[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by p0wderh0und23 I would honestly LOVE to see proof of burn in. I've run test on sets of new and 3-year old in-ears and have never seen a difference in frequenct response. Does anyone have a chart or print out that shows the difference ? I mean there is NO chance that this supposed burn-in is just your ears getting used to the earphones or headphones ???? OK .. I've thrown my "skeptic fuel" on the fire now.

IMHO its not frequency response that changes (primarily)... IMHO its the dynamic response that is altered. That is... the post-signal resonance and response to input signal. Its the attack / decay and resonance that is altered.

IMHO of course... I too have never seen a waterfall plot of a headphone to verify this. I have seen measurements for speakers and the pre -VS- post burn in differences are measureable (but many times inaudible).

Garrett

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Some people think they can predict what the headphone will sound like after burn-in by listening to it before burn-in.

I think this is just a rationalization to justify listening to them right away.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATB From my limited experience, I did not hear any "burn-in" change with my Sensaphonics 2X-S, Shure E3C, and Stax Omega II. Sounded the same from day 1 to 100+ hours later. I did hear radical changes in the following headphones over time: Sennheiser HD650, Grado SR-225, and Grado RS-2. The HD650 went from veiled to bright to balanced sound! The highs on the Grados mellowed out over time.

i think this validates the theory that big dynamic drivers benefit the most from burn in - that driver has to move things back and forth - loosen up that stiff driver!

 

[fante7]

When I first got my DT880, the treble seemed out of control. Now when I listen to it the treble seems more natural. I think it was more of my ears just getting used to the sound (especially after coming from the treble rolloff of the HD555) more than the headphone breaking it. I think it sounds exactly the same as it did on day 1.

 

[K2Grey]

I'm still waiting for someone to demand a ABX DBT.

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K2Grey I'm still waiting for someone to demand a ABX DBT.

I demand a ABX DBT.

 

[thecheeks]

preparing to buy my first good pair, and im iffy about burn in.
in my opinion large drivers need a lil warm up since theyve never neen used. 100 hours? eh ill give it 2 before they work good, just loosen them up since theyve never been on yet.

 

[geek707]

Quote:

Originally Posted by schwarzenneger makes no sense to me.

I have been able to tell with in the first few minutes if I am going to like how a pair of phones sound. Liked HD600's better than the 580's, and the Sony Cd3000's better than the 600's. Now the 650's better than the 3000's. Breaking in is not likely to change that. I suspect that is true for most. It is not going to make a Senn sound like a Grado, or a AT sound like a Koss. They are going to sound the way they sound, breaking in is not likely to make a big enough change to make you change your first impression. You also remove the issue of adapting to the sound.
First impressions might be the best, least colored.

--
Dana

 

[Cthulhu]

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...kerBreakIn.php

Very good and well researched article on breakin in speakers. Many of the issues should still stand I do imagine. You can skip to the conculsion if you don't like the maths & engineering parts.

 

[fatko]

My ER4P just finished Burn-in ... i got it amost 8 months ago ..

 

[patrox89]

flame bait anyone?

 

[arspy87]

I'd tend to believe that most of what we perceive as burn-in on headphones is our ears adjusting to the sound. That's not to say that there's no physical change in the drivers whatsoever, though, I'd guess. I'd imagine there's a "break-in" period on most electronic devices, especially those that rely on a very sensitive, precise physical operation - such as the diaphragm in a headphone driver. In general I think there are so many things that can influence the sound of a headphone over a period of time. What about the breaking in of the earpads? That could also have an impact on the sound, IMO.

 

[mahlerfan]

I don't think that it's purely psychological-- I remember when I got the Senn 570s-- the highs were so high that even though I could barely hear other parts, the eyes would hurt and I would have to quickly dial down the volume. So at first listening to my 570s was a task of quickly dialing up down the volume. I thought that it was horrible! The dynamic range was way too extreme! But after a few hours of use it settled down and it ceased to be a problem for ever.

Ear shattering highs are not just in one's head IMO.

 

[Ferbose]

Evaluating headphone before burning in is not a really big problem.
Based on measurements, driver to driver variation is much larger than break-in difference, just like speakers . Of course a hi-end headphone would have carefully matched drivers. This means my Grado SR225, for instance, would have very similar left and right drivers but they may be quite different from your SR225. If you believe burning in SR225 (or any other headphone) makes a big difference, then comparing my SR225 to your SR225 would be quite meaningless because the difference is even bigger. Why do many people post about how large break-in differences are but so few people post about unit-to-unit variation for headphone X, Y or Z? Our community as a whole, including myself, is often a victim under the power of suggestion. If we see two SR225s, we think they will sound similar because they are marked the same, and won't try too hard to differentiate the sonic variation despite clear measurable differences. If we see two cables of different brands, we tend to think they should sound different because they look different, while in fact signals passing through it measure basically completely identical. I am not saying that cables don't make a difference, just that the differences are often exageerated due to psychological influences. Same thing with break-in.

Despite some else's SR225 may measure and sound quite differently from mine, I still read other people's review of SR225. So there is nothing really wrong with evaluating a headphone before breaking-in. The problem is evaluating a headphone before one is psychologically ready. If one is used to a certain type of sound, the ear-brain will need some time to adjust to a new presentation.

 

[TooNice]

I would love to see an ABX test where a person who's never heard a given pair of cans get to try both a brand new pair and an older pair.