Nice work @Tadgh! I've come quite far on my review and my thoughts are very similar to yours. If you happen to have any earpads around that have bigger opening and fit them give it a try before you ship them off 
Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
peter123
Tadgh
Thanks @peter123! I've taken off the earpads alltogether (as I have no earpads roughly the diameter of the earcups, and I couldn't find a pair at a price I could stomach 
) and found that the bass congestion does indeed clear up to a considerable degree - but I've neglected to leave this out of the review because it's an ass to do, and I figured that I should probably review them as sold - modification of the product not taken into account 
Can't wait to read yours, did you have some earpads to spare with a wider opening? I'd love to hear your experiences in the long run with that modification, I loved the HIOs minus the bass congestion..
) and found that the bass congestion does indeed clear up to a considerable degree - but I've neglected to leave this out of the review because it's an ass to do, and I figured that I should probably review them as sold - modification of the product not taken into account Can't wait to read yours, did you have some earpads to spare with a wider opening? I'd love to hear your experiences in the long run with that modification, I loved the HIOs minus the bass congestion..
