[djgustashaw]

now, before i say anything here, id like to emphasize that im a newbie to the technical side of audio. this is just something that ive been thinking about recently. anyway, what ive been wondering is if headphones, or speakers, for that matter, REALLY break in, or if its just your ears getting used to the sound. i say this because every time i go from my sr60's to my px200's, im taken aback by how tinny and flat they sound, but after a few minutes it all fades away and i dont notice the sound difference at all. i thought that maybe it's the same deal with a single headphone being broken in... at first you expect the sound to be below expectations, and then with time your ears grow accustomed to that "subpar" sound and you get used to it, as opposed to the headphones themselves changing. i know that you could prove that frequency response and such does technically change, but are these subtle changes really noticed by the human ear? i sure havent noticed a real difference with my grados, and im not sure if ive just gotten used to my px200's or if theyve changed themselves with use. just a thought.

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally posted by djgustashaw now, before i say anything here, id like to emphasize that im a newbie to the technical side of audio. this is just something that ive been thinking about recently. anyway, what ive been wondering is if headphones, or speakers, for that matter, REALLY break in, or if its just your ears getting used to the sound. i say this because every time i go from my sr60's to my px200's, im taken aback by how tinny and flat they sound, but after a few minutes it all fades away and i dont notice the sound difference at all. i thought that maybe it's the same deal with a single headphone being broken in... at first you expect the sound to be below expectations, and then with time your ears grow accustomed to that "subpar" sound and you get used to it, as opposed to the headphones themselves changing. i know that you could prove that frequency response and such does technically change, but are these subtle changes really noticed by the human ear? i sure havent noticed a real difference with my grados, and im not sure if ive just gotten used to my px200's or if theyve changed themselves with use. just a thought.

I'm not of the opinion that break-in exists.

 

[radrd]

Get yourself some Sennheiser HD280 Pros, and you will become a believer in break-in. They go from sounding terrible to sounding pretty good. It's a very marked difference.

Break-in isn't simply a pyschological difference. The best way to see it is to listen to a pair of headphone for a short period of time right out of the box, then let them play over night and hear the difference the next day.

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally posted by radrd Get yourself some Sennheiser HD280 Pros, and you will become a believer in break-in. They go from sounding terrible to sounding pretty good. It's a very marked difference. Break-in isn't simply a pyschological difference. The best way to see it is to listen to a pair of headphone for a short period of time right out of the box, then let them play over night and hear the difference the next day.

I have not experienced it with Sony products. I got a second MDR-D77 after having had the first set for 4 years. The second set was new. I noticed no difference whatsoever.

 

[Rizumu]

Quote:

Originally posted by radrd Get yourself some Sennheiser HD280 Pros, and you will become a believer in break-in. They go from sounding terrible to sounding pretty good. It's a very marked difference. Break-in isn't simply a pyschological difference. The best way to see it is to listen to a pair of headphone for a short period of time right out of the box, then let them play over night and hear the difference the next day.

I believe in burn in! My HFI-650's are the only cans I've been able to test this with though. My Portapros were my first "real" headphones and I didn't really pay attention to any burn in effects, and my HD580's were used headphones.

So far I haven't been able to resist listening to headphones as soon as I get them. It's hard to have such self restraint! Having said that, my HFI-650's were very just-out-of-the-box sounding and I can't say I was horribly impressed. Therefore I left them playing overnight hooked up to my computer for several nights, and after using them for about a week, only then did their sound really open up to me and I now really like them. Psychological? I don't know, I think now that my ears are trained more I'll really be able to judge with the next headphones I buy.

 

[bboy hectek]

Does break in exist? Well i mean ive owned several pairs of headphones and a few quality ones. I will honestly say, against my better judgement that its my brain playing tricks on me sometimes, that i believe in break-in. It was most noticeable on my grado 60s and my D66s. Especially the D66s. I believe that to an extent you DO train your ears to enjoy the sound of your new headphones and that plays a part..but when i first got my D66s they were unbearably bright, almost to the point of hurting me. The bass was also really really nonexistant and burried. After something like 25-30 hours of reasonably loud break in I am SURE that im not imagining the highs being liveable and tame because before they were impossible. It really does make sense...if youve ever worked with drivers before...hefted them seen how they can move, *shrugs* yes i believe that anything porta pro or above benefits from a little break in time.

