[Omally]

Hello everyone.
 
I have recently purchased a pair of IE8s and I was wondering if y'all could clarify a couple things for me.
I am a firm believer in the physical burn in and mental burn in but I am not sure on how this is usually performed with the IE8. I realize there has been numerous posts on this topic with tons of different opinions but after searching for a good couple of days and looking through the shear number of threads with 20+ pages of comments I am growing discouraged that I will find an answer to my specific inquiry as all I have found so far is tidbits touching on this matter.
 
My questions are as follows:
 
1) Is the source music/noise significant in how the headphones will sound once finished?
   + ie - would bassy music bring out more bass? is this ridiculous to ask?
   + please point me to a thread with explanations of white/pink noise and freq sweep if you can recall one.
 
2) What should the bass dial be set to???
   + will this affect the outcome? Am I crazy?
   + If so how would it change?
 
Please help,
I am very excited about these headphones as I have tried most of the prominent earphones in this price range except the W3 (se535, miles davis, triple.fi10) and I have found my favorite iem. Now if I could just figure out the best way to burn in I will be a happy camper.
 
Thanks.

 

[dweaver]

I would suggest a burnin method that uses more pink and white noise to help bring out the upper frquencies more versus brown noise which helps stress the lower frequencies. If you look at my signature there are links to two files one pink white dominant and one brown dominant. I would donwload both and experiment. They both have built in rest periods of silence. Beyonf that I have started to mix in heavy drumming and alot of cymbals sound into my burnin process to help stretch those areas harder but unfortunately I have not had time to make a burnin song to put up for others so you would need to make that part yourself.

 

[Omally]

Thanks for those links dweaver.
 
Anyone else? 
 
I would really like to know what bass setting everyone used.

 

[dragonpark]

just play more then 2kh music，something like [size=small]symphony！[/size]
[size=small]after 300h，beat way to burn is “[size=medium]Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture [/size]” real cannon edition[/size]
 
then IE8 will be your last earphone~
 

 

[Poetik]

I keep mine on the lowest setting as that's enough bass for me.  I believe when boosting the bass setting it just adds more midbass which the headphone already has a ton of. 

 

[Omally]

Well I certainly hope the IE8 will be my last earphone for a while at least.
But I did get them really cheap however, so who knows I might buy full size cans to compliment them.
 
Poetik, I was more interested in what bass setting used while burning in. If you believe in such a thing anyway.

 

[ChocoholicVu]

I'm sorry that this is off topic but why did you prefer the IE8 over the MD?

Also, what type of music do you listen to?

ANNNND do you suggest any burn in types for the MD? Mine arrives in a few days.

 

[yliu]

Quote:

I keep mine on the lowest setting as that's enough bass for me.  I believe when boosting the bass setting it just adds more midbass which the headphone already has a ton of. 

I think the bass knob doesn't really change the the midbass, it only changes the frequencies under midbass.

 

[yliu]

Quote:

1) Is the source music/noise significant in how the headphones will sound once finished?
   + ie - would bassy music bring out more bass? is this ridiculous to ask?
   + please point me to a thread with explanations of white/pink noise and freq sweep if you can recall one.

I think if you burn in your headphones with not-so-bassy music, and others burned it in with bassy music and their earphone sound more bassy than yours, than I think yours is not completely burned in.
 
For white and Pink noise check this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_noise
and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKg1dm5_tF4

 

[Omally]

Quote:

I'm sorry that this is off topic but why did you prefer the IE8 over the MD?

Also, what type of music do you listen to?

ANNNND do you suggest any burn in types for the MD? Mine arrives in a few days.

Thats a good question, theres a few reasons actually, however I do have to begin by saying I think the miles davis are a bit overrated largely due to their high price and monster marketing.
 
I listen to mostly electronic music (trance, dubsteb, drum n bass), my fav band is Radiohead, and my passion is Hip-Hop.
 
