Holy crap you put a lot of work in this lol... Hopefully if anyone has a ur-55 they end up reading this, it sounds like its a pretty big improvement.   Also, you have way too many low end phones 

If I understood what you did right (I just read through it quickly) you basically turned these into an open headphone from a semi-open, that would explain all the differences you noticed.   Since most mods usually involve removing something from the headphone, I have to wonder if just having...

This is like asking if you get into a fender bender with a pole and are now asking if your car's performance will be lower.  It's quite literally impossible for us to answer that question, did the fender bender significantly reduce aerodynamics?  Did it damage your air intake?  etc.  Even if you...

My RE0's just came in a couple hours ago, the very first thing I noticed is these things seriously need an amp.  I had bought a Fiio E3 with it, and without it, it just literally doesn't go loud enough on my computer (don't have my ipod touch around to test it out) to be listen-able.  ...

Quote:   The analogy works perfectly, and I agree that Sennheiser makes awesome looking headphones.  I want to say that the design isn't modern enough, but I'm not sure thats what it really is, they do have a very modern design.  I guess it all comes down to 'bling' lol.  When it comes...

http://www.extremeheadphones.com/ex-29.html  I saw these awhile back and kind of laughed, but it gets the job done!

Did you try using the soldering iron itself to melt off the lacquer?  If that doesn't work, use a lighter.   Either way, after getting it off do your best to remove any more gunk with a cloth or preferably sandpaper.

http://www.headfonia.com/sennheisers-new-hd558-and-hd598/  Take a look here, and there are a couple other reviews on that site for the 558/598 and even a teardown IIRC.   Quote: The general idea is, the higher the number, the better it sounds.   HD200-300 series - these don't...

Quote:     I'm not saying thank them, I'm just saying don't hate them so much.   Ok, since you didn't get it, I'll simplify   iPod buds -> Skullcandy -> Beats   Though the SQ of the skullcandy is absolute trash, they are still marginally better than the ipod buds (referring...

Quote: They would sell it cheaper because they need some way of getting market penetration.  Look at what happened when the android phones were released, suddenly a good smartphone for $99 (on contract) wasn't unheard of.  You could get old blackberries and WinMo 6.1 phones for $99...

Quote: Both bolded points are very true.   Many people don't use an LOD with their ipod, but still amp it anyway.  I've never done this, so I can't say if it increases SQ, but people say it does.   Maybe I should revise my statement a bit then;  if you are looking for noise...

Too much bashing going on, I really feel the need to make a point I'm not sure most people realize.  I'm going to make this a bit of a story, don't hate me.   It wasn't very long ago at all, where I would bet you 50% of the headphones being used in north america were the buds that came with...

There are better sounding headphones than the beats for it's price, but I don't get why people keep saying they're over priced.  The studio version is definitely NOT over priced.  It's an active noise cancelling headphone that comes with an integrated headphone amp.  $299 for noise cancelling...

Quote: Now THATS one of the funnier posts I've read in awhile. lol   This might be one of the best troll threads ever made.  Whether it's fake or not, this thread is awesome.   Also.  Welcome to Head-Fi, we're NOT sorry about your wallet.

EDIT: got my anwser, nevermind.   This is mentioned as a gift on the hifiman.us website but not mentioned on the head-direct.com site.   Do they come with a Fiio E3?  I searched everywhere but can't find an answer, so I'll post it here.