[GabeM]

So I tried out oratory1990's auto eq preset for the kph30i for the heck of it and...was pleasantly surprised. It opened up the soundstage and sort of "lifted a veil" while cleaning up the lower mids and adding some sub bass. To me, it was a tad lean in the lower mids and upper bass and a hair too much in the treble proper, so I tweaked to my heart's desire and ahhhhhhhhhhhh, blissss.

(I used my qudelix 5k, but any parametric eq should work such as equalizer apo. Pre-gain is -7.1dB)
Everything sounds incredibly natural with slightly smoothed highs and incredible bass (to my ears).

 

[waynes world]

(I used my qudelix 5k, but any parametric eq should work such as equalizer apo. Pre-gain is -7.1dB)
Everything sounds incredibly natural with slightly smoothed highs and incredible bass (to my ears).

I've never done any PEQ'ing, but I just got my 5k, so I'm going to give your settings a whirl! Thanks!

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

So I ordered a KPH30i Gray (regular one) and KPH30i Clear. I listened to them back to back from same source (apple iphone dongle), same songs, etc., and then I tried them with the $11 grado pads. I ended up preferring the sound of the stock gray KPH30i, so I did not remove the stock foam pads in front of its driver because that would be pretty much irreversible.

Then, I cut a slit for the wires in a pair of the grado pads and tried both pairs of KPH30i's with them on.

Because didnt see myself using the clears very often, I decided to remove their stock foam pads in front of the drivers to see if doing so would cut down on the aggressive treble any and offer any other improvements (with the gado pads on of course).

edit:
The treble has just been too much, and I cant seem to eq it right, so I super glued the stock pads back on the clears. Sooo much better.

I’m confused by your comments as you’re saying Koss added extra foam under the foam ear pads to protect the driver on the 30i?

I’ve never seen this done on any of their headphones but I don’t own a 30i.

You also might be saying if you removed the stock foam ear pads that it would be irreversible? I’m confused.

You do realize Koss sells extra foam ear pads and so do other brands too, right?

Why would you also cut slits for the wires into the earpads? That was what people did when they didn’t know you could just pull off the speakers and place the earpads on that way.

Why would you also use super glue to put an earpad back on? I’m absolutely confused and because I don’t own the 30i none of this makes sense.

Koss uses plastic clips on their speakers to hold the foam earpads so you can take them on and off.

If you damaged the earpads as mentioned earlier you can also buy more earpads making using super glue a really bad idea as it’s permanently damaging your headphone and ruins its resale value.

 

[GabeM]

I’m confused by your comments as you’re saying Koss added extra foam under the foam ear pads to protect the driver on the 30i?

I’ve never seen this done on any of their headphones but I don’t own a 30i.

You also might be saying if you removed the stock foam ear pads that it would be irreversible? I’m confused.

You do realize Koss sells extra foam ear pads and so do other brands too, right?

Why would you also cut slits for the wires into the earpads? That was what people did when they didn’t know you could just pull off the speakers and place the earpads on that way.

Why would you also use super glue to put an earpad back on? I’m absolutely confused and because I don’t own the 30i none of this makes sense.

Koss uses plastic clips on their speakers to hold the foam earpads so you can take them on and off.

If you damaged the earpads as mentioned earlier you can also buy more earpads making using super glue a really bad idea as it’s permanently damaging your headphone and ruins its resale value.

Hi! Hopefully I can clear up any confusion.
The KPH30i does not have extra foam between the driver and foam earpads. I referred to the stock foam ear pads as "the stock foam ear pads" to be clear and differentiate them from the grado ones to prevent confusion between the two.
I cut slits in the big grado pads for the wires because I assumed that it was better for the thin wires to hang straight down outside the pads than be crimped up in the pads. You don't have to do it. I just chose to.
At the time, I thought that removing the stock earpads was pretty much irreversible because they are held on by little spikes, and even though I was veryyyy slow and careful, it still ripped and snagged in a few places on the edges. After watching a video of how to replace the pads, I figured out that--yes, you are right--you can unscrew the front panel and driver from the back panel and headband to properly secure pads back into the original place, but by that point I had already superglued the stock pads back on. I superglued the stock pads because it costed less than 0.15 USD to do and was super simple. It was a $30 headphone, so it wasn't going to be resold. I liked my KPH30i grays better than the clears, so I didn't think I would use the clears very often, if at all. They looked and sounded perfectly fine, so I gave them away to my mom to use on her electric piano. Hope this helped!

