K701 insanity spreading over at head-fi

[n_maher]

why are your cables more expensive than your amp?

Duh, it's all about balance.

[Nenso]

why are your cables more expensive than your amp?

heh.. oh noes.. the horrors that Elephas was concerned about is happening to me!.. "(ノ_・、)"　

[grawk]

I think that what we're seeing is an attempt to take a bad joke beyond it's breaking point.

[Augsburger]

Enough already.

[Guest DevilMayCry]

The soundstage for the K701 is superb after burn-in. I purchased this headphone last year from http://www.headphone.com. Do any of you know of this very detailed and informative website? At first the K701 sounded very dead and cold but after using these for a month's time, I found the bass to be more detailed and clearer mids. Am I the only who experienced this?

[Smeggy]

No, wait until they hit the 8,532 hour mark, then you'll hear their true majesty.

[Fing]

shiver me timbers, laddy, and man the mainsail, for there be scurvy dogs on the horizon, arrr

Reminds me of a children's programme we used to have here in the UK called 'Captain Pugwash'. Nice urban legend in it about some of the characters having colourful names, such as Seaman Staines, Roger the Cabin Boy, Master Bates and Simon The Bar Steward.

Shame they weren't true

[swt61]

I purchased this headphone last year from http://www.headphone.com. Do any of you know of this very detailed and informative website?

Never heard of it. Looks interesting though, I'll check it out later, but I gotta go tyll a floor.

[philodox]

LOL

Nice pun there Steve.

[ojnihs]

Never heard of it. Looks interesting though, I'll check it out later, but I gotta go tyll a floor.

[bhjazz]

At first the K701 sounded very dead and cold but after using these for a month's time

Had a girlfriend like that once.

[ph0rk]

I never bought the 300 hour poo - a few to get used to the pressure, temperature, and humidity at your listening station and maybe a handful to make the cushions fit your head better.

[Duggeh]

Reminds me of a children's programme we used to have here in the UK called 'Captain Pugwash'. Nice urban legend in it about some of the characters having colourful names, such as Seaman Staines, Roger the Cabin Boy, Master Bates and Simon The Bar Steward.

Shame they weren't true

If enough people believe in something it makes it true for all practical purposes, for good or ill. Captain Pugwash was brilliant though. Theres something in the back of my mind now I think about the programme again that makes me think Jon Pertwee must have done at least some of the voices.

[ilikebananafudge]

I have K701s and while i have nothing to compare them to, they did seem to get a a slightly more pronounced bass and more relaxed highs with time. Nothing significant as to say their sonic signature changed, but to my ears (which are not golden), a slight improvement. And it did take me over 200 hours to notice this.

[PFKMan23]

I have K701s and while i have nothing to compare them to, they did seem to get a a slightly more pronounced bass and more relaxed highs with time. Nothing significant as to say their sonic signature changed, but to my ears (which are not golden), a slight improvement. And it did take me over 200 hours to notice this.

While that might be the case, the point of it is, at best it is a slight improvement, not some astronomical change, like some would have you believe. Seems to be that on HF anything faulty can be fixed by more burn in.

[dc]

and probably attributed to pads softening up and/or ears acclimatising

i do quite like the K701s though. maybe I haven't heard better but yeah.

[en480c4]

How many hours of burn-in does it take for them to fit my larger than average head?

It's funny... It's not unreasonably large. I never have any trouble getting hats, ski or bike helments. But wearing a pair of AKG headphones, with the exception of the K340s, is out of the question. As a result, the K701s, their sound, their (real or imaginary) burn-in characteristics or anything else are kind of pointless for me to even think about. It's clearly not an rare occurance, and it seems like it's incredibly poor business to ignore as many as 25% of headphone listeners by limiting their adjustablity.

[/rant]

[Dusty Chalk]

and probably attributed to pads softening up and/or ears acclimatising

And/or state of mind, humidity, localized endorphine generation, imagination, changes in blood sugar levels, mild strokes, and other nonsense.

[Fungi]

Caffeine. It's gotta be the caffeine.

[dc]

yes, I sometimes wonder when people claim their equipment goes through ups and downs during so called break-in periods

whether or not they just woke up, or just had a meal or a strong coffee or something or other, i mean break in if it were real would be a linear process right?

[spritzer]

yes, I sometimes wonder when people claim their equipment goes through ups and downs during so called break-in periods

whether or not they just woke up, or just had a meal or a strong coffee or something or other, i mean break in if it were real would be a linear process right?

It should be a linear process but there are many other factors then burn in that can affect the sound. If the AC line drops by a few volts the sound completely changes and also if some other gear is contaminating the AC.

It is a bit sad to think about it when I started this hobby burn in and cables were accepted but still debated but now we have this uber acceptance of them when they are even though to cure cancer and transform your crappy ipod into a high end source. Then we have some idiots that think burn in can make the components worse...

[Mastergill]

It seems this burn in crap propaganda has been mostly spread by newbies based forum like Head-Fi. There's very little talk about burn in on forum like Audio Asylum. I guess it helps newbs to feel part of a community, people who know their stuff...etc.

The reality is when you buy a new piece, if it's a good upgrade from what you previously had, you should be thrilled right from the start and not have to wait 300 hours to enjoy your stuff. Putting a new phone in a drawer playing music for one week before listening to it is absolutely nuts IMO.

In fact the most dramatic change i've heard with burn in it's with big power tubes. Some tubes can sound lean, dry and sterile the first hours of use and then after 20 to 50 hours they are really blooming into something very nice.

[ph0rk]

One of the thing about becoming part of a new community is learning the rituals (like sticking a new headphone in a drawer for 300 hours with a CD on repeat). Once learned, the new members defend the ritual as a boundary marker with the zeal of the converted. Older members that cling to the ritual often do so to delegitimate others (You only burned your headphones in for 500 hours?! Of course they sounded bad!).

A similar process is at work with "accepted facts" as well, and like the ritualistic behaviors these can live on long after the group member that originally proposed (or deduced) the fact has moved on.

Er. Right. Back to exams.

[ojnihs]

only thing that i feel needs to be burned in are new tubes, which like mastergill, I've found start to sound a bit different after about the first few hours of using them.

i think the whole burn in thing is all placebo for headphones and the like. i think it stems from the fact that a lot of the newbies buy the "hot" headphones, expect them to sound amazing, and are, at first, disappointed that they don't hear the difference. thus, they fall into burning them in for a gazillion hours, and bam, they think they hear a different sound signature.

[saint.panda]

I've compared a new and used HD 650 once, and the difference was quite real (did a blind test, too). Part of it might have been the used level of the earpads but we paid attention to eliminate that variable as good as we could. Might have also been production differences between the two models but then any burn-in test becomes impossible to do.