[Walt]

On 8/6/2013 7:24 PM, Audio_Empire wrote:

The idea that digital equipment has to "settle-in" (does your computer need to
"settle-in" before your word processor works properly, or before your web
browser will give you the URL for which you asked?)

Actually, yes. When I boot up my computer *nothing* works for a moment
or two until the boot sequence is finished and the word processor or web
browser program loads.

Of course this is very different from the idea of a "break-in" period.
Most digital devices behave identically once they get started and do not
change over time. There are exceptions of course - code with memory or
resource leaks may deteriorate over time until they are rebooted, and
there are self-tuning algorithms that can improve performance over time
(e.g. Oracle's RDBMS) But this has nothing to do with the device at
hand, so you are right that it's bullpucky.


coupled with the idea that
cables have a "break-in period" is pure nonsense that can all be traced back
to a quaint "notion" by the non-technical "audiophile community" that music,
whether an analog electrical signal or a digital bit stream is somehow "special"
and doesn't adhere to the normal laws of physics pertaining to electricity. For
anyone here who still believes that, rest assured it's bullpuckey. Audio is a
low frequency AC signal and not a very complex one at that. If a cable can pass
a DC current without loss, then it can pass an audio signal in exactly the same
manner. And a digital audio signal, even at 24/384 is no more complicated a
digital code than is the code for a copy of Photoshop, the Windows OS and is
probably a lot less complex.

Basically, audio is a very simple waveform compared to many waveforms being
transmitted electronically. There is nothing special about it. The fact that
magazines like Stereophile (and others) continue to discuss the sound of
various cablesand other audio mythologies simply means that their
methodologies, and/or ideologies are very flawed.



--
//Walt