chiminou's Full Review: Koss Porta Pro Consumer Headphones
Note : This is a review about the SPORTApro headphones. I will compare those to the Portapros. Both names are very similar, just to make sure no one gets confused the ones IN questions here are the SPORTApro, the new model from KOSS (2000). The portapros are an older design dating back from the 80s, still available on the market and still very well rated.
History
I have been using my favorite headphones the "Portapros" since 2000 and it WAS ALL I ever needed.... I never looked further, never bothered anyway, until a month ago... as I was checking out mp3/cd players and came across the NEW koss SPORTApros! It caught my eye, got me curious...
A few weeks later, I had a REAL reason to take another look at the SPORTApros. My good old portapro started acting out. I was losing signal intermittently from the right earphone. I guess the wire inside the cord broke just around the connector area. The jack of the koss headphones are bent in a 90 degrees angle. One particular thing about my (new) cd/mp3 player (imp-550) is the recessed connector-hole.. it causes many problem of connectivity.. well, my koss connector would fit-IN only IN ONE position. This resulted in too much pressure on the 90 degree bent part of the cord when the remote was clipped to my clothes. It took a few weeks to show signs of failing.. (I thought I would mention it since the SPORTApros also HAve a 90 degree jack).
If I had only used the earphone adapter included with the player, this woulda prevented it! anyways ... this is how I came to buy the SPORTApro!
I was about to send my broken portapro for repairs when I realised I would be about a month w/o them.. since I still could get a signal from both sides when I positionned the cord a certain way... I thought about getting a spair pair, and why not go for the sleeker modern koss SPORTApro headphone for a lesser price? As soon as I would get them, I would send the old ones for repair..
So I have surfed the web to find a true comparison between the SPORTApros and the Portapros with no conclusive results. I came to the conclusion that I should draw my own investigation and check for myself.
How to order
I ordered the Sporta directly from KOSS at koss.com. I live in canada. It took them 5 days to confirm with my bank (credit card), then it took 12 days to arrive to my door.
Cost : 30$ + 12$ shipping + 16$ echange (canadian money) + 11$ customs = 69$(can) (sighs). Ya u heard me "sigh". anyways....
Ordering online is easy. A thing that bugged me though, is that it only shows the US price, exchange fees will not be shown. The shipping fees will be shown after you enter your credit card information. The exchange fees will be taken out of your credit card directly, without any pre-confirmation or notification. It will appear on your credit card bill.
I called koss a few times to check about my broken portas and such, service is very good. I also ordered replacement ear-cushions, 6$(can) for one set (ear-cushions + ear-pads), they gave me an extra set for no extra cost. Delivery took 7 days.
WHAT THEY ARE
Collapsible stereophones.
Advertised for sportswear (packaging illustrates a young man wearing a "nike" camisole, gym-shorts ) and massive-bass (boosting).
They are opened headphones; meaning that you can hear the outside noise (important safety-feature-for on-the-go usage, roller-blading or at the gym), but sadly, the opposite is also true, others CAN hear your music. These headphones generate as much leakage as can be... really!!
Wear it 2 ways : behind the head or over the head.
Fold it : fits in its case if folded very tightly.
Specifications
Frequency response : 15-25,000 HZ
Impedance : 60 ohms
Sensitivity : 103 db SPL/1mW
Distortion : less than 0.2%
Cord lenght : 4ft, 1.2m
Packed with
1/4 gold plated converter
One carrying pouch
No manual, no instructions on how to fold. Just an illustration on the package showing the headband positioned backward (behind the head for the sport-look) or at regular position ON the head.
SO.. Now that I own both pairs.. I can share my thoughts and conclusion with the epinion community, comparing both headphones. But what about the break-in time (explained a few paragraphs down)?..
