[BenF]

ive not really had the chance to listen a lot at the moment prob been a week or so. i presume that as they are now burnt in they will be ok and wont start to get worse if im not listning to them?

With CNT, when not used for a while, the drivers lose their flexibility - so a short burn-in will be beneficial.

 

[BenF]

  ...
Also, I've been using my X3 and it sounds great. Surprised to hear the comments about the E17 and am now wondering if I'm missing something. I'm not sure how similar they are. I've tried the 680's on my Walkman NWZ-Z1060 and Clip+ and I like the X3 quite a bit more.

 
X3 is supposed to be E17 that can play music, but its signature has been tweaked a lot with firmware, so it's hard to say if it really does sound like E17 anymore.
You should try the Hifimediy Sabre DAC, it's cheap enough to take the risk.
It will take a few days for your brain to get used to Sabre, but after that you'll love it.
 
Unless, of course, you like warmer sound signatures - in which case stick with X3.
Actually, if you really enjoy your music right now - may be there is no need to change anything, "perfect" is an enemy of "good".

 

[michaelgordon]

 
With CNT, when not used for a while, the drivers lose their flexibility - so a short burn-in will be beneficial.

Thanks

 

[bcpk]

 
With CNT, when not used for a while, the drivers lose their flexibility - so a short burn-in will be beneficial.

Do you have a source for that?

 

[epithetless]

 
Do you have a source for that?

 
I was wondering the same thing. BenF issues a lot of authoritative-sounding comments about the nature of CNT drivers, but it's unclear where he's gathered his information. Are you referencing any specific documentation, BenF, or making conjectures based on user experience?

 

[BenF]

 
Do you have a source for that?

 
Technically all drivers will lose their flexibility if not used for a long time.
CNT is a material about 25 times more rigid then aluminum, so flexibility doesn't come naturally to it.
That's why it usually takes longer to burn-in a CNT headphone then other ones.
 
Let's say you go to play basketball with your friends - do you stretch before the game? Of course you do.
Now let's say you go to play basketball with your friends again next week - do you stretch again or do you say "I stretched last week"?
Just like your muscles lose their flexibility, so will the driver.

 

[epithetless]

   
Technically all drivers will lose their flexibility if not used for a long time.
CNT is a material about 25 times more rigid then aluminum, so flexibility doesn't come naturally to it.
That's why it usually takes longer to burn-in a CNT headphone then other ones.
 
Let's say you go to play basketball with your friends - do you stretch before the game? Of course you do.
Now let's say you go to play basketball with your friends again next week - do you stretch again or do you say "I stretched last week"?
Just like your muscles lose their flexibility, so will the driver.

 
Granted we're using metaphor as source material here, which is in itself dubious, but I'll bite. One stretches before every basketball game, not just games that are days apart, because every new instance of muscle exertion benefits from it. If that analogy holds, every time you fire up your CNT headphones after a period of inactivity (no matter how short), they will require a new period of driver stretching to be limber again. Which also means that marathon burn-ins are pretty much useless if you ever stop burning them in and let them rest. By your logic, what we should be doing is giving our headphones a stretch session before every use to ensure they're performing in top shape when we listen.
 
In the realm of metaphors, I tend to think of a headphone driver more as a rubber band. When it's inactive, the rubber band remains still but pliable. When it's stretched, the rubber band flexes and then returns to form. Unless it breaks under great duress, the rubber band can do this endlessly without needing pre-stretches or losing its utility.

 

[BenF]

   
Granted we're using metaphor as source material here, which is in itself dubious, but I'll bite. One stretches before every basketball game, not just games that are days apart, because every new instance of muscle exertion benefits from it. If that analogy holds, every time you fire up your CNT headphones after a period of inactivity (no matter how short), they will require a new period of driver stretching to be limber again. Which also means that marathon burn-ins are pretty much useless if you ever stop burning them in and let them rest. By your logic, what we should be doing is giving our headphones a stretch session before every use to ensure they're performing in top shape when we listen.
 
In the realm of metaphors, I tend to think of a headphone driver more as a rubber band. When it's inactive, the rubber band remains still but pliable. When it's stretched, the rubber band flexes and then returns to form. Unless it breaks under great duress, the rubber band can do this endlessly without needing pre-stretches or losing its utility.

Wow, didn't really expect people to take this metaphore to the extremes...

 

[DrunkenTiger]

So for CNT stuff now I have to do regular burn ins to maintain optimal driver flexibility/sound reproduction? XD
Damn, someone should open a massage parlor for audio equipment! "Monthly burn in! Get your yearly membership for 100$ for up to 4 concurrent headphones/IEMs!"

 

[BenF]

  So for CNT stuff now I have to do regular burn ins to maintain optimal driver flexibility/sound reproduction? XD
Damn, someone should open a massage parlor for audio equipment! "Monthly burn in! Get your yearly membership for 100$ for up to 4 concurrent headphones/IEMs!"

If you use them regularly, you don't have to re-burn.
It's hard to define "regularly", I just trust my ears - if it doesn't sound as good as before - I put them to burn-in for a few hours.

 

[DrunkenTiger]

That's pretty meta, nice.

 

[Aillas]

Finally received an email telling me they've been shipped:
 

 
Looks like they're in customs. I hope I won't get stung with fees . . .

 

[Lifted Andreas]

Looks like they're in customs. I hope I won't get stung with fees . . .

I won't lie to you mate but that's a possibility.

 

[Aillas]

 

Looks like they're in customs. I hope I won't get stung with fees . . .

I won't lie to you mate but that's a possibility.

Seems to be out of customs now and there's no mention of fees anywhere. So, hopefully, this means I won't get stung.

 

[Lifted Andreas]

 
Seems to be out of customs now and there's no mention of fees anywhere. So, hopefully, this means I won't get stung.

 
Ah thats lucky mate, hopefully you'll get them shortly.