AUDIO BURN-IN
Burn-in is the optional process for exercising new audio equipment. We recommend 40 hours of burn-in time for most headphones to reach optimal performance.
The main purpose of the burn-in process is to loosen the diaphragm of a newly crafted headphone and to stress the headphone driver. Most audiophiles agree that the sound quality will be noticeably improved after burn-in.
How do I do it?
There are different ways to burn-in your headphones (or earbuds). The most common ways include running a variety of music, white noise, pink noise, radio noise, frequency sweeps, etc. through the headphones at a medium volume. Note: too high of a volume can cause damage to, or even kill your headphones!
There are no statistics stating which method works best. Music is an obvious burn-in candidate and works quite well if you have a broad range of musical genres in your playlist. Playing only one type of music, however, will not exercise and stress the entire audio spectrum.
How long should I do it?
The general rule is about 40 hours. Some audiophiles may burn-in for 100 hours, but we think 40 hours is enough time to tune them up. Some people burn-in their headphones for 40 hours continuously after bringing them home, straight out of the box. This may not be a good way to burn-in your headphones because the diaphragm may be weak fresh out of the box and should not be pushed to the limit.
The best way to burn-in your headphones is to slowly warm up the diaphragm by plugging them into your computer or mp3 player, set the volume to medium, and let your music play for up to 4-5 hours a day for 5-9 days (perhaps, while you are at work or sleeping). After the desired amount of audio burn-in time, your headphones will most likely have had enough of a warm up.
Other Advice
Note: Do not need to listen to the audio burn-in file while it's playing!
The audio burn-in file contains a nonstop loop of: White noise, pink noise, radio white noise, 20-20000 Hz frequency sweeps, 10-30000 Hz frequency sweeps, 20-200 Hz frequency sweeps, as well as a minute of silence in between each for a rest period.