 

[kaeric]

What about some ER-4p's? I am getting some soon, should i run them overnight? or just enjoy them fully straight out?

 

[LobsterSan]

another thing to consider is that some headphones will most likely benefit from break-in moreso than others. with some, the perceived differences may be more "psychological", but with others, the perceived differences may be more "physical". I'm of the opinion that burn-in DOES exist, almost always with a "psychological" or perceived difference and sometimes it is accompanied by a "physical" or actual difference as well. to me, the perceived changes can be just as important as any actual changes that a headphone goes through. perhaps it should be differentiated from burn-in, then... maybe termed something like "lived-in"? i know i may be deluding myself, but if in my mind it sounds better in any way, or if i find i like the headphones to be better because of fit or functionality such as portability, then i consider that to be a good thing (especially since it makes me appreciate the headphones more).

i've never done a real a/b comparison between a fresh pair of headphones and a broken-in pair of the same model before, but I have "felt" the difference with my w1000 that I received with about 25 hours burn-in and have now taken it up to 300+ hours (but, again, this "feeling" is subject to the problem posed in your original post).

 

[LobsterSan]

Quote:

Originally posted by kaeric What about some ER-4p's? I am getting some soon, should i run them overnight? or just enjoy them fully straight out?

do both! enjoy your new headphones when you get them, AND let them burn-in overnight (or all day and night for a couple days). then lend your opinions on whether you notice a difference

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally posted by bboy hectek Does break in exist? Well i mean ive owned several pairs of headphones and a few quality ones. I will honestly say, against my better judgement that its my brain playing tricks on me sometimes, that i believe in break-in. It was most noticeable on my grado 60s and my D66s. Especially the D66s. I believe that to an extent you DO train your ears to enjoy the sound of your new headphones and that plays a part..but when i first got my D66s they were unbearably bright, almost to the point of hurting me. The bass was also really really nonexistant and burried. After something like 25-30 hours of reasonably loud break in I am SURE that im not imagining the highs being liveable and tame because before they were impossible. It really does make sense...if youve ever worked with drivers before...hefted them seen how they can move, *shrugs* yes i believe that anything porta pro or above benefits from a little break in time.

the only way to test this is with a blind A/B test. It's possible the adhesives holding the diaphragm in place would soften a little with use, but not much. Other than that, I have no idea what mechanism could be at work.

 

[JKohn]

There's no real scientific basis for the theory of break-in. I've heard from reputable speaker designers that it's purely a psychological effect. And this particular person did research at Canada's NRC and they actually tested the theory with blind listening.

If you really want to test the break-in theory for yourself, buy two sets of identical headphones. Break one set in and not the other, and then do some blind listening to see if you can tell the difference. I bet you can't.

 

[r3cc0s]

i think a little of both.

getting used to the new characteristics of the sound.
the driver's surround being exerted upon, thus breaking it in.

I know for sure that Speakers do have a bit of break in, i would imagine the same thing for headphones.

No my Martin Logan's sounded pretty much the same out of the box, but my Monitor Audio Gold series midrange and bass came alive after about 100hours of use.

 

[Daemoth]

Quote:

Originally posted by JKohn There's no real scientific basis for the theory of break-in. I've heard from reputable speaker designers that it's purely a psychological effect. And this particular person did research at Canada's NRC and they actually tested the theory with blind listening. If you really want to test the break-in theory for yourself, buy two sets of identical headphones. Break one set in and not the other, and then do some blind listening to see if you can tell the difference. I bet you can't.

I personally have never heard a difference as speakers or headphones... but I do believe that at least speakers (and probably therefore headphones) can handle more power and output a little louder without distorting as much after running them for awhile. They are mechanical devices so I think it takes a little bit of wearing in before you can drive speakers at their maximum power without them breaking up some.

 

[dd3mon]

The change in my HD600's over the first day was huge - I have no doubt you could take anyone off the street and they could tell the difference between 600's straight out of the box and fully broken in.

-dd3mon

 

[RVD]

I do think that break in does exist, but I think it is a mixture of both adjusting to the sound and the headphone it self breaking in. The HD600 and the W2002 both benefited greatly from break in other headphones I have owned I have not noticed it near as much if at all. So to me it is break in differences varies from phone to phone. Why that is I really have no clue.