[zazex]

Finally picked up a pair of wired PP. They sound great, 10 years after my PX100 broke, im intrigued what they'd sound like side by side to these PP today.

I was recently surprised (after locating my misplaced PX-100's) that
they sound very similar to the Koss Porta Pro's (current version).

 

[JaquesGelee]

From my Graham Slee Voyager, they sound absolutely bloomin fantastic!

(Had both for about ten years but have only today thought of using them together, with great results)

I got the GS Voyager a few days now. What an amazing Amp! A masterpiece of hardware. It drives nearly everything with no problems.
My PP X are still on the way.


@all: Any recommandations for a confortable (diy) headband?

 

[Okrelayer]

I have a bit of an affinity for ON EAR headphones, they tend to be more comfortable for me. I have 2 Grados, Beats Solo Pro, Bowers P5, and just purchased my first pair of Porta Pros! I’m excited to give them a listen tomorrow

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Ok so try a pair of Sennheiser HD 25s

 

[Alboxhen]

Received a pair of Porta pro X today (wired with microphone) and they were going completely haywire plugged into my iphone. Voice control kept spontaneously turning on (even though it's turned off in settings in the phone..) and the music was spontaneously pausing. Very bizarre. I reset the phone which seemed the fix the issue, but I remain suspicious..

Anyone have any bizarre voice control issues with these on iphone?

*Update - the reset of the phone seems to have effectively fixed the issue after further listening/testing, however I remain highly suspicious. Highly suspicious indeed.

*Update 2 - more haywire voice control spontaneous activation and random pausing

 

[EctoPrime]

Received a pair of Porta pro X today (wired with microphone) and they were going completely haywire plugged into my iphone. Voice control kept spontaneously turning on (even though it's turned off in settings in the phone..) and the music was spontaneously pausing. Very bizarre. I reset the phone which seemed the fix the issue, but I remain suspicious..

Anyone have any bizarre voice control issues with these on iphone?

*Update - the reset of the phone seems to have effectively fixed the issue after further listening/testing, however I remain highly suspicious. Highly suspicious indeed.

Suspicious of the headphones when the phone was the problem?

 

[Alboxhen]

The Porta Pros sound amazing! Very satisfied with their sound quality and comfort. Perfect for walks.

 

[jesh462]

Hello Koss fans,
Thank you for bothering to type enough into the internet to convince me to try a pair.
I have a pair of Audio Technica ATH-A990z headphones with Brainwavz hybrid pads hooked up to a Modi/Loki/Magni stack. The ATs are great for high fidelity recordings and well produced music, but don't portray noisy and complex stuff in a very flattering light. I noticed that I completely stopped listening to rock and metal with them. I used to have some MDR MA900s and have been missing having a soundstage.
After reading a bit about the PortaPro/KSC75, I was convinced enough to hit the buy button. Not a big deal at this price point, really. Well, the KSCs were nice, but a bit too bright for me. I tried the PortaPros next. I could tell it would be a great start.
I did the headband mod and was further impressed. The next day, I was able to put some Yaxi pads on. Even more impressed. Yesterday, I finally got my TRS adapter so I could plug them into my Schiit stack.
I'm officially in love. With some burn in time, they have already replaced my old headphones.
I travel a lot for work, and am without tools for now. When I get back home, I intend to do the Kramer mod and recable them, maybe melt off the dust caps and dampen them. Why not? They're so cheap!
But even with just the pads and headband, I am already starting to recommend them. I really love their sound.
I listen to a lot of streaming music, so I do not feel the need to ever go to something more expensive, and, therefore, more analytical.
Good lookin out guys.

 

[Makiah S]

Hello Koss fans,
Thank you for bothering to type enough into the internet to convince me to try a pair.
I have a pair of Audio Technica ATH-A990z headphones with Brainwavz hybrid pads hooked up to a Modi/Loki/Magni stack. The ATs are great for high fidelity recordings and well produced music, but don't portray noisy and complex stuff in a very flattering light. I noticed that I completely stopped listening to rock and metal with them. I used to have some MDR MA900s and have been missing having a soundstage.
After reading a bit about the PortaPro/KSC75, I was convinced enough to hit the buy button. Not a big deal at this price point, really. Well, the KSCs were nice, but a bit too bright for me. I tried the PortaPros next. I could tell it would be a great start.
I did the headband mod and was further impressed. The next day, I was able to put some Yaxi pads on. Even more impressed. Yesterday, I finally got my TRS adapter so I could plug them into my Schiit stack.
I'm officially in love. With some burn in time, they have already replaced my old headphones.
I travel a lot for work, and am without tools for now. When I get back home, I intend to do the Kramer mod and recable them, maybe melt off the dust caps and dampen them. Why not? They're so cheap!
But even with just the pads and headband, I am already starting to recommend them. I really love their sound.
I listen to a lot of streaming music, so I do not feel the need to ever go to something more expensive, and, therefore, more analytical.
Good lookin out guys.

Welcome to the glorious Koss Klub lol and yea the Porta Pro's are great! Always happy to see some one discover em for the first time!

