"Breaking In" headphones & monitors--any truth there?

J

jeffree

New member
My mind was wandering last night, about how we've all read (and maybe said) this:

"Those monitors (cans) will sound a lot better after you break them in for, say, 24 or maybe 1000 hours."

So I started wondering... is there really any truth to this claim? Anything more than my daddy told me? Maybe even some data to show specific areas of improvement
after break-in?

Hmmm. Just wondering, wandering,

J.
 
Well, I haven't heard much like this before, but I DO know that you can't really use monitors until you've listened to them for a good while. You really have to listen to familiar material through them to get to know what they sound like.

So I don't know about breaking in the speakers, but I do know about "breaking in" your ears. :)

That doesn't mean it ISN'T true, I just haven't heard anything about it before.

Take care,
chris
 
jeffree said:
My mind was wandering last night, about how we've all read (and maybe said) this:

"Those monitors (cans) will sound a lot better after you break them in for, say, 24 or maybe 1000 hours."

So I started wondering... is there really any truth to this claim? Anything more than my daddy told me? Maybe even some data to show specific areas of improvement
after break-in?

Hmmm. Just wondering, wandering,

J.
Click to expand...

me and a friend of mine build custom sound-tailored speaker enclosures for people whenever we get a chance as a side job. We ask that they first make an informed decision about a certain type of driver (usually a sub) and then give us the driver. We take the technical information and plot the box size/type/material/shape vs. frequency response based on 'room volume' (more appropriately, trunk volume when place in people's cars). We then assemble the box and install the driver and test it.

The point: I tell you, we have both heard some amazing transformations due to break in. Most subs sound like ass when installed and played at first. 1-3 days of constant break-in causes them to sound more open and textured (in a good way... the way the music was meant to be heard). To me, the effects of break-in are a lot more apparent on low-frequency drivers, but i tell you: its there.... break in occurs on any new driver... it just makes sense.
 
Jeff,

> Maybe even some data to show specific areas of improvement after break-in? <

That is exactly the right question! If the sound of a loudspeaker really does change over time, then whatever changes can be easily measured. If someone tells you nonsense like "science has not yet found a way to measure what I'm sure I can hear" just smile and walk away.

As far as I know there is no truth to this anyway. As I understand it, this was an issue 50 years ago when the materials used to make speakers were less sophisticated. But not so these days.

Also, watch out when a company says you have to break in some piece of gear for 90 days to realize the full benefit. Why 90 days? Because credit card purchases are protected for only 60 days! :D

--Ethan
 
There is SOME truth to it, as far as loudspeakers are concerned. When a manufacturer ships a brand new speaker, the suspension is still stiff. After a while, as the speaker is played, the suspension softens and the speaker resonance drops. It's most noticable with paper coned speakers (and I suspect, with some of the speakers with a butyl rubber surround). A new speaker might have a 45Hz resonant frequency new, right from the factory, but drop to 30Hz or lower over a period of time.
 
Maybe the sound changes because right after the gear is intalled, people put things like books, , artwork, CD's, furniture and fat butts in chairs that suck up sound. I could be wrong. :confused:
 
Just to add some personal experience, I think there is something to speaker break in - not only on larger drivers.

Not to long ago, a good friend and audiophyle had to get his Martin Logan electrostatic pannels replaced. We both noticed three different - subtle - sounds. One before the breakage, one after the repair, and one after several hours of play. Basically it went from mellow to stridant to (a different) mellow again, respectively.

I couldn't tell you what the science is exactly, but since I've noticed similar experiences on other speakers after purchase. I'm usually the first one to cry "snake oil", but I think there's actualy something to this one. I wish I could offer more concrete evidence.

BTW, If anyone can refute this one I'd love to read it.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0603/audiodesk.htm

Should be easy to measure, no?
 
Breaking in is good!

I bought a set of M-Audio BX-5's a couple of years ago..... They sounded so diferent from the ones in the store that I called a friend that was a dealer and also we had a mutual friend at M-Audio.

