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Burson Discrete Opamps???

post #1 of 23
7/23/08 at 7:20am
Thread Starter 
Has anyone upgraded their digital source (DAC / CDP) to use the Burson Discrete Audio Opamps???

Or... does you source use them, instead of the more conventional Burr Brown opamps?

They reportedly "totally transform" your source into the "World's Best."

Burson Discrete Opamps

http://www.partsconnexion.com/catalo...onductors.html

Are they as great as they say they are???
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post #2 of 23
7/23/08 at 7:35am
i was given a pair of these by a local headfier 'sydneyaudio', used that to replaced the opamp of my zhaolu d3 dac, and it does made a different, the sound open up and is easier to listen to.
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post #3 of 23
7/23/08 at 7:43am
Thread Starter 

Worth Their Price?

Quote:
Originally Posted by minivan View Post
i was given a pair of these by a local headfier 'sydneyaudio', used that to replaced the opamp of my zhaolu d3 dac, and it does made a different, the sound open up and is easier to listen to.
But... are they really worth their lofty price???

Do they make that much of an improvement?
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post #4 of 23
7/23/08 at 7:46am
Gradofan2, it will be cheaper and better when you build a discrete I/V converter for your DAC instead, especially when it involves tubes. For the latter Lukasz Fikus Lampizator
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post #5 of 23
7/23/08 at 7:58am
that i can't tell,since got mine for free . it does make an improvement over the lm4562 opamp i used to have on the zhaolu d3. it make thing sound more analog like. also i know u can apply a max of 25v to the burson opamp, some1 tried it and report back with good result. i might try that myself one day.
oh the burson guy has very good customer service, one of the opamp i got is not working and they replace for me free of charge
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post #6 of 23
7/23/08 at 2:07pm
I've heard very good things about them from a first-hand user, who has them in his Zero. He's demoed my OMZ, and says they are really close in terms of sound quality. They are pricey, but do the business...
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post #7 of 23
7/25/08 at 4:09pm
Have you run across this?

A good discrete stage will probably kick these rather hard, particularly as an I/V stage for a current-out DAC.
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post #8 of 23
7/25/08 at 4:27pm
They are the same thing, Pars, unless you're talking about the entire outbard module.
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post #9 of 23
7/25/08 at 4:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Golden Monkey View Post
They are the same thing, Pars, unless you're talking about the entire outbard module.
Not quite. The Burson is an opamp architecture heavily dependent upon negative feedback, whereas most discrete I/V stages that I have seen do not use any feedback.
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post #10 of 23
7/25/08 at 5:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pars View Post
Not quite. The Burson is an opamp architecture heavily dependent upon negative feedback, whereas most discrete I/V stages that I have seen do not use any feedback.

Oh! Gotcha...I thought you were talking about the modules...
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post #11 of 23
7/25/08 at 8:39pm
Hi, you mentioned below that you swapped out the Burson for the LM4562. Are you sure you didn't mean the OPA134 that comes stock, or the LT1028 that comes as an upgrade with the D3?

I'm not being combative, just want to make sure, so the comparison is fair.

The reason I ask is that the LM4562 is a dual, the LT1028 is a single.

Thanks!

Peace,

Lee

Quote:
Originally Posted by minivan View Post
that i can't tell,since got mine for free . it does make an improvement over the lm4562 opamp i used to have on the zhaolu d3. it make thing sound more analog like. also i know u can apply a max of 25v to the burson opamp, some1 tried it and report back with good result. i might try that myself one day.
oh the burson guy has very good customer service, one of the opamp i got is not working and they replace for me free of charge
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post #12 of 23
7/26/08 at 3:09am
I have lt1028 then upgrade to LME49701LE, this is same as lm4562 but is a single opamp.
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post #13 of 23
7/27/08 at 12:05pm
I'll know soon as I have a pair of duals in the mail to me now.
I plan to give them a try in my MH CD25 in replace of the opa627's in there now.

Oh, and Burson apparently has a new version that does not need to be grounded?
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post #14 of 23
7/28/08 at 7:18am
OPA627 are overrated and overpriced, at least when considered for the audio purposes. The op-amps I regard the most are:
single: LT1028, AD797, AD8021
dual: AD8022, AD8599
LM4562 falls short here, too. The LT1364 is close to the AD8599 but I still prefer the AD's. I'm just curious how the discrete op-amps compare to these ones, especially that properly applied LT1028 or AD797 are almost like a short piece of wire - I did such experiments. The closest is the class-A biased LT1028, then AD797, then LT1028.

Regarding the I/V conversion - as Pars said, there is quite a lot of discrete I/V stage designs to try, competing with conversion on a tube. There is just no need for the negative feedback in such circuits while the op-amps make it a must.
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post #15 of 23
7/28/08 at 9:00am
I mentioned before that my favourite opamp is the NE5532FE. The FE bit is important. However, my next favourite is the AD8397. Many people see it as a headphone only IC, but that's just scraping the possibilities. If you compare the OPA627 specs and price against the AD8397 the latter wins hands down.

But all this is far to much science and not enough listening. A couple of dirt cheap BC108 in a discrete opamp configuration is no less musical and detailed than an expensive OPA627. It's just that modern day designers are more or less out of touch with their ears, and more in tune with datasheet figures.
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