[Nick-s-f]

The back of the driver on kph30i looks identical to the porta pro, as seen in the dismantled pic a few posts back.

 

[lgcubana]

Crazy pad experiment with kph30i!


Pads are cheap not-genuine Grado G cushions, and they fit quite well actually. Of course little cut for cable would be necessary but these are for my Grados so I won't be doing that. But oh boy how they sound! Much bigger soundstage width and depth, whole sound is more clear since there's nothing covering the grill. Surprisingly sound signature is still pretty much the same but less veiled. Bass is very clean and punchy! I really might have to buy another set of these pads, just for kph30i.

Thanks for taking the flyer on this combo.

My initial affection for the Koss' was out weighed by the discomfort of the over ear pressure that was created at the top of my ears. I did buy the recommended Yaxi pads; but doing a dry fit with them, I found that the same pressure was present, so I shelved the Koss'.

I found a comparable pair of 3rd party, Grado foams on Amazon, with one day shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071VXQNR9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I opted to keep the original foam and overlay the Grado foams, Very happy to report that the new setup alleviates all of the afore mentioned discomfort. The only negative: I have to play the KPH30i at full volume on my iPad. I'll try an amp this weekend.

 

[ilmothedude]

Thanks for taking the flyer on this combo.

My initial affection for the Koss' was out weighed by the discomfort of the over ear pressure that was created at the top of my ears. I did buy the recommended Yaxi pads; but doing a dry fit with them, I found that the same pressure was present, so I shelved the Koss'.

I found a comparable pair of 3rd party, Grado foams on Amazon, with one day shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071VXQNR9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I opted to keep the original foam and overlay the Grado foams, Very happy to report that the new setup alleviates all of the afore mentioned discomfort. The only negative: I have to play the KPH30i at full volume on my iPad. I'll try an amp this weekend.

Looks great! I also found the clamp force a bit too strong on brand new kph30i, so I applied heat from my oil lamp while bending the headband. With that trick kph30i became pretty comfy with stock pads. Too high clamping force also tends to muffle the sound.

 

[ilmothedude]

I did not realize that the drivers are the same as the portapros. I have the sportapros (on PE headband), and I thought they sound different, but as this person put it.. "The sound of this driver changes significantly depending on clamping force and positioning on the ear". That is obviously true!

I believe that backing of driver affects the sound a lot aswell. On kph30i there's foam and whole driver is inside shell, whereas on portapro driver isn't inside shell at all. But portapro and sportapro have plastic plates behind the drivers, which affects the sound differently. In theory I would think that PE headband is the best because it leaves driver back vents most uncovered. It's logical that kph30i and sportapro on PE sound different due backing differences even though driver is exactly same.

 

[ilmothedude]

I did a little comparison with and without driver backing foam on kph30i. I first removed other side and compared it against foamed side with channel balance control. Seems like foam causes some veil in treble. Side without backing foam was slightly more refined in treble, bass feels unaffected. Now I have both sides without back foam, and sounds good. Benefits are heard best with songs that have a lot going on, especially with cymbals.

 

[capsilver]

Here's my humble mod. I painted my KPH30i to true black. I love them! Now I'm waiting for those YAXI pads that i ordered.

 

[waynes world]

Here's my humble mod. I painted my KPH30i to true black. I love them! Now I'm waiting for those YAXI pads that i ordered.

Looks great! Sending mine over!

 

[waynes world]

I did a little comparison with and without driver backing foam on kph30i. I first removed other side and compared it against foamed side with channel balance control. Seems like foam causes some veil in treble. Side without backing foam was slightly more refined in treble, bass feels unaffected. Now I have both sides without back foam, and sounds good. Benefits are heard best with songs that have a lot going on, especially with cymbals.

So what you're saying is that I now need to rip mine apart and remove the foam backing, right? Will be done!

 

[ilmothedude]

So what you're saying is that I now need to rip mine apart and remove the foam backing, right? Will be done!

Yeah pretty much . But taking them apart is pretty easy when no pads are installed! First disassembly though is more or less ripping apart!

 

[waynes world]

Yeah pretty much . But taking them apart is pretty easy when no pads are installed! First disassembly though is more or less ripping apart!

Easy if you've done it before, or if you're not stupid and impatient lol! I managed to break the bottom tab on one side, and almost managed to break the wire between the driver and the inside cover. But that bottom tab is not really necessary, and I didn't break the wire, so we're good.

So for all you boys and girls out there that are itching to separate the inner and outer covers so that you can remove the foam....

- put a small flat head screwdriver beside a tab and turn the screwdriver, forcing the tab away from the latch. You can then fairly easily unhook the cover at that tab point

- be careful when working on the bottom tab, because that is where the driver wire is attached. There is about 1.5 cm of play, so you want to be careful when you get that bottom tab unhooked.

Once the inner and outer covers are separated, it's just a matter of pulling out the foam that is in the outer cover, and then clicking back the covers.

Now for some listening to make sure this wasn't all a horrible mistake!

Edit: OK, that sounds really good. You should be in charge of their product development!

 

[ilmothedude]

I believe that backing foam is in kph30i just to make it sound different from portapro, and/or to reduce sound leakage. Or it's just there to mask the outer shell holes. It would be interesting to compare portapro with G pads, and kph30i with G pads and without foams. How much difference would different backing shell structure make. I can't recall if driver front grill holes are similiar between the two. My whole hifi hobby pretty much started with portapro modding back in 2009 I believe, and I remember well how great effect driver grill mod (kramer mod) made. This isn't really an option in kph30i as driver grill is glued to driver housing. But then again I really don't feel the need to do it, as I find the sound very open and "freely flowing" on kph30i. It's amazing how I was amazed the sound of these drivers in portapro, with my untrained ears ten years ago, and here I am today appreciating the sound of same drivers in kph30i with my a lot more trained and experienced ears. Thank you Koss.

 

[chellity]

wow, those 3rd party grado pads need to be a headfi must have they sound great on the kph30i, in all regards....especially comfort!

 

[waynes world]

wow, those 3rd party grado pads need to be a headfi must have they sound great on the kph30i, in all regards....especially comfort!

Yes! The kph30i's + huGe pads are somewhat funny to look at, but they rock! I really do love how light they are, and how they sound. Definitely amazing bang for buck.

 

[minty1]

has anyone tried punching holes in the driver grills or figured out a way to remove the grill yet? been wanting to mess around with a couple of pairs that I bought.

 

[minty1]

yaxi pads, rewired, mmcx, and removing the foam from inside of the driver removed a bit of the veil which was mentioned by a couple of the members in this thread.