They said that it is a good idea to play music through them at moderate level for a few hours a day before you put them through some heavy abuse. As mentioned before above that the cone is stiff when new.

So pumping a huge blast of extremely loud audio through a fresh driver could damage it.

An the sound does change a bit but not radicaly.........
 
Harvey,

> A new speaker might have a 45Hz resonant frequency new, right from the factory, but drop to 30Hz or lower over a period of time. <

Yeah, I read something very similar to that too. But it was followed with the explanation that this was years ago and more modern speakers don't change nealy that much over time. Also, isn't the resonance of a speaker more a function of the cabinet it's in?

> That's different; that's primarily done to catch new part failures. <

Exactly.

The real scam is with breaking in speaker and power cables, which is yet another scam on its own. :D

--Ethan
 
qbert,

> If anyone can refute this one I'd love to read it. <

ROF,L. Here's the give-away that this reviewer has a wild imagination:

"I had already found that just about anything you did to a CD was likely to make it sound better -- cleaner/polishers, rubber bands (or green marker) on the edges, demagnetizing gadgets, anti-static liquid"

Yep, "just about anything" is the key. But why would it always make the sound better? Why not worse some times?

Guys like this should be writing fiction. Oh wait, they already are.

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
Harvey,

> A new speaker might have a 45Hz resonant frequency new, right from the factory, but drop to 30Hz or lower over a period of time. <

Yeah, I read something very similar to that too. But it was followed with the explanation that this was years ago and more modern speakers don't change nealy that much over time. Also, isn't the resonance of a speaker more a function of the cabinet it's in?

--Ethan
Click to expand...
The Fs is a free air speaker measurement, and as the fibers in the surround flex, they soften, and the Fs goes down. I imagine the same thing happens in butyl rubber surrounds, but to a lesser extent. I doubt that speakers that use foam surrounds change very much over time.

But the specific answer to your question is that there are two resonant points to consider:

1. The free air resonance of the woofer (Fs).

2. The system resonance (a combination of the speaker AND the cabinet).
 
I beleive the whole speaker break-in thing. It just makes sense to me to let them run for a while. Let all the parts inside kind of find their "inner harmony". I know that when I bought both my sets of Dynaudio monitor's it was reccomended that I break them in for 24 hours before using them critically. They reccomended just leaving them running for a day with a light to medium volume music. I just figured that it was to let things like the diaphragm, webbing etc... just sort of get broken in a bit. Kind of like a new pair of boots. I never imagined it "being a scam" and still don't feel that way about it. I guess maybe if they only had a 24 hour warranty I might though:D
 
Xxtatic, you mention that "it was recommended...". I'm wondering--do you mean "Dynaudio recommended" in the product brochure?

Thanks,
J.
 
qbert,

> They never post scientific analysis; why believe them? <

Bingo!

> On the other hand, this makes all the difference... <

I wrote an article about this stuff that's in the current issue of Skeptic magazine, and I referred to that knob. A few days after the article came out a bunch of audiophile "tweakers" at audioasylum.com (appropriately named) had a hissy fit. One guy actually argued that he could see how a replacement volume control knob could improve the sound.

Go figure.

--Ethan
 
Harvey Gerst said:
The Fs is a free air speaker measurement, and as the fibers in the surround flex, they soften, and the Fs goes down. I imagine the same thing happens in butyl rubber surrounds, but to a lesser extent. I doubt that speakers that use foam surrounds change very much over time.

But the specific answer to your question is that there are two resonant points to consider:

1. The free air resonance of the woofer (Fs).

2. The system resonance (a combination of the speaker AND the cabinet).
Click to expand...

Harvey,

I have a set of old Infinity QLS speakers with foam surrounds. I have been painstakingly restoring them as I love their sound. I can attest that the 12s in the bottom of these speakers do break in extensively. These are funky speakers with Watson dual drive woofers. It took about 2 months of general use for the new driver to sound like the old one.

I love these speakers.

http://www.bobbyshred.com/infinity/QLS.html

Each one is like 16 drivers. They are big and heavy and take a shocking amount of power to drive but I am just hooked on them.
 
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