Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Pro 'Burn in' time.
#1
To be honest I am not a great believer in 'burn in' time.  Plus, I've put it in quotes here because I believe burn in as a term actually refers to some kind of destructive testing technique used in the electronics industry, but I am using the term here as common audiophile parlance for the phenomena of the sound of new equipment varying over time.

It's a controversial subject, with some saying that electronics are solid state components that will work perfectly to spec from day1, some say that some components do need to 'bed in', such as capacitors and transformers, and then some folk will claim that hifi kit needs weeks of continuous running to work at its best. 

From my experience my first Devialet, a 240, sounded good from day 1.  When I added a companion, this did not sound good from cold, in fact I though it was rather harsh, but this negative impression appeared to improve by the hour and after the first days running I more or less forgot about it.

OK, I've had the 1000 Pro for about a week now.  It was first plugged in last Saturday, and because I was messing about so much reconfiguring my system, it only had a couple of hours running on Sunday.  I've used it a couple of time in the week, then on Friday it was the first time I actually had some proper time to sit down and listen to the thing.  With some material it sounded sensational.  With some stuff it didn't though!  I was actually listening to some Led Leppelin for a while on Friday.  Take one track as an example, 'Since I've Been Loving You'.  This always sounded pretty decent on the D800, and better still after running the Mutec.  With the Pro though I was not so sure, there was something maybe a little harsh that I did not like.  Listening to this same track again I think I can be quite specific, there is something a little harsh in the treble, otherwise it sounds fine. Curiously I have both the re-mastered and 'cooking' version of this track, and it is the re-mastered version that offends most!  To put all this into perspective, most of what I have been listening too has sounded sensational.

Thinking about this, I have been very busy over the last week, the Pro's have been on standby 24/7, but only running in anger maybe about 10 hours as a grand total.  I also recall the tail of Guillaume's O'dA, where he had OAC's fully run in demo unit on loan for a couple of weeks, then his own O'dA, after which there was maybe two weeks of burn in woes followed by eventual joy.

I must admit I do wonder how much of this is in the mind, and maybe I'm just suffering from new kit paranoia that itself will diminish with time, who knows.  Also, I do see a parallel with my Led Zeppelin experience and @Arcam's classical music post.  Maybe @arcam is experiencing something similar, maybe 'burn in' maybe new amp insanity, maybe something inherent to the Pro perhaps even a touch of all three?

My short term plan now is to simply use the Pro as much as possible and see what happens. Wink
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply
#2
Hi Confused,

In your case you've not only introduced one single new component but have also disconnected, moved, bended and refitted all cables etc. while you reorganised your racks. Everything needs to settle in, or back in. I hope you've also paid some attention to 'cable dressing' so how you wired your cables, eg. no signal cables running close and in parallel to power cables, putting some distance between digital and analog interconnects/speaker cables etc. Cleaning all contacts and plugs would also have been good practice while you had the chance/opportunity.

Anyway I believe burn in, break in, settling in, adjusting mentally or whatever you want to call it and whatever mechanisms are at play (at an electrical, physical, psychological, quantum, ... level) is a real phenomenon. Plenty of arguments pro and con can of course be found on numerous websites/forums so I myself will not try to repeat those here. Smile

Enjoy the ride or just relax and keep it softly playing at night and hope it'll be over soon! Wink
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

The Netherlands
Reply
#3
I also do not understand how a burnin works and I have a background in electronics. I do know that the D220 sounded pretty much less then the D200 on loan.

One could think that you get used to the new sound and explains why people talk about it as a burnin period however... I've turned the D220 on upon receive. Listened to it and concluded it sounded not good and than did not turn it off for a week without listening. After that week it sounded sooo fine. Doing it this way I'd say eliminates the psychological factor. Just my thoughts...
Devialet 220 Expert Pro CI | Sonus Faber Olympica II | Crystal cable speaker cables, interlink and power cables | ROON Rock on Intel NUC | Netherlands
Reply
#4
@Confused, re-reading your other thread I see that you've also connected two additional devices (electrically) to your system, your bluray and cd player. Your bluray player is probably connected to your TV itself, which may have a cable connection (these have horrificly dirty grounds, at least here in NL).

