Whats the best burn-in for headphones?

[poppachubby]

I'm about to burn a pair in. I have always used pink noise, but I am thinking of switching to a frequency sweep. I think the sweep just makes good logical sense. Any thoughts out there?

[markw]

If they don't sound good in a day or so, then they ain't gonna.

[poppachubby]

If they don't sound good in a day or so, then they ain't gonna.

right....so the diaphragms will break in after a day or 2 of casual use/listening? What's that maybe 4 or 5 hours? Sorry Mark, but I'm seeking opinions from people who believe in the "burn-in". However, I am totally good with your view, thanks for responding...

[markw]

All religions are welcome here.

[poppachubby]

...indeed...hey sick system by the way, once again we differ, as sadly, audio improvement ended for me in the late 70's/early 80's. If it ain't analog and tubed up, it ain't worth a thing to me. Seems like the only room in your house that isn't wired is the bathroom. Let me tell you Mark, it's a glorious experience and far better than any fiber...

[Auricauricle]

Might help to get a wax remover for your ears....Does wonders for me!

[markw]

...indeed...hey sick system by the way, once again we differ, as sadly, audio improvement ended for me in the late 70's/early 80's. If it ain't analog and tubed up, it ain't worth a thing to me. Seems like the only room in your house that isn't wired is the bathroom. Let me tell you Mark, it's a glorious experience and far better than any fiber...If you stick around here long enough and get to know a bit more about me, you'll realize exactly how stupid that tirade was.

Now, go get tubed up. I think you're long overdue for a big, chubby one.

[Mr Peabody]

A frequency sweep makes sense. I just don't like leaving my player on that long. I just plug mine into my Adcom preamp/tuner, tune it to a Pop station, give it a healthy listening level and let it play overnight. Sometimes maybe two nights.

The difference after break in is very obvious on Sennheisers. So much so I think they need to add a note to the instructions or package. It would probably prevent a lot of returns. They typically need several hours too before noticing them open up and the frequency response level out.

[poppachubby]

If you stick around here long enough and get to know a bit more about me, you'll realize exactly how stupid that tirade was.

Now, go get tubed up. I think you're long overdue for a big, chubby one.


...hahha...man relax, I was shootin the **** and kiddin around, far from a "tirade". Forget it...

[poppachubby]

A frequency sweep makes sense. I just don't like leaving my player on that long. I just plug mine into my Adcom preamp/tuner, tune it to a Pop station, give it a healthy listening level and let it play overnight. Sometimes maybe two nights.

The difference after break in is very obvious on Sennheisers. So much so I think they need to add a note to the instructions or package. It would probably prevent a lot of returns. They typically need several hours too before noticing them open up and the frequency response level out.


Yes Peabody, I've had long discussions about what type of music to play, for how long, etc...I think whatever sound you want them to have should reflect in the music selection. This sweep program i have is great because I can program the exact range and know that the speakers will receive the full gambit.

[Auricauricle]

But don't you think running such a "burn in" through speaks or 'phones takes away from the experience of letting things just bloom on their own? Seems a lot less fun....

[E-Stat]

I'm about to burn a pair in. I have always used pink noise, but I am thinking of switching to a frequency sweep. I think the sweep just makes good logical sense. Any thoughts out there?
Charles Hansen of Ayre has some interesting comments about what to use (and not use) for break in here. (http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=digital&n=138552&highlight=IBE+Charles+Hansen&r=) FWIW, he does not recommend using sweeps. For an ongoing basis, you might try getting one of the "Irrational But Efficacious" Disks. I just got one, but don't yet have much track time on it.

rw

[Mr Peabody]

Auric, it depends on how annoying the sound is right out of the box. Many of my Senn's I couldn't tolerate out of the box. Another reason too, is if you are buying on a 30 day return you want to see if things are going to improve a bit quicker.

In the case of my Contour t2.5 I didn't have a choice unless I wanted them to play 24/7 for a long period. It seemed like it took months for them to break in.

This idea of "system tuning" is a bit hard to buy into but I will keep an open mind. I know MD sells an LP that is supposed to do stuff and the link E-stat provided Charles mentions using his disc for system tuning, I just can't imagine what difference would one hear and how could just playing a disc do anything to your system? I mean what is there to tune, all the parts have set values.

[poppachubby]

Great post E-stat. I have up to this point used natural sounds as a proving ground rather than a burn in. http://www.burninwave.com/#testsound Here are some natural sounds for anyone interested.

[Auricauricle]

Well, you guys make an interesting argument....Let me know how it goes. Are you going to try an A/B?

[2leftears]

I'm about to burn a pair in. I have always used pink noise, but I am thinking of switching to a frequency sweep. I think the sweep just makes good logical sense. Any thoughts out there?
Much of your question relys on the make of the cans. Some of AKG's higher line require anywhere from 250-450 hours to reach their sonic potential.

