Burning In Phones

[analogheart]

What do you mean by 'burning in' headphones? Why does this happen? At the moment I swapped CX300s for IE6. How long does it take before the IE6's start to sound really good?

[jp_bl_68]

When you buy a set of headphones all the components should be brand new. It takes some time for them to be 'broken in' (once this happens the headphones should sound the way they were intended to, they should sound better than they did straight out of the box). I tihnk this is what 'burning in' refers to, never been sure though. A couple of hours of continual use should be enough, I would've thought. I bought a TV from Richer Sounds and the sales assistant told me that it might take a day or two for the TV to operate at optimal (optimum?) levels.

[HiFi Headphones]

Yes, exactly. However, you do get wildly varying reports, from headphones completely changing sound signature to no change at all. So it seems very subjective.

I have found that the Sennheiser IE6 is very sensitive about getting a good seal in the ear. With the standard tips I found the sound a bit on the thin side, but with the supplied double flange tips (or even better Comply Foam ear tips) I found the sound much more full bodied and detailed.

Getting a good in-ear seal if important with any in-ear sound isolating earphones, but some models it seems especially critical. The IE6 seems to be one where it makes a big difference.

[LFC_SL]

Originally Posted by analogheart

How long does it take before the IE6's start to sound really good?

Don't worry about it and just play music as normal. If you hear a change for the better then great. If you do not but like the sound then no loss

Originally Posted by jp_bl_68

A couple of hours of continual use should be enough, I would've thought

Advocates of burning in will inform you different models have different burning in needs. I have read of some claiming a change at the 300hr mark