[vincenz]

I'm of the camp that skews more towards skepticism of "burn-in". If there is any change at all, my brain has acclimated to it over time. In either case, what I do know is that I have never noticed any difference that made me like or dislike a headphone or speaker more after burn-in. If I don't like it within the first half hour of dedicated listening, I am still not going to like it after blasting loud music on it for a few days in a row.

 

[Soundizer]

Tyll doing measurements of several headphones some years ago for testing scientifically if mechanical burn-in is real or not. He saying that with his measurements no changes happening and in the rare instances with changes, this changes are so, so small that the ear can't really hearing this differences.



Is also very possible that the manufacturer is using this 'advice' so that the consumer's ears are becoming accustom to the new sound. Our ears becoming accustom to any earphone or headphone very quickly and our brains compensating for missing frequencies or peaks and dips in FR. You listen more time and even bad earphones and headphones are sounding very good!

I don’t believe so because such a statement would need to be approved by RnD and no way would they so explicitly state run-time impact if not true.

 

[angelom]

I don’t believe so because such a statement would need to be approved by RnD and no way would they so explicitly state run-time impact if not true.

I'm sorry but this just isn't true, simply because is a 'recommendation' not statement of fact by the manufacturer.

 

[Tudorsound]

I’m with you! I can only keep one and I only had a few hours yesterday listening. But the head pain for me is not a problem on bathys.

I’m overwhelmed by the size of bathys compared to px8 but that’s not a problem for me .

I will have to listen more and more over the weekend so I can have better sense for what I want. But just for first impressions I can say that I’m leaning towards bathys, not having the raw force of px8 they are still energetic sounding headphones. Not extreme but engaging nonetheless….

Have to listen… it’s hard for me these days since I’m full of work… and can’t hear at work since I’m a Event AV tech so I do audio at work so can’t hear them

Choices, choices.... I decided to return the Bathys. The pain on the head is a pain, so to speak, and I found the smaller size of the PX8 nicer to handle as well. I just figured that, despite the Bathys having a better sound, I'd end up grabbing the Bowers more often than not as they just seem 'easier': easier to use, easier to listen to and still a brilliant sound. They're also £100 cheaper. I want to get some open-backs one day and the Bowers and a pair of open-backs would make a good combo me thinks.

 

[BigJs]

Another pro tip: no wife, no fuss over upgrades. Just saying.

No Woman, No Cry?

 

[Livnmuskoka]

I have definitely heard a few items breaking in. But nothing like after 72 hours, the longest was about 2 hours.
Years ago I tried the Pioneer Andrew Jones $100 speakers to hear the hype. Up until the first 10 seconds I thought they were broken, seriously. But didn't notice any change after the first 10 seconds or so. And they weren't that great, didn't even think they were keepers for the garage.
Then earlier this year, both the Sony wf1000xm4 and Sennheiser MTW3 kept improving moderately over the first 20 mins or so.
And then over the last couple weeks, I've been listening to a new Fiio BTR7/HD600 combo that improved considerably over the first 2 hours. At first the bass sounded like it had 1 note and they didn't have as much detail. Then the bass became much more defined and the detail in the whole FR came out more. Guessing the surround just needed a little time to soften.
Other than these instances I haven't noticed any break in of several amps, players or speakers.
I've also been using high strand solid copper cables for over 20 years. The only time I tried more expensive cables were some Kimber ones for around $200.
There was a slight change in sound, they brought out more brightness and some soft static sound. It definitely changed but for the worse, I'll stick with my solid copper cables.
I'd find it surprising if somebody, especially experienced, couldn't hear a small amount of mechanical break in on anything they've ever tried, if even over a 30 second period. If not I think maybe they're in the wrong hobby.

 

[mainguy]

They're also £100 cheaper. I want to get some open-backs one day and the Bowers and a pair of open-backs would make a good combo me thinks.

I'm finding the Focal Clear & PX8 a really nice overall combo. The PX8 sound suits on the go, and the Clears are just top open backs with their own signature that gives you something else to play with.

 

[nunomeneses]

Never had this brain war on headphones like I’m having between bathys and px8… usually it’s the signature that takes me but in this case both are pushing me….