[JoeE SP9]

Let me start this by saying, "I don't like headphones". That said, I have to question what I'm reading here about the type of sound used to burn in headphones making a difference. Bear in mind that I believe in the concept of break-in in just about everything including cables and IC's. To suggest that whatever music or signal you use to break-in/burn-in something makes a difference boggles the mind. Other than a wide band signal that encompasses the entire audio band at varying levels, requiring a specific type of sound or music to do so Is a concept I really can't get behind.
C'mon guys. What's next, using only Jazz to burn in a system that Jazz is to be played on?

[poppachubby]

Joe, It's feeding the speakers the frequency range that they are expected to encounter, therefore loosening the diaphragms and helping them to meet their potential. Different methods to deliver those frequncies, thats the issue at hand. I've chatted with alot of guys who think burning-in a total load, but once you experience the benefit, it's hard not to become a beleiver. Kind of like seeing an alien...man I'm liking 2left more and more each post.....2left my brutha!!

[Mr Peabody]

The cans that fit two left ears would be something to behold :)

[poppachubby]

Yes Peabody, but would we burn-in those 2 left eared cans?!? That's the question...

[Mr Peabody]

No, burn in is a fact of audio, whether to do it during usage or at blocks at a time and why should it make any difference what so ever if we use Rock, Jazz, Pink Noise or Sweeps to do it as long as the unit being burned in gets a full frequency signal, that my dear boy is the question.

My personal thought on the matter is music, whatever the genre, would be best because that would give the unit a full array of frequencies at one time for a duration where a sweep does a certain frequency at a time. Like a Zepplin song for instance has drums, bass, guitar and vocals for a several minute assault where a sweep may hit 20 Hz move to 30, move to 40 etc. but while at 40, 20 gets nothing, 10 kHz is getting nothing etc. Even though the sweep may be rapid it still cycles rather than a full range assault the way music will do.

[poppachubby]

Wow, well that settles it. Natural sounds and music for the next couple pairs. You make a great point Peabody. Your method I think would help to speed things up when you put it that way. I think I'll take it a step farther and try to find a musical soundbite with a wide range of frequency and let it repeat. Like a wild and crazy 30 second guitar solo with the band really cookin in the background...I'm picking up a lightly used pair of AKG K240M's tommorrow...any suggestions would be welcome for "our" little experiment...:8:

[Happy Camper]

Stretching the materials and burning in voice coils on the larger diaphragm models do help with harshness and a little better low end weight. The 701s did "mellow out" after a few hundred hours. New, they were chalkboard annoying with no mid-bass impact. A little tubin finally made them sound decent. Every time you fire up your system, the parameters need to be re-memorized by the materials until optimum but I suspect you will get better performance quicker with a good break/burn in when new.

This ritual is similar to burn in of capacitors, signal cables, power cords, passive and active power filtering etc. The true formulas are held close to the vest by the silverbacks and gear*****s.

I've used an ipod feeding pink noise through my portable amp or fm hash with both my cans when I wasn't using them for the first couple weeks. I'll fire up the hp rig on Friday after work and leave it on for the weekend running foobar randomly. Come Sat. morning both the tube dac/amp and hp are singing their best. By Sunday night, mama better be offering or I'm usually deep into tunes, reading something on the web.

Guess it's time for bed, night boys. ;)

[JoeE SP9]

Joe, It's feeding the speakers the frequency range that they are expected to encounter, therefore loosening the diaphragms and helping them to meet their potential. Different methods to deliver those frequncies, thats the issue at hand. I've chatted with alot of guys who think burning-in a total load, but once you experience the benefit, it's hard not to become a beleiver. Kind of like seeing an alien...man I'm liking 2left more and more each post.....2left my brutha!!
Let me begin by saying that I believe in and rely on burn in of all the devices in my system. I believe in and hear IC and speaker cable differences. I have heard for myself that IC's can be constructed to be directional. However, to suggest that a device should be burned in with the type of music it will be used to primarily reproduce is utter and absolute nonsense.:Yawn:
As an EE I am aware of and understand that some signal types and or combination's of waveforms may do a better job than others. However, to suggest that the 1812 should be used on a system that is primarily used for listening to classical music while Ray Charles should be used if the system is for an R&B lover makes the term snake oil seem like a compliment. C'mon guys I would lighten up on this if there was just "anecdotal proof" from widely separated sources.:skep:
In response to your opening sentence. I expect my speakers to encounter any and every frequency between 20Hz and 20KHz. What do you do if your listening is rather eclectic? Do you survey your listening patterns? Do you determine what percentage is devoted to each kind of music? Do you then burn in your devices with the same percentages of burn in material? The mind boggles at such a thought.:ihih:

[E-Stat]

I have up to this point used natural sounds as a proving ground rather than a burn in.
I really like "storm". I bought a Mobile Sound Fidelity LP ages ago of a thunderstorm. If you're interested in sonic fireworks (quite literally!), then go here (http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/technical%20downloads.html) and download Tom Danley's fireworks recording. Be vewwy, vewwy careful on playback as it has super wide dynamics and will quickly chew up all the head room you've got. :)

rw

[poppachubby]

