[Advil]

Oh... well that's good to hear. I'd rather not spend more on equipment. I can't EQ through the E17 if I use the line-out so maybe I'll just use the headphone out and amplify the already amped signal further with the tubes...?

 

[HaVoC-28]

Quote:

 

 
I wonder if the O2 has any similarities to the M-Stage? I imagine they're pretty close but with the M-Stage having a barely audible touch of warmth perhaps.

 
Not so close ... M-stage was the warmest / darker of the headphone amps i ever had  , well not that the m-stage is very warm amp , but a bit more than the warmer side of neutral , if it means anything)
 
A-GD C2.1 => warmer side of neutral .
 
SPL Auditor / O² this 2 were very similar i call them "neutral" IMO .
 
M-stage was the least cleaner / detailled of the bunch also . Still a great amp for the price . But for me O² > M-stage .

 

[Ashade]

Oh... well that's good to hear. I'd rather not spend more on equipment. I can't EQ through the E17 if I use the line-out so maybe I'll just use the headphone out and amplify the already amped signal further with the tubes...?

That sounds like a plan.

 

[Hairspray]

That sounds like a plan.

LOL

 

[Hairspray]

Oh... well that's good to hear. I'd rather not spend more on equipment. I can't EQ through the E17 if I use the line-out so maybe I'll just use the headphone out and amplify the already amped signal further with the tubes...?

Call me insane but after around 600 hours of break-in, your Q701 will sound noticeably better, especially the bass.
Brain burn-in will also help, of course.

 

[Advil]

Quote:

Call me insane but after around 600 hours of break-in, your Q701 will sound noticeably better, especially the bass.
Brain burn-in will also help, of course.

I can never tell if people are serious or being facetious when they say something like 600 hours of burn in lol

 

[Hairspray]

Quote:

I can never tell if people are serious or being facetious when they say something like 600 hours of burn in lol

 
Haha..! Same old never ending debate.
Ask Tyll... 1000 hours do make a difference anyhow.

Tyll is so funny; he knows his shiat but doesn't take himself seriously.
This video always gives me a good laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxdOEpiCTs

 

[jasonb]

Wow, impressive. I've never seen that video before.
Quote:

 
Haha..! Same old never ending debate.
Ask Tyll... 1000 hours do make a difference anyhow.

Tyll is so funny; he knows his shiat but doesn't take himself seriously.
This video always gives me a good laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxdOEpiCTs

 

[ThurstonX]

Quote:

 
Haha..! Same old never ending debate.
Ask Tyll... 1000 hours do make a difference anyhow.

Tyll is so funny; he knows his shiat but doesn't take himself seriously.
This video always gives me a good laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxdOEpiCTs

 
Good stuff, thanks for posting the link. Back to the looping shuffle playlist... *sigh*  

 

[theOmni]

First thing I was thinking of, and as some of the other comments have mentioned too, there's a laptop in front. If it is at all somewhat reflective, he can tell whether its white or green on his head. So although he may have been truthful, this may not have been the best test.

 

[GirgleMirt]

I think the pads and just the feel of the headphone itself might have been a giveaway.

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

 
Haha..! Same old never ending debate.
Ask Tyll... 1000 hours do make a difference anyhow.

Tyll is so funny; he knows his shiat but doesn't take himself seriously.
This video always gives me a good laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxdOEpiCTs

 
The problem is that everyone quotes either the first or 2nd article in the series (the first one is the one that always comes up in a google search).  It's the third one that is the real summary though - here: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/measurement-and-audibility-headphone-break
 
Even if all anyone reads is the conclusion - it's worth the effort (page 4 of the article).  Here's a few quotes with the most pertinent bits .....
 
 

Conclusions
Have I shown that break-in exists? No. I wish I could say the slowly descending IMD products is clear evidence ... but it's not. Who knows what that measurement represents. I do think, however, that if break-in is measurable, it would be this type of measurement that would show it. I'm pretty happy something showed up at all.
Have I shown that break-in doesn't exist and is not measurable? No. The slight changes around 9kHz on the CSD plots, and the significant change in IMD products over time do indicate that something is happening, and happening in a way that seems to me to be properly indicative of the things I've heard with break-in effects. I think the nay-sayers need to acknowledge something might be happening here.
The one thing I think I have proved, however, is that if break-in does exist, it is not a large effect. When people talk about night and day changes in headphones with break-in, they are exaggerating. This data clearly shows that the AKG Q701 --- a headphone widely believed to change markedly with break-in --- does not change much much over time.

 
and 
 
 

If you do want to break-in your cans, I suggest pink noise at a slightly louder than normal listening level. If you don't have a pink noise track, just play music. If they sound lousy out of the box, but they start sounding a lot better as you listen to them over time, it's your amazingly versatile brain figuring out how to cope with the world.
The miracle is in your head ... not in the headphones.

 

[Chris J]

Sounds about right.
I tried breaking in my Q701 for a week or 10 days with pink noise and music and listened to them everyday to see if I could hear break-in.
They sounded the same to me!

 

[Evshrug]

Breaking in my AD700 made me a believer, though it's only a slight change, even better is your brain getting used to resolving it and pads conforming to a better fit.

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

Breaking in my AD700 made me a believer, though it's only a slight change, even better is your brain getting used to resolving it and pads conforming to a better fit.

Or it could have been your ears that finally got adjusted to the sound signature.  Subjective call.