[chailee80]

 I received my pair of KTXPRO1 yesterday. These may use the ksc-75 drivers, but they look and feel like a $2.99 piece of plastic crap. They're not very comfortable, and Koss would have been smart to use an existing headband design to keep costs down instead of what they did.

They dont sound bad, but I'm convinced now that the magic of the KSC-75 lies in the loose fitting on the listeners ears. These PRO1s clamp more and sound a lot less airy and more muffled. Also, the earpads aren't easilly replaceable/modifiable because they are attached differently than the Portapros or KSC-75s.

Sounds a lot like the portapros which can sound muffled due to the clamping force of the headband. You can always try finding a thicker set of earpads to put on the ktxpro1.

 

[burgunder]

Just put the KTXpro1 driver in a grado cup http://www.head-fi.org/t/690682/the-non-grado-driver-grado-thread 

 

[DaveK1977]

I got my KTXPros for $5.  I'm impressed with the sound, but they're very uncomfortable to me, and they're not adaptable to the other mounting methods afforded to the KSC and (S)Portapros.

 

[Koukol]

I'm surprised these cans get good reviews online.
 
I've owned the Classic plugged into a walkman some 30 years ago and was fine until one Christmas i got a higher end Senny.
 
I know...you can't compare with the price difference.
 
Anyways, I wanted a cheap portable HP last year so I bought the Classic again.
The bass is SO boosted it makes the HP completely muddy and the highs were missing.
 
Add to that the horrible feel from the clamping of the ears...I gave them away.
 
This thread proves to me everyone hears differently.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

  I'm surprised these cans get good reviews online.
 
I've owned the Classic plugged into a walkman some 30 years ago and was fine until one Christmas i got a higher end Senny.
 
I know...you can't compare with the price difference.
 
Anyways, I wanted a cheap portable HP last year so I bought the Classic again.
The bass is SO boosted it makes the HP completely muddy and the highs were missing.
 
Add to that the horrible feel from the clamping of the ears...I gave them away.
 
This thread proves to me everyone hears differently.

highs missing.. they really aren't o.O

 

[chailee80]

Yeh the highs aren't really missing they just get drowned out by the bass. Once you put some thicker pads on it moves the driver a little further from the ear so the bass drops off and lets the top end come through more. Now they're never going to be considered bright but with a little modding they can become more balanced and quite pleasant to listen to. The portapro was one of the first cans i got when i first started getting into headphones. I've owned a heck of a lot of headphones since then ranging from a few dollars to over a thousand dollars, most of them have come and gone but the portapro has stayed. All things considered, the portapro is probably the best headphone i've ever bought, the only other can to even come close is my yamaha mt220.

 

[Koukol]

Well we really all DO hear differently.
 
I love AKG's which many seem overly bright...not me.

 

[burgunder]

Some measurements http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/KossPortaPro.pdf

 

[crazychile]

  Yeh the highs aren't really missing they just get drowned out by the bass. Once you put some thicker pads on it moves the driver a little further from the ear so the bass drops off and lets the top end come through more. Now they're never going to be considered bright but with a little modding they can become more balanced and quite pleasant to listen to. The portapro was one of the first cans i got when i first started getting into headphones. I've owned a heck of a lot of headphones since then ranging from a few dollars to over a thousand dollars, most of them have come and gone but the portapro has stayed. All things considered, the portapro is probably the best headphone i've ever bought, the only other can to even come close is my yamaha mt220.

Yeah like I mentioned in another post, I finally figured out the secret is the spacing of the drivers from your ears. In their stock form the Portapros don't really cut it for me. I don't mind trying some cheap tweaks to make a product better, but when someone recommends a "fix" that doubles or triples the price of the headphone, (Like putting Koss drivers into Grado bowls and headband) I'm out at that point.  It's a shame though, Koss could put these drivers into a different housing that spaces them properly for very little R&D and probably have a killer $60 retail headphone on their hands.
 
Hey it was a fun experiment though. I'll stick with my KSC-75s for office and portable listening, and my AKGs for the home system.

 

[chailee80]

 
Yeah like I mentioned in another post, I finally figured out the secret is the spacing of the drivers from your ears. In their stock form the Portapros don't really cut it for me. I don't mind trying some cheap tweaks to make a product better, but when someone recommends a "fix" that doubles or triples the price of the headphone, (Like putting Koss drivers into Grado bowls and headband) I'm out at that point.  It's a shame though, Koss could put these drivers into a different housing that spaces them properly for very little R&D and probably have a killer $60 retail headphone on their hands.
 
Hey it was a fun experiment though. I'll stick with my KSC-75s for office and portable listening, and my AKGs for the home system.

Thats actually the setup i used to have, ksc-75s and portapros for my portables and the Q701s for home listening. I actually put the original portapro pads on my ksc75s as they are slightly thinner than the stock pads which lets them sit a bit closer to my ear and give a little more bass. One thing i really like about these koss headphones is there are quite a few compatible earpads that are super cheap so i'm able to have fun experimenting with different pad designs.

 

[Mad Max]

  Some measurements http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/KossPortaPro.pdf

 
Not bad.
 
Comparison to a few others:
 

 
Overall a very balanced FR, this is very clear when you listen to a sine sweep through the portapro, it's just that the placement of the drivers relative to the ears hurts the clarity of some frequency ranges and helps a few others, making it seem more unbalanced to people than it really is.

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

And now I have a dilemma.
 
Buy a PortaPro soon, or wait until they update it (like the company president mentioned in an interview)?

 

[chailee80]

  And now I have a dilemma.
 
Buy a PortaPro soon, or wait until they update it (like the company president mentioned in an interview)?

They're so cheap you can probably get a current one plus a new one whenever they get released

 

[chailee80]

   
Not bad.
 
Comparison to a few others:
 

 
Overall a very balanced FR, this is very clear when you listen to a sine sweep through the portapro, it's just that the placement of the drivers relative to the ears hurts the clarity of some frequency ranges and helps a few others, making it seem more unbalanced to people than it really is.

I actually thought the redish colored line was the regular portapro for a minute which had me wondering why it was different to the anniversary edition lol.

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

Here is a question: do the red, black, and white editions come with volume control? Kind of a big deal since those cables tend to break very quickly.
 
I am talking about these editions:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005I4987E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl