Burn in is just one of these myths. For speakers a few hours may be all that is needed, but speakers are mechanical components. In the case of electronics there is no theory that could explain why they would need break in.
If you want to test the hypothesis, comparing a product over the course of many hours is an invalid methodology, of course, because given humans’ short audio memory you cannot do a direct comparison over time, and time travel is yet to be invented. So what you would need to do is a double blind level matched comparison between a used item and one that is still in virgin state. Guess what?
In the case of a disc transport, it is my considered view that there are no sonic differences between them anyway. Their output is bitperfect and bitperfect is bitperfect. Anyone who wants to argue that they do have a sonic difference should show that bit by bit the files are actually not the same.
And that, of course, is the beauty of the digital revolution. Bits are bits, and that is good news, because the numbers in our bank accounts do not suddenly change because the bank uses a new hard drive that still has to be burned in.
