[dweaver]

Thanks for everyones comments and participation.
 
What this has done for me aside from allowing me to tinker at my hobby  is develop an actual chart showing the progressive change in sonic characteristics of an IEM, I know naysayers will always question that any results are real no matter how thorough the testing process (not saying my process is thorough BTW) but at least there is some actual evidence to back up burn in claims.
 
mvw2, I actually went out and bought a small mic and switched from my iphone to my PC along with using a program called Audio Test to continue my testing as I did realize the iphone wasn't good enough to be considered reliable. Also I agree about volume levels being needed as part of burnin. My first pair of Copper's were burned in using music at listening level only according to the original owner. The second pair was burned in at more aggressive volumes (I would set up my headphone to a listening level slightly louder than what I found comfortable with music then switch to my burn in file). I also exceeded that volume level for one 12 hour stretch near the end to ensure that the drivers were pushed as hard as I thought they could be safely done. I then did 24hrs straight of actual music starting the night before last and all day yesterday at a listening level that was agressive but not as aggressive as that one 12hr stretch to see if that would help bring up the treble especially with cymbals and the like (the music was a good mix of everything with lots of rock and jazz to ensure there were lots of cymbals).
 
I do think an IEM that is completely burned in (over a couple hundred hours of use) does not seem to benefit much from any additional stressed burning or using things like my burnin song as I did subject my original Copper's to the burnin file for 12hrs with no effective change and left them plugged in with my new pair for the 24hr music marathon and they never changed especially in the bottom end. Having said that there is also the possibility the one pair is slightly different for some reason outside of the manufacturers control as well.
 
The only real conclusion I think new Copper buyers should consider is this. If you want to ensure your IEM has the best possible bass slam, then download my burnin file and follow the process I laid out, it may or may not help but it certainly won't hurt. If you want a more balanced sound then use regular music to burnin (and only if you don't like the initial super bass the IEM has out of the box) and listen to it at normal volume levels only, again this may or may not effect your sound but won't hurt if you really want to keep the IEM balanced.

 

[Anaxilus]

I second your results dweaver w/ my MD's.  I did an aggressive burn-in on my first set of MD's and while I liked the signature the Bass and Mids sometimes became bloated and encroached a tad on certain tracks.  My second set of MD's was burned in more cautiously at gentler volume levels.  While the 2nd MD's retain the mid forward signature and full bodied bass, everything is tighter and never loose or bloated.  Can't wait to get my Arrow so I can listen to them in full glory at lower volume levels.

 

[koonhua90]

Wooh...2 sets of Miles Davis....

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Wooh...2 sets of Miles Davis....

Just one now, lol.

 

[dweaver]

Quote:

I second your results dweaver w/ my MD's.  I did an aggressive burn-in on my first set of MD's and while I liked the signature the Bass and Mids sometimes became bloated and encroached a tad on certain tracks.  My second set of MD's was burned in more cautiously at gentler volume levels.  While the 2nd MD's retain the mid forward signature and full bodied bass, everything is tighter and never loose or bloated.  Can't wait to get my Arrow so I can listen to them in full glory at lower volume levels.

LOL that pretty much sums up how I feel about the difference between the two sets. I love the added bass and stuff most of the time but occasionally find it bloated and over powering. It really is a matter of preference. I also laugh about you only having one pair now. I will likely sell my bought pair for a good price to someone else and pass on some savings and then try something else new like those very interesting Radius DDM's .

 

[rawrster]

So dweaver how did you even think of something like this (I'm curious)? I would have never though of something like this even if I had two of the same earphone. This is definitely one of the more creative thoughts on burn in and I'm quite surprised this thread hasn't turned into one of the many many threads here that become flaming threads on burn in.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

So dweaver how did you even think of something like this (I'm curious)? I would have never though of something like this even if I had two of the same earphone. This is definitely one of the more creative thoughts on burn in and I'm quite surprised this thread hasn't turned into one of the many many threads here that become flaming threads on burn in.

Maybe dweaver's experience was like mine.  Kind of randomly ended up w/ 2 sets and decided to see if I could maybe improve on some short comings using the only method available other than tip switiching.

 

[dweaver]

I decided on this for EXACTLY the reason Anaxilus said. I was lucky to be asked to review the Copper's but only after I had bought them. In between the first pair arriving and the second pair I then recieved a pair of MP4Nation M2's for reviewing and really liked that IEM's midrange and warm sound (realized I did miss some of the IE8 warmness LOL). So I decided to try and affect the outcome of the new Copper's through burnin.
 
BTW I think the use of actual recorded DB values (however crude they were taken) helped keep the discussion on track because there was actual proof of burnin. I think I will be doing that same process of recording the DB values at purchase followed by the final values after burnin from now on. It simply takes away any naysaying as it's hard to argue with hard facts. I will likely talk to a friend who makes electronic stuff to see if he can help me make the MIC the one guy gave a link to a few pages back so I can hopefully get a better measuring device until then I'll use this little Mic I bought the other day.

 

[dweaver]

I placed the post below in the Copper big thread and thought it might be usefull here as well.
 
Here are some links to the files I have created:
 

• B-P-B-W looped in 1 minute segments with 12 minute silence at the end (256kbps MP3 Format), (this file is my original one I used for the Coppers, except I used the original wav format I created), my theory is the added brown noise helped make the Copper's bassier and helped the lower midrange.
• B-P-B-W looped in 1 minute segments with 12 minute silence at the end (FLAC Format), same as above but lossless flac version
• P-W-B-P-W looped in 1 minute segments for 40 minutes with 10 minutes of silnce at the end (FLAC Format), based on my theory this version would make a more treble and upper midrange centric change to an IEM but would still give the bass a bit of a workout.

 

[feverfive]

.....

 

[dweaver]

Just to tie everything together, here is a link to my full review of both MTPC's, it's actually more like I was comparing two different models or brands of IEM's vs. the same one.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/498170/monster-turbine-professional-copper-review-with-burnin-discussion-and-tips

 

[rawrster]

Which one did you end up liking more?

 

[kingpage]

Well, he did say he's going to sell the pair he bought. Interesting experiment, one I would gladly do given the required devices. I enjoyed reading it a lot, whilst I was having my lunch.

 

[rawrster]

I don't consider that relevant. It was to raise up funds for the SM3 and the review Coppers should not be sold.

 

[kingpage]

point taken, but wasn't the experiment carried out because he missed the warmth from his IE8 and M2?