Break in for new DAC

@mlapenta  Just use it and enjoy it.  Any break-in period required will happen organically.  Not sure why we waste time agonizing over the perceived benefits of equipment or cable break/burn-in. At some point your system will sound as good as it's going to be? Wasting precious tube life when not enjoying the music just seems like a waste of time and money.  IMHO.  Cheers. 

I think LTA does some break in at the factory so it probably sounds at least decent right outta the box, but I agree with @bigtwin to just listen and enjoy the incremental improvements as they come.  One thing you could try is if you hear a recording you know well that sounds a little thinner/more harsh than normal just don’t play that again for another 100 hours and then play it again and see if it’s better, and my guess is you’ll know right away if it’s still subpar or significantly improved.  If that’s helpful you could do the same at 200 and 300 hours to see what happens further.  Just an idea FWIW, and enjoy the great new DAC!

Thanks much

Amp doesn’t need to be on. The only few items that really benefit from break in are power supply caps that take about 200hrs and tubes that take about 100hrs. 
I would not be too obsessed about it unless it sounds terrible out of the box which is unlikely. Just listen and let it take its own course. 

Yes, that is the dilemma. I find that tubes tend to break in pretty quickly... say 10 to 20 hours. It is the solid state that takes time. So, I find that solid state tend to start off worse and really needs it to sound good. But that often tubed equipment sound really pretty good after 10 or 20 hours then improves (although often taking a lot more than 200 hours to achiieve it’s best sound). So, for a tubed DAC I would run it ten or twenty hours and then just enjoy it. I’m pretty confident you will really like the sound and then it will simply appreciate it more as time goes on. 

The stuff I have felt I just needed not to listen to it until it was broken in has been all solid state.