Brian did an awesome job repairing my GR07's and converting them to use detachable cables. He was also very understanding of a travel commitment, and even expedited the work so the IEM's would come back in time!

Any updates here? Also, is there any information available on the length of the cable? 

Quote: I regularly run my GR07 straight out of the UD100 and have had no problems yet. The same goes for a few other headphones I have. This DAC is USB-powered; it should not have the capability of blowing out a pair of headphones.

For a 4-pin XLR? One ground-signal pair should be going to each RCA. The inner section is signal, the outer ring is ground.

The UD100 sounds great, but is balanced across the board in terms of sound. Bass is tighter, and the highs are clearer with possibly a tad of emphasis. I'd expect the Hifimediy to sound roughly the same. 

And if the plethora of links above do not have what you are looking for, take a meander around Lunashops.com. They have plenty of nice plugs for reasonable prices.

If you look at the second plug you posted, you'll notice that there is a short cylinder of a smaller diameter near the base. That is designed to be used with music players in cases. I believe most Neutrik plugs have them. Also, there's nothing wrong with recabling headphones for use with...

The portable aspect will be very difficult to achieve. Speaker drivers are relatively easy to procure, but not ones that sound decent and are high-enough efficiency to perform off a battery-powered amplifier. Your best bet may be just to buy the Logitech Bluetooth speaker off Amazon.

I typically do not use EQ, but thank you for the tip!

There was some others who reported damping the back, although I believe they used felt. Either way, if I get the time, I may try this.  

Could you post a few impressions on the effects of the damping? I'm considering doing the same to mine.

The HD25 is much livelier than either of those. The R50 or CKN50 may be more suitable.

A really fantastic set of impressions and comparisons! I'm sure many will find your post a great asset! 

The MH1C is great from experience. I've been hearing great things about the VC02 as well. Both are pretty close to your budget.

By pricing (Approximately), not necessarily quality. GR99, GR02, VC02 (New), GR04 (Flagship, Professional), GR06, GR07 (MKI, MKII, Bass edition), GR01, V7007 (Upcoming)   The GR07 (MKI and MKII) is the most highly regarded. The Bass edition is relatively new, and hasn't quite caught on...

You could probably tie up the excess cable, and it wouldn't be too bad. You should also be able to reterminate the cable with very little difficulty. It would literally involve buying a plug (<$10), and spending 10 minutes soldering it on.  I suggest you do not go for the K701 series if you...

You should take a look at the Sabre 9023 based ones such as the UD100 and Hifimediy. Both will run you around $50, and you can then use 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect to your receiver.

Anyways, my UD100 arrived today, and I am quite impressed with the increased fidelity. Most notably, bass is much tighter and puncher, and imaging is miles ahead of the DAC/Amp in my laptop. I am actually running the UD100 without an amplifier at the moment. It has driven my MH1C, K550, and YH-3...

Almost correct. The 1's and 0's first pass through the DAC and become an analog (line-out in this case) signal. This signal gets boosted through the amp, which before reaching your headphones. Unfortunately, I do not believe a LOD via micro-USB works. If you fine something, please let me know...

The 30-pin connector provides a line-out, which means it bypasses the DAC but not the amp amp but not the DAC. In other words, it's an analog signal. This then passes through an amplifier before reaching your headphones.   And yes, the iPhone 4 (and 4s) are much better sounding than the iPod...

Similar to your question.   http://www.head-fi.org/t/644978/the-purpose-of-a-great-amplifier  

TL;DR Headphones will make a much larger difference than amplifiers with your current setup. In most modern audio setups, you have a source, DAC (digital to analog convertor), an amp, and finally the driver (headphone or speakers). There's no need for a DAC if you're already using an analog...

The cable is pretty much the only difference. How it affects sound is still unclear, since different people have had slightly different impressions. However, most agree that any changes are near unnoticeable.   I have not heard the bass edition before, but if you ask in the GR07 thread...

Soundwise they're very similar. However, the cable on the MKII is much more flexible, and also much more attractive (to me). Keep in mind that they both sound rather different than the GR06.

A not quite portable one. To be honest, the iPhone 4 and 4s both have fantastic headphone outs (compared to most MP3 players). And it appears the local Post Office has already received my UD100. I'll post impressions after I listen to it a bit.