Break In Question?

Anyway, Ozzy, even though we disagree on break in, I have an idea for you. i don’t recall if it was proposed earlier in the thread, and if so, my apologies for redundancy. 

Why not do your break in of the DAC/preamp with the amp turned off. If it’s satisfactory, you’re done. If not, then run it again with the amplifier on. 

It could be an interesting experience for you to see if you judge it to have changed between the two break in periods. 

If you judged it to have changed further after a second break in period, I believe it would raise questions such as: 

What if a product seems to show improvement beyond the manufacturer recommended break in time? Are any recommended break in times reliable, or are some short of the perceived optimum? At what point would a break in period become prohibitively long? 

If I had identical DAC/preamps, I would keep one new, unused. Then I would do the amp off break in period with the other. I would compare new to amp off break in.

Then, I would run the used DAC/preamp in an amp on break in, double time for break in. Finally, I would compare the new, unused DAC/preamp to the doubly broken in DAC/preamp to see if there was an audible change. By audible, I mean the very slightest change detectable. 

I have one or two more imo helpful suggestions that I can share if you wish to contact me privately. 

So, with my new Lumin X2 (streamer/dac, no preamp in the chain) I have had it playing at night with the amps off, and during the day with the amps on. But always with the Lumin streaming music.

Seems to be the best of both worlds.

ozzy

Yes. That's true. 

Any new component you add to your system needs to "break in" or "burn in" just like a car achieves its intended engineering spec a few days after it drives off the lot brand new.

Machines like audio equipment need all internal parts to fully stabilize. This happens over many hours. Capacitors, resistors, etc. 

After years of being fed up spending hours noticing improvements, I found this on YouTube. 

The Angel's Burn in for Audio Components

Turn down the volume on you preamp fully and gradually increase until it's at a comfortable level. Then play it from the start.

One play is all I needed. The difference was real. And after it, I didn't need to keep burning it in.  

@douglas_schroeder There is a night and day difference between sound quality of a cool amp vs a warmed up amp (90 mins+). This is especially true in Tube amplifiers and class A amplifiers.

Anyone who disagree with this, I can’t take them seriously because I know for a fact their ears are unreliable. To even suggest the warmed up sound is identical to a cool one is WILD. 

Erin the Youtuber, and the guy from ASR that do a lot of reviews, he has publicly admitted many times all amplifiers sound the same to him. Is he right? Absolutely not. Borderline crazy actually. BUT, what I really respect is that he says they all sound identical to him, not that all of them are identical.

Anyone that says warmed up time is BS, I know best to not take anything else they say seriously. If a reviewer can't see farther than 20 ft, why should I listen to what he says about what's 25ft away.