 

[nomo0]

got myself a used kph30i and got a set of clone grado pads from local seller, tried it out without removing the stock foams first, then tried it with the stock foams removed and back foam removed
i'm not an audiophile so i will try my best to explain how the sound changed in my ears in my terms

at first, the soundstage and imaging wasn't good enough for me to play casual valorant while playing with friends in discord, after the mod i feel like the soundstage got a tad bit bigger. It's not wider, it's still in my head surrounding it like a home theater, but it's easier for me to pinpoint where the footsteps coming from.

The bass i feel like got a little bit punchier. I can feel the impact more and i absolutely love it. While i do feel like vocal got distanced a bit, but if you never enjoyed the bit forwarded vocal in stock, you might love this. Personally i love forwarded vocals, so i'm a bit jarred about that.

Lastly, the treble. I never had any issues with peaky treble, in fact i always enjoyed peaky and sharp treble. There is certain amount of air to it. singers like marina, dua-lipa, lady gaga feels a tad bit more energetic after removing the backside foam and i love it.
all in all, it's one of the best head gear i tried and i'm in absolute love.

(i used magni heresy to drive these, please pardon any grammatical mistake and term mishaps that i might have done, english is not my first language)

 

[GabeM]

got myself a used kph30i and got a set of clone grado pads from local seller, tried it out without removing the stock foams first, then tried it with the stock foams removed and back foam removed
i'm not an audiophile so i will try my best to explain how the sound changed in my ears in my terms

at first, the soundstage and imaging wasn't good enough for me to play casual valorant while playing with friends in discord, after the mod i feel like the soundstage got a tad bit bigger. It's not wider, it's still in my head surrounding it like a home theater, but it's easier for me to pinpoint where the footsteps coming from.

The bass i feel like got a little bit punchier. I can feel the impact more and i absolutely love it. While i do feel like vocal got distanced a bit, but if you never enjoyed the bit forwarded vocal in stock, you might love this. Personally i love forwarded vocals, so i'm a bit jarred about that.

Lastly, the treble. I never had any issues with peaky treble, in fact i always enjoyed peaky and sharp treble. There is certain amount of air to it. singers like marina, dua-lipa, lady gaga feels a tad bit more energetic after removing the backside foam and i love it.
all in all, it's one of the best head gear i tried and i'm in absolute love.

(i used magni heresy to drive these, please pardon any grammatical mistake and term mishaps that i might have done, english is not my first language)

Welcome to Head-Fi! Your English is actually great! I wouldn't have guessed it wasn't your first language until you said so. English is my first language, and I often make more grammatical mistakes than you did, haha.

I experimented with the same mods you did, and my experience was very similar to yours, the only differences being our preferences, and that's what I love about this hobby.

 

[nomo0]

Welcome to Head-Fi! Your English is actually great! I wouldn't have guessed it wasn't your first language until you said so. English is my first language, and I often make more grammatical mistakes than you did, haha.

I experimented with the same mods you did, and my experience was very similar to yours, the only differences being our preferences, and that's what I love about this hobby.

thank you

 

[tameral]

Used all my drop points that I got from my 8xx purchase awhile back (699$ sale) to get a pair of these Koss KPH 30i headphones for free.

They are a lot of fun and have a deserving place in my collection.

 

[urls]

I made an EQ preset for the KPH30i! How does it sound to you guys? Any adjustments I should make?

Spoiler

Preamp: -2.1 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 63 Hz Gain -0.7 dB Q 2
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 110 Hz Gain -4.5 dB Q 0.6
Filter 3: ON LSC Fc 178 Hz Gain -0.2 dB Q 0.2
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 190 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 3
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 265 Hz Gain -1.1 dB Q 3
Filter 6: ON LSC Fc 310 Hz Gain 0.2 dB Q 3
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain -0.8 dB Q 1.6
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 2200 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 1.5
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 2360 Hz Gain -0.6 dB Q 4
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 2650 Hz Gain 0.6 dB Q 5
Filter 11: ON PK Fc 2760 Hz Gain -0.4 dB Q 6
Filter 12: ON PK Fc 2800 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 1.4
Filter 13: ON PK Fc 2860 Hz Gain 1.2 dB Q 3.2
Filter 14: ON PK Fc 3270 Hz Gain -0.8 dB Q 7
Filter 15: ON PK Fc 3400 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 4
Filter 16: ON PK Fc 5040 Hz Gain -5.8 dB Q 1.9
Filter 17: ON PK Fc 6300 Hz Gain 3.1 dB Q 4
Filter 18: ON PK Fc 6400 Hz Gain 2.9 dB Q 0.5
Filter 19: ON PK Fc 9600 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 0.9

 

[Shane D]

I just entered the small Koss world. I say that because I did have the Koss E95X from Drop a long time ago.