Also, before I get flamed for anything it should be obvious everyone will have different opinions and experiences but I do think I am correct about most of these points. 

 Excuse me if I come on a little strong.
 
    THE DESIGN
 
1) The miles davis are HIDEOUS and super cheesy with those ugly blue cables
    the IE8 are beautifully designed/ super elegant grey color and cables.
 
2) Monster are idiots for making their turbine/MD line so damn heavy - THEY WILL FALL OUT OF YOUR EARS 
    the ergonomics of the body does not sit in the ear well and the tips are not long enough to anchor them in properly
    also the cable is attached almost halfway in the body where it should have been coming in from the end
        this mean its rubbing on my earlobe and prevents me from pushing them in further
    I call MAJOR BS on the "heavy but it stays in place" crowd
    and we all know (EG FX700) that wood is more beneficial then metal for sound so What monster?
 
3) You cannot wear the MD with the cable around your ear, which is the ONLY correct way to wear hi-fi IEMs
    and their weight is where it gets you here as THEY WILL BREAK THE SEAL
 
4) It was almost impossible for me to get a proper seal with anything but the UBER CHEAP triple flanges
    they are pieces of crap super flimsy silicone
 
5) The cable on the MD is not removable/upgradable.
 
6) The cable on the MD is VERY FLIMSY, although the texture is nice
 
7) The carrying cases, ALL THREE are useless
    the hard case was designed by a monkey and theres nothing to hold the cable down or fold it or wrap it in any way
    the soft cases are not rugged enough to protect them if thrown in the bottom of a backpack and the wires tangle
    they are all really cheap (duh its Monster)
 
    THE SOUND
 
1) the bass that the MD produces is probably the best I have every heard in an earphone
   HOWEVER, I do have to say it is slow and not very tight and not always accurate
   having owned the TRIPLE.FI I do have to say the bass was VERY TIGHT and VERY WELL DEFINED it only lacked volume
   the MD was like being on the pinnacle of perfection but never quite reaching it
   bass is very important to me
 
2) the mids are too far forward in the mix for me and not in the same pleasing manner as SE535 
   the majority of my music does not have many lyrics 
 
3) the soundstage was way too confined for me 
    this combined with the forward mids made my music very claustrophobic
    for example when Miles blew on his trumpet it was like he was right next to you blowing it in your ear
    the trumpet sounded very lifelike but this overshadowed EVERYTHING else in the mix
    I especially don't want any rappers rapping right in my ear!
    the "jazz club soundstage" they advertise simply does not work for me and my music
    and i cant imagine what type of music it really works with...
 
4) the treble was there but it never really shined
    this effect combined with massive bass, overly forward mids, and small soundstage - 
    completely neglected the airiness I really enjoy with all different types of music
    the kind that makes you forget you're wearing IEMS
 
Having sworn off of BA type for the lack of bass volume I crave I find the IE8 even though its bass was not quite as good (but VERY close) to the MD was able to give me proper mids placement and sparkly treble that can shine through in its expansive  soundstage.
 
I really wish I could try the WESTONE 4 though! But thats Head-FI for you! 

 

[ChocoholicVu]

wow, thank you, I didnt think you would be that specific <3 

crap, I listen to exactly the same music as you LOL, almost half of my songs doesnt have words too. I chose the MD's over the IE8 ahaha.... ;___;

I've had the monster turbines before and they somehow fit quite nicely in my ears, is it anything different in the design for the MD's then? 

How much would you say the MD's would cost? I paid $350 (canadian) for them and I consider it to be a steeaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllll

LOL @ i especially don't want any rappers rapping right in my ear! 

also, how would you suggust I burn in the MD's? 

Thanks again, you've been so much help aha
 
Quote:

Quote:

I'm sorry that this is off topic but why did you prefer the IE8 over the MD?

Also, what type of music do you listen to?

ANNNND do you suggest any burn in types for the MD? Mine arrives in a few days.

