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Cans that need little/no burn-in ?

post #1 of 15
7/10/09 at 10:39pm
Thread Starter 
First, I *am* a believer when it comes to cans like the K601, but the MS1s sound much the same now as I remember them sounding the day I bought them. Luckily, thats a good thing.

Am about 30 minutes into my first hour with a pair of ATH-A500s and, fanboy gaga over new cans aside, I am very happy that these sound so good straight from my Cowon. Needed to turn the Mach3Bass off to stop them pounding my brain with bass, but its definitely a panacea for those times when I find myself wanting just a little more bass.

I think AT do a pretty good job of making cans that can be driven from a DAP and sound good straight up - general impression is that AKG/BeyerDynamic/Sennheiser often need some time for either the phones and/or our ears to adjust, and I know that its a waste of time to try to drive my 601s from anything less than an amp running off mains power.

Granted, the A500s arent in the same price range as many of the harder to drive cans, but they arent Skullcandy either - anyone else have a recommendation for cans that sound great from the first time you pick them up ?
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post #2 of 15
7/10/09 at 10:44pm
Sorry. Almost all good cans require burning them in.

That's the price you have to pay for good headphones.

Actually, ALL good headphones sound great out of the box, but burning makes them sound SOOOOO much better.
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post #3 of 15
7/11/09 at 12:19am
There is no credible evidence whatsoever that any headphone or other transducer needs to be "burned in" for more than a few seconds.
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post #4 of 15
7/11/09 at 12:54am
In highly subjective activities like this, we have to overhaul our concept of "credible evidence", I think. The effects of burn in might be illusory, but that doesn't make them any less perceived.
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post #5 of 15
7/11/09 at 1:16am
Thread Starter 
Does it matter if its our ears or the cans that get 'burnt in' ? It only gets silly when you are wasting 10% of your driver's lifespan with the headphones in a draw on a pink noise loop. I wasnt a believer until I got a couple of hundred hours on the 601s, but without a decent amp under them I doubt that I would ever have warmed to those cans.

For some, the definition of 'good cans' may well coincide with 'hard to drive and need extensive burn-in' : if it came down to a choice between those cans and Sony/Bose, I'm afraid I'd be wearing a pair of Sony headphones. Luckily, its not that clear cut, at least not for me - others mileage may vary.
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post #6 of 15
7/11/09 at 1:30am
I've found that all cans I've owned settled into their own after 10-40 hours max, and with only subtle differences. The only cans I've experienced as benefiting noticeably from extensive burn-in (over 200 hours) were the K701s. The Proline 2500s seemed to do a little better around 80 hours than I'd noticed before, but the differences were too subtle for me to not question my memory of the first 79 hours. I'm not saying my headphones didn't continue to present differences others might hear, but there were none that were evident to me.
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post #7 of 15
7/11/09 at 1:35am
It's true that there's no evidence a headphone needs to be burnt in. There are certainly some high profile members on this forum who are in agreement.

The concept of burn in doesn't make a lot of sense to me. A few seconds should be enough.

However, with my own SE530's I felt that they sounded a lot better after about 50 hours or so. That could be purely psychological, but it made me happier anyways. Free happiness? Sign me up!
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post #8 of 15
7/11/09 at 1:48am
i have had 3 pairs new/old identical headphones due to varying reasons.
2 of them, a senn hd545 and a jvc hag101, had no difference between the old and new sets.
1, a stanton dynaphase 60, had a big sound difference

so... there is and there isnt burn in
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post #9 of 15
7/11/09 at 1:50am
I feel the same as Berlioz and Boomana, I noticed something very vivid with my DT770s around 50 hours, but anything after that I just felt I was becoming more attuned to their sound. My K601s were used, so I didn't expect anything to come out of them, but having listening to them for anywhere from 3 - 5 hours a day for the past few weeks I've had them, I've felt that the bass is becoming scarily more notable although I have no idea how many hours Hifidk put them on them before I bought them.

For years I've been a supporter of burning in with speakers and I feel that the DT770s really have something notable with them, but I can't really give anything definitive about the K601s.
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post #10 of 15
7/11/09 at 2:44am
I have never noticed any changes with any headphones I have owned beyond the requisite 12ish hours to adapt to the temperature and humidity of my home, but I suppose others might.
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post #11 of 15
7/11/09 at 3:48am
Here's my experience:

When I first bought AD700's, was a little disappointed at first. After a few weeks, liked them alot. I thought: "wow, burn-in sure makes a big difference." Sold them because I got HD600's.

A week later, I missed the AD700's so I just bought them again. Listened to them straight out of the box and loved it.

Maybe it was all in my head, or maybe it actually does make a difference. I'll never know.
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post #12 of 15
7/11/09 at 3:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by yourstruly View Post

Maybe it was all in my head, or maybe it actually does make a difference. I'll never know.
YT, I think some of it may have been in your WALLET - ouch !

Seriously, I have put the AD900s on the back burner long enough - compared to the price we pay for so many other cans in Oz, they are a screaming bargain. Only deterrent has been the whole 'bass light' rep, but as you said your ears become accustomed to that. Now, if I want slam bass I have the A500s : win-win !
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post #13 of 15
7/11/09 at 8:06am
I think the grado cans don't require a lot of burning hours. the sound has not changed since the day i got them, and they were new then. the bass got more weight to it after a few days but that all. they are wonderful!

also i heard others people saying this about the grado so i guess it is true.
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post #14 of 15
7/11/09 at 8:34am
I compared a brand new SR225 to several year old unit a while back, couldn't detect any differences.
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post #15 of 15
7/11/09 at 9:01am
I couldn't resolve any burning effect in with my Beyers or the K271 (most of my other cans were 2nd hand).

But my Alessandros were quite spectacular in that respect. Out of the box, they sounded awfully thin and awkward - and I had a burnt in exemplar as reference (works because the MS1 & MS Pro have a quite similar tonality)
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