Thanks to the tip from @parawizard I was able to determine what codecs were being used (with my Samsung S24 Ultra). According to my phone, just AAC and SBC were supported with the Porta Pro's. Samsung is known to be stingy with what codecs it will support, but, my phone does support AptX, which was greyed out as supported with the Porta Pro's. Still not sure just how big of a deal that is but wanted to report on it.
Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) gonna be rocking these in the next Guardians film. I'm def gonna give these a try. I've been looking for a pair of hp to get away from my wireless iem's as I can't stand iem's.
I've been a Porta Pro fan for like 10-12 years now so I understood when you started taking out all your different versions! I owned the original "wireless" Porta Pros, and I literally just placed an order for the new pair just now, I even got the Yaxi Pads! I'm legitimately excited to try them out.
These are tempting! Not crazy about the price increase over the wired version though. I am wondering if there’s any lag when watching videos. That’s something that I wished you had covered in this review! Hope they do the same thing with the KSC75!
The (assumed) lack of aptX decreases my excitement. I have the 1.0 wireless (and the usual collection of wired portapros, KPHs, KSCs, etc.), which has (standard) aptX, and it's a massive quality improvement from the old school SBC codec. Koss's spec sheet says this uses Bluetooth 5.2, which should/can include the LC3 codec (the quality of which is controversial at best), but it's not mentioned anywhere. Why is the list of codecs supported for this such a secret?
I'm not into how a headphone is designed around BT, so I have no idea why the codecs were not released. I tried to find out, but was told just standard. Hopefully they will decide to release a bit more info on that soon.
@@Skeeb23 I've heard they support AAC/SBC which is a common thing in TWS IEMs nowadays. AAC is ok-ish but having AptX would be great since usual suspects in BT 5.2 world have the hardware capability to support it.
Listening to this review on my wired PortaPotty Pro with Yaxi pads, and the first thing I notice are the Yaxi pads in the first second. Those do look very tempting, plus I have a spare pair of Yaxi pads in a drawer around here somewhere, but $100 is a pretty steep ask for these. What I'm worried most about these is that they can't be opened nondestructively, which means at some point that battery will die and stay dead.
@@RAHelllord true, but that is the biggest negative with all truly portable devices, the battery life expectancy. However, these have passthrough so at least there is still a wired option after it dies. Assuming however long they hold up
@@Skeeb23 Hopefully! Assuming the device will actually power on with a fully dead battery. Also, I forgot to ask, did you try touching both steel bands with your fingers to see what happens while music is playing? I'm curious if that would have any impact on the functionality considering they're basically two blank metal wires.
I just ordered some Jlab rewinds in hope they would be somewhat close to my portapros, but wireless, for my gaming rig. I should have known better. They are complete trash, even the button rattles when you move. I will be returning them and ordering these. Thanks for the detailed review!
Less than hundred bucks for a great bluetooth version of a legendary pair of headphones, where they basically managed to hide all that bluetooth stuff inside almost the same form factor??? Tough sell?!
@@parawizard brilliant - thank you! So according to my Samsung S24 Ultra - the only Bluetooth Codec options are AAC and SBC. AptX is greeyed out as an option (meaning not supported by phone or headset) In this case, the headset. I'll pin a comment on this.
I don't think the compression is a problem for the sound-quality. The amplification is not very good in such a tiny headphones. But it's the price you pay for true wireless Koss Porta Pro.
No multi-connect sucks. One of the best features of newer headphones when you want to be connected to your phone and notebook at the same time :( Should be easily possible with BT5.2?
@@cionheart tbh, I've always had issues with multi connect. Some devices do it well, some are terrible with it. I'm worried if they had it may have been the latter.
What about using those with PS5? Is it BT compatible? If not, does the USB-C to 3.5 cable support a microphone transmission, so it can be used with controller as PORTA PRO MIC does...? PORTA PRO MIC are my favourite sound/mic host while playing on PS5 so far
@@michl2618 I can't say for sure since I don't have a PS5. I'd ask around, I'm sure someone will know that. I do know it is AAC and SBC codecs if that helps
oof $99. i clicked this immediately since this is exactly what i've been wanting for a while, however, at that price it's going to be a pass for me. i'm currently using the ksc75's with a headband and a bluetooth dongle i soldered myself; it's still working fine. meh, i'll just keep my current set up for now.
OK. I’m going to ask. Many commenters here are talking about it too. Are codecs really that big of a deal? I have an iPhone for many years. I had the previous Porta Pro bluetooth from several years ago. They did sound GREAT. Yes. Bluetooth-They were that good(only sound that is). I thought they were better sound wise than Bose Sony etc. My question still stands.
It's a fair point to make. Bluetooth will add compression no matter what the codecs are. I have experienced "better" quality out of more advanced codecs with some of the newest Earbuds. I also believe someone earlier made a valid point that these headphones actually benefit from a bit of power (not a ton) and that it could just be a bit weak on that as well since the battery seems to be the investment here. Either way, loudness I do think could be an issue with some...as in not getting these loud enough for what some may need, depending on hearing/listening level desires.
Most of the bluetooth codecs are good enough, particularly when you're outside. While they add compression throughout the entire frequency spectrum most of the "savings" are in the top end and low ends, while anything in between is tried to be kept intact as much as possible. Depending on the type of music you listen to there is often not much that gets discarded during the compression, and the stuff that does get discarded is often inaudible unless you are in a perfectly silent environment. All of which is to say, more modern codecs are better for quality, going from SPC to LDAC or AptX (HD) is a pretty significant improvement if you're in a silent environment, but that improvement means almost nothing if you're often using your headphones in noisy environments. And of course a good implementation of SPC with a nice DAC and drivers will sound better than a bad implementation of the latest AptX combined with a terrible DAC and bad drivers. The codec is only one piece of many.
I looooove the porta pros, but having 3 wired versions disintegrate on me I sort of wrote them off. All of them failed the same way, left driver died on me. I might just give this one a try
Disintegrate how? Just asking as someone who's got quite a few pair and daily's them on the regular. Also utilize the warranty, it's a big part of why Koss is so good.
@@profosist yeah I’m a pretty big fan of the kph40 myself, I never tried porta pros though. I do have a ksc75 that I’ve had for 2yrs and it still works great. Cables don’t get much thinner than those lol. Idk how a koss headphone could disintegrate lol, maybe the ear pads?
