Arcam irDAC break in time and sound changes?

Wow, glad I asked. When I first fired it up, it definitely sounded a bit lean and muffled. At about 8 hours in, started to open up a tad, maybe even a tad harsh. At 10-15 hours, it was strange, sort of a roller coaster of opening up and closing off, and me thinking there was something wrong with it. Powered it off and back on later in the day and it was open again, not as lean. Had no idea a new DAC would have this much change in the first 15 hours but I realize some of this may be due to another component in my system breaking in at the same time in parallel. So, It's not just 0s and 1s, eh? hahaha.

This feedback helps to give me an idea that I have a good ways to go before making any real judgements on sound. Thanks.

" ... At 10-15 hours, it was strange, sort of a roller
coaster of opening up and closing off, and me thinking there
was something wrong with it. Powered it off and back on
later in the day and it was open again, not as lean
..."

Question: Are you letting it (and all the components in your
system) fully warm up before you critically listen to it?

As an example. my REGA ISIS valve cdp and REGA OSIRIS
integrated amp both need a minimum of 2 to 3 hours to warm
up properly (particularly the tubes in the cdp) to sound
close to their best.

They sound best [ i.e. even better / "right" ] if
left on to warm up first for much longer periods before some
critical listening sessions.

Akg...ca,
I typically give it at least an hour before starting to listen. Often times I will check back at 1.5 and 2.0 hour and start listening with more intent then. This past time were I mentioned the "roller coaster" comment was at about 2.0 hours, so it was unexpected after being warm for a while. One day I did leave it running for about 8 solid hours and it sounded different for sure, having an even warmer sound. Not seeing a real rhyme or reason to it, I decided to get ideas here to see what others have experienced. Longer warmups definitely help.

Decooney, I gather from your posts you are turning the irDac off when not listening to it. If so you might want to try leaving it on for 24-48 hours and see if you like what you hear. I leave my rDac on 24/7. I also leave my amp on most of the time.

When I do shut my system down it takes quite awhile to sounds its best so I leave it on as much as possible.

Hello Samac,
Thanks. I just started leaving the irDAC on all the time just recently. Unfortunately I cannot leave my amps on all the time as they get pretty hot, but I'm definitely running one of my new tube amplifiers as much as I can to help speed up break in time along side the irDAC. I realize I have two variables going at once, breaking in both at once, but I can tell that things are getting better with time on both, and I have an older amp I use for reference to switch back and forth to see who much is related to the irDAC break in time vs. the new amp.

Just today after 40+ hours on the irDAC I'm starting to notice subtle changes along the way. It's opening up more, sounds smooth, and I'm really liking that it is not to harsh, and not too dark. It just sounds right. If it gets any better than it is now at 40hours in, this will be great. irDAC is on all the time now.

I hope to learn about the adjustable filters next in the irDAC to see what this is all about once it's broken in more.