Believe you me, I am as skeptical of the claims of burn in as you. However, what you wrote above comes across as awful arrogant and unhelpful. Claiming that anything that cannot be explained fully via science, right now, is "superstition" seems to be an equally superstitions notion, blindly trusting in your faith in empiricism - which is far from the only valid form of philosophy.
Yes, many people on headfi "hear things" because they want to. However, lots of people also hear things because their brain-ear system is giving them solid anecdotal evidence that what they hear it actually a fact of reality. Just because you are uncomfortable with a method of evidence gathering does not dismiss that evidence because you claim it is superstitious.
Sorry for the off-topic response folks. I tire of the "where is the evidence" argument that is so flawed and limited in its scope, seeking to define acceptable evidence as they demand more evidence.
sorry but we're not discussing philosophy or the potential existence of a higher being. we're talking about how sending a particular signal into a coil moving a membrane will supposedly help get a better sound after some made up duration. whatever the actual effect, it's 100% about physics. philosophy, taste or beliefs won't actually alter the way the coil will move or where the membrane will bend. so let's not throw in random unrelated stuff for no reason.
as it's all about physics, it might be a good idea to care about science. you have enough information to build a reliable model and predict the result of a given burn in method(I don't know about you, but I sure can't do that, I just lack too much data). or we do a proper test to verify what is actually happening. and that involves at least 2 new hd650 at the same time with very close measurements for just some minimal anecdotal evidence. and that very minimalist test is already something only a handful of audiophiles will ever try(I did something like that with cheap IEMs twice, but that's it).
so I really have no idea what this below is supposed to refer to:
However, lots of people also hear things because their brain-ear system is giving them solid anecdotal evidence that what they hear it actually a fact of reality.
it's obviously a method I'm not yet aware of. please share.
let's say I go and do what almost every owner of a hd650 who tried a burn in method did. I buy a new pair of hd650 and use some specific burn in method. what did I learn about the effectiveness of the burn in method? nothing! not anything. because I don't know that the resulting sound is different or any better than if I had instead just listened to music with that pair. no control sample = no actual idea of how my method really impacted the sound compared to doing nothing and listening to my music. yet that's what most people will use to convince themselves that a method has a particular impact. that much isn't superstition, it's a good old fallacy.
to be clear, I'm not saying that there isn't out there a method that really helps the hd650 have a good run. I honestly don't know. there certainly are ways to ruin the headphone, so maybe there are ways to keep it well longer. my point wasn't about how effective some method is or isn't. but why anybody would believe that a given method will alter the physical behavior of a driver, without being concerned enough to properly check the actual physical impact. it's that strange misplaced confidence in totally unverified made up methods that amazes me and makes me talk about rituals and superstition, because there doesn't seem to be much else most of the time. that other guy did it, so I started doing it, and I'll show my son how to do it. why? well I'm not sure but I do it anyway, just in case, that and maybe carrying my rabbit foot for good luck.
