[chailee80]

Regardless of whether I agree with your assessment here, I'm trying to acquire nonfunctional Beats on the cheap ($10-20), to use only the frame. And personally I strongly prefer the Koss PP sound anyway

Oh yeh i defintely agree the PP sound is better than beats. Perhaps using the frame from a cheap knock off pair could be an option.

 

[chailee80]

  Man, Wireless portapros would be awesome

Ive been waiting for koss to do this for ages but sadly nothing yet. Ive had to make do with the sony sbh60 which is what i hope the wireless portapros would be, sadly the sonys do not sound as good.

 

[chailee80]

  cont'd: heck, I even ordered the Sennheiser HD 414 pads to replace the stock ones. I was impressed by some of the images I've seen, and since these will be for home use I might as well have (even) better comfort. These just might turn out to be my new computer pair (which isn't where I do the most serious music listening or movie watching mind), replacing the B&W P5s.

I found the 414 pads to be a bit thick which reduced the bass too much for my personal tastes. I ended up using some 50mm foam pads which were slightly bigger and thicker than the stock pads and gave a more balanced sound.

 

[vapman]

I remember not liking the 414 pads on my stock Portapros. My recabled ones (which I sold in 2011) however rocked hard and were basically made for those pads.
 
Definitely recable.

 

[LayLay]

 
I found the 414 pads to be a bit thick which reduced the bass too much for my personal tastes. I ended up using some 50mm foam pads which were slightly bigger and thicker than the stock pads and gave a more balanced sound.

Thanks for this information. 
Well, I can always go back to the originals or modify the Senn pads. It's just when I saw this I couldn't resist: imgur.com/a/pgseD#mj3jgXR
 
It's also possible I'll find the combination so comfortable I won't care. I like that the pads transform the headphones into more of an indoor type. I'll be mostly watching YouTube vids, Skyping, and playing the occasional adventure game. Only sometimes will I be doing something more delicate like streaming anime. For listening to music I most often drag the long headphone cord I use from the HiFi (with TV) at the other side of the room and use my Fidelio X1s. 
 
My current computer pair passively dampen a lot of the outside sound, so I need a decently open pair of headphones to hear what is going on around the house.
 
P.S. How did you find the pads affected the soundstage?

 

[Mad Max]

I wish that there were velour pads small enough for Portapro.  They would be the perfect tweak to maximize sound quality from this fine little headphone.

 

[Mad Max]

 
I found the 414 pads to be a bit thick which reduced the bass too much for my personal tastes. I ended up using some 50mm foam pads which were slightly bigger and thicker than the stock pads and gave a more balanced sound.

 
You didn't try cutting holes into the 414 pads?  In the center only with diameters the size of the driver diaphragms, sort of how Grado users do for their headphones.

 

[trellus]

I just want to know who is voting for Black Gold?  

At this point, I am hoping Blackout can take the top spot, but not thinking it will.

..

I voted for White Gold, but I guess me and one other person only, lol, so I'm set to lose... Either way, I'm highly likely to pick up a pair since I've never owned the PortaPro and I deem it a value classic I'd like to add to my small collection. I have the SportaPro which I like so I'm curious to compare the two...

 

[vapman]

I've found both the Portapro and KTXPRO1 benefit hugely from recabling. The stock cables are just that bad.
 
At least they don't have the godawful volume control like the KTXPRO1's haha.
 
When I get a special edition Portapro i'll recable that as my current pair have gone through too much of my life to be recabled at this point unless the cable broke I think. Unless Rhythm Beige wins in which case all of you are getting blamed

 

[trellus]

I've found both the Portapro and KTXPRO1 benefit hugely from recabling. The stock cables are just that bad.

At least they don't have the godawful volume control like the KTXPRO1's haha.

When I get a special edition Portapro i'll recable that as my current pair have gone through too much of my life to be recabled at this point unless the cable broke I think. Unless Rhythm Beige wins in which case all of you are getting blamed

Recabling sounds like something people smarter than me do... :rolleyes:

Good gravy, I hope Rhythm Beige doesn't win, either, I don't have the 1984 Macintosh that would match the color scheme.

Might have to go vote again, this time for Black Gold, to keep that retro color from winning...

 

[LayLay]

   
You didn't try cutting holes into the 414 pads?  In the center only with diameters the size of the driver diaphragms, sort of how Grado users do for their headphones.

I wouldn't be comfortable doing that without a second pair of pads. I'd only do that if I somehow found the pads completely unusable as is. I know I seem to be contradicting myself here, but my idea of modding if such proved necessary would be to trim the cushioning part of the pads.

 

[vapman]

@trellus Luckily the Portapro is a great candidate for first-recablings, as is the KTXPRO1 and KSC75. Gigantic solder points with at probably an inch between em. Could do the job with a plumber's soldering iron if you want I bet.
 

  I wouldn't be comfortable doing that without a second pair of pads. I'd only do that if I somehow found the pads completely unusable as is.

 
 
No need to worry, this was very very popular of a practice with these headphones in the pre-2010 days.  You can find some googles of pics of PortaPros with 414 pads with the middle cut out.

 

[LayLay]

 
No need to worry, this was very very popular of a practice with these headphones in the pre-2010 days.  You can find some googles of pics of PortaPros with 414 pads with the middle cut out.

I have a bit of a problem with this aesthetically, unless maybe if I put a thin slice of foam under the hole to cover the exposed driver. This is still just talk though, the things will be arriving by the end of the week probably.

 

[chailee80]

   
You didn't try cutting holes into the 414 pads?  In the center only with diameters the size of the driver diaphragms, sort of how Grado users do for their headphones.

No i never tried that, i found the 414 pad placed the driver too far from my ear which reduced the bass too much. The stock pads were too thin and gave too much bass so i had to experiment with a few pads to find one with the right thickness. Sadly my portapros headband is currently broken so i cannot try it with holes in the pads. Im reduced to using the PP drivers with the ksc75 earclips hehe.

 

[chailee80]

  Thanks for this information. 
Well, I can always go back to the originals or modify the Senn pads. It's just when I saw this I couldn't resist: imgur.com/a/pgseD#mj3jgXR
 
It's also possible I'll find the combination so comfortable I won't care. I like that the pads transform the headphones into more of an indoor type. I'll be mostly watching YouTube vids, Skyping, and playing the occasional adventure game. Only sometimes will I be doing something more delicate like streaming anime. For listening to music I most often drag the long headphone cord I use from the HiFi (with TV) at the other side of the room and use my Fidelio X1s. 
 
My current computer pair passively dampen a lot of the outside sound, so I need a decently open pair of headphones to hear what is going on around the house.
 
P.S. How did you find the pads affected the soundstage?

The 414 pads gave a more open airy sound but lacked bass and sounded a bit thin for my tastes. I tend to prefer a thicker sound in general though.