Headphone Burn - In?

[Bwanasonic]

I tried searching to see if I could find previous threads about this claim. Has no one done the simple experiment of comparing a new pair to a *burned in* pair of phones? I can find any number of of accounts of "these headphones sounded different after X period of time", but no common sense comparisons of a used set to a new pair. I don't rule out the possibilty of a *burn -in * changing the sound of a set of headphones, I just get frustrated when I see so little critical thought applied to claims of this nature. Wasn't sure about which forum to post this, but *Use Yor Ears* seemed right.

Kerry M

[joelpatterson]

It seems exactly right.

I've never seen any hard data either, but if the proposition was that new new headphones are just a little crisper than older new headphones, I'd agree with that, somewhat, maybe. I'll wager it's a subtle shift at most.

[evan]

For what it's worth, the very reputable headphone retailer HeadRoom (headphone.com) doesn't seem to care much about "burn-in". They have a 30-day return policy on all their merchandise, assuming the headphones are in like-new condition; "burn-in" doesn't count against that.

I'd bet that most people's claims of the effectiveness of "burning-in" are largely psychological, both out of expectations and unfamiliarity with the particular model of headphones. When I moved from my egregiously bassy Sony's, I thought the Grado SR-80's were a bit tinny. However, I'd bet that it was me being accustomed to the Sony's over any kind of "burn-in" process. The Grado's sounded perfectly normal to me after a day's use.

While not absolutely analogous, here's an article on loudspeaker break-in. Long story short: Break-ins happen quickly ("Required break in time for the common spider-diaphragm-surround is typically on the order of 10s of seconds and is a one-off proposition, not requiring repetition") and usually before it reaches the consumer, and you won't see many changes in the longer term.

[TapeOpLarry]

From a physics standpoint, any moving part is going to wear over time. A speaker is a moving part. Many times speakers do not blow from one isolated incident, but from use over time. Same with headphones.

But a burn in time? Doubt it.