I started a return but kept it anyway. Gently go over dust, then you can buff it a little harder. Its horrid, and not something Ive had any issue with, with other brands of drives. Theyre lovely, the wood is sturdy, good finish, looks natural, fits all major large full size headphones no problem without over-doing the separation. kind of an in between color. The U bolts are very short. Slides are not supposed to hurt. I like that they use the Smart Life App and integrate into Alexa very easily. How could I pass up this tremendous sale?? Am I ever so happy to have these. The memory foam compresses well, and expands slowly so you can easily insert them into your ear and wait for them to expand (that does take a few seconds, which is also a minor irritant, but for the results Ill take it.