Burning in speakers?

[Nebor]

I've heard other people say that too, I guess our standards for loudness are just different.

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

do you consider shaking doors, walls and windows loud?

 

[jacktesterson]

Originally posted by: Nebor
The gigaworks aren't good enough speakers to benefit from burning in.

Hope you're ready for massive dissappointment.

indeed

 

[Fuchs]

If they are nice speakers they are broken in before being sold. If they are cheaper speakers...you probably dont need to break them in because it wont do you any good.

 

[jacktesterson]

Originally posted by: Fuchs
If they are nice speakers they are broken in before being sold. If they are cheaper speakers...you probably dont need to break them in because it wont do you any good.

very true

 

[Aosh]

Originally posted by: Fuchs
If they are nice speakers they are broken in before being sold. If they are cheaper speakers...you probably dont need to break them in because it wont do you any good.

I'm not so sure this is true. Audiophiles don't buy cheap speakers and they burn in their speakers. There's even a special CD you can buy that'll do it effectively. In fact, Sony's $80 E-888 earbuds (yes earBUDs) need to be burned in. They sound like crap when you first buy em, but after breaking them in, they're the best earbuds you can buy.

From what I know about breaking speakers in:
Play diff kinds of music to make sure all frequencies are being played. Some even recommend just playing white noise because all the frequencies are present. As for volume, slowly increase it -just don't put them too high or you'll blow them out.

 

[godmare]

Originally posted by: RearAdmiral

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: Confusednewbie1552
Really? Can someone tell me more about "burning in"?

Some people think that by essentially ripping your CPU a new one it will magically be able to run faster than it could before. It's all bunk. It has nothing to do with teh thermal paste.

They somehow think that the transistors inside the CPU will become enlarged when you pump more voltage into the CPU. They then go on to hypothesize that after you do this, the CPU will be able to reach higher overclocks than it could before.

It's basically been proven to be false, but some people insist on doing it. It's all bunk.

It running hotter than usual cures the paste faster, so it reaches its optimal temp sooner. Only a few degrees, but its something. So if you want to O'C, getting those extra couple degrees helps.

"Burning in" and curing thermal paste are two different things. Afaik, thermal paste is going to take about three days to begin working optimally regardless. The burn in theory has been discussed a few times at least in the highly technical forum

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
CPU burn-in is a myth.

Most likely, yes.

Although, some various thermal-interface materials *do* need a burn-in period (AS5 specifically states this), and phase-change pads do as well. So perhaps that's where those claims of lowered temps/slightly-higher OCs after a "burn-in period" started? Especially burning in with a slightly-higher voltage - that makes perfect sense, it would raise temps enough to accelerate the thermal material burn-in period.

I've never needed to "burn in" a CPU before it worked properly.

Btw, the original term for "burn-in", was not to in any way *change* component composition, but rather to test for component failure during the very first part of an assembled computer's lifetime. Also known as the "smoke test". (I guess early computer parts, if they were highly defective, could actually catch fire???)

Most computer assemblers nowadays don't know the origin of the term, I suspect, and have attempted to give it another meaning.

I've never heard of speaker burn-in though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Aosh

Originally posted by: Fuchs
If they are nice speakers they are broken in before being sold. If they are cheaper speakers...you probably dont need to break them in because it wont do you any good.

I'm not so sure this is true. Audiophiles don't buy cheap speakers and they burn in their speakers. There's even a special CD you can buy that'll do it effectively. In fact, Sony's $80 E-888 earbuds (yes earBUDs) need to be burned in. They sound like crap when you first buy em, but after breaking them in, they're the best earbuds you can buy.

Are you sure that you, as the listener, aren't simply becoming more psycho-accoustically familiar with them, rather than them actually physically changing? That would be my (unresearched) guess.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I've never heard of speaker burn-in though.

Speakers are "broken in" not "burned in". Burning and speakers don't mix. The OP had both terms mixed up, which caused us this conundrum.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: RearAdmiral

Originally posted by: Confusednewbie1552
Really? Can someone tell me more about "burning in"?

Well apparently you are supposed to tax your gpu and cpu for awhile to cure your thermal paste. You need to play a game or run a loop of 3dmark or something. Then you turn it off for awhile so the thermal paste can set. I believe thats what its for. Im using new arctic silver 5 so I need to do this. I hope I didn't put to much on though.

Thermal compound has a break in period... follow the directions given by the manufacturer. Another questionable term is cure... while by definition, thermal compound does cure, to most people cure means harden... glue cures, paint cures, etc. Thermal compound SHOULD NOT harden, ever. The only exception is if you're actually using thermal paste to glue a heatsink onto RAM or onto a motherboard chipset or sometimes video cards.

