So it IS normal. Thanks.
Here are the photos:

So everyone is leaning towards genuine.
Can you help me get rid of the hissing sounds?
The first time I take the phone out to test it out was after 24 hours of breaking-in using BurnInWaveGenerator with pink noise at normal hearing level (to me), that is when I noticed the hissing sound. Now, after 50 hours, the phone just hisses more and more badly. Am I doing it wrong?

Anyone?

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where are you from?

I'm from Viet Nam.

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several ways to remove the hissing sound. get a dedicated usb dac/sound card. I had to do that with my laptop.
or get a attenuator. It basically increases impedence and it filters the low hissing sound out. The downside is that you must crank up the volume, and many people say it reduces the sound quality.
I use the UE aircraft attenuator on my work computer.

I'm using the phone with Sansa Clip now. So I guess getting a dedicated sound card is out of the question. Could you send me a picture of the attenuator you mentioned?
It's funny though. I plug the phone in my Lenovo Y430 laptop or my Sansa Clip and there goes the hissing, but when I plug it in my Asus EeePC 4G Surf and bang, no hissing at all!! Does this mean the EeePC has a better sound chip (which I really doubt)?

this hissing is just strange.

laptop is hissing. ok. but a sansa clip shouldn't hiss really.
and then you have this Asus thing which is dead quiet...

My ipod with stock firmware goes nuts with the hissing and clicking too, but with rockbox it is perfectly quiet.
With laptops, it depends more on how the sound card circuitry is routed. On my HP laptop, the sound card is actually on a separate board and has no hiss, while my primary laptops they are integrated and have varying degrees of hiss.
As for the UE attenuator, the best pic I can find via a quick google is:
http://shopper.cnet.com/sc/33059017-2-300-DT1.gif
It's that black cord with the thick end, and the 3.5mm male right angle plug. It adds ~115ohm which is a LOT. I'm sure one of the many UE owners here can post a better pic.

But since you are using a sansa clip, I'm going to assume portability is key. In that case try to find another clip and compare.
How noticeable is the hissing? when nothing is playing? or you can hear it even through loud music?

But unfortunately Sansa Clip is not supported by RockBox
The hissing is not very noticeable when there's music or vocal. When a song is still playing but no music nor vocal, it's like an aerosol can is being sprayed
After more breaking-in, there's less hissing now (but still there). I can enjoy my films more comfortably now
Oh, and this time, I broke-in the phone by playing my music at normal listening level. Does this make a big difference at all?

I've edited the picture showing where the 'bumps' on my Senn are and also have posted a picture of it without the silicon tip. Please check them out.

I just got some titanum CX500's from Amazon marketplace. I'm trying to work out if they are fake. The strangest thing is that the supplied earbuds, the ones that are actually mounted already, are rounded - same as in this product pic . BUT the other ear supplied ear pieces are double-sealing types - two sealing surfaces not plain rounded. Also, there is only one of each size (s/m/l). I thought they might be two stuck together, but no, there is ONE of each size!?

Anyhow, I though that a good way to tell differences between original and fake (if you have the means) would be to measure the resistance at the plug. You'd have to do this with the volume control at max and probably at min to be sure. This would likely show if there is a different driver being used in the earpiece.

My "CX500" wording looks the same as the previous posters y-split. With a rounded 'C' and no gap between 'CX' and '500'.

I'll post some pics and take some resistance readings when I get home...

They also sound a bit... um... so-so. I'll compare to some HD-25's I have at home later.

As far as I know, the CX500 should come with both single and double flanged silicon tips, so I wouldn't worry about that.

I'm sure you already have the impedance for the real CX500s to compare to, but I thought I should share this graph anyway.



Source: http://fuchinove.chillout.jp/page015.html

>> I'm sure you already have the impedance for the real CX500s to compare to,

I was just going to measure the DC resistance as it's simple to do and for A/B comparison, and should be good enough I reckon. Do you know the what the DC resistance is across the plug terminals with volume as min and max?

Unfortunately, I don't, although I do remember seeing a "spotting a fake" guide that may have had those numbers. Personally, I don't have a whole of expertise in the technical aspects of headphones; I just find the graphs interesting.

With that said, I hope your CX500s are the real deal.