[chailee80]

Man, it always amazes me, my portapros are the cheapest on ear headphone ive ever bought and yet they are the most comfortable on ear ive ever worn. I've had on ears in the $300-$500 range and none have been able to match the portapros comfort. Koss needs to bring out a higher end version of the portapro, i would happily pay more for the same comfort with improved sound.

 

[headwhacker]

Just bought one for myself. I don't think Koss would want to change it's sound of design. It's been great for the last 30 years or so. They can just release an entirely new headphone. Why fix something that isn't broken or mess up something great

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

I have a question. Are there better sounding portable open back headphones OF THE SAME DESIGN under 50 dollars? I was thinking of maybe getting Portapros for outside use, and since they apparently have better response than KSC75, that's good news.

 

[Ultrainferno]

I don't think there are, maybe the Sennheiser PX-100(ii)

 

[chailee80]

Just bought one for myself. I don't think Koss would want to change it's sound of design. It's been great for the last 30 years or so. They can just release an entirely new headphone. Why fix something that isn't broken or mess up something great :tongue_smile:

No I didnt mean change the current portapro as its awesome in its current form. I meant make a higher end version of the portapro with a more refined sound and better materials.

 

[chailee80]

I have a question. Are there better sounding portable open back headphones OF THE SAME DESIGN under 50 dollars? I was thinking of maybe getting Portapros for outside use, and since they apparently have better response than KSC75, that's good news.

Ive not heard anything in a similar design or price that sounds better. The sennheiser px100 is similar in design but I wouldnt say its sound is better, its just different. Basically the portapros have more bass than the ksc75s which have a brighter more detailed sound imo.

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

Ive not heard anything in a similar design or price that sounds better. The sennheiser px100 is similar in design but I wouldnt say its sound is better, its just different. Basically the portapros have more bass than the ksc75s which have a brighter more detailed sound imo.

I owned the clip-ons, and I can attest they had too much mid bass.

 

[vilders]

In fact it is amazing headphones, they magically attract

. And for this price and convenience is better seen. The sound is very good.

 

[Hoagie]

Depends on what you mean by better sound. I like the akg 404 better. Same size, and headband. Closed with better pads. Definitely a different sound signature. Darker with more base

 

[crazychile]

I bought a pair of Portapros from Amazon last week but am returning them. To me they need a little bit of extra sparkle in the treble to work for me. But there were times on certain pieces of music that were really nice, but ultimately the way a lot of vocals sound a bit muffled killed it for me.
 
I have a pair of KSC75s that I really like the sound of, but I don't really like the clips. Does the Sportapro use the same driver as the KSC75? There seems to be some conflicting info on this. I have an email in to Koss, we'll see how they respond.

 

[chailee80]

  I bought a pair of Portapros from Amazon last week but am returning them. To me they need a little bit of extra sparkle in the treble to work for me. But there were times on certain pieces of music that were really nice, but ultimately the way a lot of vocals sound a bit muffled killed it for me.
 
I have a pair of KSC75s that I really like the sound of, but I don't really like the clips. Does the Sportapro use the same driver as the KSC75? There seems to be some conflicting info on this. I have an email in to Koss, we'll see how they respond.

The extra sparkle can be obtained by replacing the stock pads on the portapros with a slightly larger ones. I put some $5 50mm foam pads on mine which places the driver slightly further from the ear which tames the bass, cleans up the mids and adds a little more sparkle. The other option is to put the ksc75 drivers into the portapro headband whicb is easily done as they both have the same fitting and simply clip in and out.

 

[chailee80]

 
I owned the clip-ons, and I can attest they had too much mid bass.

Really? Too much bass from the clip ons? I always found them a little bass light as the clips dont press the drivers very tightly against the ear. Perhaps the gap between your ear and your head is much shorter than mine

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

 
Really? Too much bass from the clip ons? I always found them a little bass light as the clips dont press the drivers very tightly against the ear. Perhaps the gap between your ear and your head is much shorter than mine

I have 3 bass-heavy albums (mixed that way mostly unintentionally), and both AKG K240S and Grado SR80e handle the bass way better, with KSC75 being boomy and full of distortion in mid-bass when cranked up in volume.

 

[crazychile]

   The other option is to put the ksc75 drivers into the portapro headband whicb is easily done as they both have the same fitting and simply clip in and out.

 
I had considered that, but they looked different enough to not be able to swap the band and I didn't want it to turn into an engineering clusterf^ck just to satisfy my curiosity. Plus it seems a bit crazy to spend $40 on a headband.
 
I also did the mod where the inner grilles are drilled out to open up the sound. That made a pretty subtle difference. I swapped those  modded grilles into my KSC75s and they sound pretty much the same.
 
I briefly tried the Portapros with the modded grilles and no pads to get an idea of their true "naked" potential. It still wasn't where I needed the top end to be.
 
Even though I don't like the KSC75 as clips, I'm starting to consider that it may be that very reason why I think they sound pretty good. Lightly resting on my ears instead of clamped to my skull. I tried the portapros on the lightest setting  with the band bent slightly to be pretty loose and the sound was better, but there comes a point where they're too loose to be practical.

 

[Mad Max]

Velour earpads small enough for KSC75/Portapro are non existent, and that's what I think would bring out their full potential.  Earpads for these Koss not only need to be breathable, but they need to put a bit more space between themselves and your ears for best sound.  I'm thinking that we can try to improvise by adding a ring of some kind that sits on the outer edge of each baffle and we place the rings underneath the foam pads.  But I do not know what to use.