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DAC break-in...

I am ready to make the move from a cdp to a transport plus DAC. One of the DAC's I am interested in is notorious for a lengthy break-in. Taken into consideration my families listening habits, the shear amount of hours I am reading for expected settling is slightly disconcerting.

So is the break-in hours I am reading about synonymous with all brands...is it expected across the board regardless of price? Is there a price threshold where this is mitigated or performed by the manufacturer?

Hoping to learn here...TIA


 
 

mlo97
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
All elecrtonic equipment requires break-in time.

But I’d have to imagine that **time** is the operative word, and that can vary from a moment to infinity.
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I'd like to add clarification to my previous post where I wrote "The manufacturer does claim that leaving it on 24/7 is best. ". In this context, "best" means optimal sound quality. Schiit does not reply (adequately) when asked if leaving on 24/7 is detrimental to the "health" and "longevity" of the components/unit.

czarivey
5,946 posts
 
when u ready to upgrade or change, it's the best thing to know about the break-in.
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,307 posts
 
Regardless of expert opinion to the contrary, I consider "break in", "burn in", and "settling in" effects to be real based on experience with various pieces of electronic gear (as well as cable). Having said that, it doesn’t mean those pieces were unlistenable out of the box...more that the sound improved over time. I wouldn’t sweat the whole break in thing if I were you. Get what you like and use it. Worst case, if the experts are right, it will sound no different over time. On the other hand, you might find the sound gets better with time. Good luck with your purchase.
mlo97 OP
31 posts
 

Thank you to everyone for the informing and thought provoking replies.

My better half has extremely sensitive ears and will only listen to most stereo music at very moderate levels. Our daughter plays the piano, and son the guitar, so naturally that is a powerful gauge for comparing tonality. Fast forward, she shocked me with a new amp she knew I had been researching and reading reviews about on this site, as I have been interested in trying to find an amp speaker combination that had more musical weight at low to moderate volumes. I used a pair of Harbeth's just to try the amp out and change things up, still using our old Arcam CD23. She was absolutely delighted with the change and it's increased low volume control/performance.

Now considering stepping up in cd playback quality, I was really hoping to not go through a period of break-in before things were comfortably listenable. Seems I may be making a big deal out of nothing and should just use the manufacturer trial periods as intended for our decision. Thanks again for every ones time offering a reply.

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
Worst case, if the experts are right, it will sound no different over time. On the other hand, you might find the sound gets better with time.
+1
This is my philosophy with regard to leaving my Yggdrasil on 24/7 (which I do not) and its break in period (I left it on continuous for the first week).

.....Seems I may be making a big deal out of nothing and should just use the manufacturer trial periods as intended for our decision....
Sounds/reads like a very good plan. Just be mindful in cases where a manufacturer (or owner/user) recommends leaving a component on 24/7 to draw a distinction between "break-in" and "breaking".
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