The
phrase “timeless technology” is an oxymoron. Even the humble wheel is
constantly undergoing change and iteration from tire companies. And yet,
for one pair of inimitable headphones, time really seems to have stood
still for the past 34 years. Koss’ on-ear Porta Pro headphones were
launched in 1984, before I was even born, and they’ve remained unchanged
ever since. In that time, we’ve witnessed the rise and fall of the
cassette tape Walkman, the portable CD player, MiniDisc players, MP3
players with and without hard drives, and smartphones with headphone
jacks. But the latest era of personal audio is cutting the cord to the
past, which has led Koss to introduce the $79.99 Porta Pro Wireless.
I’ve had a pair of the new wireless Porta Pros for the
past couple of weeks, and the quickest way I can summarize them is to
say that they’re fundamentally the exact same Porta Pros above the wire.
That’s mostly a good thing, though it does make the addition of a
Bluetooth connection look and feel like an afterthought that’s been
tacked on.
Good Stuff
- Impeccable comfort
- Great sound quality for the price
- Collapsible design
- Good protective case
Bad Stuff
- Blinking Bluetooth light is a huge eyesore
- Buzzing noise in the background
- Sound leakage
- Fiddly remote control
- Battery and remote dangle like ugly earrings
Firstly, it’s worth revisiting why the Koss Porta Pro are
such an iconic and enduring pair of headphones. Their design looks
frightfully unimpressive even by 1998 standards, never mind our elevated
2018 expectations. There are no high-end extras like leather pads,
memory foam, or chamfered aluminum edges. The Porta Pros are made of
spartan plastic, bridged by a thin extendable metal band, and topped off
with small foam pads. This parsimoniousness with materials leads
directly to two of the Porta Pros’ biggest strengths: one is that
they’re super cheap (typically retailing around $40), and the other,
more important one, is that their minimal weight leads to faultless
comfort for even the longest of listening sessions. Granted, the Porta
Pro Wireless is a more expensive pair, but its comfort is every bit as
good as the original wired variant.
My colleague
Paul Miller has also been listening to the new Porta Pros and he is even
more enthusiastic about the fit and comfort of the new edition. To him,
the added convenience of having these already lightweight headphones
detached from any other device is a liberating and highly desirable
feature.
Part of me agrees wholeheartedly with Paul, but the other
part of me has taken the time to glance at a mirror with the Porta Pro
Wireless on my head. Descending from each headphone is a black cylinder
that either dangles aimlessly or gets pushed up by my collar, in both
cases serving to make me look dorkier than usual. I’m not easily fazed
by the idea of wearing ugly headphones for their quality, but the thing
that bugs me with the Porta Pro Wireless is that I feel like there was
room for them to be better designed. This isn’t a compromise enforced by
the limitations of technology, it’s just thoughtless design.
Even if I could forgive the dangly dongles on the wire
connecting the two halves of the Porta Pro Wireless, the one thing I
absolutely can’t abide is the pulsating blue light that’s emitted from
the headphones when they’re on. Embedded in the remote control on the
right side of the wearer’s head, this light is way too bright and,
tragically, it can’t be switched off. This is more than a mere cosmetic
issue: I’m unable to watch movies in a dark room with these Porta Pros
without being distracted by their blinking searchlight. Koss says it’s
looking into the issue, though it feels like an obvious oversight not to
have addressed it before release.
The theme of
poor design choices, unfortunately, extends to the functionality of the
remote control as well. It has the standard three buttons — one to
toggle playback and the other two for volume control — but they’re
difficult to distinguish by touch, and I could never do anything with
the remote without a necessary period of fiddling.
It’s disappointing to see a design icon like the Porta
Pros hampered like this. It’s not too simplistic to say that everything
good about the Porta Pros’ design — including the ability to collapse
down into a tiny hard case that’s scarcely any larger than those for
high-end earphones — comes from the old model, while everything bad
comes from the new changes. While Koss hasn’t delivered an abject
failure with its 2018 update, the company certainly hasn’t done enough
of the hard work of integrating the old with the new in a smooth and
coherent manner.
