Warming up headphones: what does it mean and how to warm up correctly?

The need to warm up the earbuds is controversial. Some music lovers are sure that this procedure should be done without fail, others consider the membrane running-in measures a waste of time. However, most professional sound engineers and seasoned DJs find warming up their headphones as a very effective measure to significantly improve sound quality.

It is customary to call the headphone heating their kind of running-in, carried out according to a certain algorithm in a special acoustic mode. Experts believe that in order for the new headphones to reach "full power", it is necessary to grind in the materials from which they are made and to adapt them to work in a given mode.

Warming up is recommended to be performed on a special sound track at a strictly defined volume level. In most models, after 50-200 hours of such running-in, the membrane enters the operating mode, and the sound becomes a reference.

In order to understand whether the headphones need warming up, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with some of the properties of their main working element - the membrane. Modern membranes are made of elastic, but at the same time rather strong materials, for example, beryllium or graphene, which have a rather hard structure. As a result, the sound at first turns out to be too dry, with sharp high tones and puffing bass.

Moreover, this effect is inherent to varying degrees in almost all models, including budget amateur headphones, and serious professional samples. However, for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the membrane will reach the maximum operating mode in any case, even if the user did not set a goal to warm it up, but immediately began to use the purchase... In this case, the warm-up time will depend on the intensity of using the headphones and the volume at which the person will listen to music.

As for the opponents of warming up the headphones, more precisely, people who do not see absolutely no point in this event, among them there are not only amateur music lovers, but also professionals. Experts say that the need for warm-up is a myth, and the sound quality of most models is the same throughout the entire service life.

Moreover, they believe that heating weak, inexpensive models can significantly harm the membrane, shortening its already not too long service life. That's why warm up the headphones or not – everyone decides for himself, and this procedure is not a prerequisite for putting the device into operation.

There are two ways to warm up new headphones: using regular music or using special noises.

To warm up the headphones in this way, you need to find on the Internet special tracks and run them on your playing device. Typically, this is white or pink noise, or a combination of both.

When playing special noises, the membrane sways, due to the use of a large frequency range. As a result of playing sounds of the entire audible spectrum, the membrane moves in all possible directions, due to which the sound quality is noticeably improved.

When warming up at a higher volume, the membrane may fail due to the strong impact of a sound signal at extreme frequencies.... The most popular tracks for "pumping" headphones using noise are Tara Labs and IsoTek, which can be easily found on the Internet and downloaded to your device.

An easier way to warm up new headphones is long-term reproduction of ordinary music containing the entire range of sound frequencies - from the lowest to the highest... The music should be left on for 10-20 hours, and it is advisable to do this on the device on which the headphones will be used in the future. The volume level in this case should be 70-75% of the maximum, that is, a little louder than the comfortable sound. Proponents of warming up note that in the first hours of running in, the sound often "floats" - the bass starts to buzz, and the mids "fail".

However, after 6 hours of continuous operation, the sound begins to level out and gradually becomes flawless. Many music lovers are sure that they need to warm up their headphones on the music that will sound in them in the future: for example, for fans of the classics, these will be works by Chopin and Beethoven, and for metalists - Iron Maiden and Metallica. They explain this by the fact that the headphone diffuser is "sharpened" to precisely those sound frequencies with which it will work in the future.

It is also believed that it is better to warm up on analog devices, since in digital format some frequency ranges are simply lost. Therefore, the best option would be to connect the headphones to an old cassette recorder or turntable, which clearly reproduce the entire frequency range, effectively heating the membrane.

To properly warm up your new headphones, you need to follow simple rules and follow the advice of experts.

• First of all, it is necessary to determine the heating time, taking into account the size of the membrane... It is believed that the larger the area of ​​this sensitive element, the longer it will have to be heated. However, on this score, there is a directly opposite opinion. So, experienced sound experts say that the size of the headphones has absolutely no effect on the warm-up time, and often larger models warm up much faster than compact samples. This is due to the fact that the diffuser of large specimens has a longer travel and achieves the required elasticity faster.
• It is necessary to take into account the quality of the headphones, which can be indirectly determined by their cost.... More expensive models consist of more "demanding" materials, and therefore need a longer warm-up. In other words, if 12-40 hours are enough to warm up budget samples, then expensive full-size models can warm up to 200 hours.
• When warming up, you should be guided by common sense and carefully monitor the changes that begin to occur with the sound. Skeptics argue that if no effect is noticed after 20 hours of heating, then even with a longer heating it will not be. And vice versa, if after the same period of time the sound in the headphones has changed for the better, it makes sense to continue the procedure. In this case, you need to periodically listen to the sound, and after the changes stop and the sound becomes even, the warm-up should be finished.Otherwise, there is a risk of unnecessary, absolutely unnecessary consumption of the driver's working resource, which will lead to a reduction in the life of the headphones.
• When warming up, it is necessary to take into account the "nature" of the driver, do not run the models in warming up, which, due to design features, absolutely do not need it. So, only headphones with dynamic drivers with a membrane can be warmed up. Armature drivers used in in-ear plug headphones do not have membranes, and therefore they do not need to be warmed up. It is also not worth heating isodynamic (magneto-planar) drivers, since their membrane works differently in comparison with the dynamic one.

Its entire surface is permeated with many thin wires that react to changes in magnetic fields and push the membrane, which as a result reproduces sound. Such membranes are not subject to deformation, and therefore cannot be heated. The same applies to electrostatic drivers, which, due to their design, do not give a heating effect.

Any headphones require a caring attitude towards themselves, so when they warm up you need to follow the recommendations of professionals and try not to harm the sensitive membrane... So, if the headphones were bought in the cold season and have just been brought home from the store, it is not recommended to turn them on right away - you need to let them warm up for two to three hours.

Next, you need to connect them to the playback device and listen to them for some time "cold". Then, using either of the two methods, the headphones are put on for several hours to warm up, after which the changes in sound are assessed.

If you use some expensive professional headphones after a long break in use, you may experience a degradation in sound quality. However, there is nothing critical in such a membrane reaction. In such cases, it is enough to "drive" it at different frequencies for 20 minutes, after which the sound is restored. Many users are wondering what will happen if the headphones are not warmed up. Experts are confident that nothing terrible will happen - sooner or later the sound quality will still reach its maximum, only it will take a little more time for this.

For information on how to warm up the headphones, see below.