Thats a good question, theres a few reasons actually, however I do have to begin by saying I think the miles davis are a bit overrated largely due to their high price and monster marketing.
 
I listen to mostly electronic music (trance, dubsteb, drum n bass), my fav band is Radiohead, and my passion is Hip-Hop.
 
Also, before I get flamed for anything it should be obvious everyone will have different opinions and experiences but I do think I am correct about most of these points. 

 Excuse me if I come on a little strong.
 
    THE DESIGN
 
1) The miles davis are HIDEOUS and super cheesy with those ugly blue cables
    the IE8 are beautifully designed/ super elegant grey color and cables.
 
2) Monster are idiots for making their turbine/MD line so damn heavy - THEY WILL FALL OUT OF YOUR EARS 
    the ergonomics of the body does not sit in the ear well and the tips are not long enough to anchor them in properly
    also the cable is attached almost halfway in the body where it should have been coming in from the end
        this mean its rubbing on my earlobe and prevents me from pushing them in further
    I call MAJOR BS on the "heavy but it stays in place" crowd
    and we all know (EG FX700) that wood is more beneficial then metal for sound so What monster?
 
3) You cannot wear the MD with the cable around your ear, which is the ONLY correct way to wear hi-fi IEMs
    and their weight is where it gets you here as THEY WILL BREAK THE SEAL
 
4) It was almost impossible for me to get a proper seal with anything but the UBER CHEAP triple flanges
    they are pieces of crap super flimsy silicone
 
5) The cable on the MD is not removable/upgradable.
 
6) The cable on the MD is VERY FLIMSY, although the texture is nice
 
7) The carrying cases, ALL THREE are useless
    the hard case was designed by a monkey and theres nothing to hold the cable down or fold it or wrap it in any way
    the soft cases are not rugged enough to protect them if thrown in the bottom of a backpack and the wires tangle
    they are all really cheap (duh its Monster)
 
    THE SOUND
 
1) the bass that the MD produces is probably the best I have every heard in an earphone
   HOWEVER, I do have to say it is slow and not very tight and not always accurate
   having owned the TRIPLE.FI I do have to say the bass was VERY TIGHT and VERY WELL DEFINED it only lacked volume
   the MD was like being on the pinnacle of perfection but never quite reaching it
   bass is very important to me
 
2) the mids are too far forward in the mix for me and not in the same pleasing manner as SE535 
   the majority of my music does not have many lyrics 
 
3) the soundstage was way too confined for me 
    this combined with the forward mids made my music very claustrophobic
    for example when Miles blew on his trumpet it was like he was right next to you blowing it in your ear
    the trumpet sounded very lifelike but this overshadowed EVERYTHING else in the mix
    I especially don't want any rappers rapping right in my ear!
    the "jazz club soundstage" they advertise simply does not work for me and my music
    and i cant imagine what type of music it really works with...
 
4) the treble was there but it never really shined
    this effect combined with massive bass, overly forward mids, and small soundstage - 
    completely neglected the airiness I really enjoy with all different types of music
    the kind that makes you forget you're wearing IEMS
 
Having sworn off of BA type for the lack of bass volume I crave I find the IE8 even though its bass was not quite as good (but VERY close) to the MD was able to give me proper mids placement and sparkly treble that can shine through in its expansive  soundstage.
 
I really wish I could try the WESTONE 4 though! But thats Head-FI for you! 

 

[Omally]

You're welcome.
 
I've been on head-fi for a long time but I just mostly read and rarely post. I feel like a lot of people flood the forum with a bunch of crap.
I finally feel like I've tried enough iems to really give solid advice, and you asked so I sat down and gave you a proper answer.
 
As far as burning in your MD, I would of course listen to your primary genre of music and maybe white noise them overnight for a few days.
Im thinking pink noise for my IE8's, which are wrapped under the tree. 

 
I think that the turbines are a better design than the MD, I did not have much problem with the fitting when I had the grey turbines.
Compare the place the cable meets the body on side shot of both models, you will see what Im talking about. On the MD its closer to the middle of the body.
 
