Good old blue Koss PortaProIn 1984, Koss Corporation went nearly bankrupt after making a net loss of around $6 million. The company, which had started off manufacturing headphones, did something revolutionary that same year, which probably ended up saving it. 1984 was the year when Koss launched the Koss PortaPro, a pair of headphones with an extremely simple design, available for cheap, and fitted with a “rare earth magnet structure”, or so the official website claims. While the phrase might sound creepy to a layman (that would be you), it’s only a Neodymium Iron Boron magnet, which due to its strong magnetic power, has found use in almost everything magnetic around nowadays. These headphones have the classic old-school design — two round plastic cups held together by an overhead metal strip. However, the old-school features end there. Priced currently at Rs 3870 in India by the official dealers of Koss Stereophones, it comes with a “No Questions Asked Limited Lifetime Warranty” by Koss, tempting even the biggest sceptic to buy it. OK, not really if bought from here, but some amreeki return can get it at nearly 2/3rd the Indian MRP.

Ergonomics And Performance

Flexible, little, curvy PortaProThe design has not changed since the launch of this product in 1984. The headphones come with two metal overhead strips that glide over each other to fit all varities of human heads, except perhaps Suppandi (that dude from Tinkle Comics). The strips end at a comfortZone slider that allows you to adjust the pressure of the earpiece on your ear. Three pressure settings, from Firm to Light, are available. Below the pressure switch lies a foldable plastic frame that holds the earpiece sound drivers at a centre connection point. This enables the earpiece to move in two directions by a few degrees, resulting in a custom fit for individual ear sizes and headphone resting locations. This non-rigid design lets the headphone fit easily and comfortably around most ear and head types, which is a good thing. At all places where there is contact with the ears, a foam piece has been provided for support and protection.

25th Birthday Edition Black PortaProThe sound quality of the PortaPro is by far the best in its class. The bass reproduction is deep even at low volumes, and does not decrease at higher volumes. The frequency response range is huge — 15 Hz to 25,000 Hz! Considering the ergonomics and performance, I have only two complaints about this product. Firstly, the overhead metal strip slider acts like an excellent pair of tweezers, pulling the occasional hair follicle out with surgical precision. Not a problem if you’re bald, though. Secondly, these are neither noise-cancelling, nor sound-retaining. Meaning, at normal volumes, you will hear nearby annoying jerks distracting you from your beloved music, and if you increase the volume to maximum, said jerks will now know your taste in music, even if they are a few feet away. Ah heck, who cares about such small faults when you have such uber old-school headphones!

Koss Logistics

For those looking at budget headphones (budget in terms of quality that is — I’m not even going to consider those crappy Chinese headsets that you get for Rs 350) , the market gives you two mutually exclusive options. You must either choose good quality or ergonomic design — never both. The PortaPro however, bucks this trend, packing in both essentials for any decent pair of headphones, yet retaining itself in the “Value” category. No wonder this conventionally blue-coloured product is still in popular demand after 16 26 years of existence (thanks Haley, for pointing out the typo). In order to capitalize on its success story, Koss has released “Limited Edition” versions of the exact same headphones in yellow, red, and black for nearly three years now. Silly. And of course, the colourful merchandise is priced higher by Rs 500- Rs 1000 at various outlets. Looks like a few marketing personnel from Apple Inc have joined Koss Corporation. Unfortunately for the Apple fanboys, there’s no news about a U2 autographed and “specially tweaked to play U2 songs” edition of the PortaPro — yet.

Specifications And Availability

Frequency Response 15 Hz – 25,000 Hz
Impedance 60 Ohms
Sensitivity 101 dB SPL/1mW
Distortion Less Than 0.2%
Cord Straight, Dual-Entry, 4 Feet
Weight 64 gm

The PortaPro is currently available in India at a relatively high price tag of Rs 3870. However, it’s definitely worth catching hold of an uncle or friend returning from abroad and “persuading” them to get one for you, as it’s a lot cheaper in United States of America (for $50 — Rs 2500 approx) or Norway (where I currently live) for 295 NOKs. On the off chance you’re buying one from my host country, here’s a tip — purchase it online, or politely ask the store salesman to sell it at the online rate, as it costs 399 NOKs in stores. That’s what I did when buying mine, and the salesman agreed to my offer after thinking about it for a moment. Yay!

Rating: 4.5/5
Pros: Good quality for the price; Thoughtful design.
Cons: No noise isolation; Hair sometimes gets stuck in the overhead metal slider.
Bottomline: Buy this product from abroad — costs in India are much higher, reducing its value for money. At a price point of Rs 4000, you will definitely get a better deal with other brands. If you’re rich though, the PortaPro must belong in your collection.
Price: Rs 3870
Contact: Authorized Koss Distributors.

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