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So I just received my Ultrasone HFI-450s in the mail today (yay)!

I tested them out and they sound a bit tinny on the high-end and bloated on the low-end compared to my reference Sony MDRs.

Do any of you "burn in" your brand new headphones for a couple of hours of loud (not max but loud) audio through them?

I do this with speakers, but I dunno if other people do this with headphones.

I sort of think it's not really necessary - but what do you guys think/do?

Thanks!

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4 Answers

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Apparently, there is such a thing for headphones. While I was in college for the Recording Industry, I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD650's (Amazing HP's btw) and the professor told us to take around 24 hours worth of playlist and just jam music through them. He explained why, but to save me from typing it out, I found a link for you explaining every probable question about headphone burn in.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/56744/headphone-burn-in-faq

There ya go!

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Thanks a bunch. I'm surprised you didn't pull out the www.lmgtfy.com/headphone_burn-in !!! – Utopia Aug 27 2011 at 3:18
lmgtfy.com/?q=headphone+burn-in hehe – Utopia Aug 27 2011 at 3:19
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More than a burn-in time, it would help if you passively listen to a variety of music (lower levels works for me) so that your ear/brains get used to the sound. Or burn them in as you listen to them!

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Thanks, NTKeep!!! I'm curious, what is your headphone of choice? – Utopia Aug 28 2011 at 15:55
I prefer open backs: I usually use the Beyer DT990 Pro. The Sennheiser HD650 is great too! The Beyer DT770 is a nice close backed headphone - but not as great as the DT990. For casual music listening with the iPod - when travelling - I use the Etymotic HF5. I also use them for field recording when in 'stealth mode'. – ntkeep Aug 28 2011 at 17:14
I can hardly listen to my music in any other headphones, now -- I can't hear the nuances of it in my car, and any other headphones sound too imbalanced. – Dave Matney Aug 29 2011 at 3:34
@Dave - What headphones are you referring to? – Utopia Aug 29 2011 at 22:32
@ntkeep Cool! Never tried the Sennheisers. I want to, though. I don't know anyone who owns them. I personally don't like the earbud-type headphones, though. They hurt my ears and they keep slipping out no matter what size thing I put on them. – Utopia Aug 29 2011 at 22:33
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I have a pair of the HFI 450's and when I got them, I too found that they were a tad tinny and heavy on the lows. In the past, I have always used new headphones in the environments I want to record in and break them in as an experiment. They do change and now my 450's sound a lot better.

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Alright! Awesome. Thanks for the info. I will continue to break them in. I was a bit worried at first, but I remembered the way you guys described them and thought there was something more to them. – Utopia Aug 29 2011 at 22:32
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I've been using AKG K701's as my main source for monitoring - I never bothered to burn them in and I never noticed any difference. Great HPs, the 701's, btw.

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