[Soundbitten]

Just bought a Sony SCD-2000ES and was wondering about how many hours does it take to break-in ? Also , would connecting an outboard dac delay that part of the break-in process ?

[rbrb]

I like to put new CD players on repeat for 36-48 hours.  That will be enough to settle the circuits.  Having it hooked up to a DAC will not change the process.

[Soundbitten]

Thanks . Will it continue to break in with the volume off ( cd on repeat ) during the night ?

[LightFire]

Some electronic circuits need a break-in of a fraction of a second. Most don't need any break-in at all. If it was necessary it would be stated in your user manual.

[Soundbitten]

The sound on vocals seemed fine out of the box but the bass and overall dynamics were weak  . After 36 hours of break-in everything is coming into bloom and is well balanced .

[LightFire]

I worked as an electronics technician for more than 10 years and I can assure you. There is no such a thing as "break in" or "burn in" (other than the previously mentioned fraction of a second) of electronic components, cables, connectors, etc. Electronic components only get worse as time goes by (and that includes tube amplifiers too). However our hearing capabilities depend on our brains as much as on our ears. I noticed that the sound of the music changes as I pay attention to different "areas" of the same song in different listening occasions. Blind and double blind tests show that people usually hear things that they believe they are hearing. Small acoustic changes in your listening room in between the 2 occasions could also contribute for the two different experiences you had.

Other factor that makes a burn in even less necessary in your case is the fact that we are dealing with a CD player, which processes the sound digitally. If you use a digital output from your cd player to your amplifier, it should sound exactly the same as the sound coming from a cheap CD player, as far as it comes from a digital output as well. Because of the characteristics of digital (logical) electronics you don't have a digitally connected CD player that is only "OK". It is good or bad (defective).

I noticed the model you have is also a SACD/DVD-A player. In this case you may be having the same problems that people out there are having adjusting the bass. Check out this link:


http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/DVD-AudioSACD2.php

[guest1632]

I worked as an electronics technician for more than 10 years and I can assure you. There is no such a thing as "break in" or "burn in" (other than the previously mentioned fraction of a second) of electronic components, cables, connectors, etc. Electronic components only get worse as time goes by (and that includes tube amplifiers too). However our hearing capabilities depend on our brains as much as on our ears. I noticed that the sound of the music changes as I pay attention to different "areas" of the sa ...

Oh, brother, and I suppose you don't think that cables make a difference either.

I've been in audio as a hobby for 30 years, a ham radio operator since I was in high school, and played around with radios earlier than that. I notived in a lot of cases that in some gear that circuits seem to get quieter (thermo noise) ever so slightly, and even the little 2 transistor radios that I had as a kid would seem to perform better after a few months of use. I'll grant you, that some of the parameters like room environment, weather/hot or cold, can have some affect on the sound. You guys take it for what's it worth. This is just one blind man's opinion.

Ray

[LightFire]

Oh, brother, and I suppose you don't think that cables make a difference either.

I've been in audio as a hobby for 30 years, a ham radio operator since I was in high school, and played around with radios earlier than that. I notived in a lot of cases that in some gear that circuits seem to get quieter (thermo noise) ever so slightly, and even the little 2 transistor radios that I had as a kid would seem to perform better after a few months of use. I'll grant you, that some of the parameters like room en ...

One thing is the truth. The other is what we perceive and/or believe as being the truth.

Analog radio circuits are susceptible to radio interference, like electric motors, sun rays, other radio station with stronger signals, weather conditions, etc. Because they have to be "open" trough the antenna to capture the specific radio signal which selected in the dial. That does not apply to a properly designed and built electronic device that don't have to capture signals trough the air, like amplifiers and specially digital processors such as CD players, that can shake off any interference as non compliant data until it can't correct anymore. In this case you should have an error message or an easily detectable malfunction, nothing subtle. This is inherent of digital or logical electronics.

Again. If burn in was necessary it would be stated in the users manual. If you ask any decent audio electronics manufacturing company (the ones that have engineers working for them, not the ones that are run by an audio hobbyist in his garage), they will tell you that burn in of electronic components is a non sense.

As for cables well shielded interconnects are important. But you should not pay more than US$ 20.00 for a pair of 2 ft long RCA cables. For speaker cables the termination is more important than the cable (that, obviously,  should not be broken ore shorted), and again you should not pay an exorbitant price for it.

[guest1632]

One thing is the truth. The other is what we perceive and/or believe as being the truth.

Analog radio circuits are susceptible to radio interference, like electric motors, sun rays, other radio station with stronger signals, weather conditions, etc. Because they have to be "open" trough the antenna to capture the specific radio signal which selected in the dial. That does not apply to a properly designed and built electronic device that don't have to capture signals trough the air, like amplifiers and sp ...

Well, to tell you the truth it would be a subtle difference that I'd hear. Now, on amps, and CDPlayers, I'd notice on the players, that after about an hour of use, everything would open up a little more and so on. Unfortunately, this was 1 perception that was duplicable.

I know Frank, with the good AVA gear,  says there is no warmup on his amps, but somewhere in another thread he had stated that his amp that he was using for HT, seemed to sound better over time. He did not know why this was. Cables can get ridiculously priced. So to some extent I'll agree with you there.

Ray

[rbrb]

Open up a new Cambridge Audio piece of gear and you will see a sticker that clearly states that the devise should be given at least 36 hours of burn in before any critical judgement be made.  Cambridge Audio is made up of electronic engineers from Tag McLaren .  

That is just one example of a manufacturer that believes in burn in.

[guest1632]

Open up a new Cambridge Audio piece of gear and you will see a sticker that clearly states that the devise should be given at least 36 hours of burn in before any critical judgement be made.  Cambridge Audio is made up of electronic engineers from Tag McLaren .  

That is just one example of a manufacturer that believes in burn in.

I rest my case.

Ray

[Soundbitten]

I noticed the model you have is also a SACD/DVD-A player. In this case you may be having the same problems that people out there are having adjusting the bass

You are mistaken ... it's a SACD/CD player ... no DVD . The bass is fine now .

[LightFire]

Open up a new Cambridge Audio piece of gear and you will see a sticker that clearly states that the devise should be given at least 36 hours of burn in before any critical judgement be made.  Cambridge Audio is made up of electronic engineers from Tag McLaren .  

That is just one example of a manufacturer that believes in burn in.

It is very convenient for the manufacturer to have you performing a 36 hours burn-in. Specially if you believe in burn in and will be listening to parts of this burn in process to check if the sound is improving or not so you get used to the new sound of your new amp and start to like it.

It is good to know that Cambridge Audio induces their buyers to believe in burn in. So I will never buy their equipment in the future.