This is what I use on my KPH30iās, stock pads, no mods. I think they sound pretty damn good out of the box and I think my settings are just modest tweaks. Iām on a Mac so I route all my audio through AudioUnits, and I find the KPH30iās respond really well on the 31-band.
Hereās my logic behind my settings:
I pump up the 50Hz for some bass impact and body
Decrease the 125-160Hz a little bit to remove some of the boominess and bring more clarity to the low end
Push up the 500Hz range to bring vocals a little bit more forward and present
Push down the 2k range to mitigate some of the shoutiness
Push up the 16k range to add some sparkle, clarity and presence
I find my settings really adds life and naturalism to the KPH30i stock configuration. For me, with the EQ they rival my Sennheiser HD58x, which has only a very slight edge in soundstage and clarity. The KPH30i makes up for it in bass quantity, where I find the HD58x is detailed in bass but lacking in oomph. I listen to everything, from rock to orchestral, jazz, hip hop, EDM, etc., and I find my settings sound pretty good for most music.
My setup: Foobar2000 (Crossover on Mac) > SoundSource (AUGraphicEQ) > Topping D30 > JDS Atom
I already had the sennheiser cable and it TOTALLY works, im planning on getting the connectors from amazon to make my own shorter cable but thats a while down the road
i have NOT tested phasing on the new fantasia cable but that MAY be an issue
FINALLY did the ultra mod with the grado pads. Iām kind of liking the sound with original pads taken off, the foam backing inside placed in front of the speaker inside the grado pads. In this setup Iām getting a little more sparkly but iām getting some great definition on bass while not totally losing the slight boom to some of it. Especially in something like Hot Summer Night by Jimi Hendrix itās clear these are what I probably want to listen to.
Christmas presents for the family might have to be some modded kph30i
I know Iām probably saying nothing new, but I finally got a pair of these on Black Friday for $20 and they are one of the most fun pair of headphones I have (up there with my meze 99 classics). I held off doing the ultra mod for a bit, but it just made them even better! They make everything I throw at them fun to listen to.
Left the pair I got Friday to burn in through this morning, and figured Iād give them a go running off my Fiio M5. It may simply be Iāve experienced more technically accurate products, but I donāt find myself being blown away. Donāt get me wrong, they arenāt badā¦ Iām just not getting that āOh my God, this is incredible!ā kinda reaction. As weird as it sounds, I kinda like my 5XX more. The 5XX isnāt close to my favorite, but I like it a bit more then I like these.
These feel more like a āgood enoughā kinda headphone
I disliked the KPH30i normal or ultra modded due to being too uncomfortable to wear for more than ~30 minutes while PortaPros/KSC75 are fine for me. They just didnāt sound good enough for me to try to find a way to make it work out, especially when I knew that the plastic is a ticking time bomb.
The problem is, it has been a few weeks since Iāve listened to any other headphones. Mostly itās been the Sony WF-1000XM3 and Edifier TWS1 PRO, which are both tws, I tend to use at work and around the house, not when doing critical listeningā¦ and yet I prefer both over the KPH30i. This isnāt even taking into account comfort, or all the nit picking problems I have with the Sony. On a āhow does it sound with how have I used themā I donāt care for the Koss as much.
I think price and appearance setting expectations have a massive amount to do with the deserved hype-train. I also find them uncomfortable, mitigated some with Yaxi pads. My friend did an āultraā mod and his were incredibly comfy to me, but they also brokeish (lot of pressure on them with that mod). Theyāre my grocery shopping/yardwork headphones. Theyāre my soul headphones, great in that type of mid-bass heavy genre. Youāre comparing these to $200 planar magnetic cans, they cost $20, of course. But, youāre not the unsuspecting person that is thinking āyeah rightā when your friend throws KPHās at you and are like āg0t damnā when you hear them. You are 690 messages into a hypethread on a strange corner of the internet ā so expectations are big and thusly they underwhelm.
The price and appearance arenāt that big a thing to me. I never said I found them uncomfortable. Iāve compared them to all the other headphones I have, including my Porta Pros, and my IEMs. Out of everything I still have, the Blon BL02 are still what I like the least. I use them less then the 1More Piston Fit, and I rarely touch those anymore. Whatās bad to me, my enjoyment wasnāt that much more then the 1More. Again, this could be my exposure to much more technically capable hardware, setting a higher standard in my psyche. I will acknowledge that, but I do not look at things in a sense of āwhat did you cost meā rather then a āhow much pleasure do I get from youā perspective. These just donāt do it for me. They arenāt badā¦ They just donāt give me a level of enjoyment that makes me want more.
I like them for certain types of music. Eric Clapton 24 Nights sounds great with them, and I am guessing the less than perfect nature is great for a lot live music. But they sound weird if I am going from a day of listening to stuff on the 7Hz Timeless, which is a very precise magnetic planar IEM that is a bit more upscale.
Iām more coming from being used to a couple different pairs of tws IEMs: Sony WF1000XM3 and Edifier TWS1 Pro. Iāll admit, the Sony is better tuned, and more technically capableā¦ However I prefer the Edifier thanks to all the problems I have with the Sony on a form and function stand point that kinda kills my enjoyment. Then I move to the Koss, and Iāve tried the Nier:Automata orchestral arrangement, Sugao by Tsukimiya Midori, Cephid, Elvis, Galdive, Geoxor, Ghost Data, Human by Rag-n-bone Man, Trivium, Changes by Charles Bradleyā¦ Nothing stuck. Nothing. I was honestly left disappointed that I got no enjoyment from them. No desire to keep listening, wanting to hear more.
Headphones in general cannot compete with IEMs, not only KPH30iā¦ Headphones in most cases only win in the sound stage sector, so if youāre really used to IEM sound, of course KPH30i will sound lackluster to you.
The only headphone that sounded like a IEM for me was the 1More Triple-Driver Over-Ear, at the expense of width.
Then itās just a preference thing, maybe itās just a pity that it doesnāt pair well with your ears There are comments out there that say they prefer Porta Pro signature over KPH30i heavily, maybe youāre in that camp.
If you like a āfunā sound that is accurate, with a mid-bass bump that can compliment large swaths of music and only improve with mods, then the kph30is are standouts. If you want technical perfection and accuracy then some 20$ plastic bois are not going to do it for ya, especially if you arenāt tickled by the performance vs cost factor
Add me to the list of people with a broken headband. I think the plastic may have become brittle from being left in a dry environment for long time. Anyway if you want to preserve your headband, be careful how much you flex it.
There are comments out there that say they prefer Porta Pro signature over KPH30i heavily, maybe youāre in that camp.