Koss PortaPros KTC
Koss isn’t willing to rest on its laurels, it seems, as the company will soon be dishing out a complete reworking of its age-old, classically influenced and budget-based Koss PortaPro series. The latest in this incredible model of headphone’s iterations—we’re tempted to say regenerations after watching too much Dr. Who—will feature full touch controls for all you iPod and iPhone users. We’re also expecting a nifty pair of interlocking in-ears to hit the market soon, bringing along the same level of touchiness. For our full break of the story, check our headphone review details below. And don’t worry, pictures are included.
First out of the box, let’s analyze the up and coming edition of one of our favorite portable headphones ever, the Koss PortaPros. The KTC model (which stands for Koss Touch Controls) looks like it will be maintaining everything we love and hold dear about the headphones, including the ruggedly 1980s inspired design, as well as the silver, black and blue color scheme. Additionally, we have no reason to believe the headphones won’t fold up just as nicely as previous models for simplistic commuting. And, of course, we don’t expect any sort of drop in audio quality or performance between this year’s model and the last.
Koss IL-200
The big news here, obviously, is the addition of a single in-line remote and mic. This little beauty should rest just about gizzard level, and will allow you to answer calls, change your iPod’s volume, and play and pause the music at will. Sounds like a bargain to us, and if you’re not much into over-ear designs, it seems as if Koss has felt your call of the wild: They’ll be headlining a new pair of in-ears around the same time.
The in-ear headphones, which have been dubbed the IL-100 and IL-200 come with a single unique design element: They lock together for easy storage and simple carrying. To be honest, it’s a pretty cool production element, and the more we think about it, the less we understand why this isn’t a standard feature with every pair of in-ears. We’d love to see some Beats or Souls arriving with this level of forethought built-in.
As far as pricing is concerned, we haven’t got any indications just yet. However, we do know the headphones will be arriving sometime early Spring, and that the IL-200 is only distinguished by its added inline mic and remote. Otherwise, you can expect to see all three pieces in the lineup hitting stores by the second quarter.
