Well, I gottem. If you wear glasses, you NEED these, what a relief. Played Sparks by The Who and blissed out. These are really great phones for the money.
New to your channel. Terrific review, very thorough. I've owned Koss products for many years. It amazes me what they can do for so little money. I've been in audio since 1962 and we realized that more money doesn't necessarily mean better sound. In fact, often times, the opposite. We used lamp wire for cable and it was great, as long as you got the polarity correct.🙂
I got a pair of the Drop KPH40x thinking they’d be good but still sound cheap. They have more than proved me wrong. They crushed my testing playlist that would normally murder cheap headphones. I’ll happily use these for mobile listening. They really are surprising.
If you open up the KPH30is it's the porta pro drivers with the can molded around it. But the Utilities are definitely a different driver from the portapros and I'm all for it.
Either the Drop 40x or the regular kph40 will be the BEST $40 you'll spend on audio. They will make you question headphones that cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars more.
Brilliant video and review, love your style. Very professional and to the point (nothing worse than someone taking 30 minutes to just basically read the spec list off the box) And happy holidays to you too =) hope you have a great one
KPH40 is arguably my favorite pair of phones. Had'm since release. But I'd pay 20 bucks more for a piece of metal that joins the adjustment band. It's cheap and brittle and breaks... leaving you with two piece of broken headphones. It's a bummer because I like the sound and feel of these things more than phones I have that cost (literally) 10+ times more. Hope Koss pays attention.
Thanks for this review. My Drop40x will be here thursday and I can hardly wait. And I am sure someone will come out with pad mods for the 40's though who cares.
@@MasterMarslander Yes the perfect one and done. I am sending back the clear 30 because I think for me the 40 will be more comfortable. Having all the extra pads worth it! These are my tv watching phones, so leaning more to low mid and bass is ideal. You are the only person to deliniate that sound difference. Kudos.
Same, I've some KPH40x coming hopefully tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. And I did actually have KPH30 clear on the way but decided to cancel after reading reviews for these. Sound like amazing headphones. I'm actually wearing KTXPRO1 as I'm writing this lol, really hoping the 40's will be an upgrade (I prefer to just have one set of headphones, so I'll sell my KTX) And yeh the extra pads are a great deal. I see it as basically knocking another $5 off the KPH
@@TheHulksMistress the KTXpro 1 has been sitting in my Amazon wishlist for flippin' ages. Koss just kept churning out more radical value cans so the poor PROs never made it into the checkout basket. I think you'll be pretty happy with the difference.
@Mr. Marslander- Over this past year I have been using the KPH40 accompanied with Koss’s Lightning Utility Cord. And of course they sound amazing. My question is…. now that I will be picking my new iPhone 15 this week with USB C port…should I order the C Utility Cord from Koss or will Apple’s C dongle for $8.99 sound just as good? Your thoughts? Thanks.
It's a solid cable. Like any cable that is soldered directly to the driver, however, you do run the rick of damaging the headphone if you put too much strain or it. That being said, mine have held up perfectly.
Great review. I dont have any koss, and im wondering if I should get the 30s or the 40s... Both are hard to get in my country so I have to decide carefuly.
Well, the 40s are a solid package that don't really need any modification. The 30i is fine on its own, but you can mod it with grado pads. You can't really go wrong with either. Note how different they sound stock in the review and make your choice based on which description sounds more to your liking.
just ordered these at a silly price ($29.99 lightning deal on Amazon with an EXTRA discount to make them $21.99) ... only thing i am worry about long term is the build quality .. esp around the drivers but if they sound 1/4 as good as some say ... I will be EXTRA careful with these even if not the grado pads ... to have an option (I hear yaxi pads may have something for these) with the earpads I was looking into the Grado pad mod ... overall some say that "leave the pads stock ... they sound better" even compared to the yaxi pads on these
I have not hear the Porta Pro Utility myself so unfortunately I can't give you a definitive answer, but from what I have heard from others the Utility version has the same drivers and same sound signature as the non-Utility version.
The KPH40 is more resolving than the Porta pro and offers more detail and range extension. The KPH40 is kind of a more "sophisticated" sound, so if you prefer the flavored nature of the Porta pro, you might prefer to stick with them. In my eyes, you really can't go wrong with either.
nice video and a good comparison, now i know i have to buy the 30s as long they are available. But i somehow can't listen to your speak pattern with all the pauses, had to listen at 2x the speed.
I’ve been looking at these headphones for a good couple of days, but wondering if they are very durable from every day use especially where the drivers attach to the head band
I use them for work every day for 8 hours. That's in an office environment, so it's not a particularly dangerous place for headphones, but it definitely can be defined as everyday use. While the drivers may look like they are flimsy where they attach, they are designed to pop off from the headband. So should a driver fall off the headband, you should be able to pop it right back on with ease. Should the worst happen a d the headphone is damaged beyond repair, hey, at least it's only $30 to get a replacement.
@@MasterMarslander I might look into picking up a pair then! I always liked the retro styled headphones that I’m glad have been making a comeback lately
Alright - KPH40s gain you more soundstage, more image separation, more midrange detail and a more punchy yet clean low end. More 'real' sounding. KCS75s, like KPH30is, benefit with a little more speed and intimacy which result in a little more intensity and dynamics.
I just moved from the KSC75s to these. The KPH40s win hands down. A much more extended low end while not sacrificing the mid-high end performance of the KSC75. The bass is present and punchy without being boomy. Also the KPH40 drivers can be removed and attached to the ear clips of the KSC75s if you fancy that form factor.
Can’t say I was that impressed even for $35. The mids are way too veiled to say that they sound like a $300 pair and therefore detail isn’t great. Recommend them to a Sennheiser fan, maybe … not a Grado fan.
I just don't get it why everyone praises this like mad but I think its sound just can't make it without an equalizer. It's way too bass centric. Like you virtually can't hear much of anything else besides the bass. The whole thing becomes muffled. How is it called terrific sound quality?
I'm looking for a pair of headphones that look and have the same form factor as the Sony discman headphones that my mom used to have when she was a teen, I got recommended these and I'm gonna try them out
