Koss KTXPRO1 Titanium Portable Headphones with Volume Control

I'll admit, I haven't been into using headphones now for nearly 10 years, but with the advent of the iPod and other MP3 players, I decided that it'd probably be a good time to look for and invest in a good pair of headphones. I'll also admit that I don't yet have a portable MP3 player, but I' probably get one sooner or later. However, with that said, I do listen to MP3s that I've transferred from my purchased CDs on my PC. I have boomy 5.1 surround speaker system for the PC that literally shakes the house, so for me to listen to my tunes at adequate volume without disturbing the other occupants, I figure a good set of headphones was in order. So what is it that I, or anyone should look for in a good set of phones? Well, clarity of sound for one. That includes several aspects. One being bass response. Most [cheap] headphones can't replicate solid deep bass. Because lets face it, good bass (in loudspeakers) require huge magnets and a large cone and lots of power. A headphone has none of that, but apparently, technology in headphones have come a long way in the past 15 years. Another aspect of clear sound is a phone's ability to replicate the high and mid-range frequencies. What good does a lot of bass do if it drowns out the rest of the frequencies? None. And of course the last thing a set of phones need to do is not crackle and distort at high volume. This is a MAJOR problem with a lot of cheap headphones. Well, even some higher priced ones I'd imagine. Well, going back to 10 years ago, I had a pair or two of KOSS headphones that could replicate good bass, but this was way before digital music media and from old style cassette walkman-type devices, so the full range of sound fidelity was limited due to the medium used. I remembered and liked the KOSS headphones, which lead me to check out these after they were pointed to by a reviewer for a similar set of Sony headphones. So how does the KOSS KTX-PRO1 Titaniums perform? EXCELLENT! I must admit though, I was at first confused at why I wasn't getting good bass. Like I said, I use these on my PC, so I have several different software players with different enhancement "plug-ins", one having a "headphone setting", nonetheless, giving a slightly tinnier sound than I was expecting. Turns out that all it took to boost the bass, was to increase the main soundcard mixer's bass level, rather than the plug-in's "hyperbass" level. And what I got was the deep solid, supposedly 15Hz bass response that this product advertises. And it doesn't drown out the other frequencies either. The grill mess on the outside of the ear piece, I suspect, may help with the bass response, but don't quote me on that. And the most important thing with these phones is that they do not distort at all. Crystal clear sound at practically any volume. The set itself is very comfortable to wear. Some reviewers here may have mentioned that there's only ome pivot point on the ear piece, but it's at the correct angle that it should be adequate for most people's ears. The bottom line is that if you want a good, sounding set of headpones, you're gonna have to pay more than $5. Let's face it, you get what you pay for. From what others have said here, this exact set sells for over $45 at places like Radioshack under a different model name. So getting this set at Amazon for under $20 is a hellava deal. Oh, one more thing...over the ear phones rather than these "new" air-bud things.... for one I can't stand sticking anything into my ear. They usually don't stay in cause my ear canals are strangely shaped and two they are just downright uncomfortable. I can't even wear earplugs for the same reason. So this was a nice find to get a excellent pair of over-the-ear headphones at a great price. You can't go wrong with the KTX-PRO1s. I listen to heavy metal mainly and they do a great job in replicating all the intricrate sounds in probably one of the most sophisticated forms of music outside philharmonic orchestrations.

