2. cables
  3. 180366-177742

Cable burn in

Hi all. I’m guessing that what I’m experiencing is pretty normal. But it can’t hurt to get some feedback. I purchased a DMS-650 from Cary Audio which is a DAC/Streamer. Since hifi folks have highly opinionated views on cables, nothing is included with the unit. So when I set it up, I had to scramble and I found the three conductor cable that came with a cheap Sony DVD player. Then I replaced that RCA interconnect with a much better quality Blue Jeans cable. Initially the increase in quality was apparent and obviously worth it. However the sound could be hasrsh on certain recordings. Various tracks had a harshness that wasn’t there before. I’ve been playing internet radio during the day for burn in. Now that harshness has vanished. Sitting down to listen last night, things were actually too warm. Some tracks sounded almost muddy. The sparkle was diminished in an obvious way. I am guessing that once burn is complete the sound will settle happily in the middle somewhere. Is that a reasonable assumption?  I’m also likely going to order power cables and an interconnect from Audio Envy or maybe some other companies to compare. The guy who sold me the Cary Audio gear is not a salesy guy, but he did pretty emphatically recommend some higher quality cables. 

chiadrum
buellrider97
388 posts
 

  I’ve experienced cable burn/ break in time varies depending on the particular cable. The Morrow IC’s I have took 400 hrs, which is significantly longer than most. And as much as I respect others opinions , I’ve had significant changes in SQ by swapping cables, most effective being IC’s. Saying it doesn’t make a difference is like saying “ tube rolling doesn’t change anything “. I have changed cables and power conditioning methods and had zero improvement, but I’ve also had improvement too. So for me , I try it and see what happens, and I encourage others to experiment. And I also understand the concept of diminishing returns. Eeyore won’t even try , an audiophile will take the risk, Now go raid the honey jar . Enjoy the journey, Mike B. 

pehare's avatar
pehare
835 posts
 

Hey chiadrum I have a Cary DMS-600 I bought used as a trade-in from Cary and am enjoying it immensely.  I asked Cary if it was a truly balanced circuit (conforms to AES-48 standard) via XLR's and they said yes (?).  I run the Cary direct into balanced Atma-Sphere class D monos via Mogami Neglex Studio Gold XLR's I bought from Sweetwater Music for about $120 pair.  At some point I may try something better just to compare but doubt they can be topped much in a truly balanced circuit from what I've researched.  Cheers and enjoy!

chiadrum OP
26 posts
 

@pehare 

what a coincidence. I was just watching a positive review on Mogami. Pro audio makes a lot of sense. I  imagine they have power cables as well. 
Where are you located?

I’m in Apex NC. 

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

Do streamer always play the same song? Or does the compression go up and down with internet bandwidth that is available?

Like varying compression versus time of day?

ghdprentice
6,967 posts
 

Qobuz (and I imagine most others) uses lossless compression and high quality streamers use buffering… so the file received will be the same. Obviously, from then on… it is all streamer dependent.

I think variable compression would imply active software on both sides, broadcast and receive. More importantly I think it would imply the compression was not lossless and to make a dent in bandwidth you would need to be lossy. So I doubt it.

 

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