Burn in time for a new CD transport?

I have a cxc transport in my secondary system.  It has at least 200 hours on it and I didn't hear any difference from the first time I fired it up.  I got it new earlier this year.

should be zero - but just set it to repeat play and let it run a few days if you want


cables should make no difference, and a blind test will show that

I definitely heard a difference three hours in which is why the question was asked, have had it on repeat since last night and am getting ready to listen again, I am using the stock power cord maybe that is the burn in I hear. I really wasn't expecting a burn in time though so that did surprise me.

maybe your hearing perception is changing - that is known to occur...

I think it is global warming.

Stop it.

Most people don't really know what they're listening to anyway so best not to worry about it too much. Besides real audiophiles are constantly breaking in something, probably more than one thing at a time, to be honest, so it kind of comes with the territory. It's an endless cycle of worry and expectation and disappointment. Hence the term audio nervousa. As for reviewers, one wonders if they allow items under test to break in sufficiently prior to review. Maybe yes, maybe no. 😬

Agree with Stereo5.  I bought the CXC about 9 months ago, and although I initially let it play on repeat for about 8 hours before first listening to it, I have not noticed any change thereafter.  A Synergistic black fuse and some Herbies Big Baby Booties *did* make some changes though....for the better. :)

bcowen,

I just got a CXC. (not delivered yet).
Is the fuse easy to access?
What's the [amperage] rating you replaced it with?
Thanks.

I've owned 3 CD transports and they required little break-in, probably more the cables (digital cable and PC) settling in.

@keithtexas

For a fuse without external access, it's pretty easy to get to. There are 8 (IIRC) phillips head screws to remove to slide the cover off, and once that's removed there's another semi-rigid cover in the back right corner that's secured by a single screw.   Remove it, and the fuse is quite easy to get to in a standard clip-type fuse holder.  Mine uses a 5x20mm 2 amp slo-blo -- but I wouldn't order one until you get your unit and see what's inside.  If they made any changes since I bought mine, that value might be different.

I think in most (almost all) cases, the "state of mind" of the listener makes the biggest difference in the sound quality. It is a proven fact - data to be provided upon request, that mind altering drugs - legal or otherwise, can have the an impact equivalent to upgrading the entire system. YMMV.

@bcowen,

Thanks much.

I have a W4S Dac2DSD that benefited from a simple fuse change (to a Furutech if I recall-its been a couple years now).

"Back in the day," transport modders would at a minimum damp the case (and maybe the drawer mechanism)- i.e. dynamat/constrained layer damping etc, change the RCA jacks, and bypass the power supply with a large[r] value cap. Then ERS shielding sheets. Then came the superclocks, then better DAC chipsets, then.... :D

This may be largely superseded by newer tech and solutions, but here is a good read .. http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/TRANSPORT/CD_transport_DIY.html,.
..where Lukaz [Lampizator] goes into some good old school DIY transport upgrades, including the usual suspects and adding a few finer points. He argues that ensuring a clean sine wave at output is the main thing (assuming you have a scope), - something even the "best" names rarely did/do.

1. Vibrations (mass loading, platforms, deadening, felt mats, sand bags on the PCB, etc.)
2. Mechanism supply capacitors - upgrade with low ESR and larger sizes
3. Tuning the output transformer - to provide the best square on oscilloscope - just turn the centre core by a screwdriver or better just remove the whole transformer.
4. changing the series capacitor from transmitter side to ceramics
5. Changing the sockets from RCA to BNC or much better to XLR on both the transport and the DAC while changing the resistor from 75 Ohms to 110. The secondary of the output transformer should be completely floating and connected to XLR only and paralleled with the 110 Ohms.
6. upgrading the cable to a low loss, low capacitance and low inductance. 75 Ohms true wave impedance or better a AES EBU cable XLR with 110 Ohms.
7. Installing a super clock (after market) in the transport and in the DAC
8. Filtering the AC supply by the RFI filter in both the DAC and the transport.
9. Adding the power supply capacitors like os-con sanyo to the digital chips - the demodulator in transport, the digital filter SAA7220, the receiver in the DAC, and the DAC chip itself.

Upshot/Summary: "there is no one proper way of doing SP/DIF (coax) but the most popular way is the worst - with single ended coax transmission and wrong RCA connectors. The output circuitry is different in every machine and there are no rules what is best . You can try various approaches per diagrams - with a cap, without, with transformer and without, with ground or without. Main thing is to observe the END RESULT on the DAC side - how good is the scope trace?"

Different hearing, different changes, I believe it took 50 hrs , then it settles down,it opens up completely. 

Bought mine 2 month ago, Didn't hear much difference from the first time I fired it up .It's  better to use good power cord and coax/oprical cables and not the stock cheap ones to perform at its best.

Final note on burn in on this transport, it did take 10 to 12 hours to burn in, after burn in added a signal cable digital power cord to it and the Theata dac put them both on a set of Herbies tall Tenderfeet dampened the inside of the cabinet connected them with a Acoustic Zen MC2 digital cable and used a set of Aural Thrills silver Litz interconnects from dac to headphone amp and am very satisfied, this is a really good transport for a very reasonable price, great job Cambridge.

I agree you will not find other good transport at this price level, I had in the past many CD players and much more expensive than the CXC but none of them were good as this transport. Really great value for money and can easily match to any audiophile hi fi system.