Should I leave my DAC on 24/7

Albert

Albert

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I have just recently bought a Calyx Femto DAC that has a nice orange display that I can't dim or shut off by itself. Should I shut the DAC off at night to save the display from burning out sooner or should I leave it on to reduce the thermal effects of on/off cycling?

The remote doesn't even have a power button and the DAC itself has the on/off switch on the side. It would seem that it is meant to be left on but I thought I would ask what others do with their DACs. I leave my Jeff Rowland Consummate preamp on 24/7 but I can turn the display off on it. Everything goes through a Consonance power conditioner so I don't worry about brown outs or spikes.
 
I leave my sources, like dacs, on all the time. They sound better that way.

It would be nice for the display to be dimmed but I am sure it will be fine.
 
Okay, I guess I'll leave mine on as well. It makes sense that they would be more sensitive to warm up considering the small currents involved.
 
So by what you guys are saying I should leave my Teac on all the time? How about the McIntosh? Now that I am using it strictly as a Pre-Amp... I noticed the Job Pre-Amp does not even have a power switch....
 
Randy Myers said:
So by what you guys are saying I should leave my Teac on all the time? How about the McIntosh? Now that I am using it strictly as a Pre-Amp... I noticed the Job Pre-Amp does not even have a power switch....
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Hi Randy,

Definitely yes on the Teac dac. You could go either way with the McIntosh. Try it on for a few days and see if you hear a difference. I suspect it will warm up pretty quickly. Solid state gear that does not consume too much electricity, I leave on all the time and just mute it when done. If you listen everyday, leave the system on, even the Job, and mute the output and or dim the meter lights on the MXA-70 if possible.

If I will be away from the house for any significant amount of time, all gets turned off.
 
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Well the system is up in the loft so the meters are not an issue other than if they might burn out. I am pretty sure that on both the Teac and the Mc the displays can be turned off, but that would be a pain in the butt because both are within the menus....

Not sure I like the idea of leaving the Job on :)...........

Was looking at the Job pre-amp; sounds great, but would not work for me since no headphone jacks.... also would prefer XLR input for the Teac... hey I just bought Wireworld Oasis XLR cables :).... The Mc sounds good... wish I could listen to the new Mc in my system to see if their new DAC is better than the Teac :)...
 
I still like my Teac, The Calyx Femto is better but the Teac still sounds clear and dynamic in my secondary system. That is why I couldn't give it up, even though I could have gotten a 100% credit towards the Calyx.

I can shut the display off on my Teac and also on my Oppo BDP-95 that I use a transport but the Calyx does not have a dimmer for the display. My only concern is burning the display out prematurely by leaving it on all the time. Otherewise I would have no problem leaving it on all the time as well. I should send a message to Calyx and see what they have to say.
 
Well I sent them a message, we'll see what the manufacturer has to say. They had a mistake in their contact email address, the correct one includes the "x" in the name: [email protected]
 
Albert said:
I have just recently bought a Calyx Femto DAC that has a nice orange display that I can't dim or shut off by itself. Should I shut the DAC off at night to save the display from burning out sooner or should I leave it on to reduce the thermal effects of on/off cycling?
Click to expand...

If you want to hear what you paid for, IMO you have to leave it on.
 
I leave both of my Esoteric K-03's powered on 24/7. I use the DAC's more than the transports in both sound systems since I have music servers feeding the K-03's as primary source components. I have experimented several times with both systems to see if I could hear a difference in the sound with the DAC's coming up to temperature from cold, as well as remaining energized and stabilized. There is no doubt in my mind the DAC's offer a smoother and more analog sound once they have remained energized at least six hours. That's not saying the DAC's sound less than good when first turned on but there is a harmonic richness that develops after multiple hours that is not present when first powering up.

The sound system preamplifiers and power amplifiers have a sonic swing as well from being cold to being warm but I have found they stabilize much quicker. The living room system (C2300 and MC601's) hits its stride in about 15 minutes with no further change in sound. The studio system (C1000C/P and MC2301's) hits its stride between 45 minutes and an hour. The tube power amplifiers take a bit more time to temperature stabilize but when the do finally settle into their groove it is hypnotic.
 
I think the general consensus here is to leave the DAC on 24/7. I think that is what I will do to get the most out of the DAC. If the display needs repairing after 5 years of constant use then so be it (although I have had other displays on for over 10 years without any noticeable difference). It is on a Consonance power filter so brown outs and spikes shouldn't reduce the lifespan.
 
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