vapman
Member of the Trade: bhobuds.com
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- Aug 14, 2006
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I traded with Jahn for his legendary PortaPro2's, recabled with silver cable by Enigma Audio, as can be seen in this thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/wt...in-rig-434496/
I love them. Right off the bat, I would say these definitely hold their own against SR-80's.
I have heard KSC-75's with Koss stock cable briefly, and was not too impressed, to say the least. However, I've been listening to these Enigma Audio PortaPro's for two days straight now and I am LOVING them.
Originally, my main headphones were SR-60's. Loved them, but eventually they started to hurt my ears (sensitive to the high end). I traded them for some K81DJ's which I did not enjoy nearly as much. I borrowed my friend's (hembergler) SR-80's to try out Grados again, and for whatever reason, the SR-80's didn't hurt my ears. I loved them but eventually he wanted them back. Lucky for me, Jahn proposed a trade or trade+cash for anything he was selling in that thread. Intrigued, I snatched up the Enigma Audio PortaPros.
I heard stock cable PortaPros once briefly at a Head-Fi meet. I thought they were pretty boring and muffled sounding. However, right out of the box, the recabled PortaPros sound (and look - Enigma did a goregous job on these) so much nicer than I remembered the stock ones being. I never really believed in cables making much of a difference (to a point - at the meet, I listened to the same phones with different cables and heard no difference), but I suppose a headphone that goes for about $25 new won't come with a very good cable. Either way, the silver cable looks very nice and sounds wonderful too. The bass is clear and very present, which I like. I listened to the PortaPros as they were for about a day before deciding I definitely needed more treble. I cut holes in the middle of the pads, which helped bring out the treble a lot. I might consider attempting the Kramer mod if I'm still unsatisfied in a week or so.
As for side-by-side comparisons with other headphones, I only own these and Etymotic HF-5's right now. Honestly, I'd say the sound signature between the two are very similar, althought the HF-5's are obviously a lot more detailed. The highs are clearer and more pronounced on the HF-5, but I think the PortaPros are more relaxed and fun to listen to. Even so, I'm still getting used to the slightly muffled high end. It doesn't bother me right now, but if it bothers me in a week or so, maybe I'll think about doing the Kramer mod and see what happens. I'm also going to try and get HD414 pads on these. I miss my HD414 pads a lot.
I'll have photos and maybe more side-by-side comparisons tomorrow.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/wt...in-rig-434496/
I love them. Right off the bat, I would say these definitely hold their own against SR-80's.
I have heard KSC-75's with Koss stock cable briefly, and was not too impressed, to say the least. However, I've been listening to these Enigma Audio PortaPro's for two days straight now and I am LOVING them.
Originally, my main headphones were SR-60's. Loved them, but eventually they started to hurt my ears (sensitive to the high end). I traded them for some K81DJ's which I did not enjoy nearly as much. I borrowed my friend's (hembergler) SR-80's to try out Grados again, and for whatever reason, the SR-80's didn't hurt my ears. I loved them but eventually he wanted them back. Lucky for me, Jahn proposed a trade or trade+cash for anything he was selling in that thread. Intrigued, I snatched up the Enigma Audio PortaPros.
I heard stock cable PortaPros once briefly at a Head-Fi meet. I thought they were pretty boring and muffled sounding. However, right out of the box, the recabled PortaPros sound (and look - Enigma did a goregous job on these) so much nicer than I remembered the stock ones being. I never really believed in cables making much of a difference (to a point - at the meet, I listened to the same phones with different cables and heard no difference), but I suppose a headphone that goes for about $25 new won't come with a very good cable. Either way, the silver cable looks very nice and sounds wonderful too. The bass is clear and very present, which I like. I listened to the PortaPros as they were for about a day before deciding I definitely needed more treble. I cut holes in the middle of the pads, which helped bring out the treble a lot. I might consider attempting the Kramer mod if I'm still unsatisfied in a week or so.
As for side-by-side comparisons with other headphones, I only own these and Etymotic HF-5's right now. Honestly, I'd say the sound signature between the two are very similar, althought the HF-5's are obviously a lot more detailed. The highs are clearer and more pronounced on the HF-5, but I think the PortaPros are more relaxed and fun to listen to. Even so, I'm still getting used to the slightly muffled high end. It doesn't bother me right now, but if it bothers me in a week or so, maybe I'll think about doing the Kramer mod and see what happens. I'm also going to try and get HD414 pads on these. I miss my HD414 pads a lot.
I'll have photos and maybe more side-by-side comparisons tomorrow.