Let me begin by saying that I believe in and rely on burn in of all the devices in my system. I believe in and hear IC and speaker cable differences. I have heard for myself that IC's can be constructed to be directional. However, to suggest that a device should be burned in with the type of music it will be used to primarily reproduce is utter and absolute nonsense.:Yawn:
As an EE I am aware of and understand that some signal types and or combination's of waveforms may do a better job than others. However, to suggest that the 1812 should be used on a system that is primarily used for listening to classical music while Ray Charles should be used if the system is for an R&B lover makes the term snake oil seem like a compliment. C'mon guys I would lighten up on this if there was just "anecdotal proof" from widely separated sources.:skep:
In response to your opening sentence. I expect my speakers to encounter any and every frequency between 20Hz and 20KHz. What do you do if your listening is rather eclectic? Do you survey your listening patterns? Do you determine what percentage is devoted to each kind of music? Do you then burn in your devices with the same percentages of burn in material? The mind boggles at such a thought.:ihih:


Whoa...interesting points Joe. However, all I was trying to say was, if you enjoy your music bass heavy for example, than perhaps some sort of bass heavy music to condition the speakers would seem reasonable. You're totally correct in saying that it would be an excercise in stupidity to try and "match up" burn in frequencies to listening frequencies. I for one, would not have the time and quite possibly the brain power either to attempt such a feat...

[poppachubby]

I really like "storm". I bought a Mobile Sound Fidelity LP ages ago of a thunderstorm. If you're interested in sonic fireworks (quite literally!), then go here (http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/technical%20downloads.html) and download Tom Danley's fireworks recording. Be vewwy, vewwy careful on playback as it has super wide dynamics and will quickly chew up all the head room you've got. :)

rw

Car starting was my fave until fireworks, nice link E! I will use it on a pair of AKG K66 and the music on AKG K240M.......mad scientist, Chubbs

[EYEdROP]

I like to think of speaker burn-in like you would breaking in a new or rebuilt car engine, stretching a rubber band or other any other mechanical device really. Out of the box, things are stiff with tight tollerances and slight imperfections from the factory. The last thing you wanna do to a brand new car is floor it out of the dealership while the engine is still cold and metals are still soft from the factory.

Different headphones take different amounts of burn in. As a general rule, for the first 24 hours I suggest playing background music very faintly with only a notch or two on the volume, just enough to make sound. After that start playing the frequency sweeps at a slightly higher volume than the background music. Again take it nice and easy on the volume, frequency sweeps are stressful. Pink noise is introduced last because it is the most stressful on a speaker. Make sure you check the volume level with normal music because its hard to tell how loud pink noise is. A really good thing to do is put 2 minutes of silence in between every 20 minutes of burn in. You can easily find an MP3 of silence on the internet. Put on which ever burn in track your using , use that silence track and put the player on "repeat". This helps the voice coil cool down.

The whole idea of my burn in method is to slowly introduce dynamic peaks and excursions to the drivers. If you stretch a rubber band to the max when its brand new, it will eventually break pretty soon. But If you slowly stretch it over time, the rubber band will retain its elasticity for much longer and will be able to stretch even further than brand new..

[poppachubby]

I like to think of speaker burn-in like you would breaking in a new or rebuilt car engine, stretching a rubber band or other any other mechanical device really. Out of the box, things are stiff with tight tollerances and slight imperfections from the factory. The last thing you wanna do to a brand new car is floor it out of the dealership while the engine is still cold and metals are still soft from the factory.

Different headphones take different amounts of burn in. As a general rule, for the first 24 hours I suggest playing background music very faintly with only a notch or two on the volume, just enough to make sound. After that start playing the frequency sweeps at a slightly higher volume than the background music. Again take it nice and easy on the volume, frequency sweeps are stressful. Pink noise is introduced last because it is the most stressful on a speaker. Make sure you check the volume level with normal music because its hard to tell how loud pink noise is. A really good thing to do is put 2 minutes of silence in between every 20 minutes of burn in. You can easily find an MP3 of silence on the internet. Put on which ever burn in track your using , use that silence track and put the player on "repeat". This helps the voice coil cool down.

The whole idea of my burn in method is to slowly introduce dynamic peaks and excursions to the drivers. If you stretch a rubber band to the max when its brand new, it will eventually break pretty soon. But If you slowly stretch it over time, the rubber band will retain its elasticity for much longer and will be able to stretch even further than brand new..

Thanks for contributing to what is becoming an interesting and varied thread dROP! I think your process sounds great. I have set a pair of lightly used AKG K240M to the lull of a thunderstorm. Your thoughts on silence interest me, I have a generator that allows me to program silent breaks at whichever interval I choose, for however long. Typically, I do 2 hour stretches with 5 minute breaks. Check out this link and listen to "storm", there are some quiet points in the file. Do you think this will be enough to supplement silence?

BTW EStat if you are reading this I decided to not run the fireworks. I looped the finale which is about 20 seconds but found the frequencies a little heavy in the low dept. "Storm" seems really well balanced.


http://www.burninwave.com/#testsound

[EYEdROP]

It really does take alot to fry a voicecoil, so I dont think the silence is completely necessary. Some suggest no breaks durning burn in. I just like to play it safe in case the volume gets tured up on accident or something.