This is a thoughtfully designed product and so far it works great (I'll post an update if it breaks). I'm very pleased. Sound: the sound is quite good, especially for a small, cheap pair of headphones. I am very pleased with the sound. Both bass and treble sound clear and strong and the sound seems accurate and well-balanced. Fit: I am a small person and this product fits me comfortably but at the smallest setting, with the earpieces perhaps 1/4" lower than would be ideal but still quite comfortable. I don't think it would work on a child. There is plenty of room to adjust the headpiece larger by up to 2" more, so I imagine it will fit much larger heads, too. The blue band at the top of the headpiece is maybe silicon? Something kind of rubbery anyway. It seems to prevent the headphones from slipping because it is sticky (like rubber, not like honey). Very clever! The on-ear earpieces are covered in standard black foam stuff and are comfortable. If I wear the headphones for more than an hour my ears start to feel squished but if I push the headpiece farther back on my head, so the earpieces come just a little forward of my ear (resting a little more on my skull and less on my ear) then it solves that problem. Cord, Connector & Volume Control: The split portion of the cord, coming from the earpieces to the volume control, is 16" long, so, on me, it hangs just below belly-button level, which seems like a convenient location to have the volume control. After the volume control is another 45" of cord to a very small-profile straight 3.5mm stereo jack connector. Looks like it would fit most mini-stereo applications even where space is tight. The volume control is medium-sized (about 2cm x 5.5cm) and has only a slider (for volume control - no other control buttons). The slider acts as a mute if you slide it to the far low end of its range. The slider action is smooth and noise-free. It comes with an adapter from 3.5mm stereo to standard 1/4" stereo jack, which is very thoughtful. Be advised, it comes with the 1/4" jack "installed" on the end of the connector, so if you don't need it, it just pulls off, revealing the 3.5mm jack. Packaging: it comes in a cardboard box with a couple small paper inserts: the warranty and a multilingual reminder that it is illegal in the EU to throw out electrical devices in the trash (they must be returned to "public collection points" for recycling). Nice idea EU. We should do that in the US. There are also two molded plastic pieces that hold the headphones, the clear one made of PET (#1 plastic - yeah!) and the opaque one made of polystyrene (#6 plastic - boo!). Finally, there is a surprisingly large piece of plastic just for hanging the package up in a store and it has no recycling symbol on it (boo, hiss). You would think it would be easy for the cardboard box to have a hanger on it instead. So, very nice that most of the packaging is, at least theoretically, recyclable. My only complaints are about the unlabeled plastic and the polystyrene. Many localities do not have recycling options for #6 or for unlabeled plastic, so I would prefer plastic packaging be minimized and that any plastic used could be something more widely recyclable (such as #1). And before you criticize me for being too picky, be forewarned that plastic waste is getting broken into tiny pieces and floating around in the ocean and causing many problems, one of which is that it is ending up in sea salt products (see the Scientific American article, among others), so you might ask yourself if you want to be eating the plastic later (or feeding it to your kids and grandkids) or if you prefer to recycle it properly now. Just saying... Warranty: It comes with a "limited lifetime warranty" which says, in part, that it covers "normal use by the initial user or purchaser" and warrants the product to be "free of any defect in materials". However, the terms are that you mail it to their factory in Wisconsin with a check for $9.00 and they can, at their option, refund your money or replace the unit, so that doesn't really sound like a warranty so much as buying a new one from the factory. You can check the details for yourself at www.koss.com if you want to know more. Sounds like the kind of warranty designed to encourage you to just buy a new one instead of exercising the warranty. So, besides improvements to packaging recommended above, I have no complaints about the product so far and would recommend it confidently to others.

These sound really good for on-the-ear headphones at this price. They have a wider frequency range than most cheaper headphones, with good bass and treble, and no distortion. They also have inline volume controls that actually work. This is an extremely useful feature if using them on a device that you can't control volume through the device, like some TVs that disable volume control with headphones plugged in, or using a line-out jack. I find them very comfortable to use for hours on end. They are lightweight, don't squeeze my head or ears, or hurt the top of my head thanks to a rubber-like floating strip that pads the top and helps with them sliding off. I use these for gaming, TV viewing at night, and listening to videos and music on my phone and computer. They sound good in all uses. My gripe with these is they are not durable. I have been buying this model of headphone since 2011, and have bought 15 pairs of them. That's 15 pairs in 15 years, so they are averaging a life of only 1 year. But that's not the whole story because the pairs I bought early on would last 2-3 years, and now they don't even get close to that, with some pairs having issues in less than 1 year of use. The cords have gotten shorter over the years and thinner. Shorter cords means they are more likely to yank off my head if I move from where I'm using them. The thinner cords lend to less protection of the wire inside, and they twist up around themselves. They always fail the same way, first periodically losing sound in one earpiece and then eventually losing it completely. The early ones would see the fabric on the earpiece wear out before that happened, so I bought extra pads to replace them. Now I don't ever use the extra pads because one side will lose sound before the pads ever have a chance to wear out. I still like these headphones but having to buy new ones every year is ridiculous. These would be perfect for the price if they would actually hold up better. I wish Koss would make these more durable instead of making them less so as time goes on.

