I got my pair of these today, and they sound great, but they STINK. Itâs just the earpads but it scares me to use them. I canât find any signs that theyâre used. Do your pairs stink too?
If I remember this correctly, I donât think my unit was smelly, it smelled like any other factory new smell. Maybe if the smell bothers you, you can contact the seller for a new unit.
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Same here, normal smell. Then again, I actually do like the smell of modeling cement and CA glueâŠ
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Best way I can describe the smell is really really bitter barbeque sauce
couple of sets here and nothing now nor do I ever remember anything other than new car plastic smell⊠I would be doing a return for exchange thing right about now.
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Might have been the warehouse it was stored in. Does the inside of the box smell?
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Why do I enjoy these waaaay more than the Starfields? I thought those will be my end all be all but I switched back to these after a few weeks of not using them and music literally came to life! Funny how on paper these should be inferior but in reality I prefer them way more. Might be selling my starfieldsâŠ
Got a new pair today from the retro bundle and it can confirm it smells like that lmao.
Not a strong smell for me though, I really have to be sniffing it to smell it.
Already threw it away so I canât check
Yeah the smell is a lot weaker now, I have to have the earpads right up my nose in order to smell it now
I have my box with me. My box does not smell at all like the actual headphones.
Oddly, neither the Pro 4AA or Porta Pro smell as weird as the KPH30i. Funny.
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Oh yeah, definitely the ear pads. I was smelling the plastic, and itâs very faint from there.
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I used to think KPH30iâs were a little brighter than Porta Pros, but I think otherwise now. Notably less treble sparkle than my modded Porta Pro and stock Porta Pro LE. I would say sound is a bit more veiled as well. Still a very pleasing sound. 
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What I found is the kph30i are somehow darker but still sibilant while the porta pros are a bit brighter but not sibilant. Same goes for bass. The kph30i are muddy and bloated while the porta pros are relatively clear and balanced while having a similar quantity of bass.
(my standard disclaimer that my kph30i my be lemons because I hate them as much as people like Zeos seem to love them and it doesnât make sense to me sometimes)
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You could give the Kramer mod a go. Just go slow. Every video I watched on the KSC75 mod before I did it, the first thing they did was drill a big hole in the middle, then complain it was too sharp.
Have a good long listen first, identify the areas that seem to be lacking (Lennonâs solo albums led me to fix the crater in the mids on my 75s, could barely hear his voice before), then drill one hole and listen, advancing only if you need to.
If you mess it up you can always buy a pair of KSC75s for a replacement grill, they all use the same one. Shame they donât all use the same headband mount.
Gosh this headphone really is weird. Porta Pro is cool and all, but this really is âââââââââ. I wasnât able to appreciate it fully when I first tried it along with my first Porta Pro. Now that Iâve had one to keep for several days, I feel like I really get what the KPH30i is about.
If I try to critically listen, I can clearly tell it is lacking in resolution and awfully dark for my taste. But damn, it just somehow always seems to sound good when I let my mind wander off with the music or get preoccupied with other activities. To me, itâs not headphones for the sake of enjoying it as headphones, but for the sake of actually enjoying music.
Iâm jusy going to keep mine (maybe Iâll mod a second pair) stock. I definitely can make them sound better and feel better with mods, but⊠why would I need to. Itâs like modded Miata vs stock Miata. Modded is great, but there is just something about being able to accept stock for all its strengths and weakness and simply enjoy the pureness of the experience.
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Just sold them on ebay to someone that will get more use out of them than I would have.
They are a great budget set, and can really hold their own, but I already own the PX-100 II, which to me are the absolute king of budget headphones. They do everything better than the Koss range, which just shows how impressive they really are as that is no easy feat.
Still, if you want a cheap, great sounding pair of headphones, you really canât go wrong with these. They make shit like the Grado range even more laughable.
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I bought a couple sets of Yaxi Pads back in March and have been enjoying the sound a lot. To my ears they have a great balanced sound across the board.
I was bored so I picked up a set of the Grado pads along with some HD 25 pads and did some tinkering yesterday. So far I have not been able to match the sound I get with the Yaxiâs.
Luckily they only cost me $20 so I am not going to sweat that part of it. I need to do some more brainstorming to see what other things I can try that might get these sounding better.
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I may have to get Yaxis just because the stock pads are permanently indented with my ear shape after only 5 days 
Definitely less comfortable now than on day one now that the pads donât exactly cushion the main pressure points on the ear.
Yaxis donât change sound much, yes?
The stock Koss pads are so rough. I bought a big bag of cheapo pads for $5 and theyâre sooo much softer and donât rip on the teeth. Yaxiâs are like little pillows.