I haven’t gone back the whole thread to check if anyone has done this mod before, but I basically followed what Z recommended with the Grado pads, but I kept the original foam pads on. But as Z said in his Ultra video, the sound signature became muffled in general albeit the comfort being improved.
The original sound signature for me was exceptional with a bit of piercing in the highs; turns out I’m not much of a treble person (KZ ZS10 Pros murdered my ears). I can’t fathom how it would kill me if I torn off the original pads, yet adding the Grado pads were too muffled. Suspecting that the inner opening of the Grado pads were too small and covered a portion of the KPH30i drivers, I managed to solve the problem by cutting out a larger circumference of the inner side of the Grado pads and the clarity came back with boosted width and bass. Another reason I don’t want to peel off my original pads is because Koss isn’t that available and more expensive in the UK. Blue-White is the only color scheme we have, and the Clears are not available. I got mine from Drop and I’m not gonna risk wrecking this powerhouse.
Now the sound signature of my KPH30i mod sounds like a flat plane containing all frequencies placed around 1.5-2 inches away from my ears with clear separation. Although sound stage isn’t particularly wide, imaging is decent. The good separation of frequencies made them very analytical so to speak. I always use these for Z’s sound demos. I wouldn’t use these for background music though; they’re too analytical and clear they constantly distract me from work.
I own:
(1) Yamaha MT5 (for bassy EDM party music, hip hop, and movies for the imaging and sound stage)
(2) Koss KPH30i (for analytical listening sessions)
(3) Tin T2 (BGM for work)
(4) Enacfire Future Plus Bluetooth IEM (bassy and light for outdoor activities)
(5) Sennheiser HD58x (Just received but not in my possession yet)