By the way the MD are on sale for $299.99 on monstercable.com and you get 150 monster bucks to spend online, i think you overpaid a little.

 

[imackler]

I use the lowest bass setting.
I do burn in by plugging my earphones into my cd-player. I put various cds on repeat and let the cd player run for a couple days at normal listening volumes. I rotate through various cds so its well seasoned for all kinds of music. Might just be voodoo, but that's how I do it.

 

[Trysaeder]

Max bass setting and then eq the whole hump down.
 
Still didn't prevent me from getting rid of them.

 

[mvw2]

 
Quote:

Max bass setting and then eq the whole hump down.
 
Still didn't prevent me from getting rid of them.

Yep.  You need the bass setting high to make the driver actually play deep, so there's no point setting it low.  The hump is centered around 100Hz and is w-i-d-e.  The bass knob only affects the bottom half, so it doesn't actually help.  All you get to do is set the bass knob high and then EQ.  Once that's done, it's a very well balanced earphone.
 
Ditto.  I still sold my pair.  The biggest issues for me were the treble and the sound stage.  Top end on this earphone is smoothed a bit and details are blurred together.  It does pretty well, but it is a high throw bass geared driver.  The sound stage is big, but it's only big.  It can't portray closeness well.  Close stuff is far and far is far, so layering is extremely minimal.  The sound is clean, so it's not muddy and overly blended, but it simply can not portray distancing, and something is lost from this.
 
As for burn-in, you need an amp with the IE8.  It likes power.  It sounds good without an amp, but you really can't push the driver without one and for burn-in that's what you eventually need.  The burn-in process for me is all about getting the drivers near 100% but safely.  This can be pretty rapid.  I don't feel burn-in is dependent on what you do, but I do like things like pink noise to start with since it includes all frequencies and do like drum information to sort of finish off.  I see part of it as flexing the diaphragm some of it as flexing the suspension.  Pink noise provides a lot of random wave forms to resonate through the diaphragm and flex it.  However, pink noise doesn't specifically push the driver in throw.  I like drum solos to get those bass beats to stretch the suspension a little.  Now all of this does need to be done safely.  You have to understand when you are actually stressing the driver.  You hear for distortion, strain, and tonal change.  Any sign of stress, you back off a hair.  As you break in, you will hear this early on.  Let it it play just below this point for a little bit.  Then readjust the volume.  You will notice you can go a little bit louder before you get the same stressing.  This is the driver loosening up.  Progress slowly for a while.  Eventually you will find that you can no longer increase the volume without stressing the driver.  Repeat a couple times and you will find you keep ending up at the same volume level.  This is the physical limit of the driver.  Now the earphone is broken in and is 95% of what it will be for the rest of the life.  The funny thing is this really doesn't take more than a day to do with any headphone.  People say 100 hours or whatever only because the earphone is never really pushed.  I got my IE8 used for roughly 50 hours and it was not broken in fully.  You do have to run through the capability of the driver to actually get it to a point that it will no longer change.  This is why I also say an amp is necessary.  It's not necessary for all earphones, but it helps with most.  I can't stress caution enough though.  You always want to be below the limit of the driver doing this.  You want to be near but below.  It takes a careful ear.
 
Does burn-in methods vary the sound?  I'll say yes and no.  Until the earphone is fully burned in, yes, different methods will get you to different points.  However, the end point is always the same.  Even for A vs A testing of two of the same earphones, there is some challenge in actually having the same sounding earphone.  There are variations between the same product, even just left and right sides of the same earphone.  This creates some challenge when actually testing the idea.  Certain companies actually specifically match drivers (think Ety's ER4) so the response is the same for each side on the single earphone.  This also means the response isn't the same between two different earphones.  These differences are small, but realize there is realistically some variation even for the same product.  You're stuck with what you have, so I say ignore it.  Just burn in the product and leave it as is.