2:43AM
It wasn't aimed at you. You didn't write the procedures. You'll have a good day today--it's Friday!

Sorry for the mistake. I hope you have a good day too.

Have a look at this: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/evidence-headphone-break
 
Before you get excited about the apparent hard evidence that break-in really does something, note the Y-axis scale on the graphs.

I have read so many user experiences and manufacturers recommendations about breaking in  monitor speakers, that I have no doubt it makes sense to do it, at least with some speakers. And if it's worth the time with speakers, why not with headphones. After all, the process of producing the sound is mechanical movement in the end, and if a pair of trousers work and feel better after some use and the first wash, and a new car consumes less gas after 10 000 km drive, why wouldn't that apply to the behaviour of a loudspeaker cone-structure.
 
The last break-in-discussion I followed was about the Equator loudspeakers.

Higher end headphones do benefit from a burn in period.  It has nothing to do with the magnets but making the "cone" material more responsive to vibrations.  Every device with a vibrating diaphragm from speakers to grand pianos have an immaturity stage.  Burning in your $30 ipod earbuds if pointless, but large over-ear phones do benefit.  Long hours of moderate to low volume music is best to encourage fast transient response and tame harsh high frequencies.  
 
And yes if you pay more than a $1/ft for raw cable and $4 for a connector, you are a sucker.  

Kalle Rantaaho
I have read so many user experiences and manufacturers recommendations about breaking in  monitor speakers, that I have no doubt it makes sense to do it, at least with some speakers. And if it's worth the time with speakers, why not with headphones. After all, the process of producing the sound is mechanical movement in the end, and if a pair of trousers work and feel better after some use and the first wash, and a new car consumes less gas after 10 000 km drive, why wouldn't that apply to the behaviour of a loudspeaker cone-structure.
 
The last break-in-discussion I followed was about the Equator loudspeakers.

I have the equators, and there is no question that when I first plugged them in, they sounded radically different then they do now. I actually thought they were broken when I first got them.  Whether or not I needed hours and hours of burn in is certainly debatable, but running pink noise at moderate volume for a while sure as hell did something...

bitflipper
Have a look at this: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/evidence-headphone-break
 
Before you get excited about the apparent hard evidence that break-in really does something, note the Y-axis scale on the graphs.

It seems like the fellow confides that, regardless of the fact that he has lots of data to present, his testing procedure wasn't consistent enough to draw a conclusion. I am perplextertained by the fact that the comments left on that page suggest that no one who left comments actually read the page.
 
 
 
His presentation begs the obvious question; How does he know it wasn't his microphones breaking in that caused the deviation in test results?
 
:-)
 
best regards,
mike

I noticed a big difference breaking in my Equator D-5's and my ATH-M50's.  No doubt at all that it took time to mellow the high end and get more bass response.  I used the pink noise method.  
 
Rimshot
 
 

I  have officially added "perplextertained" to my vocabulary. Whether it earns a spot in permanent rotation or not depends on how often other people understand its meaning.
 
Never mind that the data was not conclusive - even if it had been, the results would still have been inconsequential. Look at the numbers. With the exception of one narrow band, the changes were tiny fractions of a decibel. Even the most significant change was less than a single decibel. Your headphones can change more than that just by wearing them slightly a-kilter or by adjusting the headband. 
 
The adaptability of hearing is a recurring theme in the study of psychoacoustics. The fact is, your perception of sound adjusts to the environment automatically. Over time it will adapt to flaws in your speakers and in your room acoustics. Your speakers and headphones will actually sound better to you the more you listen to them, which might lead you to conclude that some profound physical change has occurred in the speakers, when in fact the change happened entirely in your head.
 
This, BTW, is a good thing. It's why the single best thing you can do for your listening environment is to simply spend time listening in it. 

Hi Bit, 

This is from an SOS review of the D5's.  I do think that our brains adjust to what we hear but I also know for myself, that there is a physical break in period for these speakers as well.  Don't want to argue but just stating what is true for me.  :)
 
Rimshot
 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec12/articles/equator-d5.htm#Top

Breaking In

The back panel houses the audio inputs, an input sensitivity knob, and a three-way Boundary switch that optimises the speaker's performance for half-space, quarter-space or free-standing operation.
Like most loudspeakers, the D5s need to be run in for a while, and it took about 12 hours of continuous playback for the sound to open up and settle sufficiently to allow serious listening to begin. My first impressions were of a well-behaved loudspeaker with a slightly forward character to its mid-range. The treble and bass appeared smooth and controlled, without any noticeable peaks or troughs in the response, and the D5 delivered a high degree of detail at both ends of the spectrum. The silk tweeter gives the D5 a different character from other dual-concentric speakers that I've used in the past, and this doubtless contributes to the smooth nature of its high-frequency reproduction.

Was the increased low end extension on my Focals all in my head? I honestly don't think so. I hope not. If my perception can make that much of a difference in sound, who knows what else my brain is making up. Am I really here? Do I even have a studio? And are we really even having this conversation? Aww man, I think I feel a flashback coming on...