Best interconnect burn-in method


I think I know the answer to this, but I just wanted to double check with everyone.  I am in the process of burning in an XLR interconnect.  The interconnect is between the DAC and the integrated amp.  I am using a laptop as the source, and it is connecting via USB cable to the DAC.  Is it true that I am still burning in the XLR IC if I leave the integrated amp turned off while playing music continuously on my laptop with the DAC turned on?  Thank you for your input.

respected_ent
@rodman99999

Dielectric is important (it can add capacitance or store voltage as you point out) but not relevant when it comes to audio frequencies over distances of a living room. Air is ideal for speaker cables - so they just need an insulating jacket that is flexible.

It is is simple to obtain pro audio equipment that can accept XLR connections and can handle longer runs and higher capacitance in line level cabling.

If various interconnects are affecting the sound then it is a reflection of the poor quality build of the audio equipment. Usually consumer audio sounds dull and lifeless when using longer run cabling because the inferior design cannot handle the additional capacitance (what you call smearing).

Poor quality boutique gear is the main reason that an interconnect will make a difference.
VOLTAGES are stored in a dielectric, and released over time, in any component/cable with measurable, "capacitance".     There's no, "pseudo" anything involved in that fact.   The complex musical signals, listened to via our cables, can be smeared by those voltages, released out of time/phase with the primary signal.   Personally, I've been aware of the effects of Dielectric Absorption since the early Eighties, and made my own cables of Teflon dielectric/silvered, 5 Nines copper, double-shield coax(government surplus), back then.    Remain hidden from truth, under your cozy security blankets, if you must(Dunning & Kruger would be so proud)!     (http://www.wima.com/EN/absorption.htm)
You could put it in the Freezer for the day. Then keep repeating this process and it will open up even more. The bass will become stronger your life will become so much more pleasing. You will wake up better in the morning not feeling Groggy.

I Usually like putting my Shiny objects in the listening room. This results in better seperation and absorbs the negative ions from the atmosphere. This helps the Speaker cables to feel more settled in.

If you think about it. When you move to a new home dont you need a few days to settle down and feel at home??
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@rodman99999


Sorry but as usual by conflating different areas of electrical wave propagation science less than honest promoters are able to confuse ordinary folks out of large sums of money for meaningless so called performance improvements.

Dielectric becomes only relevant for non analog audio signals - ie at much higher frequencies such as your cable TV signal or HDMI digital etc.

Same as reflection coefficients and impedance matching become become important in transmission of electrical power over large distances (10’s of kilometers)

Conflating things means that this pseudoscience has a ring of truth to it. The real science clearly tells us that we don’t need to worry at all about dielectric properties for in house AC power or for audio signals through interconnects or speaker wires....
A repeat, for those that desire not to remain willfully ignorant of the SCIENCE, regarding dielectrics and cable construction: (http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/dielectric-absorption-dissipation-fact...) Further, by those that ACTUALLY KNOW something(ie: cable manufacturers), Dielectric Constants are figured heavily into design parameters/dielectric choices: (http://www.standard-wire.com/coax_cable_theory_and_application.html) and (http://www.ti.com/lit/an/snla164/snla164.pdf)
randy-11 asked, " do you guys even know what a dielectric is? "

As it relates to this thread, a dielectric is a marketing term used to sell $1.98 speaker and interconnect wires at a thousand percent markup.
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@dynaquest4   "Burn in" defies chemistry and physics.  

                          How so?
"Burn in" defies chemistry and physics.  But it does eat into the return for full refund period.
Just remember that burn in time  has two components. 1- You can get used to anything after a few months, and you will forget what sounded better. 2- The three month burn in time for components and wiring exists solely to get past the credit card refund window. I just ruined a great preamp. I had another model from the same company. My disappointment was excruciating. Now, three months later, I can't imagine why I thought there was such a big difference. Today, I am hooking up the good channel of the better one to power my sub amps. I can' t wait. (For years, I have been using identicle amps and preamps for mains and subs.) 
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All those formulas and the theories and the generalizations (self admitted generalizations) in that wiki page on skin effect were idealized, tested, hypothesized, realized, etc (however one may wish to put it) with solidus lattice structures. Not conductive fluids.

One can make a hollow cylinder of conductive fluids and drop a magnet down that cylinder and the result will be different than if done with a copper tube. Lenz is still happening but...differently. Lenz, and everything else involving electrical formulae... as the vast majority know and expect it.... was based on the analysis of conductive solidus atomic lattice structure.

As the medium is not the same (with conductive fluids). The complexity of the mathematics shoots through the roof into the impractical and (currently) incalculable. We can make some general bits of analysis, but not much more than that, at this time.

Additionally, the page from wiki speaks not on the underlying meaning and origins of the observation of ’skin effect’. Just the practical engineering mathematics. If one wants to understand the limitations of the mathematics, then the page does exactly squat.

It’s very simple: The Map Is Not The Territory.

It is on the edge of such realities that the page from wiki can and does devolve into potential misrepresentation - as dogma. Big problem.


Uh, oh, Bessel functions. Yikes! I’m out. Guess I’ll stick with the dude from AudioQuest. Thanks anyway.

or something not from a cable manufacturer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

good read if your up to some of the math. you'll notice most of the issues are above Mhz ranges. with mitigation for anything below solved/ mitigated mostly by Litz wound wire for example. For example at 60hz the skin effect depth is 8.5mm in copper getting thinner form there of course as the frequencies go up.

