As @jl35 mentioned above, the DAC has no way of knowing what is connected to its outputs. It will try to spit out a signal even if nothing is powered up or even connected to its outputs. So you can definitely warm it up or break it in that way.
DAC break-in question
I'm not wanting to debate if break-in is real or not.
Can I just stream to a DAC and keep the amplifier off (the Dac is running and showing the sample rates, etc)? Or does a signal need to be getting to the actual amplifier?
My amp is Class A and I do not want to leave it running. However, I don't want to dig into my house ceiling speaker system (a real pain).
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance