[FidelityFreak]

Hi all
 
Its been a while since I have been on here, but I can confirm my Sennheiser IE7's are still screaming along and sound amazing as usual.  I still look at them and think how and the hell do Sennheiser make these sound so amazing yet so full sounding and compact.  I also have a pair of Sony MDR-V700DJ's which I use if I need bigger cans and not walking around all day.  Well I have also decided to get a pair of Sennheiser IE8's, for around $479, usually retailing for about $599, so wondering if any burn-in is required with these?  Some sites say this "burn in" is merely a theory and makes little if any difference at all.  Note my IE7's and IE8's will be used primarily on my iPod / Laptop.
 
Excerpt:-
 
What is burn-in?
Some believe that headphones should be burnt-in to get the best sound out of them. There is no proper or best way to do this, and it’s debatable whether it has any effect at all. Just using the headphones will have the same effect, but if you want to hear what your headphones are capable of without waiting we suggest leaving a CD on repeat overnight at a reasonably high volume (nothing higher than you’d normally listen to). It is generally not a good idea to play sine sweeps or similar through the headphones as it can damage them. The main thing to remember is that this does not have to be done.
 
I look forward to any feedback.

 

[DaBomb77766]

You don't have to worry too much about burn-in.  Some claim that the IE8 benefits from it, but I'm all but certain it's just them getting used to the sound.  It wouldn't hurt to leave them on throughout the night though, you could just put your entire playlist on shuffle and leave it overnight every night for about a week.  Nothing lost other than slightly higher-than-normal electricity bills, and maybe it'll make a difference, maybe it won't.
 
But I'd take their advice and not do things like sine sweeps and pink noise, that's stuff you'd never be listening to anyway so I honestly don't see how that could be any better than using the music you listen to normally.

 

[Dobrescu George]

fidelity freak.... this is awesome... that you will get the ie8... i had them for 4-5 moths now... i am using them daily.... now... the burn in exists... it really affects the spund signature of ie8... it really depends on your tastings...
 
i hope that you know about the sennheiser ie8 golden secret.... you have to lower the 100hz zone with 3-4 db, so the sound signature getts better.... i am using them with cowon j3... unamped... they do not need amping from j3...
 
now, they are the best sounding things i had so far.... burin in will be done with usage, and should not be forced.... you should not let them burn in, but listen to them, and analyze hoe the signature changes.... it is entartaining.... at first, the sound signature is a bit too hars, but it settles down a bit

 

[FidelityFreak]

Quote:

You don't have to worry too much about burn-in.  Some claim that the IE8 benefits from it, but I'm all but certain it's just them getting used to the sound.  It wouldn't hurt to leave them on throughout the night though, you could just put your entire playlist on shuffle and leave it overnight every night for about a week.  Nothing lost other than slightly higher-than-normal electricity bills, and maybe it'll make a difference, maybe it won't.
 
But I'd take their advice and not do things like sine sweeps and pink noise, that's stuff you'd never be listening to anyway so I honestly don't see how that could be any better than using the music you listen to normally.

I guess its easy to establish that this since this "burn in" procedure is to get the best out of these IEM's, then why is it Sennheiser dont suggest this in any documentation.  Naturally since this is not recommended in print, most people would just plug them in and listen away (as with most earphones on the market).  My music varies - Movie Soundtracks (Tron / The Dark Knight) / Eminem / Black Eyed Peas / Lady Gaga / Heavy Rain Soundtrack / Beyonce / Usher / Michael Jackson, etc.  I think these are the best IEM's on the market.
 

 

[FidelityFreak]

 
Quote:

fidelity freak.... this is awesome... that you will get the ie8... i had them for 4-5 moths now... i am using them daily.... now... the burn in exists... it really affects the spund signature of ie8... it really depends on your tastings...i hope that you know about the sennheiser ie8 golden secret.... you have to lower the 100hz zone with 3-4 db, so the sound signature getts better.... i am using them with cowon j3... unamped... they do not need amping from j3...now, they are the best sounding things i had so far.... burin in will be done with usage, and should not be forced.... you should not let them burn in, but listen to them, and analyze hoe the signature changes.... it is entartaining.... at first, the sound signature is a bit too hars, but it settles down a bit

The IE7's when I first heard them blew me away straight out of the box - I was in shock - it was like having cans inside your ears - typical German style .  I have also heard it pays to have all MP3's encoded at 320kbps for the best audio reproduction (naturally the raw WAV format sounds best but very few support this format plus the files are a lot larger).  I have posted my music types in the first reply to my initial post.  As I mentioned in the previous reply if this Burn in is so highly recommended, why dont Sennheiser recommend this themselves?  I should receive these on Monday, and not sure what to do with my IE7's - might hang onto them as a back up pair.  Didnt know about the 100hz tone - 3-4db setting, whats the method to do this?  As for the sound signature, its this hard to pick up or is this only on certain audio / music types.  With the IE8's im sure I have entered the realm of an audiophile, so want to take advantage of the IE8's as much as possible with my iPod.
 
