• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Breaking in new cabs with "white noise"?

bassrique

bassrique

Nov 27, 2007
4,910
1,775
Florida / New York
#1
Is it just as easy as hooking up the cab to a white noise source for about 12 hours and putting blankets over said cab so as not to draw attention and ire from the neighbors?

Most people don't do this [I know I never have], so how important is this to bring cabs up to an optimum operating level?
 
#2
bassrique said:
Is it just as easy as hooking up the cab to a white noise source for about 12 hours and putting blankets over said cab so as not to draw attention and ire from the neighbors?

Most people don't do this [I know I never have], so how important is this to bring cabs up to an optimum operating level?
Click to expand...


Zero need to do this. Some speakers will have a touch more bass response after a few hours or more of playing. You will get there after your first gig, and the change will be quite subtle. Just play the cab at home for a few minutes to make sure it works, and then get it on a gig!
 
#6
Atomik Rooster said:
Heh, heh... Where does this come from?
Click to expand...

I've read it here IIRC, and I recently saw something along the same lines while over at the Acme site. It doesn't make sense to me.

KJung said:
Zero need to do this. Some speakers will have a touch more bass response after a few hours or more of playing. You will get there after your first gig, and the change will be quite subtle. Just play the cab at home for a few minutes to make sure it works, and then get it on a gig!
Click to expand...

That's the answer I was hoping for. I've been doing it right all along then :bassist:
 
#8
bassrique said:
I've read it here IIRC, and I recently saw something along the same lines while over at the Acme site. It doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...

The Acme's are a touch different, since they have those high mxax woofers. Andy recommends 1/2 hour or so of moderate volume playing just to loosen up the surrounds a bit before pounding on them. That is the exception to the rule.
 
#11
I'm always careful not to take a brand new cabinet and pound the living crap out of it right away without some prior playing at lower volumes, but hardly anything planned or scientific.

I make sure it works. I make sure it's not making any noises, then I play through it for a while at a medium level.
 
#12
bassrique said:
Is it just as easy as hooking up the cab to a white noise source for about 12 hours and putting blankets over said cab so as not to draw attention and ire from the neighbors?

Most people don't do this [I know I never have], so how important is this to bring cabs up to an optimum operating level?
Click to expand...


i dont know about "white" noise. maybe you mean "pink" noise?

regardless, real music works best, cause at least you can enjoy it!

i usually set aside a saturday when i need to clean around my place, and use whatever bass cab for music. kill two birds w/ one stone.

and i've had the acmes, and they did sound better. but i do it with all my cabs. you break in your car's engine, you should do the same for your speaker's surrounds. found i do get a nicer lower B and the overall feel is more solid and substantial.
 
#13
jokerjkny said:
i dont know about "white" noise. maybe you mean "pink" noise?

regardless, real music works best, cause at least you can enjoy it!

i usually set aside a saturday when i need to clean around my place, and use whatever bass cab for music. kill two birds w/ one stone.

and i've had the acmes, and they did sound better. but i do it with all my cabs. you break in your car's engine, you should do the same for your speaker's surrounds. found i do get a nicer lower B and the overall feel is more solid and substantial.
Click to expand...

The breaking in of a speaker's surrounds is indeed a real phenomenon (you can easily measure the change in Fs). However, for the vast majority of speakers, you don't need to do anything special to achieve it. It will just happen with a bit of use. If the manufacturer suggests a procedure for break in like Acme does, you should do it. If the manufacturer doesn't suggest any break in procedure, plug and play is fine.

In the business I'm in, some people insist that it takes hundreds of hours for gear to "break in." I don't buy it.
 
#14
Mark Reccord said:
In the business I'm in, some people insist that it takes hundreds of hours for gear to "break in." I don't buy it.
Click to expand...
+1. 24 hours with a 25-30 Hz tone at 10 to 12 volts will get a speaker at least 95% broken in. Those in the oddiophile crowd who say driver break in takes hundreds of hours tend to be the same types who say cables also need a break in. :rollno:

BTW, do not use white noise, if you have tweeters it can harm them. Pink noise is OK, but when played at a high enough level to do any good it's just too damn loud. The advantage to a 25 to 30 Hz tone is it flexes the suspension as far as possible with minimum voltage input and the lowest audible output.
Drivers should be broken in by the manufacturer prior to cabinet assembly, but that takes time, and time is money.
 
#15
jokerjkny said:
you break in your car's engine, you should do the same for your speaker's surrounds. found i do get a nicer lower B and the overall feel is more solid and substantial.
Click to expand...

Breaking in a car's engine is another myth:rollno:

Again, just get the thing on a gig. By the last set, for all practical purposes, the speaker will be 'broken in'. If the low end does tend to extend a touch more over the next few gigs (I've never hear this happen myself), what the heck, bonus.

I like Eden's break-in suggestion best... play the cab really loud for a couple of hours!!!!!!!
 
#18
mrjim123 said:
What exactly are the consequences of NOT breaking in a cabinet? Inaccurate sound reproduction? Potential driver or cone damage?
Click to expand...

Nothing (except in the unusual case of the Acme's, where I guess if you slam a huge low end at full volume within the first 1/2 hour, the surrounds MIGHT get damaged).

That's the point here... not that a speaker won't settle in, and in some cases, extend slightly deeper in the low end over the first few gigs, but rather that you have to do something 'magic' to 'break in a cab' (per Mark's post above). Just play it out of the box like 99%+ of bassists over the last 40 years, and enjoy. If the low end extends a tiny bit over the first 10 hours or so, well then so be it, and cool!:cool::hiding:
 
#20
mrjim123 said:
What exactly are the consequences of NOT breaking in a cabinet?
Click to expand...
It won't work to its potential until it is broken in. The fabric suspension and spider are stiff, like a new pair of non-pre-washed blue jeans. Until they soften up low frequency response will be compromised.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back