[gamereric22]

I know that there are tons of threads about the different ways to burn in IMEs/Headphones, but out of all the different threads i have read no one has really given a straight answer.

I know that burning in IMEs are not a myth and you will benefit from it, but what i am wondering is what sound would be best and for how long? I have heard any thing from 200 hours to 1000 hours of burn in time, and have heard people say just play a bass heavy song to using frequency sweeps, while noise, pink noise, and ext. I am also wondering should i take breaks and if so, how long should the duration of the breaks be and how often?

I should be getting my pair of Shure SE535 IEMs in a few days which is why i am wondering. So please post your preferred burn in method (please include: How long, Sound, Breaks or no breaks).

 

[tinyman392]

Some people believe it is a myth still...  Some don't.  Let's leave it at that.  There are lots of ways to burn in IEMs, all will lead to the same end result...  The headphones change in sound will eventually come to an audible plateau (although it doesn't physically do that as they technically should change forever).  Whether or not it actually changes or not us up for discussion, that's not what this is about though.
 
I personally just listen to my headphones while burning them in.  When I'm not using them, I run them on a separate MP3 player (you can use the same one, but I use mine for other things as well) until I want to use them again.  I tend to burn in for about 4-5 days (sometimes more if I feel it's not done changing yet).  Plenty of people say to use pink noise, white noise, etc.  I don't, my logic is, you listen to music, not noise.  Why burn in with noise if you listen to music?  I honestly just think it makes more sense to use music.  That's just me though.  You can use noise if you wish to.

 

[nikp]

Burn in changes very little and it's pretty much placebo. I recommend you to read Tyll's notes on burn in (http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/evidence-headphone-break). Don't waste your time burning in.. Just enjoy them. 

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

Burn in changes very little and it's pretty much placebo. I recommend you to read Tyll's notes on burn in (http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/evidence-headphone-break). Don't waste your time burning in.. Just enjoy them. 

You still don't have enough evidence to say that...  Don't mislead the guy, just help him.  In otherwords, be NEUTRAL about what direction you go.  I've been able to show that a 1dB change (yes 1dB) across a frequency range is audible.  His machines picked up a 1dB change in many regions (except bass) and some 2-3 dB changes in the treble regions as well.  Don't go on assuming things please.

 

[nikp]

Burning in dynamic drivers makes a bit of sense (though I don't notice any improvement in sound) but BA?? 

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

Burning in dynamic drivers makes a bit of sense (though I don't notice any improvement in sound) but BA?? 

Phonak actually suggested I do this for at least 50 hours (at 75% of the device's volume; he knew I was using an iPod Touch) when I was about to write my review for the 232s.  I did note some changes, but not much.  BAs tend to not change as quickly, but do change slightly.  I know I heard change in my HF5 with the softer treble (which was much needed).  This change persisted even after I changed to a new set of tips (EG, it wasn't the tip breaking in).  Again, this doesn't prove burn in, but it has been noted by many that BAs burn in (obviously the only ones that note this are the ones that hear it).  I'm up for all having our own opinions, but I just don't like forcing users either way.  Let their ears make their choice for them.  I hear it, you don't.  The guy over there may not either...  As of now, I do think the people who hear it to the people who don't hear it ration is 1:1. 

 

[gamereric22]

Phonak actually suggested I do this for at least 50 hours (at 75% of the device's volume; he knew I was using an iPod Touch) when I was about to write my review for the 232s.  I did note some changes, but not much.  BAs tend to not change as quickly, but do change slightly.  I know I heard change in my HF5 with the softer treble (which was much needed).  This change persisted even after I changed to a new set of tips (EG, it wasn't the tip breaking in).  Again, this doesn't prove burn in, but it has been noted by many that BAs burn in (obviously the only ones that note this are the ones that hear it).  I'm up for all having our own opinions, but I just don't like forcing users either way.  Let their ears make their choice for them.  I hear it, you don't.  The guy over there may not either...  As of now, I do think the people who hear it to the people who don't hear it ration is 1:1. 

The answer is probably really obvious but what dose BA stand for exactly?

 

[Dacrazydude]

Quote:

The answer is probably really obvious but what dose BA stand for exactly?

Balanced Armature. it's a driver type. 

 

[ksvieb]

BA stands for balanced armature. Basically the technology that in-ear monitors employ. 
 
Regarding burn-in. I know it might just be the different signatures, but I recently bought an ATH-AD2000 (mostly unused?), a W1000X (definetly unused), and a pretty used ATH-AD900. The used AD900 did have the nicest, smoothest signature of those three cans out of the box and I guess that might be because they have been used a lot already. I really hope the W1000x are going to lose some of their piercing trebles after using them for a while.

 

[pedxing]

In my experience, BA IEMs don't burn in, they burn the user with their sonic blasts.

If you decide to try to burn in your IEMs, I suggest be careful and not blow them out. SE535 should be relatively resilient, although some claim they are very sensitive. My suggestion is to listen to them while burn in and not worry about burning them in at all. If this is the first pair of IEMs you have every used, you may have a psychological hurdle to jump over (ie: psychological/user burn in). The acoustics of IEMs can be quite different compared to ear buds, normal headphones, and speakers.

 

[gamereric22]

If this is the first pair of IEMs you have every used, you may have a psychological hurdle to jump over (ie: psychological/user burn in). The acoustics of IEMs can be quite different compared to ear buds, normal headphones, and speakers.

Yes this is my first pair of high end IEMs, so i will defiantly keep that in mind when i first listen to them. Thanks!