Do earphones lose quality as they get older?

[docmp3]

OK, after a long wait I have just got the new Sony Ex-90s, and of course tried them out straight away! What a difference to my old Sony Ex-71s, the music seems much clearer. Then I heard static at the beginning of a track as you sometimes find on an analogue to digital recording.

Now its been along time since I remember hearing that, to be honest I thought it was my ears growing older and getting less sensitive! So on go the old Ex-71s and replay the track, and no static! Not only that but the song sounded terribly muddy, if you know what I mean.

So, here's my question: Do earphones degrade over time?

Now I know there are people around who swear that earphones need to be 'burnt in' before they reach there natural sound. If I've got it right this is lossens the diapham or something like that. If this is true, then does the diaphram degrade with use, so losing the ability to reproduce higher sounds?

So I invite your comments, oppinions and answers...

David

[girliedrinker]

Unlikely, but what you do need to is clean them! I had a similar problem with them, gradually losing the high freq sounds over time. Then upon examination I saw that the tiny opening on the actual headphone (not the rubber buds) was closed up with grime. Cleaned them up with a penknife (on a train at the time) and never had a problem since.

[docmp3]

Thanks for the heads up on that. Yes a careful clean was what they needed! They now sound much better, glad to say the Ex-90s sound much better.