Roon. That’s a screenshot from my phone.
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Why does Sunlight needs time to break in or to settle? I don’t know but it just sounds better and better as time goes.
All day I am listening Bridge II. How do I describe the improvement? Well, It is like the whole frequency range is fuller or thicker. Yes, it is like 10 to 15% more in details in a good way. It is not brighter, and the bass is clearer and tighter. It seems I heard more of everything but the sound is more natural than before too. They usually do not go together.
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A few things:
While the system is upgrading there’s a small DC voltage across the transformer. It doesn’t hurt anything but it takes a little time for the transformer to degause. Maybe 5 min to 30 min?
Almost all equipment takes time to stabilize thermally, often days. If the DS was off for any length of time it may take a little time to get to even tempurature.
The new FPGA software uses parts of the FPGA that weren’t used in the last release of software. That’s probably a smaller effect, but it probably takes a day to a week?
Most of our systems sound noticeably different at different times of the day. Similarly our hearing changes over the day. We all are probably listening at times that we haven’t been listening for a while. This difference can easily be bigger than the technical reasons above. 
And don’t forget that some drink while listening
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I ran the “The Burn-In Track” for ~17 hours. I think it made a big difference.
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My comments about bright and edgy were the very first things that popped into my head after nearly two minutes of listening. I have since left music playing through the DSD Jr. to an amplifier that is powered down. I give it a serious listen tomorrow.
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Oh Yeah! two glasses of red wine really helped! The band is in my listening room now.
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Don’t underestimate psychological effects. When first listening after a change, the difference can be more apparent. It can be perceived as harsh because it stands out. As your mind becomes used to the new normal, you may be better able to appreciate more subtle differences. That’s why switching back can often show what’s missing better than what was gained.
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I have had Sunlight installed on my DirectStream Junior for 2 days now and have listened to it for several hours. I think it’s a very impressive upgrade. I can usually tell when I hear things as I’ve never heard them before or things I have never heard before and Sunlight definitely does this in a very positive way!
I’m very fond of the little DSJ it just sounds and works so well…It would be hard to switch, I’ve held off for a couple years knowing the the DirectStream DAC would probably be revised.
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I just got through my second day listening session and the sound is now wonderful, best I’ve ever heard in my system. Perfect balance. No need to tweak anything! I’m scratching my head wondering how software can “burn in,” but it has. It is now non-fatiguing and the bass is where I like it, with the advantage that it is now a purer bass without as much distortion. I’m hearing all kinds of little micro-details that I didn’t hear before. Love it!
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Ted, yesterday’s software upgrade has “settled in,” “burned in” or whatever it’s called and I now find the frequency response perfect in my system. All the negative impressions I expressed based on my first listening session are now gone with my second listening session. All that is left are the positive impressions, which haven’t changed. My system has never sounded better. I’m still scratching my head trying to rationalize the improvement from day one to day two. There must be little elves inside the DS DAC taking their time to implement the new software instructions.
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AllenP, you were right. Giving the new software time to settle in worked wonders. I will not be reverting back to the previous version. Sunlight is clearly superior in my system.
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Two comments on sound, and then a question:
First, Sunlight’s clarity and detail can change my overall response to what I’m hearing. I just listened to both the Takacs and the Mosaiques Quartetsplay Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge. With Windom and my previous DACs, I’d always thought of this work as a tightrope walk between structure and chaos. But with Sunlight’s greater distinction among the four instruments, I became more aware of the fugal structure.
Second, I listen with headphones and can easily change headlamp tubes, so I can say something about alleged brightness. What I’ve noticed is a switching-point in the upper midrange that I can control by tube-rolling. I never hear an offensive brightness, but I do hear a more forward upper midrange with NOS Telefunken tubes than with Siemens. So maybe ‘brightness’ comes from other system variables than Sunlight. I hear it as neutral, and I can play with it in either direction.
And a question about Sunlight’s ‘gearwork’: I use a remote, so I rarely look at the DAC monitor. But yesterday I noticed a 44/16 recording playing, according to the monitor, at 44/24. I tried another and saw the same. Did this occur in Windom without my noticing, or is it a Sunlight innovation?
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As much as I’ve been enjoying Sunshine, I just had to do some ABing with Windom, so I switched back to Windom then back to Sunshine. This useless exercise just confirmed what I already knew, Sunshine is Superior in every way. It also confirmed that Sunshine isn’t brighter, just clearer in the top end, revealing more details which definitely draws more attention to itself, but in good way, and serves the music well. Don’t know if I’m imagining this or not, but Sunshine seemed to be quite a bit louder than Windom, with all volumes set the same. Had to take the pre amp volume down three or four notches from where it was set with Windom, to match it’s preceivef volume.
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Doing more listening after installing Sunshine the second time, and I swear it sounds even better than before. Perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me, or maybe things are just sounding even better now because it’s later at night.
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Unless you’ve got some kind of bug that’s not present on mine, when you pause the music you’ll see 44/16. The 24 almost certainly indicates that you have some digital changes being done by your transport or playback software. I’ve tested just now with Sunlight on my DS Sr and it gives me 44/16 when I disable all volume controls, EQ and sample rate conversion for playing some CD rips.
10 posts were merged into an existing topic: Sunlight: Installation
My cheap Yamaha streamer up sample everything to 44/24, PST via I2S hdmi. And cheap Sony DVD via coax all Ok.
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Listening to “Sunlight” for three days now, I would say, that it remembers me a tiny bit of “Pikes Peak”, but without its shortcomings…
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As a side note, and for you to enjoy the music (I can feel your pain here), should you have a raspberry pi lying around, you could easily install ropiee and go into the dsd via USB. It works pretty well in my experience.