Tech Burning in Headphones/Earphones/etc. Yay or Nay?

Started by threee, Sep 15, 2015, in Entertainment Add to Reading List

  1. threee
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    threee Rip

    Sep 15, 2015
    So yeah, asking the fellow audiophiles and just general listeners of music as to whether you guys do a burn in of your listening apparatus or not?

    I just got a new pair of IEMs and was not sure if to do it or not (I have to all my other headphones). They're a pair of RHA MA750i's if you'd like to know.

    So yeah, should I or should I not bother?

    (Tagging the only other audiophile I know on the site @DetroitSkills)
     
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  2. Ordinary Joel
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    Ordinary Joel Happiness begins when selfishness ends

    Sep 15, 2015
    What does burning in mean?
     
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  3. threee
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    threee Rip

    Sep 15, 2015
    Depends on the person. Some people (like me) just like to play music through them overnight (or longer). Others like to use white noise/other things.
    Basically, it's a method that forces the gradual settling in of the design parameters of the cone diaphragms into their intended state quickly instead of over a long period of time that would happen normally.

    Basically the musical equivalent of breaking in new shoes
     
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  4. Cyreides
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    Cyreides gfy

    Sep 15, 2015
    Don't understand what audible difference it would honestly make to 'burn' something in like that. I break my stuff in by just immediately listening/working on something. There's no reason to wait imo. :kanye3:
     
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  5. mdemaz
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    mdemaz Molasses

    Sep 15, 2015
    Usually takes a few hours until the dullness vanishes from new pairs of earphones/headphones. I don't know if speakers do the same thing, though. I always have music playing, so they don't take long to come good.
     
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  6. Prosciutto
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    Prosciutto a tarda notte al centro commerciale

    Sep 15, 2015
    That's a thing? Never noticed
     
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  7. DetroitDGAF
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    DetroitDGAF Locked in Mariah’s Wine Cellar

    Sep 15, 2015
    yea man i do it, did it with a few products ii tested out from AT, SH, etc.. its worth imo
     
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  8. KingDrizz
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    KingDrizz Cool Cats

    Sep 15, 2015
    didn't know this was a thing
     
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  9. icecube
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    icecube West Coast is the Best Coast

    Sep 16, 2015
    Same here. I'm learning something new every day with stuff like this!
     
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  10. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Sep 16, 2015
    That's because it isn't.
     
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  11. threee
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    threee Rip

    Sep 17, 2015
    Whether you believe in it or not (of which I belong to neither side, hence why I was asking the question), burning in headphones is indeed a thing in the audiophile community, even being featured in reviews of headphones and other like devices
     
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  12. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Sep 17, 2015
    1) Anybody who self-identifies as an audiophile, or a cinephile, is a loser.
    2) Nah
     
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  13. threee
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    threee Rip

    Sep 17, 2015
    1) Although I don't classify myself as an audiophile, just someone who likes the best possible sound for music, that is what the community calls itself and as such, I used that term
    2) I can show you several examples of such reviews, even for the earbuds mentioned in the OP
    - http://thepcenthusiast.com/rha-ma750i-in-ear-headphone-review/ (under "Testing and Sound Quality")
    - http://www.whathifi.com/rha/ma750i/review (under Cons and in the introduction)
    So yeah
     
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  14. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Sep 17, 2015
    The changes are so slight that they're imperceptible to everybody who doesn't review headphones for a living. Notice how those review sites don't even post graphs of the frequency responses. That's all you need to determine sound quality.
     
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  15. boyz n the suburbs
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    boyz n the suburbs In my city, I'm a young God

    Sep 17, 2015
     
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  16. Lucy
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    Lucy #1

    Sep 17, 2015
    I use beats by Dre (which is probably polar opposite of an audiophile/casual af) I know what it is and I know people that burn their headphones or earphones in. It's a thing.
     
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  17. Heisenberg
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    Sep 17, 2015
    I'm not really sure if it makes a difference or not but I do it. I was always under the impression that it made them last longer than it actually improved quality though. But I never cared enough to check out if test were done to prove or discredit this process.
     
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  18. threee
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    threee Rip

    Sep 17, 2015
    Those were the first 2 sites that came up on google, but I know for a fact that at least innerfidelity provides graphs of the frequency response for the same headphones (I'll link them when I get home).
    I'm not trying to say that your opinion is wrong. Simply that, despite whether you believe in it or not, it is indeed a thing
     
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  19. Charlie Work
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    Charlie Work Level 5 Goblin

    Sep 17, 2015
    That's the site I was basing my argument off of. Couldn't remember the name.
    http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/evidence-headphone-break-page-3#7zbhRo53fJoMgjuW.97
    Even they don't know if it's a thing, and if it is, it's pretty insignificant.
     
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  20. threee
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    threee Rip

    Sep 18, 2015
    I'm not trying to argue as to whether it legitimately makes a difference, that's what I was asking in this thread. I was saying that the idea of "burning in headphones" is indeed a thing.
     
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