with the bass.  Now, of course, you can't see exactly what they are plugged into, so you have no idea what kind of amplification is there.  But you can buy those same headphones and plug them into your home unit and it might sound a bit anemic.  Just a thought. 
 
Also, I cannot remember exactly because I have had my Porta Pros for a very long time.  But I think the bass became bigger and had more thud with the more hours I put on them.  Don't hold me to that though.  It has been a very long time as I said.

 

[BlackSushi222]

Actually now that you mention it, it could be possible that it is hooked up to some amp.
 
At the store, the headphones were all hung up on the wall with the cables leading into it, so I could not see where it was connected.
 
At any rate, the left side of the headphones is noticeably quieter than the right. To test this I used a sound test where you can adjust a ball and music will continuously play according to the position you manually placed it in.
 
I placed the ball right in the middle, and the right side was definitely louder. To acheive equal sound, I had to move the ball more to the left of the center.
 
This was with the Realtek HD Audio Manager which I used prior to my X-Fi sound card... Such a shame, I got the X-Fi card in hopes of possibly fixing the sound cuz back then I thought it was my computer at fault.

 

[nonsupremous]

Yep.  That sounds like there might be an issue with the headphones.  I believe you should be able to just send them back to Koss and get them replaced. 

 

[BlackSushi222]

I'll be doing just that. Thx guys .

 

[Tchicum]

Quote:

I'll be doing just that. Thx guys .

 

Guys, sorry to dig up such an old thread, but I found this to be better than to start a new identical one.
 
BlackSushi22, did you succeed in getting a new pair? were those good?

I've just acquired a pair of porta pros and they sound just like you stated, sound coming louder from the right side.

One interesting part is that it seems to me that the sound is being split up on two channels effectively, without any crosstalk.
some guitar riffs are being played only on the left side, while the bass and drums are being played on both.
 
 
I've tested the same songs with the same setup on my Shure 840s and also on my Sony V6, and they both sound good, with the sound coming balanced from both sides.
 
 
While being a little interesting at first, I'm sure that the lower intensity coming from the left side will soon bother me.
 
Question being - is Porta Pros supposed to behave like this, or are my pair defective?
 
(bought them from Amazon.com , shipped and distributed by them, so I pretty much doubt they are fake) 
 
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