Collapsible/foldable
They collapse the same way the old portapros did, forming a small round ball that clips tightly together. They collapse down to a size of aprox 3 inches or so, depending on how "tightly" you fold them. They also fold in a flat position without clipping together. I still find the collapse-way more efficient and space saving. As well as providing some extra protection for the earplates that are soundly resting in the middle of the "ball" .
The new way of folding is less stable and more likely to get tangled in the cord. The earplates ar not protected that way, they are exposed and in direct contact with the surroundings.
In order to store them in the carrying pouch, you have no choice but to collapse them in a ball. It is very hard to insert the ball in the pouch.... do-able but impracticle. I gave up that thought a long time ago, back when I bought my first pair (porta). I make a constant use of mine, storing them would be a teadious task.
COMFORT
They are comfortable, and they fit very well, either behind the head or in the traditionnal position (over the head). They hold and remain in place. There are no clips or anything to attached them to your ears in the "behind the head" position, they hold cause of the "vice-grip" pressure applied to the temporal pads and the ear-plates. The headband rests on the back of the head.
There are two small pads on the sides of the headband. The earpieces rest both on your ears and the sides of your head, giving them a secure feel, just like its predecessor (porta). They are very light 2.2oz.
When switching from "behind the head" to "over the head" simply slide the headband in the desired position till it "clicks" in place. Therefore, it'll remain stable!
They fit tighter than the porta (2.1 oz), could be cause my porta have loosen up over the years. Dont get me wrong, they fit tightly, but not too tight, no discomfort. I can wear them for an entire night and forget I have them on.
I prefer wearing them in the traditionnal position. I like to rest my head on the bench, on my commute (bus), that would make it unconfortable. I like the fact that they are versatile. Both positions are very stable, not flimsy.
AESTHETICS
The SPORTAs win over the older model (portapro) as far as aesthetics go.. They look sleeker, sporty, but, STILL... A bit on the dorky side.
The entire headset is black and plastic, apart from the metal headband and clips. The brand name KOSS is printed in big white lettering, (not embarassingly big), just the proper size on the plastic cover of the earplates. The name "sportapro" is also printed on the plastic part covering the temporal pads. The speakers are the same size and appear to be the same as the portas... In the behind-the-head postion, it looks fine as well.
Those SPORTApros are a good colormatch to my imp-550 player, which is mostly black with some silver.
(the Portapros earplates have a distinctive sky-blue color, same for its comfort-zone switch. The rest is black and silver)
BREAK-IN period
I had never heard about that fact until a few weeks ago! Seems there is such a thing as breakin-in, (also called burnin-in), speakers or headphones.. (us gals can compare this to breaking-in a new pair of shoes).
The break-in period varies from different brands to specific units.... so there's no way to know how long it will take. I have heard it can take from 15 hours of non stop play-time to 40 hours even as far as 1000 hours. The sound comes to life only after that period. (DO not throw away the phones just yet!) Some say the sound of their phones changed in a drastic way, from sounding like 20$ cans to their true value, rich and full. Opinions differ a lot. Some say it is just a myth, that headphones and speakers are already broken-in by the manufacturer. I also read that over years of use, the sound still adjusts itself slightly....
Check this link to learn more : http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=58157
From my recent experience, the SPORTAs did REALLY sound different after the first 2 hours of break-in time. I really saw a difference from "right outta the box" to 2 hours later.. the additional break-in time affected the sound in a more subtle way (read below).
NOW, that settles it for the quick "try-outs" in stores.. since NONE of those NEW HeaPhones are really broken IN!!!
SOUND
COMPARING THEM TO THE portapro
Before buying I have surfed the web to find the difference between the SPORTAs and the Portas. I got few hints, www.headroom.com mentionned that the SPORTApros sound a bit "murky" and "blurry". I have also read somewhere that they are "bassier"due to the way they are positionned against the ears.. TRUE OR NOT? Not true. I tested it myself many times! It iS simple, just press the Portapros against your ears very tightly and you will hear no difference, no matter how hard you press... they do not sound like the SPORTAs.
