I didnt actually believe burn-in would have any effect but since Hifiman recommends 150 hours of use for the 400i to sound their best I wanted to give it a shot.
I left my he400i playing pink noise overnight at slightly higher than normal levels and to my dismay I think it has actually deteriorated the sound quality!
I cant compare without a time machine so I have no way to know for sure but Ive been examining a lot of test tracks I used and Im feeling like the headphones are a lot 'looser' sounding . there seems to be a big drop in dynamics. Less sparkle in highs (vocals lost their magic), more pronounced bass with less texture, poorer overall seperation. The mids seem fuller and may actually sound a bit better but it doesnt make up for everything else...
has something like this happened to anyone else? was 12 hours of uninterrupted pink noise too aggressive of a burn in, particularly for the thin and delicate diaphragm of a planar?
alternatively, are some headphones more susceptible to changes in sound sig from being used?
I left my he400i playing pink noise overnight at slightly higher than normal levels and to my dismay I think it has actually deteriorated the sound quality!
I cant compare without a time machine so I have no way to know for sure but Ive been examining a lot of test tracks I used and Im feeling like the headphones are a lot 'looser' sounding . there seems to be a big drop in dynamics. Less sparkle in highs (vocals lost their magic), more pronounced bass with less texture, poorer overall seperation. The mids seem fuller and may actually sound a bit better but it doesnt make up for everything else...
has something like this happened to anyone else? was 12 hours of uninterrupted pink noise too aggressive of a burn in, particularly for the thin and delicate diaphragm of a planar?
alternatively, are some headphones more susceptible to changes in sound sig from being used?
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