Burn-in. Real or not? - Page 3

With moving parts, friction is there, so actually there may be a time to obtain the best sound.

For me it is enough to use them and apreciate the sound improves over time, like a fine wine or album that takes its time to reveal the best.

I will prefer to loose time in reaching a good fitting than waiting for a burn-in.

I'd like to add my 2 pennies worth based on my personal experience.

I bought a pair of Pro900 and when I first listened to them, going from my ACS T1 IEM, I found them very, very bright...almost painfully so.

I think the brightness was very evident to me because of being used to the warmth of the T1.

I persevered for a few days but got to point of sending them back as they were just too harsh. However, I decided to give "burn in" a go first. I left them plugged into an amp for a week, playing my entire catalogue of mp3\flac at different volumes throughout the week. In that time, I went back to using my warm T1s.

When I tried the Pro900 again after a week, the first thing I immediately noticed was that the harsh brightness had been tamed. The highs were still there, its just that they were just less harsh and bright.

So personally I do believe that like all new machinery with moving parts, there will be a period of wear\give\bedding\burning\breaking in where the components will loosen up. Does this change the sound signature of headphones? I think it depends on the headphone as to how much this happens or the listener becomes aware of it.

From my experience with the Pro900 - there was a big enough change that I didnt find the highs grating or painful anymore.

In my particular case I dont think the change was just in my head because the headphones were not worn for a week. In that time my ears\mind would have been accustomed to the warmth of the T1s and switching back to the Pro900 would have had the same affect as the initial effect....if they hadnt mellowed.

As an additional, I "feel" that the bass of the Pro900 has also changed for the better with a few hundred hours on them now.

So, all in all, I guess I am believer...although I am not convinced that IEMs contain enough moving components to effect big changes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinyman392 

What if 20 people told you that they have heard the effects of burn in, and they all followed the same pattern?  How about 30?  40?  50?  You've probably heard over 50 people on these forums alone that have stated and plotted out burn in.  They all did it on an individual basis, but it's still 50 people.  It may not be all at once, but it still is 50+ people.  Just keep that one in mind...  Now if you go outside these forums...  Yeah...
 

There are billions of people who believe in one god or another. There's also lots of people who believe they've been abducted by aliens, they've seen a ghost, or they've contacted a dead loved-one via a psychic. I don't believe any of them either despite the numbers.

I believe that burn-in is a meme - an idea virus - that has spread over the past couple of years. The more people who believe in it, the more validity the theory appears to have. 4 or 5 years ago I can't recall anyone discussing burn-in on this forum. Over the past couple of years the idea of burn-in has spread through this forum in particular, but a forum such as this is the perfect breeding ground for a meme such as "burn-in".

tinyman392 mentioned some frequency graphs that show the effects of burn-in ... maybe he could re-post them for us, as my previous exposure to discussion about graphs on this topic suggested that they don't show any evidence of burn-in.

As I've said, show me the evidence and if it's compelling I'll change my opinion.

I only believe in what I hear (lol)

My belief is:
When I had the EX500's they had WAY too much treble, after 50hrs, of physical and mental burn-in, i got used to their sound sig, and the bass shined through

When I had the CX400II again, the bass was boomy and had to soundstage, now it does

When I had the Denon ah-c710, the bass was non existent and often almost sounded like the drivers were broken, after 20hrs, they became less sibilant and the bass was super punchy

When I had the MTPG's the bass was ... meh! and the sound stage was VERY closed in, after 20hrs, they opened up and the bass was not rolled off

When I go the TFTA 1XB's the bass was sooooo HARD that I couldn't listen to them more than 1hr without having my head imagining it was bouncing around in a world of bass, after 10hrs bass turned down, and after 30hrs mids and highs shined through...

I speak of experience rather than the "stuff" i read on the internet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamingbig 

Hi Head-Fi, Dreamingbig here.

 

So I've seen the term "burn-in" a lot around here. I did some research, and I can't find a conclusive answer as to whether it is actually necessary or not. So Head-Fi Community, burn-in, is it real? Or is it just another myth?

 

Burn in is way overhyped. Even if there is a real difference, the difference is real tiny. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikp 

Burn in is way overhyped. Even if there is a real difference, the difference is real tiny. 

LOOL

I believe both Dynamic and BA have the potential to burn in. Example, the TF10s I acquired got better within a few hours of usage. The treble was the biggest change in the TF10 as it smoothed out some and wasn't so harsh, bass seemed to tighten slightly. For me the biggest change in an IEM was the IE8 though and they drastically changed within a 300 hour period. The changes weren't drastic all at once but they continued to change through-out that period (I had 2 new pairs and both burn-ins were slightly different; source also plays a role in this). My former Sony EX1000s were an example of a Dynamic that didn't change much at all but changes were slight. Sound stage widened a bit, treble tamed a bit but was still very sibilant for me. My Denon 5000s treble mellowed out yet still very prominent and bass tightened. Mids also came to life after 300+ hours of use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikp 

Burn in is way overhyped. Even if there is a real difference, the difference is real tiny. 

Really now?  So you're saying entirely changing a signature on an IEM from the deep lows, to the sparkly highs is a tiny change?  I think not.  With burn in of something like the DUNU Hephaes, the bass changed from powerful, to overly powerful, to controled.  The mids went from unaudible to audible to decently detailed....  The high end loss harshness and separation became much better...  Don't tell me that is small...

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinyman392 

Really now?  So you're saying entirely changing a signature on an IEM from the deep lows, to the sparkly highs is a tiny change?  I think not.  With burn in of something like the DUNU Hephaes, the bass changed from powerful, to overly powerful, to controled.  The mids went from unaudible to audible to decently detailed....  The high end loss harshness and separation became much better...  Don't tell me that is small...

I wonder what headphones/IEMs he was using? Ibuds lol?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TCD1975 

Quote:

 

As I've said, show me the evidence and if it's compelling I'll change my opinion.

http://www.vikash.info/audio/audax/

After 50 hours break-in

I give all headphones 100 hours of burn-in before doing a real audition.  I look at it this way:  It can't hurt.  To argue about it is silly, because it's not like whether someone believes in it or not will change whether or not it actually happens.

I find that to be the worst possible thing to do, I prefer to appreciate the difference from stock to nicely burnt in....but what do I know, I'm crazy woooooooo

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbf2cheater 

I find that to be the worst possible thing to do, I prefer to appreciate the difference from stock to nicely burnt in....but what do I know, I'm crazy woooooooo

 

I generally will listen to my headphones/IEMs gradually change over time unless its really bad (my IE7s were really bad and I couldn't stand to listen to them til after 220 hours of burn in).

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee730 

I wonder what headphones/IEMs he was using? Ibuds lol?

I stated in the post (if you read it) that they were the DUNU Hephaes.  Others have also reported similar findings, so you can't just pin point one person. 

I will listen to any headphone burning in over time, even if it's really bad with hopes it'll become better in the next hour :p  LOL.  Of course, some headphones start out terrible and end up terrible like the PureSound flagship (although they did improve, they didn't become listenable for me, they didn't sound right through the entire time I reviewed them).

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinyman392 

I stated in the post (if you read it) that they were the DUNU Hephaes.  Others have also reported similar findings, so you can't just pin point one person. 

Tinyman, I didn't disagree with you. I was talking about the other poster. I very much believe in burn in myself.