My main speakers were made in the mid 70s and they still sound the same. What kind of speakers do you have that have degraded? Can you please link to the article you're talking about?
And why can’t it be heard? Does it even matter if it can’t be heard?
Sorry, but unless there are measurements of the changes, I would say it's mental. This is exactly what has been said over and over, and I'm going to repeat it again for the 40,000th time. Your brain is really good at adapting to sound. Unless you have reliable measurements, your statement cannot be submitted as evidence.
Not sure, I'd ask anyone who has ever owned a pleated Mr. Speakers product. Like I said, none of my other cans had break in, but my Ethers were astounding. I'm willing to say maybe it was adaptation, but I tend to use my 4xx often as well. I'd even ask Dan @mrspeakers himself. And like I said, it's the only example I can think of. Otherwise I agree, I've never heard it in anything else
Besides you can have 2 cans that have flat response graphs that sound completely different.
Worn isn't the same as broken in. And a subwoofer is about as far from headphones mechanically as you can get. Also, how do you account for sample variation? How do you know that woofer didn't sound just like that new. The manufacturing tolerance is probably pretty broad in a sub.
It's usually the mechanical Q. The rubber surrounds and suspension wears and ages
He takes 2 of the same driver used and new and measures them
Not sure, I'd ask anyone who has ever owned a pleated Mr. Speakers product. Like I said, none of my other cans had break in, but my Ethers were astounding. I'm willing to say maybe it was adaptation, but I tend to use my 4xx often as well. I'd even ask Dan @mrspeakers himself.
Besides you can have 2 cans that have flat response graphs that sound completely different.
I owned Vandersteen Quatros for 11 years....because of thier powered/equalized bass section i measured/verified bass response about once a year....it didn't change an iota in 11 years.
Not directly related and anecdotal, but anything I buy that runs electrical current or signal I typically burn-in. If it's gonna fail because of QC or a defect, it's usually going to do so quickly. 24 hours seems like a good start.
Working at recording studios for nearly 30 years with new equipment coming in all the time, I don’t recall one instance of “burn in” undertaken by any of the senior staff and technicians - right from when I started as a gofer / runner in 1982 - through to being an assistant engineer, engineer then freelance engineer up to when I moved to a different career path 30 years later.
When a new piece of gear came into the studio - we just used it. It was never “left on” somewhere with audio running through it. We never left gear unused because it needed burning in time and we were recording albums for major labels.
Recently I purchased a second VE Elysium, so I had two identical units (well, different designs but that doesn't count) - one was brand new, the other with a few hundred hours on it.
They sound identical, and that's an IEM that has BAs, DDs and Estats in it
To contrast that, when I got my first Elysium, I thought it changed quite a bit as I listened to it more, but I'd say that's mostly related to the way you process the music with your ears/brain
Does that conclusively prove burn in isn't a thing? Hardly, but still an interesting experience/observation
Strangely acoustic and electric guitars have burn in. They don’t know exactly what it is but they can start to actually sound louder, and warmer. I read they guess the mechanics of the guitar are that the strings are seating deeper in the nut and bridge. Since it’s mechanical the vibration of the strings is helping them work their way deeper into the groove they sit on-top and in. Falling deeper into the groove means there is more contact area so therefor louder by transferring more vibrational energy into the body. Also there are very small aspects of the strings wearing on-top of the frets. With old guitars the frets eventually completely wear out (from string surface contact) and need to be replaced. On a new guitar the frets are filed down flat (prior and during the first set of strings by the guitar maker) but still the action of the strings starts to change the frets shape due to metal against metal friction. How this possibly makes the guitar louder is the vibrating string starts to have a more broad contact with the fret so the vibrations are then transferred into the neck which transfers the vibration to the pickups or resonance body. Strings get slightly better after use too. I have found this phenomenon to occur with two new acoustic guitars, but still believe it’s in combination with mental burn-in.
With acoustic guitars it's mostly the effect of temperature and humidity changes on the wood. The nut and saddle don't change. Those are bone. But guitar players can be like audiophiles too. There are armchair guitarists who fuss over all kinds of inconsequential things instead of playing and practicing!
I have a '53 Gibson SJ. It's as dry as a bone and very light. The shop that sold it to me (We Buy Gutars NYC) mistakenly thought it was a 70's model!
$500
No proof, but it's interessting that focal has a page on their website about burning in their loudspeakers. The cause being that the mount is rigid and needs to adapt to temperature and humidity. https://www.focal.com/en/focal-teach/what-is-the-running-in-period
I know it's not headphone drivers, and that there's no measurements, but it's coming from a big company.
When i bought an Audioquest Nightowl, they also said in the manual, that you shouldn't trust the sound having settled until it reached 150 hours of burn in.
Another question.
The difference might not be in frequency response, but in soundstage and the details. If that's so, how can you measure that?
I'm not really a smart guy so don't roast me
I have a '53 Gibson SJ. It's as dry as a bone and very light. The shop that sold it to me (We Buy Gutars NYC) mistakenly thought it was a 70's model!
$500
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