Originally Posted by ignite600
smashing it with a hammer normally helps

I totally tried this....damn, it didn't work
Just to let everyone know, the headphones were defective. I bought them for $7x.xx something on ebay so I wasn't too shocked (though the other 9 people who bought the same pair from him had zero problems). So, I just went to apple and spent $120 on another pair and did a little switch-a-roo and took them back for a refund. Now, they work great