Koss KPH30 Wireless Headphones

[Brian Hall]

Saw an article about these coming out. Watched a couple of youtube videos about them. I have the KPH40 headphones and they were great for the price so I decided to order the new KPH30 Bluetooth version for $60.

They were delivered about an hour ago today, took less than an hour to charge to full and I'm listening with them now. Very similar sound to the KPH40 with a little more bass. They are very lightweight and comfortable. The volume can go louder than I would want to listen to with no noticeable distortion. Supposedly have 20 hours of battery life.

As expected, they don't sound quite as good as the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but cost a a lot less. They sound pretty similar to the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Headphones with bass boost turned on.

These are open back headphones and do not have noise canceling. The more I listen with them, the more impressed I am. I'd say they are worth the $60 price.

Here's one of the youtube videos I watched about these:

 

[Jarick]

Just grabbed a pair of these off Amazon over the weekend. So far, not very impressed.

They are light weight and definitely feel more rugged than my old KPH30 wired (RIP, plastic broke). Clamp is a bit high out of the box but the plastic should loosen up a bit. Doesn't seem as bad after a few hours of usage. Comfort seems decent on the ears, pads aren't too scratchy.

Biggest issue, sound is pretty muffled in critical midrange frequencies. Listening to podcasts and it's hard to make out what they are saying. Some podcasts it sounds like they are wearing dentures that are constantly falling out or covering their mouths up. Music, same thing, vocals are muffled and there's not a lot of high end clarity. The rest of the sound is fine, nice warm tonality but not all that impressive.

Comparing to my KPH40, it's similar tonality with noticeably less clarity. I think I replaced the pads on my KPH40 with Yaxi pads though. It's possible different pads could help the KPH30. If I lift the pads slightly off my ears, the high end seems to clear up. I'm pretty sure I tossed out those Grado pads people like to put on Koss headphones as I never liked the sound, feel, or look of those ridiculous things. Anyways, the Yaxi pads are way too small for the KPH30 wireless so I can't try those here.

The other big issue is that the lowest volume setting is too loud. I like to listen at reasonably low volumes because I have pretty bad tinnitus and some hearing loss, and I just don't like anything loud anymore. I generally listen at conversation level or just below that. The lowest volume on the Koss is about my normal listening volume so there's very little wiggle room for loud sources. What's interesting though is that the next notch isn't twice as loud. It's like it goes from 0% volume to 40% volume to 50% volume on the first few clicks. I can also say that from my phone if the volume is at 40% there's no way I could stand that level of volume.

It's a bummer as I think a lightweight Koss bluetooth headphone would be great. I used those cheap JLab Koss lookalikes for a long time and really liked those when I needed on ear bluetooth. Ditched them for Airpods Pro 2 a while back though, and the Airpods are miles better than the Koss. So I'll probably try to return these.

 

[Jarick]

Quick update - I saw a recommendation for a replacement pad from "Geekria" which is available on Amazon for about $10. I got a set and they do offer a slight improvement. They are slightly thicker which pulls them off the ear a bit, reducing the volume and low end a bit, which makes the treble more apparent (basically the dynamic microphone proximity effect in reverse). It doesn't fix the issues but improves by maybe 15% or so.

Factory pads are much easier to remove and swap than the old KPH30 which would tear apart, and it's reversible. The replacement pads are perfectly sized so no slop, plus you can still use the controls. Basically no downside outside $10, so worth a shot. For some the comfort may be better, I think it's probably a push.

You can find them on Amazon searching "Geekria Grado SR60" - they have a cutout in the middle. Just double check the model as the brand offers a few Grado pads.