 

[jthomp72]

Never had this brain war on headphones like I’m having between bathys and px8… usually it’s the signature that takes me but in this case both are pushing me….

My brain tells me the bathys. My heart tells me Px8. Just depends on how I’m feeling that day.

 

[Tudorsound]

My brain tells me the bathys. My heart tells me Px8. Just depends on how I’m feeling that day.

I felt the same. Went with heart.

 

[Tudorsound]

Has anyone noticed much difference in sound quality between noise cancelling 'off' and 'on' and wired or BT mode? I really find there's very little difference; the headphone jack makes it a little louder (via my MacBook) but that's all....

 

[Denkmal]

Has anyone noticed much difference in sound quality between noise cancelling 'off' and 'on' and wired or BT mode? I really find there's very little difference; the headphone jack makes it a little louder (via my MacBook) but that's all....

Yes.
With ANC (and transparency mode) activated the bass is noticeably elevated. You can adjust for this by moving the eq slider maybe 2,5 dB if you think its needed. Other frequencies seem unaffected though, which is great.

I found the sound to be very, very slightly better on USB than over AAC but not really night and day.

 

[Denkmal]

My brain tells me the bathys. My heart tells me Px8. Just depends on how I’m feeling that day.

My aching skull told me to return the Bathys. Otherwise I could have kept both.

 

[JoePR31]

I think after Xmas I will pick-up a PX8 so I'll get to join in on the sound impressions side of things. But not to be too much of a Negative Nelly, but I have read from at least two members who acknowledge brain acclimation, but also make the claim that mechanical burn-in happens for a fact. What evidence do you people have of that? Have you mechanically and metallurgically disassembled and tested the driver before and after or are you just assuming these changes happen because somebody somewhere else introduced the idea and sounded really convincing? Or does it just seem to be so common sense that it just has to happen?

I am always shocked at how certain people can be of phenomena that would be so very, very nuanced and almost impossible to quantify in any reliable or meaningful way. And even if there were some kind of infinitesimal change in material or mechanical system such as is being proposed, for it to reach audibility would be a major issue, let alone to result in the changes typically described by people like "... the bass really setlled in ... the treble became much more even ..." Those are absolutely huge changes, not small, if they become audible you are now making a very significant claim, which transitively means you are suggesting that these designs are so flawed that the engineers couldn't even make a headphone system that didn't become critically altered in a few hundred hours of use.

I am not so arrogant as to say I know for a fact that these things could never occur, but people have no proof, they just make unsubstantiated claims. That isn't evidence at all, it is simply opinion. Fine, everyone has opinions, I do, probably too many of them, no problem, but at least be clear when you make claims that you accept the limits of your knowledge and if you haven't tested your headphone the way you would need to determine if substantial mechanical burn-in occurred, then limit your claim to not be presenting facts, but rather opinion.

On the flip side we have mountains and mountains of scientific inquiry into the adaptability of our sensory brain so that explanation has been scientifically vetted.

Assuming that my post was one of the ones you're referring to, I did make it very clear that I didn't have bulletproof scientific evidence to back my statements. Did you skip over that part?

While I wouldn't call it scientific, I did have the opportunity to listen to a fresh out of the box P9 demo unit back in 2017 after I'd owned my P9 for a few months, and the same with an Elegia about 2 years ago. I also mentioned this is my earlier post. On both occasions, I did notice differences between my headphones and the newly unboxed ones. But, they were subtle differences. I had to listen analytically, and switch back and forth several times, in order to be certain that I was hearing real differences.

I don't want this thread to become another sound science debate, so I'll wrap up my comments on the topic by saying that it is my opinion that a majority of the changes that we "hear" in headphones are mostly due to brain "burn in", but that there are also changes to drivers and pads that occur as they are worn and used, and that those also have some effect on sound. To me, that effect is minor, and variable. For example, I don't think that my old X2 changed in any way that I could perceive...while I'm certain that my P9 did, and that certainty was reinforced when I got the opportunity to compare it to a new one.

 

[jthomp72]

My aching skull told me to return the Bathys. Otherwise I could have kept both.

Weird, the bathys is more comfortable to me than the px8. Both are fine though.