[Thommohawk]

Off topic, but, burn in does exist....I had the opportunity to A/B a pair of Koss Porta Pro headphones one being my own very well burnt in pair and another being my brothers headphones which had some usage but nowhere near as much as mine - I found there to be a tellable difference between the two - mine felt more refined in every way - but still the difference was not astronomical. If I had to simplify it in visual terms I'd say it was the difference between a kid coloring slightly outside the lines vs a kid coloring within the lines perfectly. No bleedover. Much more honed in. 
 
So then, it's pretty clear to me that burn in does exist as a matter of fact which is irrefutable. The difference it truly makes however ? I'm not one to judge but on my two Koss headphones it wasn't much at all but clearly noticeable all the same.

 

[Anaxilus]

Yeah this is really something no skeptical persuasion can influence once you have personal experience of.  Especially when it's repeated.  The whole scientific debate and parameters are usually poorly defined and data is present on both sides to one degree or another.  It really just becomes a debate exercise about a phenomena you have experienced or not.  To me it makes perfect sense from a physics standpoint but the degree to which audibility comes to play is the crux of the debate.  Even if you don't hear a difference the practice is a good one for those that sometimes listen above moderate levels for the sake of the phone.  Skeptics always seem to think proponents suck at scientific methodology or are fooled by psychoacoustics.  That's when I just need to turn a blind eye and walk away.
 
Quote:

Off topic, but, burn in does exist....I had the opportunity to A/B a pair of Koss Porta Pro headphones one being my own very well burnt in pair and another being my brothers headphones which had some usage but nowhere near as much as mine - I found there to be a tellable difference between the two - mine felt more refined in every way - but still the difference was not astronomical. If I had to simplify it in visual terms I'd say it was the difference between a kid coloring slightly outside the lines vs a kid coloring within the lines perfectly. No bleedover. Much more honed in. 
 
So then, it's pretty clear to me that burn in does exist as a matter of fact which is irrefutable. The difference it truly makes however ? I'm not one to judge but on my two Koss headphones it wasn't much at all but clearly noticeable all the same.

 

[TheGame21x]

I used to use a combination of frequency sweeps, music, pink noise and white noise but now, I just use regular music played a bit higher than my normal listening levels.

 

[Thommohawk]

All I know is that I had two Porta Pro's - one well used, and one not so much - and I heard a distinct difference which was not much at all if truth be told, but the point is it was enough to know that it definitely wasn't my imagination. Or bias to be right. It was plain curiosity either way, and I got my answer. I mean like many debated things in this universe really it only has to make itself known once to one person on this planet. Which is then proof enough to that person. 
 
As for the people who say they hear night and day differences ? I'm not one to say they're wrong either because different headphones may very well react differently to excessive burn in - there may be next to zero audible difference in one pair and an astronomical difference in a different brand. I don't know for sure because I don't have that experience to know, but I do know that burn in is real, which in turn is an irrefutable fact. Why a debate even exists I have no clue, but I've never been one to question stupidity or ignorance. I just know both exist in abundance. Much like burn in.

 
Quote:

Yeah this is really something no skeptical persuasion can influence once you have personal experience of.  Especially when it's repeated.  The whole scientific debate and parameters are usually poorly defined and data is present on both sides to one degree or another.  It really just becomes a debate exercise about a phenomena you have experienced or not.  To me it makes perfect sense from a physics standpoint but the degree to which audibility comes to play is the crux of the debate.  Even if you don't hear a difference the practice is a good one for those that sometimes listen above moderate levels for the sake of the phone.  
 

 

[kingtz]

 
Quote:

All I know is that I had two Porta Pro's - one well used, and one not so much - and I heard a distinct difference which was not much at all if truth be told, but the point is it was enough to know that it definitely wasn't my imagination. Or bias to be right. It was plain curiosity either way, and I got my answer. I mean like many debated things in this universe really it only has to make itself known once to one person on this planet. Which is then proof enough to that person. 
 
As for the people who say they hear night and day differences ? I'm not one to say they're wrong either because different headphones may very well react differently to excessive burn in - there may be next to zero audible difference in one pair and an astronomical difference in a different brand. I don't know for sure because I don't have that experience to know, but I do know that burn in is real, which in turn is an irrefutable fact. Why a debate even exists I have no clue, but I've never been one to question stupidity or ignorance. I just know both exist in abundance. Much like burn in.

 

 
 
 
 
Here's the thing: while I personally believe that some burn in does occur, your personal experience does not necessarily provide enough evidence. Yes, you compared two headphones of the same model - one burned in, one much newer - but your comparison did not account for the possibility of variance between headphones. Production variance is a known fact, and it is possible for two brand new portapros to sound slightly different from each other. How much this variance translates to any audible differences is anyone's guess and I don't believe anyone has yet quantified it.
 
The only way you can provide incontrovertible evidence for burn in would be to have measure the FR (or whatever other measurements) of the headphones out of the box, and then after however many hours of burn in, measure the FR again on the same headphones, using the same equipment and conditions to measure.
 

 

[Soymilk]

alright cool. i'll start burning in tonight if i remember to start it before i go to sleep.
 
here's the site i'm using btw: www.simplynoise.com (mods if this isn't ok sry / feel free to remove link)
 
has white/pink/brown noise options, volume slider, and volume oscillation.

 

[shane55]

I know it's been said already, but music. Good, wide-bandwidth music. Music with bass, highs and mids... you know... music.  

Slightly higher than normal listening level.
 
Or pinknoise. 

 

[Rotaryphone]

I just hook it to ipod and play music all day, when I'm at work. That all.