First impression
(right out of the box) the highs and mids freq range is a bit agressive, can't drive the volume as I used to or adjust the EQ like I did with my old portas. The sound gets annoying after 20 min at normal level.
After two hours of break-in , the mid freq are normal and fine. The highs are still agressive. The low freq (drums and bass drums) aren't as loud as the portas, still, the mid-low freq are way louder (bass guitar frequencies)! And yes, it does tend to get a bit blurry depending on how you boost the bass freq or arrange the EQ on your player..
After 50 hours of break-in time : They sound more like the portapros. The sound is more pleasant, agressivity is gone. I can recognize the "KOSS sound". The "bass-mid-low's" separation is more balanced. The overal sound is softer, breaths better. Still, the highs arent as soft and breathy, the low freq are stronger but do not reach as deep as the portapros. In other words, the bass-drums does not "kick" as much. Adjustments on my players EQ allows them to sound a bit more like my old beloved portapros, but still not exactly the same.
I was told to leave the player running overnight to speed the burn-in process... thats what I am doing. I don't expect a miracle, cause I know from the freq-graphs displayed at headroom.com that those headphones freq response is similar but also different. The graphs show more highs (14khz) on the SPORTA, and more LOWS (20 to 50hz) on the porta! .. the difference is more audible at high volume. At low to normal volume, the SPORTAs sound is soft enough, but crank it up a notch and you will feel the agressivity in the highs, (the Ts and Ss sound are a bit cranky). So the SPORTAPROs sounds a bit thick, more like a "rock sound". I would say good but not the same. I do not have to enhance the high (14k) as much, and same for the low (500h), on my EQ.
Frequency range
Is very good, the specs are : 15hz to 25khz. The lower the freq number, the lower the range of deep bass freq it can reach. Same thing for the high freq.
Most cheap headphones do not reach lower than 20hz or higher than 20khz . That makes the SPORTA very good in its price range. (same thing for the Porta). But frequency range is distinct from the freq graph (color of the sound). Earphones drivers can be made to sound very diff from one another even if they range in that same freq band. Check out (www.headroom.com) for graph specs on headphones.
I think it is obvious that Koss tried targetting a younger population with its new SPORTApros. Emphasising the bass (massive bass).
By doing so, they actually enhanced the mid-bass, those freq that make the bass-guit sound very loud, it tends to make the sound boomier, bassier.. you know like the "woom-wooom" sound instead of the BOOOOM-boom sound...
The graps really show the discrepencies between both heaphones. From a first look, only the highs appear to be diff. Take a closer look to see what I just explained about the low-mid freq.
They still do sound alike. OF course, it is the KOSS sound. Very warm, very DJ-like sound. Boosted in the lows and highs. A non audiophile wouldnt see the difference unless comparing them back to back, as I did.
Another con : Sound leakage. I guess I had not really noticed it on the portapros... they both have that same problem. Open headphones are meant to be like this, so it is not really a design-flaw.
Mute button
The first edition of the Sportapro HAD a mute button. I got the new edition. NO mute button, which is fine by me. Koss probably received too many complaints about it. I read some reviews mentionning it was a nuisance.
Sensitivity level
The specs specify a 103DB sensitivity level for the SPORTA and 101db for the Porta. The higher the sensitivity value, the louder the unit will play. The old portas (101db), are a little less loud. Not a huge volume difference, about the equivalency of 2 or 3 digits on the volume scale of my player (scale from 1 to 40). Sensitivity level has no effect on the quality of the drivers or the color of the sound itself.
Though they play louder, the SPORTA reach the distortion-level easier. Even if I turn down the volume to my regular listening level...
Last thoughts
I will use those as a spair-pair of headphones. I cannot deprive myself of my good old PORTAPROs.
I recommend those for users who do not have any bass-boosting feature on their players as well as for sportswear. They sound pretty decent for the price. BUT, If you got an extra 20$ to spare, buying the Portapro would be a wiser choice.
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