Propper way of "burning in" new headphones

[LOUISSSSS]

just got a new pair of professional headphones, and i'm wondering what is the correct/best way of burning them in. any help?

 

[moonboy403]

There is no correct/best way in burning in a headphone. You can play anything through them and start enjoying it.

By the way, which headphone did you get?

 

[Viper GTS]

Play them loud and long. Other than than that? It's really up to you. Use them normally & crank them up when you're not listening.

I generally wrap them up and put them in a box to try to kill the noise somewhat. With open cans you'll hear it all through the house if you don't.

Viper GTS

 

[rivethead]

Credit to freedomsbeat212 for this (he/she linked me last month):

http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php - decent burn in resource

 

[Modelworks]

the amount of placebo effects on the internet never cease to amaze.

 

[Ika]

I run a mix of pink noise, white noise, a frequency sweep sine wave, and drum beats/low frequency booms (but not the last one for very long), then some silence for about 100 hours on all my new headphones. After that I just play music through em.

I wouldn't suggest throwing the volume up that high; just put it up to the point where you're uncomfortable listening to them, but not any higher than that - you don't want to risk damage to your new headphones, do you?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Thanks guys, i'm upgrading from my HD555 (open?) to Shure SRH840 (closed?).

What do u guys think of these cans?

 

[scott916]

Pink noise for ~48 hours worked great for my Grado SR-80s.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

pink noise for like 3 days worked great for my Triple Fis.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

okay i'm going to follow the directions and use the audio from this link: http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php

anyone know anything about the SRH840's tho? how does it compare the the HD280?

 

[JAG87]

They cannot be worse than the HD280, they are terrible.

I would have gone with HD595, or Denon D2000 if you absolutely need closed.

The Shure's can't be bad though. I've never heard them, but I have Se530s so I am biased towards Shure

Oh yea and burn in is a myth.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Oh yea and burn in is a myth.

reference for that?

 

[Modelworks]

reference for that?

He is correct. It is rumor from the same crowd of people that think monster cable makes speakers sound better.

I became an engineer in 1993 and have never heard of anything called burn in for speakers or headphones to make them sound better.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php

are those guys 100% wrong then?

 

[Modelworks]

http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php

are those guys 100% wrong then?

Yes
When they can show me where an engineer tested the before and after product and found that playing them for extended periods before using them was a benefit I will believe it. Until then it is all placebo effect.

What they have done is taken the information about burning in large fabric based speakers from about 20 years ago and applied it to tiny little headphones. It doesn't apply to speakers now and it doesn't apply to headphones.

20 years ago it made sense. The materials were usually cloth based with a coating to stiffen them. Playing them more allowed the stiffening agent to 'break' and improve the sound quality. But that hasn't been true for a very long time. The materials now are about as broken in as they are going to get .

 

[LOUISSSSS]

okay i got it, i wont worry so much about burning in. but did i get a good deal on the SRH840's? i paid ~$110 shipped new

 

[uhohs]

good price, where'd you get it for that much?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

employee discount

 

[uhohs]

ah nice.

 

[Ika]

I've been interested in the Shure closed dynamics for a while, but was looking more into the 440 because the 840 was a little out of my price range. Head-Fi says that they're generally great for the money, and do a good job of competing with the current "champions" of the $100/200 budget/mid-fi range - Denon D1001s, Audio-Technica M50s (which are considered slightly better, I think), and the old favorites, beyer DT770, Sony V6, etc etc. I wish 8th Street Music was still downtown, because I really wanted to go there and try a bunch of headphones out.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i know i'm an idiot for asking after buying, but what are the strengths of these cans?

i plan to listen to some pop and movies with them (from onboard sound from PC/laptop & from my Onkyo receiver.) Will they make me happier than my HD555's?

 

[pcslookout]

They cannot be worse than the HD280, they are terrible.

I would have gone with HD595, or Denon D2000 if you absolutely need closed.

The Shure's can't be bad though. I've never heard them, but I have Se530s so I am biased towards Shure

Oh yea and burn in is a myth.

Yeah the HD280 are bad. I threw mind away after a good 3 years. They hurt like heck after wearing them for 3 to 5 hours. Never again. Went with the Denon D2000 as new headphones and will never be looking back! The sound quality and comfort difference is huge!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

welp, thank god i didn't buy them haha.

i got my hd555's 2-3 years ago and have been happy with them since!

i get a discount on those shures @ 50% off retail so i picked them up for $100 + a few bucks shipping. Couldn't turn that down for shure's top of the line headphones.

 

[pcslookout]

Well I am staying away from Sennheiser headphones for good. They are horrible. Was plan on getting the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones instead but could not risk it for them having comfort issues as well. Doubt they are any good and as comfortable as some say.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

well comfort is 100% subjective. so lets not take those into any discussions

how does the sound quality of the srh840's compare to the Senn HD555's?