 

[jesh462]

Oh, I would just like to add for those wondering:
It is completely feasible to paste a ModMic onto the side of the Parts Express headband, and no, it doesn't make them weigh too much. I was worried there wouldn't be enough surface area, but it works fine!

Also, has anyone listened to the Modhouse Audio Argon? I'm curious to how these compare to the PP in soundstage width, depth, and placement of instruments. Also overall tonality, I guess.

 

[Leywes]

Finally got my first Porta Pro, I totally understand why people praise them so much.

 

[jesh462]

Finally got my first Porta Pro, I totally understand why people praise them so much.

Awesome congrats! I have noticed the power handling getting better with burn in. I think I may be around 50hrs now, and they now get as loud as I am comfortable with on 95% of tracks without distorting. (running out of xmax)
That's with autoEQ, too.
They will just get better with time!

 

[DivineCurrent]

Wow, so I tried on Yaxi pads with my long unused porta pro today, and the clarity increase is amazing! The Yaxi pads make the sound brighter, and increase the soundstage. There is a peak around 5kHz that I EQ down, and once you do that they get close to the Sennheiser HD58X type of sound. Pretty amazing for just a pad swap on a $40 or less headphone you can put in your pocket!

 

[Gabo]

Hello Porta Pro Fans from all over the world!
I would like to improve my home audio headphone system which is the only matching solution in listening to music for my current situation. I listen to some webradios in jazz, mellow type of pop/rock, and classical genres from a laptop. I have a hand-crafted (but cheap), bus-powered USB DAC from Japan, which is a PCM2704C chip and a buffer amplifier stage made of small BJTs. I removed the foil screen from the standard usb cable which improved the quality. But of course I'd like to get higher quality. My long-term goal is a really life-like sound with naturalness and illusion of "being there". My budget is the least as possible but of course I hope it will increase. I must tell you that I tried my modded Porta Pro with a borrowed Marantz PM-310's headphone out and the sound really surprised me, the sound has become more effortless and huge, which made me thinking of buying some amplifier for the Porta Pro.
What do you think, is it worth to deal with this cheapy headphone in this level, and to buy some amplifier to it, or leave it? If yes, which can be better, an integrated amp's head out or a dedicated amplifier?

 

[DivineCurrent]

Hello Porta Pro Fans from all over the world!
I would like to improve my home audio headphone system which is the only matching solution in listening to music for my current situation. I listen to some webradios in jazz, mellow type of pop/rock, and classical genres from a laptop. I have a hand-crafted (but cheap), bus-powered USB DAC from Japan, which is a PCM2704C chip and a buffer amplifier stage made of small BJTs. I removed the foil screen from the standard usb cable which improved the quality. But of course I'd like to get higher quality. My long-term goal is a really life-like sound with naturalness and illusion of "being there". My budget is the least as possible but of course I hope it will increase. I must tell you that I tried my modded Porta Pro with a borrowed Marantz PM-310's headphone out and the sound really surprised me, the sound has become more effortless and huge, which made me thinking of buying some amplifier for the Porta Pro.
What do you think, is it worth to deal with this cheapy headphone in this level, and to buy some amplifier to it, or leave it? If yes, which can be better, an integrated amp's head out or a dedicated amplifier?

The Porta Pro for me sounds pretty much the same out of any solid state amp I throw at it. That being said, it's always good to have a lot of headroom, even if it's more power than you need. I drive the Porta Pro from the RME ADI-2 DAC for example, which is way overkill but it's such a good headphone that I think it's worth using that expensive of a DAC/Amp. I personally would not use an integrated amp headphone out because they usually have really high output impedance, and will make your Porta Pros even more mid-bassy than they already are. But if you like that, don't let me tell you what to do!

So I swapped the Porta Pro headband with the Koss + Retrospekt P/21 headband, and I'm loving the comfort so far. I like the fit better than the stock headband, and I think the sound is improved a little because of the better placement on my ears. I already have an original blue Porta Pro, but I got a black one for this mod. I think I prefer the stock pad sound the more I listen to it, the Yaxi pads I tried earlier do give a wider soundstage but at the cost of dynamics and bass tightness.

By the way, I made an EQ profile to give the Porta Pros more clarity and less mid-upper bass bloat, to more resemble the tonal balance of my Clear MG Pro. I'm honestly very surprised by how well they take to EQ, especially in the high treble air area. I used to like the KPH30i more, but the Porta Pro to me has a more impactful and dynamic sound, and better vocals too, so now with my current preferences it is my favorite Koss headphone of the bunch. Sure, EQ doesn't turn them into a Focal Clear, but I'd easily take these over expensive IEMs I've tried, and even most mid-fi headphones.

EQ APO profile:

Filter: ON LSC Fc 35 Hz Gain 2 dB Q 0.9
Filter: ON PK Fc 250 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 0.7
Filter: ON PK Fc 140 Hz Gain -2.5 dB Q 0.6
Filter: ON PK Fc 1100 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 1
Filter: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 2
Filter: ON PK Fc 5250 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 4
Filter: ON HSC Fc 12000 Hz Gain 6 dB Q 1