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DAC Burn-In Question

I am burning in a new PS Audio Direct Stream DAC (glowingly reviewed in this month's TAS -- and rightly so) and as the review points out and as I am learning, it requires significant burn in.

Question: I am feeding the DS DAC from a Bryston BDP-1 digital transport, and DAC feeds into preamp. If I am listening to a tuner through the preamp while playing the DAC as it is connected to preamp, am I burning in the DAC? Or does the pre actually have to be set to the DAC input and then be pushing the signal out to the amp?

I do not have the technical knowledge to know the answer, but want to make sure I am not wasting my time. And BTW, even partially burned in, this DAC is something special. More on this when it is ripened.

Thx, Neal
nglazer
nglazer OP
846 posts
 
Thank you very much. What a relief!
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
nglazer, would love to hear your feedback on the Direct Stream. I love the idea of using FPGA instead of DAC chips.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I have a DAC2 that I had upgraded to SE by W4S and it was a major improvment in resolution but more importantly it sounded even more like an analog source (vinyl/tape) with much more warmth and punch. I run a PS Audio PWT into it through the I2S interconnect and my audio buds tell me that, finally, a digital source they enjoy listening too.
Jitter is almost non-existent.
nglazer OP
846 posts
 
Tbooe,

It is about half-burned in and it sounds better than any DAC I have heard anywhere. Bass needs to come around and highs still a bit thin.When I feel it is nearly done I will say more.

FYI, TAS and Stereophile this month both have reviews.

Cheers,

Neal
mrderrick
292 posts
 
Neal,

I am running a BDP-1 into a Direct Stream.

I am without words to describe the sound.

My opinion is that burn in will be 90% at around 500 hours.

That last 10% will develop very slowly.

Do not hesitate to run your amps directly with it.

Be prepared to make adjustments to your system to hear all that it has to offer.
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