Burn in

To burn them in just play music (or pinknoise is what I use) at a little above listening level (make sure not to play them too loud or you can damage the drivers). I generally let them play throughout the day and unplug them at night though I haven't found a set formula. As for burn in it's not a universally accepted phenomenon. I believe in it somewhat but I feel that some combination of you getting used to the sound sig and the cans themselves changing though there is no agreement on it. Also no idea on how long. I would imagine you would notice the most differences early on but giving them 100-150 hours should allow them to settle if they do change.

Edited by NapalmK - 7/15/10 at 7:26pm

It doesn't have to be continuous. Tbh, the first 50 hours = the most substantial improvement / difference. 

Don't worry about it. Most of the "burn in" talk is local folklore and superstition. Just listen to your headphones and don't waste your time with the various methods. I've never bothered with anything I own and everything has sounded great from the first hour of listening.

You can burn-in phones fine just by listening to them.  The key is not pushing them too hard out of the box and potentially damaging the driver w/ clipping sources.  I usually just play my SQ playlist at about 30% through the phones for a few hours then let them rest for an hour or two.  Continue at 30%or move on to 60% depending on the delicacy of the phone the rest of the day and shut it down before bed.  When I wake up the next day everything should have settled down a bit (annealing, hardening, etc.) and repeat the cycle at 60% or 80% depending.  I start listening at the 60% stage and don't exceed 80% while breaking them in since thats where I might get clipping.  After that I usually give them 1 day off and then treat em normal.  That's just my method.  It varies based on what I paid for the phones, lol.  

 

The point is to just let a newly manufactured object settle into its functional state w/o damaging it.  Sound Quality may or may not be a by product depending, you may like it better before or after or notice nothing.  The headphone will appreciate it though.  

Edited by Anaxilus - 7/15/10 at 8:45pm

I will surprise everyone here who is familiar with my post and those of Uncle Erik, and sorta agree with him!

While I do believe in burn in, I would agree with Erik in that you should just listen to your headphones and not worry about it. If you hear a difference, then you'll be able to actually hear it yourself. If not, then you have the proof you, YOU need to show it doesn't exist.

So Just enjoy it and let the music flow.

Yeah, break-in happens.

Sure you can pump pinknoise through them, but that's a waste of electricity and not much fun.

 

Like has been said, just listen to 'em. Not too loud. Enjoy the change.

 

shane

I don't believe in Santa, or Jesus, or Moses or Muhammad.  I don't believe in the Easter Bunny or the Lottery.  I don't even believe in the power of magic cables.  But I do believe in burn-in.  I can't explain it or defend it.  I can't measure it or prove it.  All I really know is that my headphones sound better after they've been used for a while.

Let me know if you want measurements and a scientific explanation.  I believe in the same things you do, we should start a political party!  

No definitive time for burn-in, but around 100 hours?  If I mistreat an earphone during the burn-in period, is its performance degraded?

There's no consensus on whether burn-in is physical or merely psychological, though "psychological" deserves its share of respect.  When you get a new pair of glasses, it can take time to adjust to the new prescription.  That's not "psychological" so much as a processing issue with your brain.  You can experience this if you A/B too many headphones in rapid succession.  Your brain will actually get confused and everything will sound terrible.

 

On the other hand, many of us have noticed that our headphones sound better after a certain number of hours of usage.  It's widely believed that running your headphones loosens up the diaphragm a little and actually improves the sound.  There's no science behind this.  No machine ever invented has been able to pick this up, but there are testimonies galore, for what it's worth.

 

Some people get very involved with burning in.  They won't listen to their headphones until they've been "burned in" for hundreds of hours.  Some people think you should crank the volume up to a high but tolerable level.  Some people think you should use pink noise.  A lot of people say you should just wear your headphones and enjoy them.  Whatever the reason, it's common to wake up one day and say, "Wow, this sounds pretty good."

 

Whatever you do, be kind to your headphones.  Running them at really high volumes, especially if there's some really hardcore bass, can damage the diaphragm.  The best judge of volume is your set of ears.  If you're wearing the headphones, you're not going to turn them louder than you can bare - even if you're crazy.  But if you leave your headphones running, and you're not monitoring the volume, it's possible to push the drivers harder than advisable.  You're more likely to "loosen" the driver up in a negative way, and end up with buzzing.  It would be an extreme case where you actually punctured or ruptured the driver, but the best way to avoid that possibility is to use some common sense.

Wrong forum. Should be in Sound Science.