Generally speaking, burn-in is the
process for excising new audio equipment. Some high-end headphones require
more than 400 hours burn-in to reach its "best
state". In reality, many people noticed the sound quality improvement after
burn-in process.
White noise is the randomly generated noise
signal. The signal has equal power in all frequency. Some
people suggested that it is good to use white noise for
burn-in, because of its fair distribution of
each sound frequency, from treble to bass. Aside from
headphone burn-in, some people use it to help baby sleep
easier.
This is the white noise collected from the radio signal.
It is the signal data between two radio channels. Some
people prefer it and think that it is more natural.
Pink
noise is similar to white noise, it also contains the wide
range frequency signal in the spectrum. It is commonly found in
nature environment. Unlike white noise, listening pink noise
is more comfortable. The sound is quite similar to ocean.
Some people play it in the office for relaxation and concentration.
This frequency sweep is the
sine waveform start from 20 to 20000 Hz, it covers the lowest
frequency to highest frequency that most human can hear.
Burn-in using frequency sweep can excise the headphone
driver functionality for producing different frequency. Also, someone said that
frequency sweep could be used for demagnetizing equipment.
This frequency sweep includes larger frequency range from
10 to 30000 Hz. Some high-class headphone has the frequency
response from 10 Hz to 35000 Hz (or higher). Generally, it
is hard to produce sound at frequency lower than 20 Hz.
This frequency sweep start from 20 to 200 Hz, it is used
for specifically burn-in the lower frequency range. In fact,
many consumer level (cheaper) headphones cannot produce any noticeable
sound at 20 to 30 Hz.
Here is the repeating frequency sweep between zero and different frequency.
(Repeats every 1-2 second) (Please use these wave files carefully, you should lower
the volume (below 1/4 normal) before playing them, otherwise
it may hurt you :-( )
This is the mixed sound file from many songs and musical
instruments. It includes the heavy bass, guitar, electronic,
violin, vocal, male singer, female singer, etc. We put
soundtracks with different frequency characteristic into it
and make it "complex and rich".
Someone said that this file is loudly and scary, the
sound content is too complex for the headphone driver and it
will "stress" the driver to the limit. Also,
someone said that after playing this, the headphone sound
quality will be temporary downgraded. Use this file only if
you want to stress your headphone.
Format: mp3
Size: 6.92 MB
Length: 3 minutes 01 second
This is a repeating heavy drum wave file, it
contains a sequence of drum bass. It hits the
headphone diaphragm heavily and try to produce low
frequency (going down to about 20 Hz).
There are some test sound, they are the recordings
from the natural environment, no modification or
enhancement. I am collecting some higher quality
recording now, I may upload them later.
These files can be used for comparing your
headphones, or just for fun. :-)
This is a silence playback file. It is a blank soundtrack
and contains no signal at all. It provides the rest period for the burn-in
process. Just insert it into your burn-in play list.
Some experts remind that we should give some break to the
headphone during the burn-in process. Headphone diaphragm is
fragile and cannot handle large workload. Large volume
burn-in or loudly music may be harmful to the headphone
driver. For the safety, most people suggested that we
shouldn't burn-in the headphone over 5 hours continuously.
Here are three silence files: 1 minute, 5 minutes and 1
hour
Some people call it "break in" or
"run in". From the technical view, burn-in is the process
to loosen the diaphragm of the newly crafted
headphone and to stress the headphone driver.
Although there is no scientific proof of burn-in,
the effect of burn-in is solid and noticeable. The
audiophile community generally agree that the sound
qualify will be changed after burn-in. In fact, the term
"burn-in" is not specifically used only in
acoustic, it is the preparation step for the
mechanical equipment and the process of making
something more comfortable to use.
There are different ways to burn-in a headphone
(and earphone),
including white noise, pink noise, radio noise, sine
sweep, bass, etc. There is no statistic for
the efficiency of each method. Personally, I like to use different method to burn-in my
headphones. I think each method have some strength and weakness
for improving headphone.
Some people burn-in their equipment quickly and
play it 50 hours continuously after bringing home. I
think that the diaphragm is too weak in this state and we
should not push it to the limit, especially using
high (Or you may think that it is normal) volume. It
may damage the headphone or even kill it. Many people
reported that they broke their headphone because of
improper burn-in, they are impatient and did not give it
some time to grow up.
Importance
of cable and cable burn-in
Some people asked me that "Why the cable is
important ? Is it really important ?". From my
real experience, I can tell you, yes. The cable is
important to your audio system.
Let me put it this way, if you want to draw a
good picture, the painting brush is very important,
you should use the appropriate tool, but also the
paper is very important. If you draw on a pure thick
white paper, it will just honestly present the lines and
color that you have drawn, and the white part should
be purely white. One the other hand, if you use a
normal cheap photocopier A4 paper, you can also draw
a good picture, but the overall impression is not as
good as using the pure thick white paper. Similarly,
if you draw on a poor yellow paper, the feeling of
the whole picture will be changed.
This is the difficulty of expressing the original
idea accurately, it is not about the content
information, it
is the style and taste. It is similar to the
cable case. If you have a great source or great amp,
it is also important to transmit the signal
originally and honestly to the headphone. Cables
connect every part of your audio system, they are the
blood vessel. They are important if the signal
correctness is needed.
In fact, some people think that the cable can
change the sound in some way. It was sometimes
used for "turning" the sound quality. It
is not the original idea of using good cable. I
think a good cable is used for purely and originally
transmit the signal to the other end, and it should
be transparent.
Cable burn-in is a mystery, it is hard to prove
the existence or effectiveness of cable burn-in.
When we noticed the sound quality improvement, it can be the effect of the headphone
burn-in itself. We have to actually do some AB test
or blind test to prove it. Some people and company
insist that cable burn-in is real and important. The cable
believers think that although the cable does not
contain electrical part or mechanical part, burn-in
could change the copper state and electrons movement
inside.
The
interesting temporary sound quality loss
One day you may find that your headphone quality
change during the burn-in process. It can be good
change, or it may become dull and downgraded.
However, after this "bad period", your
headphone wake up again and become better and
better. Many people noticed that there is some
strange "bad period" during the burn-in,
the headphone strength and weakness can be exposed
or suppressed temporary. It is the growth process of
the high grade headphones. Many people was just
scared and thought that they have broken the
headphone someway.
I experienced this in my HD650 burn-in, the
change was so noticeable (and scary). After that
painful period, it really grew up.
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