KossPro4S Full Size Over-Ear Studio Headphones, Detachable Cord with Dual Choice Entry, Black with Silver Trim

To start, I will mention that I tried the following:- Beats Studio Pro- Bose QC 2023- Sony ULT Wear- Koss Pro4S- JBL Tour One M2I kept the Koss for a few reasons, found at the end.I will compare them all quickly here.***Build quality:The JBL Tour One M2 has the best build quality out of all. No creaking. The Koss isn't far behind and may be better in certain areas.The JBL and Beats have a full metal band. The JBL has thick, dense plastic below it. Hard (with awesome soft touch) ear cups that feel very solid (the Koss has metal ear cups though but are thinner, which makes it look less bulky so that's a bonus).The plastic on the JBL is high quality, every where you touch. The Bose and Sony felt cheap. The Sony felt the cheapest, almost toy-like. The price of the Sony shouldn't be more than 100 CAD. That's how cheap it looks and feels.JBL has thick metal hinges that rotate and fold smoothly like a luxury item. Noiseless. The Koss also has metal hinges, but a bit thinner. Bose and Sony have cheap plastic hinges that feel like they'll eventually break. From what I recall, the Beats had metal hinges.Silent buttons on the JBL. Sony had cheap feeling buttons. Bose has normal buttons. No buttons on the Koss :).The Beats Studio Pro was well built and high quality.***Design:- The Koss Pro4S has a nice design, nothing too spectacular but it's a nice look. What I love about it is that you can connect the 3.5mm cable to any of the ear cups since it has 2 ports. The unused port can then be connected to a second headphone/earphone and it outputs sound to it (at a lower volume for the second set, with less bass as well). But, the 3.5mm port, while full metal compared to the others, is looser than normal. The cable can disconnect easily if you pull on it a bit.- The JBL Tour One M2 wins here. I had the champagne-colored one. Beautiful. For some reason, it feels like a 5 star hotel. The ear pads are pretty comfortable and they have an inner foam where the drivers are, which make it feel even higher quality. The fake leather (leatherette) is very soft but too thin so it feels like it would eventually rip.The details, the style, the indicator lines on the metal headband, the logo, the text, the microphone holes, etc., everything was exquisite. My family commented about how nice they look.The touch controls on the JBL were fine. I love having an on-off switch. The Sony touch controls were better with faster response time. I prefer buttons though.- The Sony ULT Wear's design is unappealing and bulky, though I like the shiny, colourful logo. Button location is fine. It does require us to hold the power button to turn on/off, not convenient. It needs a power switch.- The Beats has a nice design and look. It is stylish and not bulky, but not a fan of the power button, which is also a mode switch button and a sound profile switch button. Very confusing. Needs more buttons. The volume buttons are fine. Horrible companies like Apple seem to think less is better (removing 3.5mm port from phones, removing important ports from their laptops, removing buttons, etc.). Less is NOT better.- Bose design is okay. I love having an on/off switch., button location is fine.***Comfort:- Koss is comfortable and is looser than all of them. So, no head pain, no real issue. But, I feel the ear pads are a tad too small and cause a bit of discomfort. Not a big deal.- JBL was comfortable but a bit too tight at first. It had a strong clamping force. It did loosen up after a week. Everything felt soft.- Bose was quite comfortable, but a bit of a tighter fit than the Koss and Sony. It felt soft and fit my ears well in the ear pads.- Sony felt comfortable and lighter than JBL and Bose, but not as lightweight as the Koss. Nonetheless, it had big ear pads and they fit well. It wasn't as soft but it was still comfortable.- Beats was not comfortable at all. Strongest clamping force. Hurt my head and felt my blood pumping. Ear pads too small. Bad design. I couldn't keep it on for more than a few minutes at a time. It's not soft. The ear pads depth isn't enough so my ears touched the driver.Headband is fine on all of them apart from the Beats (padding too thin). Sony and Bose had the thickest padding on the headbands. Koss covers the widest area, which is better.***Sound quality:- The JBL fails here. When plugged in, and not turned on, the sound is not clear. Bass is low quality. The volume is louder than when not plugged in (Bluetooth mode) but is lower quality. Yet, it is still lower in volume than other headphones. I have no idea why JBL thought that was a good idea. The point is that even at max volume it is not that high, whether wired or wireless.When turning it on, and plugged in, sound quality is better but still not that clear like the other headphones. Bass is good.- The Bose had the best sound quality. The clearest when turned on. The highest quality bass and the most bass. Best soundstrage, from what I can tell. But, the Koss isn't far behind. The bass is more controlled on the Koss, which I prefer, or else it hurts my ears.