When your favorite headphones’ mini jack gets crushed and bent (tragic airplane seat incident), do you throw in the towel? Not I. I spent three tedious hours stripping and re-soldering those tiny plastic-string-cored cables. Word of warning — don’t breathe the fumes that stuff gives off when melted. After attempt number one, left was soldered to right and right was soldered to left. After attempt number two, only the left side worked. Attempt number three finally yielded working headphones with no alligator clips and my classy-looking signature re-soldered together bump of electrical tape on the cable. Sometimes great headphones (sony mdr-7506) are worth the extra time.