Sennheiser HD 650s burn-in?

[Dave Bourke]

Purely in order to hear DP's sonic goodness better, I bought a new set of Sennheiser HD 650 headphones yesterday. Having read somewhere that headphones like these require a burn-in, I Googled the topic.

To my dismay, I found that all the hi-fi enthusiast websites recommend burn-in periods that vary from 80 to 400 hours. One guy (I hope he was joking) even claimed a period of 190,000 hours was necessary.

Another guy offers a free download of about 40 or so audio files with which to do it. These included pink noise, white noise, sine wave sweeps at various frequencies, bass drones, drum beats -- and even digital silence with which, he says, you may "rest" the headphones during the burn-in. I kid you not.

And so I turn to the professionals here for a sensible answer: how long do I need to burn-in these headphones for before the sound stops changing? I've got them cooking on pink noise right now at slightly lounder than comfortable listening level, but I've also seen recommendations that program material should be used as well as pink noise.

But what sort of program material? Again, the hi-fi nuts differ, with some insisting that only symphonic orchestral works will do, others demand that you use heavy metal, while dance and hip-hop also have their enthusiastic proponents.

Sadly, Sennheiser themselves are silent on the entire subject.


Kind regards

[kassonica]

I've never heard such a thing in my life, it sounds very very geeky and interwebie

BTW 190,000 hours is 7916.6 days or in other terms, 21 years.

[Kubi]

All speakers (incl. headphones) benefit from burn-in. We're talking nuances here, but I'd say very perceivable.

The process is usually you use them and they'll just keep getting better. Like a new car, which also benefits from being "burned-in" - you just drive it, no need to have it drive on a treadmill for the first 1000 miles.

If you want to speed up the process, just plug em in and play a nice mix of different types of music at low-to-moderate levels for a few days on shuffle. Or just use them regularly and don't worry about it.

[lodstudios]

Can't speak to these specifically but I can say that certain Headphones are designed to have a break in period...most of the higher end Ultrasone cans require some time to come into the "sweet spot". I worked for Guitar Center for a short period and we had some training on the Sennheiser models and I think the 650's were one of the pairs that needed some break in time, I don't think it is a crazy amount that you heard of though.

[Dave Bourke]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for your responses. The reason I wanted to do this is that the HD 650s have the reputation of sounding somewhat "veiled" out of the box because the drivers are still stiff but that this disappears with use. One way to speed up this process is to do a burn-in. So I've decided to give them 48 hours of pink noise, followed by 24 hours of King Crimson, Placido Domingo, PFM, and The Blue Nile.

And after that they can get out and walk.

Kind regards.

[Jim]

Purely in order to hear DP's sonic goodness better, I bought a new set of Sennheiser HD 650 headphones yesterday. Having read somewhere that headphones like these require a burn-in, I Googled the topic.

To my dismay, I found that all the hi-fi enthusiast websites recommend burn-in periods that vary from 80 to 400 hours. One guy (I hope he was joking) even claimed a period of 190,000 hours was necessary.

What makes consumers of recording and reproduction equipment more susceptible to hype and myth than consumers of potato chips?

Here's a tip for you: Listen to anything by U2 400 times in a row on your new headphones. Afterwards, when you disconnect your headphones, you will hear the sweetest sound in the world.

[cuttime]

As a great admirer of Mr. Randi, I just had to revive this thread:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ames+randi

[kassonica]

Jim Wrote:

Here's a tip for you: Listen to anything by U2 400 times in a row on your new headphones. Afterwards, when you disconnect your headphones, you will hear the sweetest sound in the world.

HA HA HA HAH AH HA H A HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Aint that the truth.

I had to review U poo's lastest album for my podcast, Needless to say after playing the album just once the cars going by sounded like Jeff buckley singing through a U47 into a 1073 onto a 4 track 1" tape machine.

[bkshepard]

I have a special super-secret formula for burning in new headphones and monitors. Just send them to me and I'll take care of it for you!

[jeff sanders]

oh ya i just thought of something. does cryo treating electronics eliminate the need for break in? that would be fast but i dont know if that would affect them in a bad way. i have a friend that cryo treated an mbox and cables and he gave it to me when he upgraded to full blown protools. he said it helped. i never got the software right with my mac so its in the cupboard. duh

just an idea

[bayswater]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for your responses. The reason I wanted to do this is that the HD 650s have the reputation of sounding somewhat "veiled" out of the box because the drivers are still stiff but that this disappears with use. One way to speed up this process is to do a burn-in. So I've decided to give them 48 hours of pink noise, followed by 24 hours of King Crimson, Placido Domingo, PFM, and The Blue Nile.

And after that they can get out and walk.

Kind regards.

I got the HD 650s when they first arrived. They sounded so good that I was happy to "break them in" by just using them. And they won't sound subjectively any better after you break them in because you will just raise your expectation of what "good" is.

[bongo_x]

All speakers (incl. headphones) benefit from burn-in. We're talking nuances here, but I'd say very perceivable.

The process is usually you use them and they'll just keep getting better. Like a new car, which also benefits from being "burned-in" - you just drive it, no need to have it drive on a treadmill for the first 1000 miles.

If you want to speed up the process, just plug em in and play a nice mix of different types of music at low-to-moderate levels for a few days on shuffle. Or just use them regularly and don't worry about it.

That's what I do when I get new monitors, just put the music on and shut the door.

I'm not sure why pink noise would be that great of an idea, don't you want the drivers to move? I thought that was the point. Why not just use music?

bb

[kgdrum]

i prefer different types of music,over pink noise.
headphones,speakers,cables and amps all do benefit from break in time,some require longer periods of break in time than others.
typically 100 to 300 hours.(you will hear the most dramatic improvement often after about 24 hours)in the case of headphones or speakers it is often the seal around the speaker driver that needs to loosen up.
I work in 1 of the top HiFi/Audiophile Stores in the US,we evaluate more products in a 6 months than most people will own in a lifetime,break in is very real,we have many products we will not play for clients until they have had sufficient break in time.