[m0rancharles]

On the topic of standard pink/white noise, sine wave burn in tracks..
 
A) Would it not be key to the "burn-in" of headphones that they are exposed to pulses mimicking what they experience with real music? Particularly pulses mimicking typical bass beats or even rapid/abrupt changes in pitch mimicking the way most musical tones in a melody do? I think a gradual/steady/uninterrupted wave sound may be good for the first hours of burn in, so as to not overstress/overemphasize any particular aspect, but I feel that this may even inhibit their responsiveness.

B) Shouldn't it also be important to use HQ tracks, particularly 24-bit/192kHz, to ensure a burn in would not further diminish any responsiveness to extended frequencies?

 
(this thread is, as is much of our passion, still largely theoretical. So please don't knock on what we can't/haven't measured just yet without substantive thought contribution to the topic, please?)

 

[spruce music]

  On the topic of standard pink/white noise, sine wave burn in tracks..
 
A) Would it not be key to the "burn-in" of headphones that they are exposed to pulses mimicking what they experience with real music? Particularly pulses mimicking typical bass beats or even rapid/abrupt changes in pitch mimicking the way most musical tones in a melody do? I think a gradual/steady/uninterrupted wave sound may be good for the first hours of burn in, so as to not overstress/overemphasize any particular aspect, but I feel that this may even inhibit their responsiveness.

B) Shouldn't it also be important to use HQ tracks, particularly 24-bit/192kHz, to ensure a burn in would not further diminish any responsiveness to extended frequencies?
 
 
(this thread is, as is much of our passion, still largely theoretical. So please don't knock on what we can't/haven't measured just yet without substantive thought contribution to the topic, please?)

There may be some mechanical break in effects.  I don't think you'll find any evidence that how break in or burn in is done will effect the ultimate fidelity obtainable by some headphones.  So all that is left is what kind of signal will finish break in the most quickly. 
 
So why not just play music?  So what if it takes 70 hours with your music to complete break in rather 20 hours with an optimal break in signal.  Further with the variety of designs in headphones it seems highly unlikely any one type of signal would be optimal for break in for all types of headphones.
 
I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.  Just play some music and enjoy your phones.

 

[castleofargh]

there is need to proceed in order.
1/ do headphones/IEMs/speakers change significantly over the first few hours/days of of signal being sent to them? most measured changes are almost insignificant, and when they're not, it's device specific. so any general concept feels ambiguous at best as there is no clear evidence that it will yield the same result.
 
2/ let's say we pick a particular headphone model, and pairs after pairs, it consistently changes after hours of being played. who aside from maybe some manufacturers tried doing this? you? I sure didn't so I have no idea what happens.
who tried using different sounds at different loudness to check if that has any sort of impact? maybe it all ends up the same anyway? do we have evidence of the contrary? I don't.
 
good luck getting reliable non anecdotal answer on all this. so at this point, for all I know, sending pink noise up to 1337kHz for 3days at 69db, or me singing "I will survive" right next to the headphone for 2 hours, may give the exact same result. and that's the problem. there is zero evidence that it won't. it's all empty speculation. there is no point trying to build a rational over something bogus. anything we do to "burn in" our devices is closer to a cult ritual than it is to an objective method aiming to improve audio. and if you ask around you'll realize it too. everybody has his own habits, a given number of days, certain songs in a given order, the headphone placed on something that can feel like a fake head.... none of those decisions are born from objective realization that it does something. they're all pieces of a prayer to the audio god. maybe they'll work, maybe they won't, as long as we believe it's probably fine.
 
don't get me wrong, I'm not saying what people do has zero impact. I'm saying they don't know and the motives are about reassuring ourselves more than about getting better fidelity as nobody actually goes through the efforts of assessing the effectiveness of the burn in. that would require several new pairs and measurements, and the results would only be clear for that one model of headphones. 

 

[pinnahertz]

  me singing "I will survive" right next to the headphone for 2 hours...

I believe you may have stumbled onto the definitive burn-in signal.  If you would please upload that file, we can begin the test sequence immediately.
 
I expect it to replace the universally preferred defacto standard burn-in signal.

 

[gregorio]

Originally Posted by castleofargh /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
so at this point, for all I know, sending pink noise up to 1337kHz for 3days at 69db, or me singing "I will survive" right next to the headphone for 2 hours, may give the exact same result.

 
Surely that would depend of the calculation of:
A. How loud you sing.
B. The absorption coefficient of your walls.
C. The tolerance of your neighbours.
Get this calculation wrong by enough and the result might be the tragic discovery that the title of the song is ironical!

 
G 

 

[sarge7359]

1) I believe in burn-in for speakers.  I think I've seen it work. BUT I have ZERO hard evidence to support this.  For my most recent speakers (Martin Logan bookshelf) burned them in for the recommended time. 
2) I burn in using random music from my collection at higher volume than I'd normally play music. 
3) Did a similar burn in with Bowers & Wilkens P7 headphones.  I think it made a difference after 20 hours.
 
Maybe, just maybe, the speakers & headphone are still getting better with continued play.  But I don't think so.  The bookshelf speakers sound just fine now, I don't think they're improving.  The headphones, same.  I think I'd need better cable to make the headphones sound any better, if they even have that capability. 
 
I'm also not sold on anything but cable thickness making a difference, but at least that's got some science behind it.

 

[m0rancharles]

 anything we do to "burn in" our devices is closer to a cult ritual than it is to an objective method aiming to improve audio

couldn't have said it better myself XD! -cheers!