 

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

 

The IE7's when I first heard them blew me away straight out of the box - I was in shock - it was like having cans inside your ears - typical German style .  I have also heard it pays to have all MP3's encoded at 320kbps for the best audio reproduction (naturally the raw WAV format sounds best but very few support this format plus the files are a lot larger).  I have posted my music types in the first reply to my initial post.  As I mentioned in the previous reply if this Burn in is so highly recommended, why dont Sennheiser recommend this themselves?  I should receive these on Monday, and not sure what to do with my IE7's - might hang onto them as a back up pair.  Didnt know about the 100hz tone - 3-4db setting, whats the method to do this?  As for the sound signature, its this hard to pick up or is this only on certain audio / music types.  With the IE8's im sure I have entered the realm of an audiophile, so want to take advantage of the IE8's as much as possible with my iPod.
 
 

Well, WAV is practically useless in practice, nobody ever uses it to listen to.  Any lossless format will sound just as good and will have half the file size.  The most common lossless format is FLAC, and ALAC is often used since it's supported by the iPod.
 
If you want to get the most out of the IE8 with your iPod, I'd recommend getting an amp with an LOD.  A new amp (well, it will be released very soon, within a month or so) that is apparently quite good, and also quite cheap is the Fiio E11.  But you're getting a little ahead of yourself here, just wait until you've used your new IE8s for awhile and see what you think - maybe you'll like them so much just from the iPod you won't feel like you need an amp!

 

[FidelityFreak]

Quote:

Well, WAV is practically useless in practice, nobody ever uses it to listen to.  Any lossless format will sound just as good and will have half the file size.  The most common lossless format is FLAC, and ALAC is often used since it's supported by the iPod.  If you want to get the most out of the IE8 with your iPod, I'd recommend getting an amp with an LOD.  A new amp (well, it will be released very soon, within a month or so) that is apparently quite good, and also quite cheap is the Fiio E11.  But you're getting a little ahead of yourself here, just wait until you've used your new IE8s for awhile and see what you think - maybe you'll like them so much just from the iPod you won't feel like you need an amp!

 
Is it hard to convert my current MP3 library to FLAC supported iPod format?  I had a look at the Fiio, but will waiting till the E11 comes out and by this time I would have got some good use out of the IE8's.

 

[natashaful]

I'm burning in my new pair of IE8's as we speak so I'll let you know how i go on afew hours in and they allready sound better then my sound stage modded HD555's but the mids are not very clear at the moment i read that changes alot with burn in so i'll keep you informed.

 

[Dobrescu George]

dudes, and chicks... burn in for sennheiser ie8 is to be listened when it is beeing done... because you want to hear how they change...
 
now, about that method, you just need an equalizer, any equalizer... you have to just lowev the 100hz part (this is the upper bass)... if you do that, sennheiser ie8, and anything in general (speakers too) get some details more in evidence... this is crazy, but after trying it i thought that i am crazy for beliving this....

 

[natashaful]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T9dYEEMIf8  10 to 100Hz. Allready ahead of you.

 

[Dobrescu George]

that 100 hz should be lowered with 4 db... that was the ideea... because if you do lower the 100 hz portion of spectrum, you hear details in 13k of hz better... just because the 100 hz occupies most of the magnet fragment, and do not let the acoustic details played completly corectly....

 

[natashaful]

I've been using loads of videos and just running music through them, They are just getting better and better allmost as clear as my hd555's the lows are allready miles better and the tinness is leaving them

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

 
Is it hard to convert my current MP3 library to FLAC supported iPod format?  I had a look at the Fiio, but will waiting till the E11 comes out and by this time I would have got some good use out of the IE8's.

You don't want to convert a lossy format like MP3 to a lossless format like FLAC or ALAC.  There is no benefit to doing so, and you'll just be left with a file that's a few times bigger and sounds exactly the same.

 

[Dobrescu George]

they were reffering that you should convert Track CD to flac, or just download flacs.... not mp3 to flac... it is useless.....
 
at the first, i thought that it was a loos of time.... but after i really got half of my lybrary flacs... i did got the oter  one too.... 
 
part of it by downloading, part from cd's...

 

[FdotKdot]

I'm using my IE8's for more than a year now and I'm happy to say, that these earphones are really worth the money.
As some other user said, it's like listening with an excellent pair of expensive cans.
I highly recommend to replace the supplied eartips with "Comply TX-400 Foam Tips" . Although quite expensive there fit substantially better/firmer and therefore there is a noticeable gain in  overall sound quality.
One question: Is there any way to individual modify/equalize the sound of an iPhone (100 Hz mod). All I can see are the predefined settings like Rock, Acoustic, etc...
Thanks
F.