[PzyMazter]

Well I was a bit misguided in my interpretation of what burn in actually is, and I thought you were supposed to play at max volume through headphones in order to minimize the necessary time. Well I did that, for approximately 19 hours with my new Shure E3s.

Now right off the bat I can't tell if anything is damaged, but I'm wondering what I should look for. I do believe the bass has become much stronger after this 19 hour session, but I really don't know for certain much about anything relating to driver damage.

While actually using the headphones, I am very volume shy. I actually think that at volume 1 out of 30 on my Karma it might be too loud for comfortable listening, and have been wondering if there's any way I could get a volume control to attach to the headphones (like what you find on the cords of many nicer headphones). It's just that I was using 30/30 with bass and treble eq'd above normal, and I hope I didn't do anything bad

.

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PzyMazter Well I was a bit misguided in my interpretation of what burn in actually is

Man, I've just spit the coffee allover my desktop.

First of all, balanced armature drivers aren't supposed to improve with burn in like dynamic drivers or electrostats.
Quote:

It's just that I was using 30/30 with bass and treble eq'd above normal, and I hope I didn't do anything bad

Most probably you didn't damage the drivers, fortunately the built-in amplification in your Karma isn't that powerful.
Driven by a serious dedicated headphone amp you would have melted down your new IEMs.

Just listen through them, damaged drivers sound heavily distorted, quite easy to detect.

 

[b-sides]

haha ditto as above. next time check the forums. the higher end shures with balanced armatures don't age like the E2Cs. you might be hearing some cable burn in, but thats probably minimal.

you should be ok though, damaged drivers should sound quite yucky.

 

[PzyMazter]

I might mention the sole reason I did this was the sole reason I went with Shure E3 over Etymotic ER6I (okay not sole reason, but one of 4): a review posted in terms I could easily understand.
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/reofshe3ceaw.html the guy mentions after aburn in period the E3Cs sounded MUCH better. Therefore I assumed that meant E3s are supposed to have a burn in period. If this page is wrong, then I don't know how he came to the assumption that used E3s sound MUCH better than fresh out of the box E3s.

Sorry but I'm just new to all of this

. If you say that it would sound notably horrible if I had damaged the drivers, and not just a little worse or something subtle, then I think I'm fine. It seems to sound normal to me, but if it was something subtle I might worry. The "rolled off highs" of the E3 is a "subtle" feature to me that I can't really understand or detect, thus if damaged drivers were to make this worse, I would want to fix it, though possibly not exactly recognize what it was I was fixing.

It's good to hear I'm probably okay though... yes I feel stupid, but hey, I'm just new to the whole 'scene' of headphone quality.

And I might ask a minor question: would a noname volume attenuator be any different from a Shure branded attenuator? Would there be a noticable effect on.. anything if I used a $5 Radio Shack attenuator as opposed to paying $10 for a Shure one plus $25 for overnight shipping (leaving for vacation Tuesday)?

 

[Jmmmmm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PzyMazter I might mention the sole reason I did this was the sole reason I went with Shure E3 over Etymotic ER6I (okay not sole reason, but one of 4): a review posted in terms I could easily understand. http://www.earphonesolutions.com/reofshe3ceaw.html the guy mentions after aburn in period the E3Cs sounded MUCH better. Therefore I assumed that meant E3s are supposed to have a burn in period. If this page is wrong, then I don't know how he came to the assumption that used E3s sound MUCH better than fresh out of the box E3s. Sorry but I'm just new to all of this . If you say that it would sound notably horrible if I had damaged the drivers, and not just a little worse or something subtle, then I think I'm fine. It seems to sound normal to me, but if it was something subtle I might worry. The "rolled off highs" of the E3 is a "subtle" feature to me that I can't really understand or detect, thus if damaged drivers were to make this worse, I would want to fix it, though possibly not exactly recognize what it was I was fixing. It's good to hear I'm probably okay though... yes I feel stupid, but hey, I'm just new to the whole 'scene' of headphone quality. And I might ask a minor question: would a noname volume attenuator be any different from a Shure branded attenuator? Would there be a noticable effect on.. anything if I used a $5 Radio Shack attenuator as opposed to paying $10 for a Shure one plus $25 for overnight shipping (leaving for vacation Tuesday)?