I bought these almost a year ago after my previous pair of earphones--Koss KSC75's, wore out. I'm very picky about sound quality and Koss is basically the only brand name in earphones I completely trust. I've been a loyal customer for twenty plus years and they've never let me down in the sound department. The sound quality of these blows anything in the same price range, (and in some brands WAY out of the price range) out of the water. They sound awesome, as always. Lots of bass, (but not too much), not tinny at all, just perfect. If you're used to cheapo headphones, prepare to get your ears opened. You'll hear things you've never heard before in your favorite songs. If you're looking for headphones in the $20 and under range, don't bother with anything else. And don't bother looking anywhere else except Amazon. I've overpaid by as much as $10 online on other sites and in store, and was a little disheartened to see what I could have paid on Amazon. Amazon has the lowest price on Koss headphones every time I've looked. I've tried about every model of Koss headphones there is (except the ultra high end ones) and I've noticed the difference between them. For sound quality under $20, I think the KSC75's sound better, but unfortunately, they clip very loosely around the ears, and in my case they were constantly falling off. The KTXPRO1's on the other hand, have a head band and they stay on very well. They are also very comfortable. Like all Koss products, though, they aren't made to be inconspicuous or 'cool-looking'. These headphones, especially, stick out like a sore thumb. Prepare to look like what people in 1929 envisioned a switchboard operator would look like in 2009. That blue rubbery thing on the top (I have no idea what it does--prevents it from slipping, I guess?) makes it look especially stupid. But, if you're like me and prefer sound quality over looking good, then you should have no trouble with these. The only downside to this product is like what others have said, they are not very durable. The headphones themselves seem to be made of cheapy plastic and seem delicate (though luckily I didn't brake them). About a week after I purchased them, a short developed in the volume control, rendering it useless. After a few months, another short developed in the wire, make one side go dead every five seconds, especially when exercising. I gave them to my daughter, who only uses them on her Nintendo DS. I've also owned the Sportapro and the Portapro and I would say that if you're very nice to your headphones (unlike me) and only use them sitting down, I would buy these over the more expensive ones. The Sportapro and Portapro sound good, but not that much better than this model. But if you abuse your headphones and/or use them for exercise, I'd spurge and go for the Portapros, since they are made very well made (though ugly still). If you have small ears (like I do), prefer non-ear buds with a headband, and like having another volume control, I'd highly recommend these. I think you'll be very happy with your purchase.

