Disappearing sibilance a good thing?

[zyxwvutsr]

When I first got my A500s a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a lot of sibilance (painful at normal volume). Now, at normal volume I hardly notice it anymore.
(I bought them used, so they were already fully burned-in)

I don't know why this happened. Is it because my ears have become accustomed to it or are they becoming less sensitive overall because of headphones listening (ie going deaf)?
I did a tone test at 20khz and it seems that I can still hear that frequency pretty well at below-normal volumes.

It's great that I longer "hear" sibilance, but I'm afraid that that could be a sign of deteriorating hearing sensitivity of my ears.

 

[stewtheking]

Are you sure that they were "fully" burned in? And had they been stored for any time before they got to you?

 

[Wodgy]

Sibiliance does go away a bit as drivers break in. I didn't believe much in driver break in until I actually set up a measurement rig and measured the Thiele/Small parameters for some loudspeaker drivers. You have to give them a couple hours of run-in before measuring, or the parameters end up being off, sometimes by quite a bit. (Voice coil temperature also affects the T/S params, incidentally.)

 

[zyxwvutsr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewtheking Are you sure that they were "fully" burned in? And had they been stored for any time before they got to you?

These are definately fully burned in, at least a couple of hundred hours. I got these a500s from Azure.
Perhaps they have been stored for a while before I got them. Prob after Azure got the sa1000s, these a500s have collecting dust for a while (there actually was a noticeable layer of dust on them when i received them). Do headphones reverse burn-in if left unused?

 

[smeggy]

Yes, all those little electrons get bored sitting around so they start fidgeting, totally messing with the flow in the wires. Another 200 hours should fix them right up.

Seriously though, I think your ears are just getting used to the sound, there is a technical term for it, I think it's called burn-in and it happens in your ears.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy Seriously though, I think your ears are just getting used to the sound, there is a technical term for it, I think it's called burn-in and it happens in your ears.

yes, durring the first few hundred hours of use, your ears are indeed changing quite substantially.

over the next few years of operation, they do not change quite as significantly, but do change.

after they are about 15 years old or so, they have stopped improviong, and simply start to wear out. for most people who do not abuse their gear, their ears dont wear out untill their driver-units (heart/brain/etc) stop functioning.

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod yes, durring the first few hundred hours of use, your ears are indeed changing quite substantially. over the next few years of operation, they do not change quite as significantly, but do change. after they are about 15 years old or so, they have stopped improviong, and simply start to wear out. for most people who do not abuse their gear, their ears dont wear out untill their driver-units (heart/brain/etc) stop functioning.

I know exactly what you mean. Due to all the abuse, my ears are worn down to little nubs on the sides of my head!

 

[zyxwvutsr]

I think the change is not so much in the ears, but rather in the headphones.
I decided to try my mdr-v6 again (been collecting dust since the arrival of the a500) and I noticed that it had the same amount of sibilance as before. When I first got the a500, i noticed that it was much more sibilant than the v6. Now, it is noticeably less sibilant thatn the v6.

So I guess some headphones do reverse burn-in.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zyxwvutsr So I guess some headphones do reverse burn-in.

i have been waiting of r a headphone that people like less aftr more burn-in.

out of curosity, have you ran teh mdr-v6's for a good long time? i have heard of "un-breaking in" specfically with older grado headphones, but if it happens to one, it could happen to any.

 

[Patrick82]

Everytime you cut power to a component you need to break it in again, AC cables are more sensitive to this. I left a power cable unused for a few months and it sounded as muddy as when it was new, but after I left the equipment in stand-by for a few hours it sounded more transparent again.

The amount of burn-in time you need depends on how long it was unused. That's why you don't hear a difference if you listen to headphones every day.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 Everytime you cut power to a component you need to break it in again, AC cables are more sensitive to this. I left a power cable unused for a few months and it sounded as muddy as when it was new, but after I left the equipment in stand-by for a few hours it sounded more transparent again. The amount of burn-in time you need depends on how long it was unused. That's why you don't hear a difference if you listen to headphones every day.

What takes longer to burn in: a brand new component or that same component a year after it was manufactured? What about that same component after it's been burned in but then left dormant for a year?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ooheadsoo What takes longer to burn in: a brand new component or that same component a year after it was manufactured? What about that same component after it's been burned in but then left dormant for a year?

It depends on the materials inside the component and how it is stored. Storage temperature, humidity, altitude...they all matter.
If a component has already been burned in and then left unused for a year it should burn in faster than something that came fresh from the factory. A new component sitting in the factory for a year should take the longest to burn-in if you move it to another location.

Stiff cables need to be burned in again after you have bent them into another shape.
Unplugging a cable requires you to burn in the connection again, for me it sounds bright for about two weeks.
The new ICE Power amps need to be always powered on, if you put them in stand-by you need to burn them in again.
Technology is improving and everything becomes more sensitive... I can imagine in 10 years people will leave music running 24/7 in a dedicated listening room just to keep it fully burned-in.

 

[slwiser]

We go to great lengths to rid ourselves of sibilance, but who is to say that sibilance is not a distortion that is planned by the original artist? Much like the guitar distortion has become standard fair in most music over the last 30 years.:

Over the next 30 years, who is to say that distortion will displace "traditional sounds from real instruments" as what we hear out of our sources and we will all be saying that my distortion is better than yours or mine is more pure than yours.

Who knows in 30 years maybe hearing any sound will be something to be touted about. Or maybe we will have direct feed into the brain bypassing the ear canal all together...