Hey everyone! Recently purchased the Fiio K11 and wanted to ask about DAC burn in time. Is this a real thing? And if so, how should one do it, and for how long in order to experience the full potential of the DAC/AMP? This is my first one :)
First off. Completely ignore all of the boneheads saying that “break in time” is only you getting used to the way something sounds.
This is completely and totally wrong.
All of the components that audio equipment is manufactured from have their “break in time” listed in the engineering specs for that component. Prior to the formation time of things like resistors and capacitors the value can drift wildly. And since the values of these components are what determines what the equipment sounds like, all audio equipment sounds different after use than when new. This is also why all components have a % deviation and formation time listed in the engineering specs. Because it effects more than sound. It can cause circuit failure.
Better or worse depends on what the values are supposed to be and how close they end up after formation. But the value of every component changes over the first 50 hours of use.
And if this were not the case, component manufacturers would not do the testing required to post the formation specs for their product. It is lengthy and expensive testing. That they only do because the electrical engineers who design things with those parts demand it. So they can predict the performance of whatever circuit they are designing.
So ignore the “nothing matters, nobody can hear the difference” crowd. They have no idea what they are talking about. The values of components absolutely change over the first 50-100 hours and that absolutely changes the way audio equipment, particularly amplifier stages, sound.
The only way to “burn in” a piece of equipment is to run it. It must have both signal in and load out to move current. Current is what forms the components.
The fastest way being to run sine and/or square waves through it.
But I’d suggest just plugging it in and listening to it as part of your system.
who told you this?
Put a song on repeat for 4000 hours…only then should you listen to it for critical listening
You forgot the /s
Nope
Don’t think about stuff that isn’t real and just enjoy the full potential of you DAC/AMP from the first moment you switch it on. You can burn in speakers, if you add them to the set.
„Breaking in“ equipment is actually not about the equipment, it’s about you personally getting used to the sound.
Exactly!!!
Burn in is not a thing in anything solid state.
I can somewhat believe that there is a burn in period for stuff that moves and needs to be loosened up a bit. I can even buy that certain amps that need to be operated at certain temp (tubes and class A) may need a few warm-up cycles to settle in. But nothing solid state should have any burn in period.
If the manufacturer is not shipping their product in the best state, I don’t want it.
Varies. Typically a warm-up takes 15min and a burn in takes 100 hours.
No it doesn’t. Don’t talk nonsense.
World is burning already, don’t do it to your gear. Yeah probably some caps might load some electricity in them, tubes might do what tubes do with heat etc. But I don’t think that anything else would need too many minutes to be ready to listen to. Brain EQ of course activates after some time. But something like burning in cables is… How… First they market their cables to have the least things to keep the audio signal coming from your source to your equipment but then they offer service to plow this road from what? Don’t know but for few hundred bucks it’s done.
It’s just electronics. It’s on or it’s off. That’s it.
I would urge to contact the manufacturer.
Burn in is a thing but is used to test for failure, not to mature components for optimal sound. Ignore the rampant audiophoolery in reviews.
Just leave it on.
Certainly, some DAC designs could need a brief warm up after being fully powered off for a period. The best argument for this is due to the operating temperature of the clock circuit.
https://www.quartzpro.com/tcxofacts.html
There are also a lot of arguments online about the re-forming time of capacitors which have sat idle. Hard drive manufacturers acknowledge this in technical papers. It’s reasonable to consider this reality in any circuit. The question is, how long will the process take? Minutes, hours, or days? I suspect it depends on the type of capacitor (dielectric type) and the voltage level relative to the rating of the cap.
Subjectively, I’ve heard solid state components change their sound noticeably while listening. For example, I borrowed a T+A integrated which had been sitting unplugged for > 6 months. The sound changed noticeably over the first 20-30 minutes.
100 hours? This OEM makes the argument for it. Clearly, they’re not trying to exhaust a return policy window.