The Koss KTXPro1 headphones have been an audiophile favorite for many years and I bought these based on many recommendations back in late 2016. It is now June 2020 and I figured it was high time I wrote a review of these - seeing as I've got plenty of time at home now, what with the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing. In a word: Fantastic. These headphones have been hard-working since I bought them, playing everything from music to watching movies (more on that in a minute) - and have delivered sonic performance I have not encountered in other similarly priced headphones which usually sound tinny and muddied. The KTXPro1's are nowhere close to the reproduction performance of a several-hundred-dollar pair of cans that a small fraction of the populace would go to the lengths to enjoy, let's just be clear about that - but they most certainly afford you a pleasurable listening experience that I honestly think is the best out there for cheaper open back headphones on the market. The Titanium drivers of the KTXPro1 offer smooth treble that is clean and free of sharp-sounding highs, a mid-range that is robust and capable of heavy crunchiness and vocals which sound full and natural, and a bass that has a good extension and can be really decent for a small set of headphones. I have enjoyed everything from classical, to pop and heavy metal on these, and honesty they have been able to produce music which is surprisingly better than other headphones I've had costing three or more times as much. The sound stage on these is pretty neutral - so unless you're doing some type of analytical listening or really need a full surround-sound effect going on aurally, these are fine. Comfort and durability is something important to mention, especially after going over what others have said about this set of headphones since I myself bought them. In 2016 my mother began to lose her hearing. Not dramatically, but it was becoming harder for her to hear things like dialogue in movies or programs on TV, which was disappointing because she and I like to watch the occasional movie together - and it was sad to me that she was struggling the hear what was going on between characters in the middle of a scene with other sounds going on around them, as example, and I wanted to try and help get some of the enjoyment back to replace the frustration she was having. I bought a TV with a headphone-out on it (see note at end of this review), a long 3.5mm cable, Y-splitter, and finally I needed two headphones that would allow her and I to adjust the volume on each headphone independent of one-another...which lead me to the Koss KTXPro1's. These use a simple up-down slider dongle on the attached cord so it is not only very easy to adjust quickly, it's also capable of any range between 0 and 100 percent. Other headphones use click-up or click-down buttons which are hard for elderly hands to operate and they may only have 8 or so volume settings so you don't actually get a nice "anywhere in-between" range like you can get on the KTXPro1's. If I had any complaint about the volume control, it'd be that I wish the slider switch itself was a different color so you could quickly tell which side of the smooth-feeling oval dongle has the slider on it. (pro-tip: put a little modelers paint on it, say, white, and let it dry. Takes care of that issue). With the volume controls of these, I can listen to a movie at my comfort level and Mom can adjust it to something a bit louder she can hear and enjoy. Grand. Makes it very comfortable to enjoy everything. Physical comfort is nice too - the headband provides a fairly easy non-slip surface so the headphones sit comfortably on your head, though if you have a really small head you may find that they can slip off a bit easier and Mom found out they are difficult to wear with curlers on. The headphones sit squarely on your ears, and if you have these on for a long long time - say, 4 or so hours at a stretch if you and Mom are enjoying a "Lord of the Rings" movie-marathon, they can develop hot-spots on your ears and you may have to take them off for a bit and go make another plate of snacks and a rum & coke to give your ears a break. It's possible if the speakers on these were able to rotate along the horizontal plane with a swivel built into the headband, that may increase comfort - but alas, Koss omitted this ability from the KTXPro1 headphones. While the speakers on these do display a range of play with the swivel on the ends of the headband, it's completely in the near-vertical orientation and can still put pressure on the back and sides of your ear after a long time being worn. For a single two-hour or so session, I have had no complaints with discomfort - but everyone's ears are designed a bit differently - your mileage may vary. I will mention that the ear cushions on the headphones I wear, one of them has torn and disintegrated mostly. After having had them for 3.5 years. Good thing I can replace them with a set of Koss replacement cushions for about $5 bucks on Amazon here. Cheap enough. For $20 dollar headphones you'll find no brushed aluminum or carbon fiber here. The construction of these looks pretty plasticky - though I hesitate to use the word "cheap". I've bought cheap headphones before that LOOK really cheap... the KTXPro1's however manage to appear a little lower price with the matte silver & dark grey plastic headband and non-braided cord, without being embarrassingly cheap and crusty looking. Sure, they creak a bit when handled but they're noiseless when worn. These KTXPro1's have served Mom and myself very well thus far. They still perform great. Sound and dialogue in movies and listening to music is a pleasure with these. The volume sliders still work fine. No problems with the cables, plugs or anything else other than that as-to-be-expected torn ear cushion. (My head's a little fatter than Moms, so that probably explains why mine went first). I'd rate the durability of these as excellent. I've plugged-in and unplugged these many times and she and I have used them to listen to things not just on the TV but also on her iPad, my laptop, we've taken them out with us on the road, and they continue to serve as her in-house / go-to headphones. I haven't felt the need to buy anything else in almost 4 years after getting these, so I think that says a lot right there. Very happy with these. END Notes: 1: Being open-backed headphones, some have asked "can other people hear music coming out of these when you have them on?" - the answer is yes...but if you're listening with these on at a normal volume, they're not annoying to be sitting next to. Unless you REALLY have the music cranked up, then I guess yes, some might find it annoying. If the surroundings you're sitting in are very quiet, people around you will hear these more. What I find good about these being open backed, is that while we're watching a movie with these on together, my Mom and I can make comments about scenes if we speak aloud to one another and chuckle over stuff without having to pause the film or take them off completely. That's the trade off I guess. 2: For those of you interested, I've had questions about the twin-headphone setup I did for Mom and myself. After getting these Koss headphones, it's pretty easy to find a long enough 3.5mm cable and a Y-splitter to stretch the distance of the headphones to your TV. The trick is to be sure the TV you have or plan on getting has a genuine HEADPHONE OUT jack and not just a Line Out / Line Level Out / Audio Out/ Line Audio Out jack if you are planning to hook the two headphones and long cable DIRECTLY into your TV. A Headphone Out jack has a lower impedance and can drive one or two headphones directly and you can control the TV volume reaching the headphones with the remote in most cases. The other type of jack is really designed to take the TV audio signal and connect it to a receiver which then handles the volume and allows the attachment of things like headphones. So yeah... if your TV volume is going through a receiver, you probably already have a dedicated headphone out jack on the back of the receiver. If you're planning on hooking the cable and headphones directly into the back of the TV with no receiver, best to be sure your TV has a Headphone Out jack that allows you to control the volume of the TV in the headphones. In conclusion, I've been extremely happy with these Koss KTXPro1 headphones, would recommend a pair to anyone looking for a pair of great sounding headphones costing about 20 bucks. These certainly surprised me with the good performance at such a decent price.