In terms of
performance, the Porta Pro Wireless are a close match to their wired
sibling, though they once again suffer from their own issues and
foibles. The wireless edition supports Bluetooth 4.1 with AptX, which is
pretty much the bare minimum you’d hope for from any modern Bluetooth
headphones. Annoyingly, I’ve found a background buzzing noise when I
have the Porta Pros connected to the iMac on my desktop or my Google
Pixelbook. It doesn’t disturb the enjoyment of music when it’s playing,
but it’s another slip-up, another little imperfection.
Sound quality from the Porta Pro Wireless a little less
refined to my ear, more coarse and less detailed than the original Porta
Pros. But this is a difference of only slight degrees — Paul happens to
think the Porta Pro Wireless are just as awesome and amazing as the
originals.
I should underscore at this point that the Koss Porta
Pro, wireless or not, are among the best-sounding headphones you can get
under $100 (hell, maybe even $200). The sonic bang for your buck with
either pair of Porta Pros is hugely impressive. I know there are
Bluetooth headphones retailing for stupid prices like $20, but those
abominations should be burned before they’re even taken out of their
packaging. There’s basically no credible wireless headphone option
cheaper than the $99 Beyerdynamic Byron BT. The Koss Porta Pro Wireless are stepping into that void with their $79.99 price.
The signature Porta Pro sound is defined by a convincing
presentation of the music that strikes the fine balance between being
engaging without fatiguing the listener. Obviously, given their
construction, you can’t expect much in the way of real bass, but that
doesn’t mean you’ll feel bass-deprived either. The Porta Pros do a
remarkable job of conveying a sense of low-end rumble even where they’re
not technically churning out much of it. The high end is nicely
restrained, eschewing any sibilance or shouty peaks, and the midrange is
given room to breathe. These headphones can get very loud too, despite
their dainty dimensions.
One
significant issue that the Porta Pro Wireless carry over from the wired
edition is sound leakage. The soft foam pads aren’t designed for any
sort of sound isolation, so whatever you’re listening to with the Porta
Pros will be audible to people near you. The converse is also true:
external noise will sneak in and disturb your listening pleasure. So
commuting on public transport is a no, working in an open-plan office is
a no, and even doing your homework in a shared bedroom is a Koss Porta
Pro no. I mean, you can try doing all those things with these headphones
on your head — Paul’s been known to attend CES with his wired Porta
Pros — but the result would be suboptimal.
The built-in microphone on the Porta Pro Wireless is
fine. Nothing spectacular, nobody has showered me with praise for my
dulcet tones after a call, but it gets the job done. I’m also pleased
with the battery of these wireless headphones, which Koss rates to last
for more than 12 hours and which I’ve yet to fully exhaust even once.
After 3- and 4-hour listening sessions, the Porta Pro Wireless tend to
still have more than 80 percent of their charge remaining, and I never
feel in danger of running them down too quickly. Due to my habit of
compulsively recharging all my gear, I simply end up plugging the Porta
Pros in at some point during the week, which has proven sufficient so
far. The fact they charge via MicroUSB instead of USB-C, however, is an annoyance in 2018.
The Koss
Porta Pro Wireless are the most obviously good and desirable thing in
the world of headphones since the invention of detachable wires.
Everyone’s got a Bluetooth connection on their phone nowadays, many
people have $80 to spare for a pair of good headphones, and Koss already
has the formula for terrific sound and comfort. All the company needed
to do was combine those things into one.
Sadly, Koss failed.
The Porta Pro Wireless aren’t terrible. Because nothing
based so closely on the original Porta Pros can be terrible. But these
new Bluetooth headphones are disappointing, a missed opportunity to
update one of the true classics of the personal audio world for a new
wireless generation.
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