[lordofcattown]

Hey guys, in about a week, I will have my ATH M50s, but I keep hearing about burn in. What do I have to do? Do I just listen to it a bunch, or are there specific things I do? Thanks

 

[MrGreen]

Put them on and listen to them

 

[DjAmTraX]

I run my headphones through an amp and a Mac Mini music server (saves on laser lens life on my CDP) for the first 48 hours with some electronic music and then I listen.

 

[jasonb]

just use and enjoy them.

 

[sumathias]

You can just listen normally and let the burn in process make take its course. If you really want, you can play music for a couple of hours and listen to it at hourly intervals to detect improvements. If you really really want, you can download pink/white noise or frequency sweeps and play them as well.

 

[Argyris]

You'll need plenty of matches and maybe a flammable liquid (like lighter fluid). Go somewhere secluded and preferably without any obvious fire hazards. Build a circle of stones to contain the blaze, start up a campfire with some gathered wood and (if you brought it) your liquid flame starter, and pitch your new cans in. Let 'em roast for about five minutes, and they'll be nice and burnt in. 

 
Seriously (please, please, PLEASE don't take the above seriously--for my sake, if not for your own!), just run various musical material through them on shuffle, and make sure you listen in every once in a while. Don't do anything drastic you wouldn't do in normal listening (you might bump the volume up above your usual level, but not to excruciating heights). I personally don't put much stock in burn-in, anyway, as I've never had a headphone change much, if at all, after hundreds of hours of use. I'm anxiously awaiting being proved wrong with empirical evidence/personal experience, but I'd say don't expect miracles. And don't let it fool you into keeping something past the time you can easily return it if you don't like it at all--if burn-in does exist, IMHO the effect is subtle at best.
 
P.S. If it helps, I had the M50 once before (first good can purchase). It didn't change much at all long-term, though perhaps the bass was a bit constricted right out of the box. But I couldn't prove it to you, and that was ages ago, and anyway they didn't change since I brought them home with half an hour of use on them and it was because of this that I ultimately returned them--way too much thick upper bass/lower midrange bleed for my taste. YMMV, and I wish you the best of luck with your M50.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Just listen to them.
 
That's all I've ever done with every pair.

 

[sugarkang]

You burn-in, the headphones do not.
You get used to the headphones, the headphones do not get used to you. 
Headphones are not wine.
They are machines.

 

[myinitialsaredac]

Quote:

You burn-in, the headphones do not.
You get used to the headphones, the headphones do not get used to you. 
Headphones are not wine.
They are machines.

And like all machines moving parts wear 

 
Aside from burn-in belief or not just use and enjoy them.
 
When I first started this hobby it was playing them with lots of pink noise and searching for differences every few days. Not very enjoyable.
 
Play music you like, listen and enjoy them. Burn in will take its natural course, nothing to worry about.
 
Dave

 

[Jibbie]

The m50s don't need a ton of burn in.  Just listen and enjoy them, and when you leave or go to sleep, just leave them running with some music playing.  Do that for a few nights in a row and they'll be done changing for the most part.

 

[paconavarro]

Quote:

Just listen to them.
 
That's all I've ever done with every pair.

Very true... I assume you went through some research and now you decided to get them... why wait 40 - 100 hrs of pink noise when you can enjoy the evolution of them with your favorite music.  I can show you how my dt990s and ears evolved by looking at the eq settings I went through. At this very moment I have no eq turned on. It's true they have moving parts but there is always the temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. I was able to make a simple but hard experiment last time I was in Toronto, got a cheap pair of earbuds, I listened to a very familiar song inside my hotel room. Then I went outside at -8ºC and waited for the cable to get stiff, played the song again and the sound was different, with a noticeiable descent of bass and IMHO more grainy overall sound. 

 

[Clincher09]

I'm getting a new pair of phones tomorrow, I'm just going to connect them to a CD player, plug the CD player into a wall outlet and let it play for ~10 hours before listening to them. Repeat for the next day or so.