I think a ratshack attenuator will be fine for you. Any difference in sound would be very subtle (if there is one- who knows if the shure one is so high quality, anyway?), so I wouldn't worry about overnighting one from shure.

As the others said, yeah, if you can't tell immediately a driver is blown, it isnt. Can armatures be blown, anyway? i would think they have to be able to, but I don't see how it could......

The whole burn-in thing is a big debate, so don't be surprised if you hear conflicting information. The general thought around here is that balanced armatures, which are used in a lot of canalphones, don't change with time or use. I think this has been supported by some manufacturers.
Personally, I think that burn in is true for some headphones, but most of it is your head adjusting and familiarizing itself to the new sound signature. But, regardless of the source of change, you will probably find the change positive.

Another thing you could consider, instead of ordering a volume attenuator, you could also download mp3gain and lower the volume of the actual files. It's reversible and doesn't alter the music part of the songs at all. I don't know if you can do it to songs already on your karma, though, but it's something to look into, so you won't have to mess with another thing to get in the way, or degrade the signal.

 

[hugz]

Since the originial topic has already been satisfied, i'll do some minor threadjacking...

lots of people have said like "if the driver is blown it will be obvious". is this true? What i'm meaning to ask is, does minor damage ever really occur, or is it all or nothing?

Sometimes i'll leave my headphones playing while not on my ears for a minute or so, and then realise that the volume is louder than i'm comfortable with. It still usually sounds perfectly fine, but i worry that i've done some damage that's less obvious.

also sometimes i hear some damage (eg minor crackle on the bass) but i'm 90% sure that's purely pyschosomatic because it goes away (probably when i stop worrying)

 

[Emon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-sides the higher end shures with balanced armatures don't age like the E2Cs.

Balanced armature drivers don't burn in. And how does the E2c "age"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmmmmm I think that burn in is true for some headphones, but most of it is your head adjusting and familiarizing itself to the new sound signature.

You nailed it. Also, whenever I hear about cable or device burn in, I'm reminded of a Lewis Black quote: "And my fist stopped RIGHT at his face!"

 

[zip22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PzyMazter I might mention the sole reason I did this was the sole reason I went with Shure E3 over Etymotic ER6I (okay not sole reason, but one of 4): a review posted in terms I could easily understand. http://www.earphonesolutions.com/reofshe3ceaw.html the guy mentions after aburn in period the E3Cs sounded MUCH better.

in that review, he says the e3cs sound much better than the e2c. he only mentions the er-6i in regards to ipod color matching. how did the fact that the e3c are supposedly much better after burn in than their cheaper model make you choose them over the er-6i?

 

[sumguy_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emon Balanced armature drivers don't burn in. And how does the E2c "age"?

I think he meant "age" as in burn in [correct me if im wrong].

The E2C has dynamic drivers (not balanced armatures), so technically the theory of burn in applies to them.

 

[sumguy_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugz also sometimes i hear some damage (eg minor crackle on the bass) but i'm 90% sure that's purely pyschosomatic because it goes away (probably when i stop worrying)

Oh boy, do I know what thats like!

 

[PsychoZX]

If you don't hear anything wrong then you probably didn't damage them.

 

[remilard]

Let me get this straight.

Dynamic drivers absolutely burn in.

Balanced armature drivers absolutely do not burn in.

Cables absolutely do burn in.

Wine ages well.

Beer does not age well.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by remilard Let me get this straight. Dynamic drivers absolutely burn in. Balanced armature drivers absolutely do not burn in. Cables absolutely do burn in. Wine ages well. Beer does not age well.

All of that is up to speculation. lol

 

[Emon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by remilard Cables absolutely do burn in.

Yes, and using bright red insulation makes the electronics move faster! Oh, and don't forget to make it teflon, the lower coefficient of friction lets the electrons slide easier, hence lower resistance and better sound!

Oh, and don't forget the racing stripes, they help guide the electrons along curves!

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emon Yes, and using bright red insulation makes the electronics move faster! Oh, and don't forget to make it teflon, the lower coefficient of friction lets the electrons slide easier, hence lower resistance and better sound! Oh, and don't forget the racing stripes, they help guide the electrons along curves!

Don't forget the cable dampeners.