Cable auditions - Hard Work?

I'm probably worse than you. I need to not have made any changes to the system in a couple of months. Mostly I can hear some changes within minutes of trying;--- The changes that take back and forth multiple times, push my sanity.--which are already pushed---.
About ten / twelve years ago my dealer wanted me to try this Res. Audio dac. I had a Theta Pro Basic2 at the time.At that time I was unaware of break-in.Mine sounded as good as his. Then he had me try this Encore dac. (The Pyramid looking one)---SAME thing;back and forth 20xs.I ended up buying a Theta gen5--- That, I knew right away.---I know dac's ain't cables but burn in and such are similar.The way I figure it; if it moves me right away;it's a keeper. Bringing a third item into the mix ?-- that's beyond me. 'Guess I have a short memory attention span?

Mine too are hard work, and I too question whether I'm hearing a difference. Don't know if you've lost it or never had it. :-) I know I've never been a GEA; I have to work to hear differences in cable, electronics, etc.

After conditioning it for days with my VCR driving an input on my preamp, I insert the new cable in the tape-monitor loop of my preamp. (This TM loop contains no electronics.) I determine if the insertion of the cable is audible. If it is, I reject it immediately. If it's not, it has passed the first test and I then replace my system cable with the new stuff, and also reinsert the 'old' cable to verify differences. It's still hard work.
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Ideally, I like to listen to new cables for about a month before I form an opinion. I also like to have the cable burned in by someone like The Cable Burner Co..