Tried this myself on a pair that are falling apart anyway. Similar improvement to what you said... clearer mids, less boomy, more air.  To me the strength of the IE is its rare combination of strong bass and airiness. You gain more airiness with this mod, but you lose some bass... or at least I...

I think I'm gonna get this instead of a Fiio E17, which means I'll need a portable DAC to pair with it (will be using with cheap laptop). Any recommendations?