burning in headphones
Jan 29, 2023 at 3:23 AM Post #2 of 11
Burn in is a myth, a dynamic driver vibrates so fast, it'll settle in within seconds. It's you adapting to a new sound, like getting used to a new pair of sunglasses. Balanced is just more power most (not all) amplifiers. The advantage is just to stay in low or medium gain which of course has lower distortion than high gain.
 
Jan 29, 2023 at 8:05 AM Post #3 of 11
I don't know on dynamic drivers, but for planars, I saw different manufactures points on burn in. Usually it's something done at plant level with some burn in to be done até customer side.
I really noticed a difference with my Sundaras, after a week of use.
 
Jan 29, 2023 at 8:18 AM Post #4 of 11
I am wondering if it makes a difference between Single Ended or Balanced? Afaik on balanced each channel having 2 wires with current while SE got current on 1 wire and the other is grounded.
 
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Jan 29, 2023 at 1:55 PM Post #5 of 11
As @dunring already mentioned, it makes no difference as it is a myth.

Anyone who believes they are hearing differences after any amount of time are experiencing other things.

For example, if you listen to a neutral headphone like HD600 for a week and then swap to a bassy headphone, the bassy headphone will sound bloated at first but gradually sound more balanced after a week.
Then after a week, go back to the HD600 and the HD600 will most likely sound thin and treble-forward.
Around here, this phenomenon is called 'brain burn in'.
 
Jan 29, 2023 at 1:57 PM Post #6 of 11
Guys, please I didn't start this thread to debate if burn-is is good or not, just asking about whether to do so with SE or balanced.
Call me a believer if you want. I definitely experienced differences on my IEMs after lot of burn-in hours. They (DD IEMs) became way smoother to listen. No more fatique.
 
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Jan 29, 2023 at 2:01 PM Post #7 of 11
No difference between SE and balanced.

Edit: For your background, when you apply a voltage across the transducer the transducer doesn't care if it's getting +2v on one and -2v on the other terminal or 4v on one terminal and 0v on the other terminal; they will produce the exact same loudness.
 
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Jan 29, 2023 at 2:11 PM Post #8 of 11
Some manufacturers, like Focal, Audeze, Kennerton, etc., recommend burn-in, but it doesn’t matter if it performed by balanced or SE.
 
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Jan 29, 2023 at 2:15 PM Post #9 of 11
Burn in is a myth, a dynamic driver vibrates so fast, it'll settle in within seconds. It's you adapting to a new sound, like getting used to a new pair of sunglasses. Balanced is just more power most (not all) amplifiers. The advantage is just to stay in low or medium gain which of course has lower distortion than high gain.
This is certainly a point of contention, some manufacturers like Focal even recommend to burn in on their official website:

BurnIn.PNG


For a $5000 dynamic headphone no less, I always found it interesting when manufacturers put notices like this, if burn-in makes such a difference why not just do it straight from the factory. IMHO I'm somewhere in the middle, burn-in for sure exists but brain burn-in is also very much a thing
 
Jan 30, 2023 at 4:06 PM Post #10 of 11
Heaphones, iems, and speakers rely on mechanical movement to create sound, and it’s this aspect of them then that would benefit from any burning in. As long as the mechanical parts are being moved adequately, then it doesn‘t matter whether you use SE or balanced.
 
Feb 1, 2023 at 8:53 AM Post #11 of 11
Yes, the excursion movement in the Focal driver design are significant compared to almost every other headphone driver. That makes sense that they would recommend off-ear burn-ins. The corollary to that is that each headphone could be different.

Generally speaking, I agree that most headphones don't really need "burn-in." Instead, they need a "wear-in," where the headband, pads, etc. get softer/looser. Supposed "burn-in" with many headphones is really the pads compressing somewhat and becoming a bit more pliable, allowing a better seal on the ear, or a slightly closer proximity of the driver to the eardrum. The effect is real and is where the cultural recommendation comes from, but the reaction to perform off-ear, artificial burn-in is not necessarily the correct method.
 

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