I now own the KPH30ik's in grey. Wow, do they sound good! Nice range and pretty decent bass. Ran them off my LG V30 phone. Had to turn the volume down to 12. I tend to be a quiet listener.
Shuffle picked one pop song, one rock song and one jazz piece. They all sounded really good.

I now get the Koss love. I am in Canada and my landed cost was about $51.00 from Amazon, including a three year warranty for $5.00. Repair or replace, including shipping. I know they have a lifetime warranty, but I am assuming that includes me sending them down to the US. And that is not cheap.

 

[waynes world]

I just entered the small Koss world. I say that because I did have the Koss E95X from Drop a long time ago.

I now own the KPH30ik's in grey. Wow, do they sound good! Nice range and pretty decent bass. Ran them off my LG V30 phone. Had to turn the volume down to 12. I tend to be a quiet listener.
Shuffle picked one pop song, one rock song and one jazz piece. They all sounded really good.

I now get the Koss love. I am in Canada and my landed cost was about $51.00 from Amazon, including a three year warranty for $5.00. Repair or replace, including shipping. I know they have a lifetime warranty, but I am assuming that includes me sending them down to the US. And that is not cheap.

Yes, the Koss world is a fun one! Welcome!

The KPH30's even sound better (imo) by replacing the stock pads with the grado pads (as posted about in this thread). But the grado pads make them look ridiculous, which is why I have two pairs (one with stock and one with grado's).

My main issue with the KPH30's is that the headband extenders break off the main headband easily (it's simply not worth it for me to send them back, as I'm also in Canada).

I think the KPH40's would be more durable (and I like their looks and design better), so I'll probably snag a pair of them someday.

 

[Shane D]

Yes, the Koss world is a fun one! Welcome!

The KPH30's even sound better (imo) by replacing the stock pads with the grado pads (as posted about in this thread). But the grado pads make them look ridiculous, which is why I have two pairs (one with stock and one with grado's).

My main issue with the KPH30's is that the headband extenders break off the main headband easily (it's simply not worth it for me to send them back, as I'm also in Canada).

I think the KPH40's would be more durable (and I like their looks and design better), so I'll probably snag a pair of them someday.

I looked at those, but the KPH30's looked pretty solid and I don't see me needing the extra interface cables. Time will tell.

Pretty impressive for a cheapie.

 

[Z Saber]

I've got a Rhythm Beige KPH30i and a Clear KPH30i. I have a set of Yaxis and a set of the Geekria fake Grado pads on the way.

Now I just need to decide which gets which.

I want to keep the back foam pads in the Beige since that's the major differentiator between the two. Both sets are getting the stock foam ear pads removed.

Any thoughts?

 

[Cheesebuggah]

I've got a Rhythm Beige KPH30i and a Clear KPH30i. I have a set of Yaxis and a set of the Geekria fake Grado pads on the way.

Now I just need to decide which gets which.

I want to keep the back foam pads in the Beige since that's the major differentiator between the two. Both sets are getting the stock foam ear pads removed.

Any thoughts?

My ideal Rhythm Beige KPH30i is with Red and Blue Yaxis. Seriously, just check out this image but u/ustinj from r/headphones:

Rhythm Beige with black Yaxis also look attractive, especially with the larger earpads and matching suspension band. You can't go wrong with brown and black! In the end, it depends on which pads are sonically your favorite and whether or not you want one great looking set or two arguably lesser looking sets. I wear glasses and I found the fake Grado pads uncomfortable.

 

[Z Saber]

My ideal Rhythm Beige KPH30i is with Red and Blue Yaxis. Seriously, just check out this image but u/ustinj from r/headphones:


Rhythm Beige with black Yaxis also look attractive, especially with the larger earpads and matching suspension band. You can't go wrong with brown and black! In the end, it depends on which pads are sonically your favorite and whether or not you want one great looking set or two arguably lesser looking sets. I wear glasses and I found the fake Grado pads uncomfortable.

Got the Geekria pads today and removed the Clear pads. I think I'll probably do what you are suggesting, which is likely what I was going to do anyway, but I appreciate the response. Was just feeling indecisive yesterday.