[iDark]

Hello all,

As you all know the winter is approaching us with big steps, wonderful. But I have one questions regarding our expensive audiogear during this season of the year! I have a few IEM's some of them worth $400, portable sources with amps and all that jazz, you know the deal.
So... Is it safe for me to bring out my Westone 3s on a minus two degree winter night without them being damaged, same question applies to my Cowon S9 PMP and of course any other audio gear.

I've tried to look into the Westone 3's manual but they don't mention anything about temperature. And the Cowon S9 manual only states max temperature exposure.

Thanks for reading!
Dark

 

[NightOwl]

Extreme cold will shorten battery life.
The other and more serious problem would be condensation. If your gear is cold and you bring it into a warm environment, condensation could form on the inside of your gear. I keep my player in an inside pocket. I put my iem's in a pocket as soon as I take them out of my ears so that they don't get too cold.

 

[Zodduska]

I would be concerned with cables becoming stiff and splitting as well.

 

[appophylite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zodduska /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would be concerned with cables becoming stiff and splitting as well.

This right here ^^ At temperatures below zero, your IEM cables are going to stiffen up. If you wear the cables inside your jacket, then the only part you need to worry about are the parts that hang outside the collar. If you are like me and wear the headphone cable outside the jacket, the entire cable is going to stiffen up. Its not the worst problem at minus 2 like OP said (though you still want to baby the cables as much as possible, but get closer to -40 and the cable stiffens up enough that a bad tweak will leave you with a sheared cable.

Condensation of the electronics isn't too bad of a problem. I frequently used different sources in temperatures going down as far as -45 degrees. I did frequently see the outer parts of the players that were metal develop that slight frost on them, but for the most part, none of my players were ill-affected by condensation: there is actually very little moisture build-up when the players got back to room temperature.

If you want to play it safe, the two best bets would be to use a cheaper pair of IEMs for transit outside, and if you are really worried about condensation on electronics, shut off the player when you get back inside and keep it off for an couple of hours before firing it back up (shouldn't be necessary at the temperatures OP is talking about though).

 

[gevorg]

Cryotreating your gear will make it sound more warm and tube like in cold environments.



j/k

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gevorg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cryotreating your gear will make it sound more warm and tube like in cold environments. j/k

Prestone is cheaper.

 

[iDark]

Thanks for the replies, I think I can chill out now. Here in sweden we can get minus ten to fifteen degrees at certain days but if -45 wasnt a problem then I should not worry, except the cable issue maybe. Ill look into the Cryotreatment

 

[Uncle Erik]

I can't answer your question, however, I think you absolutely need some vacuum tubes to assist in heating your home.

 

[earthpeople]

One of you guys are in Sweden and the other Alaska. Are you both using the same temperature scale?

 

[DeusEx]

I think I'm not exactly qualified in giving an answer (SoCal here), but cold weather may have at least a slight effect on electronics...

 

[appophylite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by squid+ /img/forum/go_quote.gif One of you guys are in Sweden and the other Alaska. Are you both using the same temperature scale?

Quite true Good Sir, quite true. I was using the Fahrenheit scale in my post.

 

[Mystere9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by appophylite /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quite true Good Sir, quite true. I was using the Fahrenheit scale in my post.

-40 degrees Celsius is equal to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, so your post was reasonably accurate either way.

 

[krmathis]

I used used my iPod nano and iBuds down to about -30c without any issues.
The cable became a lot stiffer and the battery time went down substantially, but apart from that I did not experience any issues. It all still works as well...