- Sony, I did not like the sound quality. It wasn't as clear (not treble-wise, but something else, almost like static sound, in a way). Bass is okay. You can turn off ANC easily and all settings are remembered when turned off and on.- Beats Studio Pro sounded good. Controlled bass. When plugged in, sound is good but not like the Bose and Koss. It hurt too much to keep using it though.- Koss Pro4S is spectacular and I love that it JUST WORKS when plugged in (which is the only way you can use it). That's all it needs, a 3.5mm port (or USB-C with an adapter) and it just works. It sounds great, clear, good bass, nice soundstage. I would just say perhaps to lower mids a tiny bit if you have an equalizer. Apart from that, superb!They're also very loud. No distortion at max volume.***Software:- JBL had the most detailed software, but sometimes can get slightly buggy (nothing too bad) and a bit laggy, but it doesn't remember the mode you were in. Unfortunately, it doesn't remember what mode you were in so you always have to change modes (noise cancelling ANC, off, aware, talkthru mode, etc.). Not nice to keep switching each time you turn it on. And, it was slow to switch compared to the others.- Bose had the nicest looking software on Android and everything worked fine. I like the intro and outro sound notifications. I did not like the voice notifications though. Sony had it best. It remembers which ANC mode you were in before turning them off, but it doesn't have an Off mode (passive isolation). That was not a good decision by Bose.But, it had a bug where it would reset the volume when it turned off/on sometimes. I had to turn the volume of the headphone back up (using the buttons on ear pad), which takes about 5 seconds. I recall experiencing another bug but forgot what it was as it's been a month now.- Didn't like the Sony software, too complicated and clunky. Everything worked fine, though, from what I recall. Pleasant voice and sound notifications. It tells you the battery level as well.- Beats, hardly any options on the Android app.- Koss, no software since it's wired only. It doesn't need any though.Bose and Sony have the best ANC. Then, the JBL but it's very close (it's a non-issue). I hardly tested the Beats since it was complicated to use and hurt my head.***Cable & accessories:The JBL came with the 3.5mm to 2.5mm cable that has no microphone built in (unfortunately), an airplane adapter (2 3.5mm connectors) that is made of metal, and the USB-C charger cable. Nice set and accessories. Nice case.The Beats came with a USB-C charging cable which lets you connect it to USB-C ports to listen to music as well as charging. Unfortunately, while it works, the sound quality wasn't as good as with the 3.5mm cable (no mic built in, unfortunately). It was also lower in volume. Case is okay, compact at least.Bose is the only one that provides a 3.5mm to 2.5mm cable with an inline microphone built in. I had the Costco version. Everything is the same apart from the case, which is soft and unorganized (didn't like the case). The one from Amazon would come with a better, solid case.Koss comes with a coiled 3.5mm cable (both ends) and a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter. Nice case, good organization, but a bit too large. I like coiled cables, but it doesn't have a microphone.So, I bought the Bose QC25 inline mic 3.5mm to 2.5mm (Android) cable from Bose's website and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter from Amazon and the setup works perfectly on the Koss Pro4S. I now have an inline mic and volume up/down and a mic mute button on my Koss. It doesn't work on Windows 10 with the 3.5mm port, but if you connect the cable to a 3.5mm female to USB-C male cable, and connect that to your computer/laptop, the buttons work (though sound quality is a bit worse) and you can play/pause/change tracks and control volume (same on a phone). I imagine that if my phone had a 3.5mm port, the buttons would work also since this cable is made for Android as well. I miss the days when we had a 3.5mm port on our phones :( (terrible decision by these lost and anti-consumer companies).**Recommendations:- I fully recommend the Koss Pro4S if you don't mind wired-only. Koss support is pretty good but slow.- I recommend the JBL Tour One M2, in wireless mode. Just be aware that it has low volume and clarity isn't as good as the others. JBL support seems very poor as I sent them 2 emails and a month and a half later, they still did not reply. Their support goes to Erikson- I do recommend the Bose QC 2023 but perhaps with extra warranty as I am unsure how long it would last due to the bugs and lower build quality. Bose support is great and fast. I had a question about the cable I bought from them and they sent me another for free. I didn't request one. They're just great.- I half recommend the Beats Studio Pro, if you have a small head (which I kind of do), and can endure the clamping force. It will probably loosen a bit.- I do not recommend the Sony ULT Wear, for various reasons. I doubt it will last due to how cheap it is built. If they're XM4/5 models have bad hinges and other issues, imagine with this cheaper one.