Does burn-in improve the sound of an in-ear headphone?
Does burn-in improve the sound of an in-ear headphone?
2018-09-09
hi everyone and welcome today I wanted
to investigate quite a popular myth one
that you can hear everywhere you can
read about it in YouTube comments in
forums even in professional reviews that
the headphone in my case an in-ear
headphone needs a break-in or burning
period because the sound would improve
afterwards many claim it's a huge
improvement bass improves fairly
improves it becomes more controlled
everything becomes better while others
don't hear that much difference
therefore I wanted to try this out in
practice if it's really true and ordered
a brand new unit of the one more triple
drive a lightning regime yeah I like it
a lot once already my third unit the
second one had slightly less rubber so I
also wanted to see if there is some
strong a sample variation and the first
thing I did after unboxing was putting
it inside this ears measurement system
from mid ESP I tried to adjust them as
good as possible and turn some
measurements I also did some audio
recording so we can compare it
afterwards and I started the braking of
burning procedure there is some own
function in the one more app which is
divided into two phases takes all
together tooks takes two days I think
place some random noises pink noise I
also played music in between and I
didn't touch anything for three days it
was standing there doing its thing I
only had to recharge my phone yes I can
only play through lighting also the
measurements were done through lightning
port with pink noise so they are not as
precise maybe but I don't have any
lightning port with my computer so it's
an Fourier analysis with pink noise and
after the burning I did again the same
with some measurements the same audio
recording so we can compare them but
first maybe let's check out the
frequency response measurements so this
is the left and right channel for this
particular unit before breaking and you
can see yeah there is some stronger
difference in bass between left and
right if I overlay my first unit you can
see it also has stronger base so my hope
was that after breaking or burning this
would improve the difference between
left and right would diminish or
whatever so but firstly let's listen to
the audio samples are recorded and use
the smooth headphones sure I mean it's a
headphone on your recording and I won't
tell you which is which if a is before
or after so we can discuss this again
maybe later on I also provide the
original recordings
is in my video description uncompressed
you can compare them by yourself is
there some difference and tell me is a
before or is B after running yeah I'm
really curious to hear your opinion this
but first let's have a listen and later
on we'll discuss this is it just fantasy
to me you are in my thoughts I never
stray from
we get the
we can't be
these
and so I'm really curious to hear your
opinion did you any difference which one
was before which one after breaking yeah
just tell me leave a comment but I can
also show you the measurements after
break-in you can see yeah there is
hardly any difference there is some
slight difference in the treble section
but it can also be some measurement
error maybe they moved out slightly it's
enough that they move half a millimeter
still I didn't touch it just moved it
around a little bit so there could be
some movement but you can see they
measure all is the same so I didn't hear
anything
there is no difference the break-in a
three days breaking of burning didn't
change anything so sixty hours of
playing pink noise loud music didn't
change the sauna door and the difference
in left and right
it's still the same you could also see
it has this unit has less bass than my
first unit I over I would prefer the
flatter tuning but this difference
between left and right is quite annoying
so there seems to be a huge sample
variation with the triple driver three
units and all three sounds really
significantly different the second unit
appeared slightly muffled to me like
brilliance while this has really less
space it's noticeable the first thing I
tried them on and there was less bass
compared to mine so yeah this whole
braking burning blah blah seems just
to me we can repeat the same
maybe with an ovary a headphone and
maybe I will let it play for one week
not touching but then of course I cannot
use this measurement system so you
should maybe concentrate again on
speakers but I would really want to see
if there is some difference a problem
with over ear headphones is that them
Cashion's the ear pads yeah after I mean
if they are worn for five days they will
probably soften slightly and there may
be some differences in the measurement
but
I mean an old headphone compared to a
new one
we'll also some different just because
the pads are worn out so I'm not sure
but we can repeat the same maybe with
the IVA prodigy one is I have a
replacement unit arriving soon so unbox
it put it on make some measurements
maybe everything life then we will do a
live streaming for five days looking at
the headphones but I have never
experienced any kind of improvement with
others if speakers headphones or
whatever the only sound that changes is
the sound of your head you get used to
it just right try a random Madi
headphone listen to it for I don't know
some hours and then put up a clear one
and the Cleavon suddenly appear really
clear
while the muddy before solid okay the
ears are really easily to be fooled so
they just get used to the sound and if
you get some new speakers put them on
suddenly you have the impression they
improve but not really yes just get used
to the Sun so in I think I could prove
that burning the three days burning
didn't change anything the Sun is still
the same and I had a lot after two years
yes they will break because they the
cable will probably but there won't be
any significant change in sound I would
like to know yeah improve for the
contrary if there is lately show me some
measurements but in this case the
difference is minimal or it's negligible
it's just still for all those believers
who think every headphone meets an amp
and every headphone is a planning to
improve yeah but why does it improve
after happening why because that's the
sound become better and not worse I mean
if the drivers get worn it could be it
could also become modest toilet like
we've seen from the JBL extreme to
something that was more distortion after
the breaking so if the drivers loosen up
or I don't know the sound could also
worse and why does it always have to
become better afterwards if you buy a
new car it's great new and then it
becomes worse it doesn't improve with
driving
therefore I'm still not quite sure about
the strange
mmm philosophy of many high-five
enthusiasts yeah so this was it about
the break-in burn burning myth of an
Indian I think we confirmed or busted it
from your opinion and we will do maybe
the same for an over ear headphone in
future so I hope you like this video
thanks all for watching and see you in
the next one bye
you
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