[HONEYBOY]

I loved my IE8s right out of the box. I just listened to music with mine and never bothered with the counting of hours. I won't dispute that these 'burn in'' though because after few months of constant usage they sound a lot more balanced to my ears. I know for a fact that the treble opened up and that the bass is nowhere close to the quantity it possessed out of the box. For me it's the position in my ear and the tips used that really changes the sound. My hunch is that a lot if folks, try to get a full seal with the IE8s and the stock tips used and then they get this overpowering bass and lack of treble and clarity.No amount of 'burn in' is going to change that, but start experimenting with tips and don't seal them in too much and IE8 becomes something else. The fit is rather finicky and until you get that sweet spot/placement right. One might just be more inclined to believe that the IE8 hasn't yet burned in.

 

[dura]

For me, out of the box, the midbass was too much; of course there is some adjusting, coming from BA IEMs, but there is no doubt in my mind my IE8s sounded clearer after a night burning in on the radio.
After that there might or might not have been subtle chances, I can't tell.
reason is, I listen to them daily, different music, different environments, different moods and I did a lot of experimenting with tips too.
Up till now, they keep on surprising me on a daily bases with their excellent sound.
I could attribute this to them being very very good and/or actually improving but there is no way for me to be certain of that, because of the above.

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by average_joe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Too lazy to search, but there was an internet magazine or something of the sort that was going to perform tests to prove/disprove burn in. Maybe 1-2 weeks ago.

Thanks, found it! No results published yet.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drubbing /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe what I hear too, and they tell me nothing's changed. Why does someone else's experience amuse you, when it not yours? And if your ears and brain can make you believe you hear soundstage effects from two speakers mm from your ears, what else might they be capable of?

lol!!! first doubting burn-in of dynamic drivers because there is no moving parts LMAO, then doubting the existence of soundstage in something that is MM from your ears. too funny. soundstage is not only an effect caused by the distance to the ears from the driver, it is also a psychoaccoustic effect that is totally real. people (and not just audiophiles) in the JH13 customs thread are reporting a soundstage larger and better defined than what their high-end full-size headphones present.

but of course they are all imagining it. thats the point; they ARE imagining it to a degree

Quote:

If it can't be measured, its validity can be questioned, just as two people can differently hear how wide soundstage is from the same headphone. And going on the comments here alone, one IEM takes anything from 50-700 hrs for the magic to happen.

I think you picked the wrong forum mate. IEMs in particular vary in sound signiture between people considerably because guess what, we all have a different shaped ear canal and also what is called ear/flat frequency response. customs are a bit more consistent between two users because the IEM largely takes the canal and its shape out of the equation, but universals add this as well as the many different tips that people use, which also impact on FR and soundstage.

Quote:

People can believe what they wish. It's strange though, it's only at head fi where burn-in is taken as conventional wisdom, and has an almost religious following.

wow you really need to get around more. burn-in is conventional wisdom worldwide in audiophile circles. just because you havent come into contact with it doesnt mean it doesnt exist lol. but hey life only exists in the sphere surrounding you right?? ignorance is bliss

 

[Drubbing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif lol!!! first doubting burn-in of dynamic drivers because there is no moving parts LMAO, then doubting the existence of soundstage in something that is MM from your ears. too funny.

I never doubted the existence of SS. People's perception of how much, from the same phone, can differ is what I said. And I don't care how many moving parts dynamics have, I hear nothing different with my phones. You have my ears though, so you know better?

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif wow you really need to get around more. burn-in is conventional wisdom worldwide in audiophile circles. just because you havent come into contact with it doesnt mean it doesnt exist lol. but hey life only exists in the sphere surrounding you right?? ignorance is bliss

I do get around, and it isn't. And some audiophile circles contain a lot of wank; this too is well known. And I've forumed plenty of places where burn in is treated with some circumspection, and not accepted without question.

And Hey, I'm in Australia too, but I'll be sure to remind myself not to buy anything off patronising smartarses like yourself, who take cheap shots from the comfortable surrounds of like minded friends.

 

[Duncan]

Yes, burn in does exist... in the same way that burn OUT exists...