***Why I stuck with the Koss Pro4S:As you may have been able to gather, I don't really want to use these wirelessly.I originally wanted headphones just to mute the noise around me for a few reasons and thought I needed noise cancelling ones. After trying those, I realised I don't like noise cancelling and I don't trust the technology, no matter what they say, and that all of them provide very good passive noise isolation (the Koss the least though). I have a few Koss KSC75X on-ear headphones and they sound superb. So, I thought, let me check what Koss had as I want something similar but over-ear. I eventually found the Pro4S. I really just want something that can be plugged in and that sounds great, like the KSC75X.After trying all the wireless ones, and keeping them off when plugging them in to my laptop and Xbox controller on Xbox Series X, they all sounded muddy, or not clear, or low volume.When turning them on, the Bose sounded superb and the JBL was low in volume and not that clear.So, why not keep the Bose? I didn't want something I needed to turn on just to listen properly to any sound. It should be high quality even when off. And, the bug with the volume going all the way down on the Bose in certain situations wasn't helping. Additionally, the Koss, when on sale, is less than 1/3 the price, almost 1/4 the price.The Koss is comfortable and just sounds good no matter where you plug it, so I decided to stick with it, especially since I can choose which ear cup side the cable goes in. It's also the lightest, least bulky looking, no charging needed, no battery to ruin, and comes with the Koss limited lifetime warranty.Honestly, I was also about to keep the JBL along with the Koss, but because the volume is low and not as clear when turned on, and their support is bad, I couldn't risk it. I don't want to support companies that do that. Hopefully they learn from this and improve.

Update (Oct 2018) - Still using these and I love them. No real signs of wear at all, but they have fully broken in and sound amazing. Currently listening to Halycon + On + On from Orbital's 1993 brown album and it's just amazing, but equally good with jazz, classical, pop, r&b, and rap. These really are great headphones. Still 4.5-stars outta 5.Update (Jan 2017) - I am still using these on an almost daily basis at the office and so far, so good. No issues with the ear cups or supplied cable, nor with the 3.5mm jacks on either side of the headphones (a really handy feature).Let me start by saying I really like these headphones and will highly recommend them for casual listening. They are comfortable and sound incredible once broken in with very good reproduction from highs to lows - even sub-20Hz comes through on recordings like Techmaster P.E.B.'s "Computer Love" - without overemphasizing anything. They are neutral, yet full and rich. You can listen to classical, jazz, blues, country, rap, EDM, pop/rock (I have a soft spot for 80's music), et al with equal enjoyment. I find I can wear these 2-3 hours at a time (with glasses) and only need a short break - maybe 15-20 minutes - before I put them back on. I probably wear these 6 hours a day and play at rather low and sometimes fairly high volumes. FYI - the higher the volume the fuller the sound, but the sooner I need a break. Your mileage may vary - I'm getting old.Now, I wish I could give these at least 4.5 stars as they are incredible headphones for the price, but they have trouble creating an open and spacious sound stage. This isn't an issue when I'm using these for casual listening at work to drown out the folks around me in the cubicle farm or on flights - they do a good job of reducing background noise and can be turned up without disturbing your neighbors - but for critical listening they just don't pass the mustard. Prime example is Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. On my home system I can close my eyes and pinpoint the position of every player as if they are on a large stage in a nightclub; it's an open and airy feeling, and you get a good sense of where the musicians are located, side-to-side and front-to-rear. With the Pro4S, everything is squeezed together and sometimes on top of each other like they are crammed into a tiny studio. Again, perfectly fine for casual listening but not for critical.Granted, my experience with headphones has been limited for some time as I've suffered with earbuds for years, but coming from a past of using high quality studio headphones like the Pro4AA as well as others, I'd say give these a test first if you want to use these for studio work, but expect to be slightly disappointed if spaciousness is what you're after. If you're just after a great pair of headphones for daily use, then I can't say enough about how good these really are. Seriously worth every penny.Final note - I've seen some people complain about the cable, as in another cable is better or they stock cable falls out. While I haven't tried a different cable, I can assure you I have had zero problems with the cord popping out of the headphones, and I've used these almost daily for almost 3 years now. If it does happen, I'm fully confident that Koss will replace these under warranty.