[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally posted by chkelly ok thanks! i just thought it might have been some technical phenomenon in which you must blare music for hours on end before listening softly or else!

There is some doubt that this actually occurs. No A/B testing has been done to confirm it. It's not real, in my opinion.

 

[ManiacSmile]

Well, as far as I know there's been at least two instances where members of the forum actually posted graphs of the changes that took place before and after the burn-in.
Regarding the subjective perception. After having spent over 2 years with my HD580, I bought the HD600 about 2 weeks ago. Being very sceptical on whole point of burning-in I was all but ready to hear the changes that occured after a few days. Leaving the cans EQed with a bump in low end, playing some D&B and Trip-Hop CDs from Goldie and Ninja Tunes, I was amazed with the positive changes that occured. Low-end has been extended, the sound become mature, full-bodied, well-defined. Also if you look at it from the physical stand point, the mechanics of the whole process seem to be explainable- transducer and the moving coil (even though it's on a smaller margin than full-sized speakers) have to have a damping threshold. The changes in this and variations in other factors that occur with the time is what we actually hear.

 

[nm nix]

i have the hd 600
frankly when you hear these headphones you become a believer in burn-in
the difference within 10 minutes of listening was remarkable
but anyways thats my two cents

 

[zeplin]

I've also seen graphs which prove that there are characteristics that change after long periods of burn-in. It was awhile ago that I viewed them though.
The other day, my friend brought over his brand new HD 600's to audition them on my Cosmic. I listened to them, and they sounded pretty dern different than my HD600's that have over 100 hours of break-in. I am very confident that there is burn-in, and it does improve the sound, of course depending on the type of sound one likes or dislikes...in other words, some may not enjoy the sound after burn-in.
And not only did I agree to this concept of burning in, but my friend also noticed a significant difference between our two phones...and he is a brand spankin new, fresh outta the box, noobie

 

[Lando]

Well, I got my HD-497's in the mail today (upgraded from KSC-50's), and it seems to me that the bass has improved in the first few hours of use. I can't rule out my having adjusted to the sound, but it seems like the bass has become more subtle and controlled. When I first plugged them in, it made me cringe, as it was drowning out the midrange. They've already gotten at least four hours use, including an hour of dedicated burn-in, and I'm going to run them with some fairly diverse stuff overnight. I'll post later if there are any noticeable changes.

BTW: Hi everybody!

 

[Tz2000]

I have this one friend who goes nuts with breaking in. He breaks things in for hundreds of hours on very specific music with a specific players with a certain amp and certain volumes. I have another friend who runs them overnight and just starts listening to them. There's another guy that just starts blasting dubstep straight out from the box. so…………..

 

[DigitalMilitia]

Interestingly enough, I find breaking or burning in is more talked about with somewhat faster, trebly headphones like DT880 or K701 and less common with slower, bassier headphones such as HD650 or R-70x.