Review on Limited Edition Black Gold On-Ear Headphones with In-Line Microphone, Volume Control and Touch Remote Control by Koss Porta Pro. Includes Hard Carrying Case, Wired with 3.5mm Plug in Black and Gold. by John Wood

I bought Koss Porta Pro Black and Koss Porta Pro Black Gold Limited Edition at the same time 2 months ago after the longest time delay. I have other more expensive headphones like the Sennheiser HD58X, HD6XX, HD660S, Beyerdynamic DT990, Audio-Technica ATH-A2000X and ATH-AD2000X and I figured these cheaper Koss Porta Pro headphones wouldn't make much of a difference in terms of view and sound quality. How wrong was I! Now that I've heard them, I'm very impressed and try to use them more often these days. The Black Gold Limited Edition features a microphone, volume control and comes with an "Official Koss Porta Pro Hard Carrying Case", while the regular Black Edition does not include a microphone, volume control or hard carrying case. At the time of my purchase, the Black Gold Limited Edition was double the price of the regular black version. I'm very surprised that nobody has ever compared the AB sound quality between these two versions. Probably everyone assumed that they sounded the same and differed only in coloring, the presence of a microphone, volume control and hard case, but cost twice as much? Do you wear a case when the headphones sound the same? But I was very curious, so I bought these 2 versions at the same time to compare them. I have to say right away that the Limited Edition sounds noticeably better than the regular version. The regular version sounds good, but the limited edition sounds even better. I did a head-to-head AB comparison between the two versions, using the same songs and music tracks over and over again, and found them to sound cleaner, livelier, more dynamic and three-dimensional on the Limited Edition. The bass sounds stronger, has more air and more shine in the high frequencies of the Limited Edition than the regular version. In contrast, the regular version sounded more casual, less crisp, and less dynamic. The regular version has slightly less bass and treble compared to the limited edition. I was wondering why there is a difference in sound quality between the two versions as the design, materials used and the speaker drivers themselves are the same and have identical specs until I looked at their cables. Now I believe these two versions sound different because they have completely different headphone cables. The regular version has a two-wire cable that goes into the headphone jack, while the limited edition has a single-wire cable. Complaints from other owners about the thinner cable used in the Limited Edition are valid, as the single strand of cable used is the same gauge as one of the two strands used in the regular version. Still, the Limited Edition's sound quality is noticeably better than the regular version. So it's a real compromise: you get better sound quality, but a thinner cable in a limited edition. And it costs twice as much as the regular version (although you do get a microphone, volume control and hard case with the Limited Edition). However, I find that the Limited Edition's excellent sound quality more than makes up for this cable disadvantage, it's just that you need to be more careful when dealing with the thinner single strand cable. Get the regular version of Koss Porta Pro. But if you want the best sounding Koss Porta Pro then the Porta Pro Limited Edition is for you. And if one day you find that the Limited Edition costs less than twice the price of the regular version, it won't be difficult to get a Limited Edition right away.