Anyway I say this and I own Siltec wire so I do believe there is better sound to be had by better construction etc.  

Who's zooming who? Let's clear this whole skin effect thing up for once and for all. Here's the link to AudioQuest's page on cable theory. Zoom on down the page for discussion of skin effect in audio cables. Read em and weep.

http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

Skin effect is something brought to this hobby it's from very high frequency transmissions ie wave guides not in wire per say. unfortunately audio band is not considered high frequency when it come to transmission so skin effect is not something we need to worry about. Wire size for given power and construction to reduce electro magnetic interference as well as good conductor type to reduce resistance's is all we need to consider. 
I agree, skin effect is an issue for audio frequencies. Don’t believe it? One need look no further than the 54 ga. conductor (thinner than a human hair) in Mapleshade’s Mikro Omega ICs to see that there isn’t really anywhere else the signal can travel except on the surface. Hel-loo! Obviously, as the size of the wire increases there is less of a skin effect. Nevertheless....

Karl Popper believed science theories could be falsified, I.e., proven false by careful experiments. As fate would have it that philosophy is plainly false at least in some cases. We see frequently in audio, especially when controlled blind tests are claimed to prove such and such a thing must not work, that just because a thing is "falsified" in some test it doesn't necessary mean anything.

Why don't you just listen and let it do its thing....  Its interesting how it changes...
Shakespeare?! What? Hey! Nothing so high falutin', I'm afraid. That's David. The android from the Sci Fi flic Prometheus.

if you can translate the rest of your post into English I’ll try to comment

you mean from Science to English? What portion of post you need translation mind mentioning? It looks like you’re asking to translate the whole thingie...

It’s hard, because not everyone indeed understands Science as you noted prior, but I can give hint on how to understand and translate:

Once you find CORRECT definition of SCIENCE, you’ll be able to translate my rest of post. You should also find definitions of the following words: HYPOTHESIS, EXPERIMENT, FACT.

In my school days, we simply neglected skin effect on audio circuits and treated them as DC so here's another word you need to find CORRECT scientific definition: ASSUMPTION!

For now, I guess all you need to do is finding a good school and register for classes such as Science101 or somethin’

there is someone phoney here, that's for sure - got a mirror??

skin effect is - as I said - an example; there are many more and anyone can see dozens by looking at troll-kait's web store
But no one here has claimed skin effect applies to audio frequencies. So what you said is, you guessed it, a Strawman Argument.

many posters here are immersed in woo-woo snake oil, and/or mis-apply real effects 

an example of the latter is claiming that skin effect is an issue at audio frequencies (tho it is real for microwaves...)

if you can translate the rest of your post into English I'll try to comment
randy-11
Unless a person understands science they have only un-informed opinions.


Science by its nature is poised to create as much as possible those un-informed or diverse opinions called HYPOTHESIS. Only math can straighten out all hypothetical opinions in one unique making HYPOTHESIS a proven scientific FACT.

Unless person starts plugging in numbers into scientific formula(s), the given hypothesis will always be in ’hibernation’ creating points of forum discussions...

So randy-11, please share your wisdom on what it takes to understand science and why do you think that posters here have ’un-informed opinions’?


Sometimes to create you must first destroy.

...but, nowdays, more-likely, every time you want to create something, you must destroy same you're actually 'creating' to 'make room' and than  claim that to your name.

It looks like all Creator does is destroying already created recursively and than creating it again and again. So where can you find yourself?

______________________________________________

And you may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself
In another part of the world
And you may find yourself
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well
How did I get here?

______________________________________________


Isn't THAT once in a lifetime or ... ?

What if  the creator continues to create and we call the small part we grasp
evolution ?
What if God set up the evolutionary process? Since by nature God is metaphysical we have transcended the mere physicality of the evolutionary process.
No wonder I don't let those little voices control me, they don't speak English !
Sorry to be the one to tell you but you cannot control what goes into the subconscious. Hence the "sub" in subconscious. Especially when what’s in the subconscious was put there hundreds of thousands of years ago and has remained there through the evolution process. You aren't born with a clean slate. You cannot control the controller.

Actually its good news, if you only put good stuff in your subconscious , and don't do drugs, only good stuff comes out .
Things are worse than you think. Much worse. You only think science, acoustics, electronics, neuroscience, whatever, can explain it all and that you can actually control it because you’ve lived with your while life. Besides, it’s subconscious. You can’t do anything about it even if you wanted to. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

You can’t control the controllers. - Anonymous

note to self: you know you’re probably in a controversial thread as soon as the word Nazi raises its head.

As someone born in 1935 I can assure you what passes for music at present does NOT serve as a guide  and actually makes my point 
on culture .
Take a rock concert for instance, it is impossible that  X-thousand people
could all decide to  raise their arm , same arm, at same time , and wave same in unison because of the music . It is a social event not a musical one
and follows that cultural norm . Reminds me of a Nazi rally(no joke) .
Yes on selection but that is not evolution .
 Yes also on new gear as well .
 .
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YOU , are dead wrong .
Music is an innate element in humans like sex, found in all cultures and all times , and like sex not subject to evolution .
Things may very but due to culture not evolution .

Hard to write a book on a non-existent topic .

You’re both waaay off. You need to study mind matter interaction and evolution, especially evolution as it pertains to survival skills and sensory perception. Everything else, all the typical things audiophiles take for granted, are not even close. But gee, where does one go to find out how the immediate surroundings affect hearing and about evolution of the senses and survival? The biggest thing in audio and you can’t even find any textbooks about it. 😩