I think so - other's don't like them. I will say the vibrations bugged me enough to swap out the case. I also think maybe a 16" bar is too much for a 35cc saw, although it will certainly pull it.
That's up to you, although all I really did to the saw was to grind that small notch in the piston skirt and a muffler mod, which is pretty simple as mods go. I did not even take the piston of the rod, just wrapped a rag around the engine under piston when I ground it, removed that carefully and blew the remaining chips off with an air hose.
I can't really quantify the power increase as the muffler was already modified when I started, but it was sure noticeable. I also can't say how much of it was due to the muffler vs. the longer intake duration. Maybe just clean it up and open up the muffler for your first mod and see how that goes?