I've been using these for years - at least 8 of them, I think. The sound is really good and I love having the volume control right on the cord. It comes in handy when switching between the extension cord to my TV, my laptop, and my phone, each of which has a different volume. In spite of the fact that I really like their sound quality and keep buying them, I have two complaints that people should be aware of: First, the blue rubber strip over your head had caused noticeable frizziness and thinning of the hair on the top of my head over time (I'm female). I finally learned to cut out that rubber strip as close to where it's attached as possible, and my hair has filled in and become smooth again. YOU may not want to do that - it's not for everyone. It will make them fit a little looser and also fall lower on your ears. I'm used to wearing them like that now, but you might not like it, so don't go cutting it off unless it causes you problems. My biggest complaint is that, without fail, I lose the sound in one side of the headphones before they are even six months old. I'm not sure, but it seems like it's always the left side. They just reach a point where a turn of my head or a repositioning of the cord will cause the sound to go out in that side and come back on with additional movement. It starts as an intermittent thing but soon becomes so regular and annoying, you have to replace them. My current set just started it and I took them out of the box only 4 months ago. It's really a PITA!! This must be my 8th pair at least, but I like their other qualities so much that I just keep buying them. The pluses: In-line volume control (a must for me), great sound, comfortable, lightweight, affordability, and ability to hear room sounds when I need to (depends on your volume, of course). Listen, I'm not hard on my headphones, I treat them with respect. If Koss could just make the volume control wire attachments more sturdy, I'd pay double the price for these, but as it is, they're not even worth what I'm paying now if I'm going to go through 3 sets a year. The problem is with the connections of the wires inside the volume control. It has involved either the end where both wires enter as one while they're still connected together OR the other end where the wires exit right next to each other but are not connected. Once it starts, it only takes the slightest movement to cause the sound on the affected side to go out. It's acting like a loose connection that never got soldered (do they still solder things?). It's definitely not in the jack. It might help if they didn't make it so the volume control didn't sit in such a tight-fitting depression inside the packaging. I may try a couple of different models, but I'm pretty stuck on Koss, for now. I was buying them at Radio Shack for years before they stopped selling them.

