[seethelight]

I was skeptical about burn-in - until today!
 
I've had a pair of Shure SRH1540 for a couple of weeks, and I've listened quite a lot to them in that time. Today, I got a new, unused pair of the same model, produced just one month prior to the other one (there is a bar-code sticker with a date on the box). When doing direct comparisons, I could tell a difference in the sound! The more used one definitely sounded better - more open and effortless! The difference is subtle, but it is definitely there.
 
Of course, it could be sample variation due to production tolerances, and I can't know for sure if it's that or burn-in that make these two headphones sound different, but I am leaning towards burn-in. When I got the first pair a couple of weeks ago, my first impression was kind of negative. The music felt kind of lifeless and didn't provoke much emotional response. However the sound of the headphone grew on me - the more I listened, the better I liked it. I thought it was my brain getting more and more used to it, but today's experience has me thinking otherwise!

 

[Amish]

I don't. I've been using headphones for around 30+ years and in all that time I have not experienced the burn in. I may be the minority and I may be a victim of an adjusted ear from listening to the same cans but tbh I can't remember ever hearing a difference.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

For me, I believe less in burn in and more in acclimation. That is one of the reasons I believe people hate headphones when they first get them. I hate to use this as an example, but almost every reveiw of the beats studio headphones online mentioned that they hated them the first day and liked them the second day. I believe that is because they went from audiophile headphones to consumer headphones and their minds had to adjust to the sound signature before they could enjoy them at all. Kind of like how you loved your cheap earbuds until you moved up and now going back to them is almost ear splitting.
Now I believe that burn in can cause subtle differences due to physical change in the drivers due to use, but I don't believe in "miraculous burn in".

 

[seethelight]

For me, I believe less in burn in and more in acclimation.
[...]
Now I believe that burn in can cause subtle differences due to physical change in the drivers due to use, but I don't believe in "miraculous burn in".

Thank you PL4Y3R 0N3, for your thoughts. Like you, I don't think it is matter of one OR the other, but rather acclimatization AND physical changes in the drivers. For example, one of the things I didn't like about the Shure SRH1540 at first, was the amount of bass (in some recordings). This is something that wasn't different between the two 1540's when I compared them, but it IS something I find less objectionable now - clearly a matter of me getting used to a different sound signature (acclimatization).

To prove or disprove the existence of physical burn-in - to oneself if nothing else - one can acquire two sets of identical headphones. Listen to them both at first to confirm there is no difference in sound between the two, then put one set aside and only use the other set for a good while. Then after a suitable amount of listening hours, compare the sound of the two sets again.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

Thank you PL4Y3R 0N3, for your thoughts. Like you, I don't think it is matter of one OR the other, but rather acclimatization AND physical changes in the drivers. For example, one of the things I didn't like about the Shure SRH1540 at first, was the amount of bass (in some recordings). This is something that wasn't different between the two 1540's when I compared them, but it IS something I find less objectionable now - clearly a matter of me getting used to a different sound signature (acclimatization).

To prove or disprove the existence of physical burn-in - to oneself if nothing else - one can acquire two sets of identical headphones. Listen to them both at first to confirm there is no difference in sound between the two, then put one set aside and only use the other set for a good while. Then after a suitable amount of listening hours, compare the sound of the two sets again.

I understand that burn in does occur. Slight changes will occur with movement of the drivers. I would test to see if mine have burned in but I don't have the money to get a second pair XD. I just don't believe that the difference could ever be "night and day". I don't think there is a pair of headphones in the world that would sound so extremely and dramatically different after burn in that a burn in is necessary for listening.
J could always be wrong though.