It's actually three devices as the W4S Remedy of course is also a component. This could also cause some low level change or even introduce new ground or other loops that can cause noise. When things "don't clear up' it may be worth to try and test the system without those devices connected to the Mutec.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

The Netherlands
Reply
#5
Do I need to have the loudspeakers connected to do a burn in?

Situation is that I expect my Pro this week, my plan is to have them on the kitchen table connected with a CD player on repeat for a couple of days before have it all back into the rack and connected with all 'cable management' done properly. Next is that I normally stream using Air and I need to bring my laptop to the work, so can not stream 24 / 7.
Reply
#6
(13-Nov-2016, 18:51)Xander Wrote: Do I need to have the loudspeakers connected to do a burn in?

Situation is that I expect my Pro this week, my plan is to have them on the kitchen table connected with a CD player on repeat for a couple of days before have it all back into the rack and connected with all 'cable management' done properly. Next is that I normally stream using Air and I need to bring my laptop to the work, so can not stream 24 / 7.

You can use the brown noise generator instead of the cd-player. You can turn it on using the configurator.
Devialet Expert 200 (FW 7.1.3) / Magnepan 1.7i / Rel T5 / Foobar (WASAPI event 24bit) / AIR 3.0.1 public beta (best Air 3.x.x SQ by far)
Reply
#7
I've never managed to convince myself of the mechanisms but am sure at least a lot is up top, but probably other factors too - maybe London power isnt great either. I wish it was possible to just hire a proper scientist to do serious measurements at home and clarify whether it's all psychoacoustics or any real environmental causes.

What I will say is if I had to decide on the 250pro based on the first nights listening - it was a no-brainer. In fact I made quite a few notes this week because I find the process interesting, but I don't need to look back because I remember it so clearly - 100% I would have sold it - it sounded thin and edgy and not nice. Despite that it did have obviously more bass impact and bass and treble texture, and particularly treble detail to the point specific individual layers (or what I thought were individual layers) became expanded into further resolved components.

Since then I've experienced several 'waves' of how good or bad it sounds and I've no real explanation why.

So far the fluctuating waves of 'happiness' are generally higher up the happy scale with the pro compared to the 200. At times significantly higher.

The 200 also fluctuated throughout my ownership so who knows.

>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase.  <<<

Reply
#8
(13-Nov-2016, 19:24)Cylob Wrote:
(13-Nov-2016, 18:51)Xander Wrote: Do I need to have the loudspeakers connected to do a burn in?

Situation is that I expect my Pro this week, my plan is to have them on the kitchen table connected with a CD player on repeat for a couple of days before have it all back into the rack and connected with all 'cable management' done properly. Next is that I normally stream using Air and I need to bring my laptop to the work, so can not stream 24 / 7.

You can use the brown noise generator instead of the cd-player. You can turn it on using the configurator.

Not quite as much fun as listening to music though?!

>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase.  <<<

Reply
#9
(13-Nov-2016, 20:07)Hifi_swlon Wrote:
(13-Nov-2016, 19:24)Cylob Wrote:
(13-Nov-2016, 18:51)Xander Wrote: Do I need to have the loudspeakers connected to do a burn in?

Situation is that I expect my Pro this week, my plan is to have them on the kitchen table connected with a CD player on repeat for a couple of days before have it all back into the rack and connected with all 'cable management' done properly. Next is that I normally stream using Air and I need to bring my laptop to the work, so can not stream 24 / 7.

You can use the brown noise generator instead of the cd-player. You can turn it on using the configurator.

Not quite as much fun as listening to music though?!

Especially for all of us who have been traumatized by white noise in the past!
Devialet Expert 200 (FW 7.1.3) / Magnepan 1.7i / Rel T5 / Foobar (WASAPI event 24bit) / AIR 3.0.1 public beta (best Air 3.x.x SQ by far)
Reply
#10
(13-Nov-2016, 18:51)Xander Wrote: Do I need to have the loudspeakers connected to do a burn in?

Situation is that I expect my Pro this week, my plan is to have them on the kitchen table connected with a CD player on repeat for a couple of days before have it all back into the rack and connected with all 'cable management' done properly. Next is that I normally stream using Air and I need to bring my laptop to the work, so can not stream 24 / 7.

Without connecting loudspeakers (or some heavy duty resistor Wink) no current will flow in/through the ouput section. You'll only run in parts of the amp this way like the PSU, DAC, input sections.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

The Netherlands
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)