[Gage]

Hey, I know, it is a controversial subject, but if it really does work, then, I have a couple questions:

1) Is it possible to burn in for bass? if so, what do I use? White Noise? Pink Noise? or just a constant low frequency?

2) What is the best for clearing up/detailing mids and high?

All of this assuming you can selectively burn in IEM's... which I have no clue if it is possible...

 

[brendon]

Many people here will tell you that burn-in is a myth. And the people who tell you burn-in exists dont have any facts to back up their statements.

I believe in burn-in but I also believe some earphones/headphones dont exhibit burn-in. Also each headphone burns in differently.

For e.g. in this review here - the user liked his IEM before burn-in. After burn-in he did not like it anymore.

Sennheiser IE 8 Review

 

[Bullseye]

Oh, I know this one

For burning in for bass you have to prepare your setup using a lot of drums music. And at the same time you have to follow the rythm with growls and dancing around the fire. Don't use pig squeals, as you might add sibilance to the headphones.

There are other methods for burning in specific frequencies, but they take some time. (Catching squirrels with your forehead, raping mermaids, ...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gage /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey, I know, it is a controversial subject, but if it really does work, then, I have a couple questions: 1) Is it possible to burn in for bass? if so, what do I use? White Noise? Pink Noise? or just a constant low frequency? 2) What is the best for clearing up/detailing mids and high? All of this assuming you can selectively burn in IEM's... which I have no clue if it is possible...

Note: If you feel bad after reading my answer, read your post again.

 

[Gage]

LOL... I don't see what the problem is... I just asked if you can burn in IEM's a certain way to increase the bass frequencies a bit.

If it was just the first sentence sounding stupid, I will gladly rephrase it:

"To the people that believe burn in actually does something, I have a few questions:"

better...?

 

[Bullseye]

^Gage

The problem is not towards whom you ask the question, the problem is with the concept of changing the performance of the drivers via playing music.

As you may know there is one way of changing the response of the headphones, and that is by changing the EQ settings. The coating of a driver won't change in such way as to make such noticeable changes.

The process of "burn in" which I have experienced is not expplained in the same way people tell here. The burn in process in my book is the mental process of getting used to an external stimuli (such as wearing the headphones with an specific shape and sound) till you make it something familiar.

I think a physical change in the drivers might happen at the first hours/minutes/seconds of usage, but speaking about drastic changes of the physical form of the drivers is going too far.

The problem with the burn in process spoken in this community is that the individual aspect of getting used to something is left behind, and all the changes are directed towards the equipment. In which case, the human aspect might be of a bigger importance than the material one.

Don't be afraid of EQing if you like more bass or more forward treble. It is all good if you enjoy it

 

[MomijiTMO]

Don't like your headphone? Introducing the Head-Fi solution - burn in. Is there insufficient bass from your k701? Simply burn in for 1000 hours and like magic, your headphone will have crazy bass. Amazing.

 

[ninjikiran]

Electronic burn-in doesn't make sense, tubes just need to warm up like a light bulb(just an assumption but makes sense to me). Headphones might possibly need to loosen up but I am pretty sure that happens almost immediately(has anyone actually seen if drivers physically change slightly to support this?)

Cable burn-in is the worst myth and makes the least amount of sense.

Burn-in is a mix of getting used to the new head-phones and placebo. Burn-in is just placebo for everything else. Even if burn-in existed for chips and circuits it would more than likely be degradation.

 

[etiolate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gage /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1) Is it possible to burn in for bass? if so, what do I use? White Noise? Pink Noise? or just a constant low frequency?

fish require no burn in

 

[haloxt]

Chinesekiwi on this forum made a post with some links to possible proof for burn-in.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/bur...ml#post6338400

I believe headphones wear out with bass becoming less textured, so am against burn-in with pink noise+big volume, only recommend initial burn-in of 20-50 hours with normal music at low-medium volume.

 

[Uncle Erik]

If you want pronounced bass, you should buy bass-heavy cans (most are, by the way, because consumers (including most people here) expect overemphasized bass), run an EQ setting or perhaps an amp that skews heavy.

Those work. Demonstrably so. Burn in and cables do not. Burn in doesn't cheat anyone, so it's the lesser of those two evils.

Burn in is entirely a psychological change. Like how I burned in my glasses. Seriously, I did.

These are rimless glasses and each lens has two screws connecting the lenses to the frames. When I first got them, the screws were irritating because they're in the field of vision.

After a couple hundred hours of burn in, the screws disappeared. I cannot see them any longer. The screws are still there and I can see them when I take the glasses off, but my brain tuned them out, just like it does with the blind spot in each eye.

The mind is the ultimate signal processor. If there are missing parts, it fills them in. If there is something incongruous, it filters it. Sometimes, it takes awhile for the brain to used to something new. After it does, it fills in the gaps and delivers what you expect to perceive.

It's amazing what we're capable of.

The problem in audio is that a lot of these mind tricks are taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. They use them to push dramatically overpriced products.

 

[Shark_Jump]

I've said this before 'burn in' is slightly misleading as you have already mentally pictured a cause for the effect you are perceiving.

In the physical realm it could be slight mechanical loosening of moving components/ hysteresis eic., which should disappear pretty quickly.

In the mental realm it can be pretty much anything you want it to be really

Agreed EQ is the way to go to get them sounding how you want. I have not had anyone convince me otherwise. See my EQ thread, they are about as fashionable as flairs at the moment, apparently parametric equalisers are best, but I think they only work in the digital domain (? Qualification required?).

 

[Gage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomijiTMO /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't like your headphone? Introducing the Head-Fi solution - burn in. Is there insufficient bass from your k701? Simply burn in for 1000 hours and like magic, your headphone will have crazy bass. Amazing.

LMAO...

look, I merely asked if there is a method of burn in that will help emphasis bass, not expecting huge changes, but I constantly see people talking about how burn in increase volume/quality/clarity, and was merely wondering if there was a possible way. Now, through all of the sarcasm, I realize that burn in is burn in doesn't matter what you use. Even though some say pink noise is best, which now makes no sense whatsoever lol.

 

[Gage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by etiolate /img/forum/go_quote.gif fish require no burn in

Where the hell did that come from...

 

[tmars78]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gage /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where the hell did that come from...

Bass is a type of fish...just said differently than bass.

 

[notmuchcash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninjikiran /img/forum/go_quote.gif Electronic burn-in doesn't make sense, tubes just need to warm up like a light bulb(just an assumption but makes sense to me).

Just throwing out that light bulbs make noticeable changes over their life cycle. Often the high end bulbs are brighter, but as they are used more they get that warm bulby quality people like so much.

Joking aside, Stage light bulbs change a good bit over their lifetime. Often bright to start, then grow dimmer, followed by a brief increase in brightness when they are near death. That's why I'm hesitant to write off tube burn in. Beyond that, electronics are not likely to show any real change as they are used.