There have been numerous people who have explained why "burn-in" is a myth. One explanation says a type of burn-in is performed at the manufactuer, where chips are run at higher voltage, higher temps, and higher speeds than normal. Chips that would prematurely fail will fail during this process. That greatly reduces the amount of CPU's purchased by customers that fail within the first few hours, days, or weeks of use. The person in that article also went on to say that most CPU's that come out of that burn-in process are slower than they went in... meaning if a CPU is graded to be 2.6 GHz before it goes in, afterwards it may only be capable of being 2.4 GHz with enough reliability to satisfy the manufacturer to sell it as 2.4 GHz.

Another explanation talks about electron migration, and how it happens in EVERY CPU all the time that it's running. Adding voltage and heat accelerates the process, which is why overclocking, overvolting, and overheating reduces CPU life. But if done properly and safely, the difference in lifespan is insignificant... it may last 10 years instead of 20... do you still use a PC that's 10 years old?

 

[Aosh]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Aosh

Originally posted by: Fuchs
If they are nice speakers they are broken in before being sold. If they are cheaper speakers...you probably dont need to break them in because it wont do you any good.

I'm not so sure this is true. Audiophiles don't buy cheap speakers and they burn in their speakers. There's even a special CD you can buy that'll do it effectively. In fact, Sony's $80 E-888 earbuds (yes earBUDs) need to be burned in. They sound like crap when you first buy em, but after breaking them in, they're the best earbuds you can buy.

Are you sure that you, as the listener, aren't simply becoming more psycho-accoustically familiar with them, rather than them actually physically changing? That would be my (unresearched) guess.

Haha, positive. Before being broken in, they sound horrible. Most noticeable was how deep the bass became afterwards. Besides, I wasn't listening to it as it was being broken in -I just let it play

 

[basslover1]

Yay, a topic I can undestand...wooooo!

First off, the idea of a speaker break-in period is dumb. It's been tested that even after speaker break-in, not much changes in terms of specs. You would think that after a speaker has been played for a while the suspension would start to beccome more compliant...in a word [no]. If this were the case, your "hour long" break-in period would lead to saggy suspensions after the first week of play, which obviously doesn't happen.

Every time I've hooked up new speakers I've always let em rip, no questions asked. Do they start to sound better after I've let them play for a while? Yea, but it's usually because I'm tweaking the entire system, finding what sounds better/worse/indifferent for my musical tastes.

When you get your PC stereo set up, just let em rip man, you'll have no problems with em. Other than maybe you wont like the overall performance of the system, but I have no experience with the stere in question, so I couldnt help ya there.

 

[tlhudson69]

I have heard of speeker breakin but it was about the old kind of speakers (made of paper and foam). I guess it was like the old autos ya' know rough edges needed to be smothed out. "Do not excede 45mph for the first 100 miles....."

 

[basslover1]

Originally posted by: tlhudson69
I have heard of speeker breakin but it was about the old kind of speakers (made of paper and foam). I guess it was like the old autos ya' know rough edges needed to be smothed out. "Do not excede 45mph for the first 100 miles....."

Eh, usually isn't needed these days when it comes to speakers. The only type of burning that goes on with speakers in their first few moments of play would be excess glue. Usually the glue that holds the coil to the former will burn off at first, once thats gone, no burning should happen to speakers. Unless you are a pyro of course...

 

[compfreak999]

gigaworks not loud? i find my 550D megaworks plenty loud in a living room, tuned at full blast i hear it outside the house through the walls.

 

[tlhudson69]

Originally posted by: basslover1

Originally posted by: tlhudson69
I have heard of speeker breakin but it was about the old kind of speakers (made of paper and foam). I guess it was like the old autos ya' know rough edges needed to be smothed out. "Do not excede 45mph for the first 100 miles....."

Eh, usually isn't needed these days when it comes to speakers. The only type of burning that goes on with speakers in their first few moments of play would be excess glue. Usually the glue that holds the coil to the former will burn off at first, once thats gone, no burning should happen to speakers. Unless you are a pyro of course...

That's it! I thought it had somthing to do with the paper-glue. OLD speakers; not high end ones bought today quality/inspection usualy takes care of that nowdays.

 

[oneshot47]

"Burning in" computer speakers will make zero difference. Over time, drivers will break in just from normal use, but even that difference is argued over by serious audiophiles. You will not notice a difference at all. Just sit back and enjoy them.

 

[everman]

Audiophiles will tell you that yes speakers (headphones included) do go through a "break-in" period. That is through some use the way they sound may change a bit until they finally normalize.

The OP seems to have this confused with the CPU burn-in myth that running at higher voltages or clock speeds may some how loosen it up for better overclocking. I read something a while back from an Intel engineer who basically said it's 100% myth.