Two examples of burn-out - Sennheiser HD320 from 15yrs or so ago, sounded really good out of the box (well rated by WHF at the time) but over the course of time, their sound went to crap (again, this was documented, but where this was so long ago, not sure anything will be around on the net... might be worth a google)

The other example is the Sony MDR-EX71 - As harsh as hell out of the box, but with a couple of thousand hours on the clock, the treble just disappeared, leaving a gloopy mess of dull sound...

So, if we can have known cases of burn-out, why can't we have burn-in?

...that leads me on to something else that I have been wondering about the IE8, but - that is a conversation to have somewhere further down the line...

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drubbing /img/forum/go_quote.gif I never doubted the existence of SS. People's perception of how much, from the same phone, can differ is what I said. And I don't care how many moving parts dynamics have, I hear nothing different with my phones. You have my ears though, so you know better?

jeeze that was a turn around, you seem to be making my point for me



Quote:

I do get around, and it isn't. And some audiophile circles contain a lot of wank; this too is well known. And I've forumed plenty of places where burn in is treated with some circumspection, and not accepted without question.

again; accepted without question

; you really need to take a look around this very forum. there is a section called sound science. devoted to the skeptics. some good healthy debate goes on there as well as a bit of angst. but thats cool

Quote:

And Hey, I'm in Australia too, but I'll be sure to remind myself not to buy anything off patronising smartarses like yourself, who take cheap shots from the comfortable surrounds of like minded friends.

this ^^ is too funny; I dont know anyone in this thread so far; just replying to your arrogant and closeminded point of view. which regardless of who is around I would prefer not to tolerate without comment. even if it means putting myself on show. your belief is totally valid and if that was how you presented it..cool. but it wasnt


re: your business
with your attitude... as if you ever would. and if you did it wold be painful. doesnt mean much losing a customer that never was and never would be. I have an open mind and accept peoples different beliefs without question. if they dont take my point of view cool, but dont belittle other peoples and before you deny it; look back over your posts in this thread including the one i'm replying to now. if you turn around and say that was your position i'll laugh my ass off.

so your errrmm I dont know what to call it except spite and hypocracy. is both a little amusing and a little concerning.

 

[maceto]

Speaker Break In: Fact or Fiction? — Reviews and News from Audioholics

The Mythical Burn-In Period

 

[prone2phone]

its funny about burn in,,, just take two new headphones and burn one of them and compare, its simple

 

[Rip N' Burn]

My experience with the IE8 out of the box is that it had barely any noticeable treble and bloated bass, even a the lowest adjustable setting. After the 200+ hour mark, treble has opened up tremendously and bass is nowhere near as bloated. I used the same tips out of the box and after the 200+ hour mark. All I can say is that the sound signature did noticeably change. The debate here is that dynamic drivers burn-in or the brain adjusts to the sound signature over time realizing it's full potential. This Jedi mind trick didn't work on all of my BA iem's or maybe the brain very quickly adjusts to balanced armature drivers and has more difficulties with dynamic drivers.

 

[Vladimir_F1]

I believe in it. Cause i experienced it with my own ears. Out of the box they sounded horrible.... even CX300 is better comparing to that sound. After 5 hours they started to sound almost perfectly....

 

[david1978jp]

I don't know about IE8. A while ago, my friend borrowed my E2C against his new purchase. He compared them every ten hours. 100 hours later, he believed they sounded about the same.

 

[dosley01]

I absolutely believe that the sound of dynamic driver phones change after burn-in. My last two, IE8 and Monster Turbines, both improved after an overnight burn-in. After that initial period I can't say that my ears might not have burned in but out-of-the-bo,x compared to the next day, there certainly was a change otherwise I probably would have returned both. I also owned a pair of Martin Logan electrostatic speakers that also changed substantially from OTB to a couple of days of playing so it's not just headphone drivers. Aside from Tube gear, electronics on the other hand...... IMHO smoke and mirrors......

 

[skeptic]

Hearing is believing. The change in the IE8's in the first twenty hours is not subtle. No golden ears required...

 

[aj_brown_99]

I've never actually documented any of my burn-in, but I can say that I'm usually somewhat disapointed at the sound out of the box, and then I'm usually pleased with it in the long run.

What we should do is at the next Can Jam, have someone with a bunch of sets of new headphones and a bunch of the same, burnt in ones, and have people do blind tests and then see which one they prefer. That would solve the debate right there.