[spinali]

I was using my UM2s a few days ago. I plugged in my CD player (playing a white noise loop), turned on my headphone amp, and wrapped the UM2s loosely in a bath towel to keep the volume down.

The next morning, I was surprised to find that the UM2s were almost hot to the touch! Speaking of "burning in..."

If you're pumping the noise through your UM2, give them lots of ventilation.

 

[jamato8]

They are a resistor and if you are pumping too much current through them they would heat up and with enough you could ruin them. I would listen to them and play them no louder than what is a nice listening level.

Other than that you could stick them in the frig while burning them in.

John

 

[boodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 They are a resistor and if you are pumping too much current through them they would heat up and with enough you could ruin them.

what he said..

 

[illwafer]

I thought it has been established that canalphones do not need "burn in" time?

 

[Emon]

You're right, they don't.

 

[seeberg]

That's not what I heard. I know my ER6i's didn't need burn in, but at each meet I went to here in Oregon, all the other owners said that certain canalphones do in fact improve with burn in. I just don't have a specific list of what does and doesn't improve over time.

,
Abe

 

[illwafer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seeberg That's not what I heard. I know my ER6i's didn't need burn in, but at each meet I went to here in Oregon, all the other owners said that certain canalphones do in fact improve with burn in. I just don't have a specific list of what does and doesn't improve over time. , Abe

If you do a search for the Ultimate Ears Tour, you will see that Ultimate Ears themselves said you do not need to burn in canalphones. That's from the mouth of the leading manufacturer of canalphones.

 

[AuroraProject]

The UM2's definitely improve with some hours (100+) on them.

 

[seeberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject The UM2's definitely improve with some hours (100+) on them.

And that's what I heard, right out of the mouth of an owner of UM2's at one of the Portland meets.

,
Abe

 

[dano1122]

you ought to know that depending on your level of stress, fatigue, daily activity, and emotions that you can pass judgment on the quality of sound in various ways. just try it yourself. let something burn in as long as you deem it needs then monitor a random day each week and see what you think of the sound. some days it will just seem more congested to you right off the bat and other days it will be somewhat more clean and mellow.

 

[allenf]

Truth-By-Repetition here suggests that Balanced Armature driven canalphones don't need burning in.
FWIW I have noticed significant burn-in-like differences with both my E3Cs and my ER4Ps, but I put this down to the flanges softening a little and providing a better & a more comfortable seal.
As for temperature I know that loudspeaker voice coils do suffer from a very significant rise in temperature when driven hard, significant enough for manufacturers to experiment with cooling the coils with Ferro-Fluid.
Most home speakers that are damaged with an underpowered amp running into clipping have coils that are literally cooked - which bends the coil out of shape.
Edit: White noise has an over-representation of HF - to judge a safe volume for burning-in you might be better off with Pink noise.

 

[solvexyz]

Yeah, burn in really depends on the type of driver is used.

LOL. Does anyone interested to perform the following test.

1) Buy one UM2
2) Buy another UM2 after 1 year
3) Now you have both. Listen to them and compare the new UM2 to the old UM2.
4) Post on head-fi the result of the test.

Then we know really if burn-in armature driver works or not.

 

[kithng]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano1122 you ought to know that depending on your level of stress, fatigue, daily activity, and emotions that you can pass judgment on the quality of sound in various ways.

Yes, totally agree.

I had a drink with my friend one night, I got a little bit drunk, when I back home and put on my UM2, the sound is like in heaven, totally unreal (the music was come from no where, big big soundstage).

One day after work, my body feel so tired, when on the bus, the sound from my UM2 sound very congested, to a degree that I don't want to listen.

Your body's condition sure will affect how you hear the music.

 

[trose49]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject The UM2's definitely improve with some hours (100+) on them.

The fact is that your ears and brain is what "burns in" to the sound. The change from one headphone to another takes time for your ear to train to the new environment. That is why it seems that they sound better. It's all in your head literally.

I spoke to chuck at UE and he even agreed with this.

Train your ears and save your batteries.

 

[AuroraProject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trose49 The fact is that your ears and brain is what "burns in" to the sound. The change from one headphone to another takes time for your ear to train to the new environment. That is why it seems that they sound better. It's all in your head literally. I spoke to chuck at UE and he even agreed with this. Train your ears and save your batteries.

You can say whatever and speak with whomever you want, I listened to them out of the box and they sucked, I left them alone playing for 100 hours and they sound loads better. They don't "seem to sound better", they actually do sound better.