[plonter]

I thought it may be more appropriate to post it here than in the headphone forum. so this is the thing...I wasn't satisfied with the HD650's bass response when i got them,so I burned them in for another 200-250 hours and still they were bass anemic for me.
because I loved the overall sound,I decided to boost the bass a little by using eq on my computer. It did help, but for some reason i decided that i don't like the rest of the sound with my computer rig (this time it was the mids and the treble that wasn't to my liking) so I decided to come back to my main rig.
anyway..listening right now with my headroom amp (which is much more neutral than my other amps) the sound is really great. great bass.

do you think its because I pumped up the bass with EQ? or it is just a regular burn in process? I afraid that I ruined the headphones in some way (although they sound great now).
can a headphone or the drivers to be exact can get ruined by using EQ?

 

[Rossinator]

I used different bass boosting EQ presets with my first pair of HD280 hps. When they were damaged and I got a new pair from sennhieser the new pair sounded much better, much clearer. So EQ must change the sound of hps, but I think it takes awhile.

What did you first use for listening with the HD650? The same amp as after you EQ'd them? Or no amp? It sounds to me like you did not give them time for the EQ to change the sound, but maybe you did.

Usually EQ adding to the frequencies will make the hp sound worse (distorted?). It depends on the Equalizer though.

 

[fenixdown110]

I don't believe so. The EQ may have helped with burn in, but I doubt it would change the sound signature of them. It could be psychological and you're just experiencing a placebo effect. I'm played around with the EQ for a period of time during burn in on my HD650's with no noticeable differences. My EQ is now off and I'm running it through my dac and amp now. The HD650 is very dependent on a quality amp to bring out it's true characteristics. That's what you're experiencing with your Headroom amp.

 

[MrGreen]

Transducers become more bassy over time. The same headphones 50 years down the track should in theory be very bassy.
EQ has nothing to do with it (unless you are turning up the bass very high which causes a drastic change in the amount of movement the cone does)
Should take ages for this to happen, though

 

[etiolate]

^^ +1

ya, i think that the EQ could only burn the headphones in a bass heavy style if you REALLY jacked up the bass on the EQ, played it much too loud, and had it going for a long time.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by etiolate /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^^ +1 ya, i think that the EQ could only burn the headphones in a bass heavy style if you REALLY jacked up the bass on the EQ, played it much too loud, and had it going for a long time.

is that some NMH in your avatar? I havnt listened to that since the 90s

 

[etiolate]

lol, ya it is. i'm so addicted to it right now. it's so friggin good. i've learned almost the whole album on guitar over the last couple weeks. there's a remaster of it out... sounds wonderful. i love the way the mix the acoustic guitar on this album: a lot of full, resonating bass that i love about the acoustic. you should listen to them in the 2000's.

 

[plonter]

Thanks for the replies guys, I guess i am a little paranoid because they are new headphones and i am afraid that I have ruined them.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Transducers become more bassy over time. The same headphones 50 years down the track should in theory be very bassy. EQ has nothing to do with it (unless you are turning up the bass very high which causes a drastic change in the amount of movement the cone does) Should take ages for this to happen, though

What nonsense is this? I'd like to see your reasoning.

 

[fenixdown110]

They're all manufactured of the same materials with the same craftsmanship, so no matter how it's burned in, the basic sound characteristics will not change.

 

[TStewart422]

No. After a burn-in of, say, thirty minutes; the headphone's sound signature will not change. Unless you've BROKEN them, there is nothing wrong with over-EQing the phones...

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif What nonsense is this? I'd like to see your reasoning.

Over say 50 years, the magnets become (slightly) weaker, as a result low frequency damping is reduced which results in a higher output volume overall. Furthermore the speed is impacted, resulting in less high frequency production which tends to make the sound more bass centric as well.

Happens with speakers, at least. Its pretty low impact though, but you can hear it (or at least I think I can hear it). Its basically the same as increasing the size of the cabinet, too boomy for my liking.

I'm not to sure what effect age of the driver has on the sound, and anything to that effect would be pure conjecture on my behalf. However, I suspect that balanced armatures and electrostats would have very little effect via age, whereas paper cone drivers would have the biggest impact due to age.

Forgive the hyperbole in the original post, of course.

YMMV, naturally.