Back in June, I bought myself a pair of Koss KPH30i Headphones. I wanted to use them in the living room, where I watch an inordinate amount of YouTube on my laptop. I didn’t want to use a super expensive pair of headphones in the living room since I’m constantly chasing the cats away from the furniture they’re scratching, letting the dog out, or having to do a number of chores around the house.

These were only a $30 set of headphones, but still sounded great for my needs. I had them hooked up to a Bluetooth dongle so I wouldn’t have to be tethered to my laptop in case I had to get up for the aforementioned cat chasing.

Well, I didn’t have them long because I broke them while trying to put them on my head with one hand. The headphones, not the cats. While the sound is great, the build quality wasn’t designed to withstand someone who treats most of his belongings like they owe me money.

So after the disastrous results of this month’s election, I bought myself a new pair of Koss KPH30i Headphones (affiliate link) as part of some retail therapy. The only problem with the KPH30i is the earpads aren’t exactly the most comfortable. So to combat that problem this time, I also pitched in for a box of Yaxi Earpads. (affiliate link) Not only did the new earpads make the headphones more comfortable, but I think they slightly opened up the sound stage of the headphones for a better experience. However, I am not an audiophile, and your mileage may vary.

I also purchased a rather inexpensive HiBy Bluetooth 5.2 receiver that doubles as a USB DAC. (affiliate link)

All three products total come out to around $85 and provide a quite pleasant listening experience that won’t weigh too heavy on your head or your wallet.

Now, replacing the stock earpads from the KPH30i headphones isn’t as easy as you might think. Unless you’re very adept with some tweezers, the stock earpads will probably be sacrificed to the audio gods while trying to remove them. Not only that, but the wires connected to the drivers are fiddly and can be snapped easily if you’re not careful.

I highly recommend the YouTube guide from Kevin Claus that I used where I was able to replace the earpads with minimal problems.

If you’re thinking about purchasing any of the above products, please consider using the Amazon affiliate links listed above, as they would help out me and the website.

Happy listening.