Why no “Break in” period?

millercarbon

Until I took the time to actually listen and compare.

Have you ever gone a step further, and "actually listened and compared" without peeking?


I have. So have many others. It can be very educational, if you are open minded enough to learn that way.



We certainly can hear many things that "really sound different" (due to objective changes in the audible range).


But we can also "hear things" that aren’t objectively there.



So, how do we deal with possible confounding factors?


Blind testing is one way to do it.


Back in the late 90’s I had a couple CD players and a DAC and I was SURE they sounded different. It seemed so obvious! Yet some "objectivists" online said it was unlikely, that a properly constructed DAC should sound the same. (Though, with caveats).


Here’s the thing though: I was willing to accept that I may have been mistaken. I admitted that I’m human, subject to the normal human biases, which could be influencing what I "think" I heard. So I was willing to TEST MY OWN PRESUMPTIONS, and try to distinguish the units without peeking. I did a number of blind-test shoot outs (matching volume output at the speaker terminals).


Guess what?


Positive results! I could EASILY tell the units apart, because they (apparently) REALLY DID have the different characteristics I thought I"d heard.


That was really cool.

(Strictly speaking, this doesn’t entail that the objectivists claim was wrong; they left open that DACs/CDPs could be designed to sound different. Rather, they were pointing out that a well constructed, accurate DAC/CDP should be indistinguishable from another all other things being equal. So it’s not like I "disproved" that particular claim. Rather, I simply found support fro my own impressions that the ones I owned had different sonic characteristics)


BUT....


There have been other results in blind tests I’ve done that indicate that what I thought I was hearing was in error. Once I couldn’t peek at which device was playing in blind testing, the sonic signatures I thought were distinct just weren’t there to distinguish A and B.



Again, this comes from being open-minded enough to simply admit "I’m human, I could be wrong in how I’ve interpreted from my subjective impression to what is really going on."


It’s nothing to be afraid of. Really. It just takes opening your mind, a bit more bravery to truly put your "golden ear" to the test without peeking.

Incoming! Cargo cultists! Head for the hills! 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️

the ironically named prof (who hasn't read enough of my posts, apparently) writes:

Have you ever gone a step further, and "actually listened and compared" without peeking?

Yes. Matter of fact, I have. Several times. Beyond your silly double-blind too.
One time a friend came over, and with the same mulish know it all stubborn resistance to learning something new thought he would play a little trick on me. So he did a little something. While I was out of the room. 

Well this was a party, another friend had a request, and wanting to do a quick level check sat down just to check the volume. Immediately, and I mean immediately, it was apparent something was wrong. Within about ten seconds, and just by listening, I figured out what it was, fixed it, and well under a minute had everything back to right. Only then did I notice my friend with this stunned stupid wtf look on his face, probably just the way prof would look if he had any self-awareness. Or awareness, period. 

Earlier this year when trying my first Blue Quantum Fuse it took about a minute to be sure it was in there the wrong way. Not making this up, you can go back read my post. Here's one prof: read em all. Learn something! The Blue sounded better right away, but not right. I knew it couldn't be right. First time ever hearing one. Flipped it around, sure enough.

Like I said many times, wasn't always so good a listener. Its a skill. That's the good news prof, you can learn. If you want. Takes practice. Get on it. Anyway, time was thought the idea of warm-up was bunk. But, don't cost nuthin. So left everything on all the time. This went on for months. Never did notice any difference. See? Stupid idea. Oh well. This was a really old Kenwood, so old the power switch had died years ago, kept it on with a little wood peg shimmed to fit just right. Easier just to leave it on.

One day something moves, thing goes off. Since I long ago forgot and decided it was BS went ahead and left it off. Next day turned it on to listen. WTF??!?!? Thought at first the old Kenwood was finally ready to bite the dust. Damn. Well it was a good 20 years. Wait. What? I thought it sounded bad. Now.... eventually it dawns on me I had gotten used to the warmed-up sound. 

Lotta stories like this. Friend does something behind your back. Something gets hooked up wrong, looks right, only sounds wrong. Happened over and over again.

Its easy to understand why some people are not good listeners, why they cannot hear these things. What seems trivially easy for me now was impossible 40 years ago. Also easy to understand why some guy at work would think its nuts. Not really his thing. What I can't understand is why anyone would hang around on a site dedicated to the proposition that there's things that sound better, and that these things are worth big money because of the way they sound, and then instead of doing that all they do is attack the very idea of being able to hear in the first place!

That. Is. Nuts!

Metals are good heat conductor because mostly of free electrons carrying kinetic energy (heat). Car engine breaking in is possible because of friction and heat. And of course electric current in cables is carried by electron which generating friction and thereby generating heat.