Amazingly Superior Headphones

I purchased these on the advice of HeadRoom (www.headphone.com), who recommended these as a superior alternative to standard headphones. And for about two years, these things lasted through my time at the gym, work, and traveling to and from. The Koss PortaPro is the tough, elite model of the Porta line. They can take a beating, and they went through a lot. In fact, to this day, the only problem with them is the black coating of the wires has worn away from the connector. Nothing a little electrical tape can't fix!

First off, the price. This is possibly the only reason anyone would think twice before purchasing this product. At $49.99 via Headphone.com (you can get them for less, if you look around), these are definitely more expensive than your typical $5 pair that came with your CD player. And for the budget minded, Koss provides an equally superior sound for less with their other Porta's (I recently purchased their clip-on headphones which are about half as much with the same sound quality).

Second, the reason for the $49 price is the design. The drivers for these headphones are amazing, but they are included on several of the cheaper Koss headphones. The design, which looks tacky at first, holds the headphones very close to the ears for a clear, strong sound. They contain a small tab on the sides of each cup which allows for changeable comfort (Light to Firm). These, however, don't exactly work as well as they should. I just keep it on Firm, which works to hold the cups close to the ear. The closer, the better, I say.

Third, the driver. These Porta's contain an amazingly good driver which provides 20Hz to 20KHz (i.e. the average human hearing range). On top of that, the phones pump up the bass, which is a very good thing. Of course, it does help to have a CD player with a Bass Booster (combined, you get some of the best sounding bass this side of a home theater system). What's more amazing is that the bass boost does not come at the hindrance of higher end frequencies. The trebles sound good, the mid-range is awesome... but the bass is where these really excel at.

If you want to take these to the gym, they are wonderful. The cord is 10 feet long, which is adequate for any gym usage. I never once had to worry about pulling my CD player off the treadmill.

In the long run, these lasted a long time, which was more than worth the money. My $10 headphones kept breaking, and I probably had spent over $50 replacing them in just six months. I highly recommend these headphones to anyone looking for crystal clear, bass-thumping sound. Give them five or ten minutes for your ears to adjust to the new sound, and you'll never go back. I haven't. I've already ordered a second pair for a gift.

On a sidenote, these phones do not come with a volume control on the cord, for anyone who wants that. I personally hate those things because they tend to be heavy, and weigh down the cord when I'm trying to run on the treadmill. But if that's important to you, you might want to know.