So how should I burn in my new monitors...

And now I just want to listen to some Rush.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxkfLe4G74

And yeah... I may be old... not Rush old... but it`s good stuff. ;-p

Yup... awesome album. I know a guy who was supposedly involved with the Rush boys before Geddy. I just took it as tall tales but the guy SMOKED those four strings and had a few people backing his story. Geddy however rounded that shiz out nicely and completely. Would not have happened without Geddy. He influenced Claypool heavily too whom I absolutely love as well.

Interesting. I rarely leave my studio room though so that could get a little annoying... and probably wreck my ears/brain. lulz...

I guess the idea is to get the cone moving. In the past I've just cleared out for a couple of days. Let's see what others say.

At the risk of running counter to years of entrenched internet mythology, I have to point out that speaker burn-in is nothing more than that: a persistent myth. Whatever physical change happens to a new speaker when it's first turned on happens within the first 30 seconds of operation, and it happens at the manufacturing plant. 

However, there is enormous value in listening to your new speakers for extended periods. It takes weeks or even months to fully train your ears to a new speaker system, so what better way to get started than with some Rush. Though I'd suggest that after that you move on to include as broad a selection of references as you have access to.

To be honest I have never heard of it. I think it may be something left over from the guitar speaker days when new speakers were a bit stiff and after use they did sound better.

But a lot of modern active monitors use speakers that the suspensions are rather nice anyway right from day one and don't really need a burn in. And besides it might be something they do at the factory anyway just to give them a little workout before they send them off. I think as Dave correctly says it is much more about you getting used to a pair of new speakers and how they sound.

Cars in the old days needed to be run in that was for sure. I bought a car back in 1978 and I was not allowed to go over 80K/hour for the first few thousand k's or so. It is not the same now. I recently got a new Toyota Corolla and it did NOT need to be run it. It just went like the wind from day one! Mind you I am gentle with cars anyway but it did feel like it was already run in to a certain extent.

Save yourself and others the hassle and just get down to using them and get into some work. I doubt you will hear the speakers change over time. There are many other factors remember that will influence your final sound, not speakers burning in.

Burn-in is a hi-fi buff thing. I always did it cause that's what you did. It may well be that Bitflipper is perfectly correct: God knows, there is a power of a lot of hocus-pocus in hi-fi! Which somehow brings us back to room treatment, doesn't it? :-) David

Right on guys. Yeah these things are pretty modern (I think the woofers are some kind of resin) so perhaps the old burn in trick isn't such an issue. Besides... they'll be getting enough of a sonic bashing in the months to come. I did just realize though I don't have any tunes on this system (and don't really want to load it up with anything other then projects) so I'm gonna have to pull down my case of CDs and just pop them into the DVD burner like a luddite. AND I'll have to either figure out how to route Media Player to the Layla or dig out a TRS to RCA adapter and hook them up to the onboard sound (which wouldn't give me the balance signal I want). I use to just do this stuff through a mixer or an external stereo. Oi. It's always something. lulz...

True enough. Maybe I'll rip a bunch of material I've listened to millions of times on various systems over the years to train my ears to adjust. Some of this stuff I can play back almost exactly in my mind just from memory (many whole albums I ached over learning to sing and play for live acts) so that would be perfect one would think. I have such a varied taste too it should cover most styles and frequencies. Cheers.

Freddie H

Beepster


I think I'm gonna hook these bad boys up tomorrow (Mackie MR5MK2's) and get the juice flowing. Any advice on what I should push through them to get them on the way to a proper burn in? I love all music as long as it's good. I'm thinking some good ole' Rush will hammer in a good bulk of the frequency range.

Advice how to setup and get to hear the sound of the new Active monitors.
 
1. Turn ON the active new monitors.
 
2. Check, play some music to hear everything is setup correctly, okay, balanced correctly etc...
 
3. Get some protective ear plugs so you don't kill your ears.
 
4. Play as loud/hot as your new monitors can take so it "they" almost duck. Dance music, POP music, what ever....much BASS with the protective ear plugs on of course.
 
5. Run it Hot/ laud signal 100-120db or up as high you can go for about 5-10 min time etc.
 
6. Now lower the signal to a more medium normal Mixing volume and take of the ear plugs.
 
7. Listen on the speaker again. Now you can hear it a new crisp way. The monitors have worked hard and got pushed.
 
8. have monitors ON...don't shut them OFF the coming 3 days or more. After 3 days or more you will hear HOW THEY actually sounds.
 
 
 
Hope it helps!
 
 

And then you bust your brand new monitors cause you had ear plugs on and couldn't hear the damage you were doing to them... Seriously, I think they'll wear in just fine without the need for cranking them right up to their max for a good 5-10 mins. It just seems so not worth it to me...

There is no reason to "burn in" speakers.

The only thing I think might happen is you blow them.

SvenArne


I dunno, I kinda want this myth to be true. I've bought a fair number of speakers and while they always sounded "wow" in the store, I usually get a dissapointing "meh" moment when I fire up the new pair at home or wherever (talking about all kinds of different rooms here). And after a couple of days of playback, it's back to "wow" again!

I'm the biggest audiophoolery sceptic there ever was, and maybe it's just my brain that's burning in to the sound of the speakers, but I kinda want to believe that they were actually changing. No one who've ever come to visit seems to ever have been "meh" about my quite expensive hi-fi...

One could explain that in many ways. The store is a different acoustic environment for one. Your ears are adjusting to the sound.

There are lots of reasons a speaker may sound different at different places and times.

The only way to know is test them with a spectrum analysis instrument plus testing for distortion over time.

The speakers should not change in there innate characteristics.  If that did happen no one could trust a monitor ever. 

Edit to add. Jeff has the best advice on training your ears for your new speakers. Only I would suggest Dark Side of the Moon. LOL

Yes but you also have to stand sideways to the speakers too. This is the most important element. Neglecting to do this can cause unexpected results.

Adam suggest this

Question: How long does it take to burn-in my ADAM speakers?

Answer: Loudspeakers include movable parts. Therefore, they need a certain 'burn-in time' for a full excursion and adaption of these parts. After this burn-in time, the speakers reach their full acoustic potential.

To break-in your speakers, it is advisable to feed them with music signals of a broad frequency spectrum and different volumes for a certain period of time:

Up to one week for a 'normal' burn-in.Up to four weeks for a reliable long-term consistency.

However, no responsibility can be taken for the correctness of this information since it always depends on both frequency and sound pressure level of the speakers usage. Furthermore, the real time a speaker needs to burn in is, to some extend, always due to the specific speaker itself.

Thats if he doesnt need help on how to switch em on!!