Breaking in headphones?

[K-Mann]

I recently bought a pair of Eton HPH1 headphones, and I am sad. They don't seem to produce a sound as good as I hoped. Now maybe its because they suck, I don't know, the first time I heard of them was when I bought them. So it could be that its just a terrible name and I have no idea what I did. (Which is true, I don't know much about 'phones, therefore don't really know what's good or not)

I was reading online about how people "break in" their headphones and it sounds better then when they originally bought it. I was thinking that maybe that could go for these new 'phones I got, but I'm not sure. I want them to sound good, but I'm afraid that it wouldn't work and I would be stuck with a pair of lousy 'phones and out $50.

I'm thinking of just returning them because they don't really sound as good as I wanted.

But does 'breaking in" headphones really work? I'm not sure I'm gonna keep these, but for the future it'd be interesting to know if it exists or works or not or whatever.

[Bobbias]

The term is actually 'burning in".

I don't profess to know much, since I just basically googled it, but from what I can tell, 'burning in' is controversial at best.

The idea comes from the fact that older headphones and speakers used a much stiffer material around the cone, and that when new, the stiffness would make it harder to drive the cone, and result in a worse frequency response. However, I personally doubt that 'burning in' has any effect on new headphones.

If you honestly care about sound quality, I would highly suggest you go online and read up about headphones. You can't simply pick a name and hope they're good.

Personally, I'm looking to get some Grados, preferably some SR80's. For $95, they are comparable to some of the headphones in the $200-$400 range. The only issue with Grado headphones is that they have a break-in period. The strap (or whatever you call it) connecting both sides/pushing them against your head is metal (encased in something, I forget). It's stiff and such and makes listening to them for an extended period of time painful. However, as they break in, the metal will form to your head and become more comfortable.

[Sneaky]

Yea, those look like something I'd see at a walmart audio section. Which, I was guilty of in the past, buying without looking and just getting them because they either looked good, the price was right, or whatever the packaging said sold me on it.

The only time I got lucky by doing this is when I was at Fry's Electronics, and saw a pair of Sony  MDR-V6s.  About $99 something plus tax, I had no idea what I was buying, all I knew was that I was tired of having to replace shitty headphones with more shitty unreliable headphones.

These are the most amazing things I've owned, and I'm a stickler for sound quality overall. They're comfortable, compact [when you fold them in], and the price, IMO, is excellent for the quality you're getting. Plus it has a telephone style cord [spiral, think slinky] instead of a straight piece, which is good for me since it's not just a pile of cord I have to wrap up every time I want to get them out and listen to something. 

As for your question for 'breaking in' /burning in headphones, with my Sony's, there was such an instant increase in the sound quality from that which I was used to, that I never noticed if it got slightly better.

[K-Mann]

I am aware of the bad decision I made for not reading up about them first. But I can return them, so all is not lost.

The store did have a set of Sennheiser HD 435 as well as a couple Sonys and such.

What I need is a pair that I can wear for at least a couple hours that go around he ears, not on top. Unfortunately I'm kind of poor right now so anything lower than $100 is much preferred.

Boobies, those grados look swell for that price, but I'm not sure about the comfort thing. I do believe you when it comes to the breaking in part, but I'm gonna have to do some hard looking in the city first to see if I can get it without buying online.

[Bobbias]

Well, Grado is a small company, so you'll be lucky as hell if you find them in a store. Also, I was talking about the $95 ones, but they do have the SR60's, which are about $67, IIRC. and are well worth the price. They don't have the best bass (hence why I'm looking to go for the SR80's), and they might not be that comfortable for the first while, but they will get better after a little wearing in.

Of course, Grado isn't the only company out there that has good cans for cheap. Sens are pretty good, but I will warn you that they tend to have a lot of high end, so if bass is what you're looking for, you may be a little disappointed.

I don't know about Sony's, because in my experience, most Sony headphones are not worth the money. They tend to cost more because of the brand name, and maybe take a bit more beating than the cheap $5 headphones, but the sound quality isn't really worth it. Though that's my experience with the lower end of them (like, $40 cans).

[Leorina]

Most of the time the best head/earphones aren't the ungodly exspensive types.  I remember getting a $10 pair of earphones from CVS and being able to blast my music at full for at least 2 years and it was still clear as a bell.

That being said, there are also ones that are very much worth getting such as the comfortable and great SkullCandy earphones.

It all depends upon your taste, I like SkullCandy now because of how they look and they fit.

[Bobbias]

Uh. No. Some brands will definitely be better than others (Sony is pretty much a waste of money) but you still can't expect a $10 pair to get even close to matching an audiophile headphone. I can't comment on skullcandy, other than the fact that they scream "I just want to look cool" and give me the impression that they are more a fashion statement than an audiophile headphone.

Compare those $10 with Sennheiser HD650's and a deaf person could hear the difference.

Headphones, like speakers, go up in quality as they do in price. However, there are still names to avoid that sell their speakers/headphones at quality prices, but produce them cheaply/poorly.

Another thing that many people overlook is that some headphones can't be driven very well by the onboard systems in most portable players. Many of the higher end ones will need a decent headphone amp to get the real sound they were meant for.

Also, if you want something rugged, you might want to look into DJ headphones. Most of those things are designed to be beaten all to hell, and to give some damn good sound on top of it (maybe not as great as audiophile cans, but definitely better than the run of the mill pair).