Burn in - a myth?

Perhaps the disc should be actually listened to, in order the demagnetise the ears.

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Tapes work through magnetism, and unwanted magnetisation of parts the tape touches has a detrimental effect by saturating the magnetic field, so demagnetisation has a sound scientific basis. And that cassette is not a tape of a special recording claiming to do the job, rather I guess it electromagnetically generates demagnetising magnetic fields in the required places. A very effective alternative is a mains powered tape head demagnetiser - a handheld ‘probe’ type device - touched against the heads and other metallic parts the tape passes over.

Pardon? :laughing:

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In jest…
…but…
…on the other hand, there is iron in haemoglobin.
Maybe we should have MRIs before listening sessions, to get pur protons aligned.

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I had that Densen CD, back in the day. I was very sceptical, but always prepared to be surprised (that’s what a Physics degree teaches you).

I was intrigued by the concept and by the sounds on the disc, which did make sense - it was the days when you had a button on CRT computer monitors to demagnetise them, and this did indeed seem like the audio equivalent.

But could I hear any before/after difference? I could not, despite part of me slightly wanting to. One of my test discs photographed above also has similar tones on it - though the notes here freely admit ‘the jury is still out’ on the science - and I’ve never heard them make a difference either.

I’m happy to try these things (within financial reason) and I’m old enough to be happy admitting I can’t hear a difference when some people say I should, or that I can hear a difference when others say I shouldn’t. It’s people who refuse to try anything they might not believe in (within reason!) that I don’t understand.

Mark

Mark

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This, this, well, I’m speechless. I’ve read some spurious claims before but I can’t think of one more bizarre than this. Should one mute one’s loudspeakers before playing it? Or does it not mess with those magnetised components!

@Stephen_Tate a demagnetising cassette is completely different. It uses actual magnetic fields and works in proximity to a magnetic head. It’s not using an audio signal.

It’s not the audio equivalent. The button on the CRT, like the demagnetising cassette, engages an actual magnetic field. A bit like waving a big magnet near the CRT monitor.

I’ve found this little snippet from What HiFi? Magazine - “ Running in is hi-fi 101. It’s not just something we do to pass the time when reviewing products – we do it because it genuinely makes a difference. All hi-fi equipment, whether it be headphones, Bluetooth speakers, CD players, amplifiers, turntables or other components needs to be run in. Sound changes over time as the components bed in and the drivers and crossover become accustomed to their operating parameters. Usually, around 48 hours of continuous play will do the trick but it can take days (or longer) depending on the product. It’s not an exact science. We’ve often changed our opinion on a product after letting it run in thoroughly over the weekend before commencing our testing proper. Trust us, don’t judge a box-cold product”.

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Can someone point me to the “totally batsh!t crazy audiophile concepts” thread please. There must be one on these forums somewhere, surely? I like a good laugh.

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Not one person in this thread has disagreed with this general view of a settling in period.

Where it gets more controversial is when cables come into play (notably absent from that list), or when the timeframes get out to very long periods such a hundreds of hours. 500 hours for a streamer does really seem quite excessive, for example.

To elaborate and hopefully clarify what I meant by ‘audio equivalent’: just like the CRT button engaged a sudden strong magnetic field which then was set to decay (I presume; it certainly seemed) exponentially, the tones on the disc all started suddenly and loudly and then decayed (again, I presume) exponentially. That was all I meant by ‘audio equivalent’ - that the volume envelope of the audio signal seemed near-identical to the magnetic field envelope of the demagnetising button. I could therefore see a parallel between the two, which had some logic to it. I wasn’t saying or trying to imply anything beyond that.

Mark

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Why not use the search function?

…because I was being flippant?

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I have no problem with us disagreeing on this issue Simon and I understand that you have a lot of experience and that you have been a loyal Naim customer for many years. You describe that over the years you have visited the factory several times, which I understand must have been both interesting and rewarding. I’m happy for you. But against that background, it becomes even more strange that you oppose such an obvious thing as that burn-in at the end customer’s home is required to achieve the best possible performance. Facts that are indisputable and that have been repeatedly confirmed by Naim’s own technical director. Other than that, I just want to apologize if I used a slightly snarky tone earlier.

/Bjorn

I was just idly googling to see if the Densen DeMagic was still available and I found an entry for it on a used audiobooks website. I was amused to see that it was described as unabridged (well, that’s good), classified as self-help (OK, I suppose so) and - for all the sceptics out there - non-fiction:

Mark

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Just been on the Cambridge Audio website and there’s some good basic information on how best to run-in new speakers. Also there are some good track recommendations on which to get going with:

Steely Dan – Jack Of Speed
Daft Punk – Get Lucky
Crooked Still – Little Sadie
Radiohead/Noordpool Orchestra – Weird Fishes
English Chamber Orchestra - Dido & Aeneas, Act 3: But Death, Alas!
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Tin Pan Alley
The Rolling Stones - Melody
Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side
Winterplay – Billie Jean
Beck – Morning
The Weeknd – The Hills
Bela Fleck – Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
Cee Lo Green – Bright Lights Bigger City
Beastie Boys – Brass Monkey

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Tin Pan Alley :wink::wink:

Now that track clearly demonstrates what a good system should sounds like, awesome track loads of detail :wink::wink:

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This is the recommendation from Cyrus for all their components especially the new XR range

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This came with one of my Russ Andrews cables - it did exactly what it said on the tin :wink:

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Bjorn - I appreciate that - I too apologise if I came across as somewhat arrogant… it was not intended.
Speak later…

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