Update: many years later, and I love these headphones. I still think you absolutely can't come anywhere close to the sound quality for the price. I own several pairs of these at a time for various purposes, and each pair lasts ~3 or 4 years of ~40 hours per week usage (while I'm at work) until the volume switch starts acting up. If you're not using them around 2000 hours a year like I do, they'll probably outlast all other electronics you own. But overall, they sound amazing, they're comfortable enough for all day usage (while still allowing you to hear your surroundings), the cord is long enough to use while your phone is in your pocket (possibly with a 3.5mm to usb-c adapter etc), and they have that OG Walkman look that shows you're old school lol. ------- Over five years ago, I bought a pair of these identical headphones at a local electronics store on clearance (but they were licensed with their brand) and loved them! I then gave them to a relative and regretted it ever since because that store stopped carrying them and they were THE single best pair of headphones I have ever owned. Then I found these on Amazon.com for less than $15 (turns out my original headphones were made by Koss), and I cannot say enough about the frequency response on these!!! I'm not a professional studio audio person or anything, but my understanding is that the first number of the frequency response is for the deep bass sound and second number is for the super high treble sound. Compare these stats to other headphones, and you'll understand why these sound so amazing! Ear buds are nice and convenient, but can't even come close to comparing with the frequency response on these headphones! These have a slightly better frequency response than my $80 computer desktop speakers with a subwoofer!!! In real-world terms, this means you can hear every deep bass sound and high treble sound that you would miss on other headphones or earbuds. The bass sounds so amazing on these headphones, and the treble is crisp, sharp, and clear too. I really can't stress this enough, if you listen to music with deep bass, and want to use headphones that cost less than $50, this is your ONLY option. Again to my not-professionally-trained ears, these headphones sound at least as good as a $100+ studio pair that a friend of mine has. A couple other points to note: -the volume slider on the headphones is a nice touch and allows you to turn it very low for use in an office cubicle setting where you need to be able to hear what's going on around you too (and you still can hear the nice bass even at quiet volumes!) -they are certainly not at all noise-isolating or even muffling of background noise. If you are in a loud environment, you can hear every background sound as if you didn't even have them on. This is literally the only negative I can think of (and for my use at work, again, this is actually a positive because I won't get startled if someone comes up to my desk). But for use at home, or some place quiet, you wouldn't even notice this. -The construction quality is pretty good on these too. They feel a little flimsy in a few areas, but not too bad. Again, remember they're $15! Even if they broke a year or two down the road--I don't think they will, I owned my other pair for several years before giving them away--I would just buy another pair at that price. They sound THAT good! Overall, IMHO, you absolutely cannot beat the sound quality, richness of sound, or value for the money of these headphones. Later I might buy a few more for gift exchanges for the holidays etc. and everyone will think I spent at least 3 times what I actually did!

Pros: These headphones are comfortable, look nice, have good sound quality, and even have a volume slider on the cord. Caveats: I first bought a pair in 2018 and was very happy with them. After a few years, the ear muffs started falling apart, and there didn't seem to be an easy way to fix that, so I bought a new pair in 2022. Again after a few years, the ear muffs wore out, so I bought a third pair in 2026. Unfortunately, for some reason, this one has a shorter cord. I measured it, and the 2026 cord is 4'3" from ear muffs to connector, whereas the 2022 cord was 5'3".

Il suono è impressionante per una cuffia cosi piccola, io sono un appassionato di hi-fi e non mi aspettavo una tale qualità. La qualità costruttiva sembra anche buona, ho apprezzato la fascia superiore in silicone. aspetti negativi: il filo sembra delicatissimo, la cuffia sembra non cadere perfettamente in testa.

excellent headphones with great volume control with just a headphone plugged into TV the sound is max volume so these headphones are essential The small speaker fit on the ear and are comfortable

Fantastic for the price

Compré un adaptador de Jack 3.5 a usb C UGREEN y se oye genial en el IPhone y en mi laptop. Sencillos, cómodos y con muy buen sonido.

Je l'utilise régulièrement avec mon téléphone portable et je dois dire que je trouve le son plutôt plaisant et agréable à l'écoute, et, il tient bien plaqué sur les oreilles ! En revanche à manipuler avec précaution, car tout est en plastique ! J'aurais préféré qu'il soit plus onéreux et équipé d'une armature en métal, je sais... C'est plus l'époque !