| Originally Posted by Koyaan I. Sqatsi /img/forum/go_quote.gif My avatar is a mirror. se |
| Originally Posted by Bilavideo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I suspect that, like so much else in audio, there's truth and there's hype. While I've used the term, "burn in," myself - I prefer the term, "break in." Anything with moving parts has a break-in period, even if it's relatively short. I don't think it's any big stretch to imagine that a speaker driver, with its acoustic suspension, has some kind of "break-in" period. Headfiers are not the only ones who talk about this. Hi-fiers with loudspeakers speak of it as if it were as obvious as the sun rising tomorrow. How much occurs, and over how much use, is anybody's guess. There's no science behind it. Still, people come back saying their headphones sounded better after they'd had them for a while. I know that experience. I've had it, too. Is it physical or psychological? Don't know; don't care. I'm perfectly okay with the idea that it's largely psychological, not because I think I'm loose a few screws but because I believe that perception is not entirely objective. I discovered that much when I got my first pair of glasses. I'd assumed that my vision would simply go from A to B, but it didn't. My astigmatism, which warped the world one way, was corrected with glasses, which warped the world another way. I thought, at first, my prescription was wrong but in time, it all leveled off. It was a reminder that perception isn't flat or passive. It's a combination of what's "out there" and the brain's inner workings. As Kant argued, we bring something to it. When you buy a brand-new pair of headphones, could there be a "break-in" period necessary to loosen things up? Sure, why not? There could also be a period of adjustment to the new presentation. Send a city girl to a bluegrass festival and it'll all sound the same the first day and maybe the second, but by the third day, the music will change. Hidden nuances and stylistic diversity will reveal itself (if she doesn't kill herself first). But even if headphones were subject to burn-in, it's a bit of a stretch to start claiming it for everything else - from amplifiers to capacitors to bare wire. As some have pointed out, any such "burn-in period" would elapse between the time it took you to flip the "on" button and the time it took for the sound to reach your ears. Hype knows no limits or shame. My money is on the psychology of burn-in, a psychology which doesn't bother me in the least. It just means that headphone listening is an acquired taste, one that requires time in the saddle, one that rewards patience and diligence. Hand your best headphones to the average Joe Lunchbox and you'll often get a perfunctory "listen" and a polite "thank you" as you get them back. But that same Joe Lunchbox will don some plastic crap, some boomy mudbox and say, "Wow, these sound great!" If, after a period of patient appreciation, your cans reveal their strengths to you, it might just be the rewards of diligence. On the other hand, nothing sounds more sophomorish than a headfier who just got one set of cans and can't wait to get another. I'm much more impressed with someone who can point to a set of cans and can tell you what's great about them. |
| Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif Research the differences in measured response in speakers. TS parameters, frequency response, and the like have been documented as changing over time in numerous drivers. |
| Originally Posted by iancraig10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif In that case, everything you say is true.
|
| Originally Posted by aimlink /img/forum/go_quote.gif As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in-between doesn't it. |
| Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, placebo is a very powerful thing, and mental expectations, metal burn-in if you will, is very real and very powerful. There have been times when I have heard a harsh headphone, put it away for weeks, then took it out again being ready for a really harsh and brutal treble, and merely got a strong treble in return and thought "oh... that's not too bad actually." The A250 is a lot like that - I will listen to it after a long hiatus remembering the harshness that made me stop, and at first mental adjustment will scale it down. But then after a while the ear recalibrates and the flaws become more obvious, especially when contrasted with other headphones. |
| Originally Posted by spinali /img/forum/go_quote.gif One argument suggests there might be a sound difference after cable burn-in/break-in. I've not been able to detect any, and I can't recall a single study suggesting it exists. |
| Originally Posted by spinali /img/forum/go_quote.gif On this thread, however, the sound differences resulting from headphone break-in has been observed time after time. The differences have been measured and documented numerous times with speakers; they've been observed repeatedly (but not yet quantified) with headphones. I'm very interested in reading RAFA's upcoming posts as his phones so through their break-in period. |
