But if I'm going to replace it from my wallet is gone cost me as full brand new item, around €580, if i knew it I could buy a brand new xonar for that amount, not a refurbished product with fake muses. Which is not fair. I'm just going to contact the company to see how their going to fix my issue. Coz let me tell you something, in a way or another they're are going to fix it !

OK, but honestly, Essence One sound pretty fine with LM4562 in I/V and LPF. Also, cheap 4xMUSES8920 in IV and 4xMUSES8820 in LPF and VAS sound even better. So, if the price you paid is very good for a regular Essence One, then perhaps you could keep it.

raoultrifan said:

OK, but honestly, Essence One sound pretty fine with LM4562 in I/V and LPF. Also, cheap 4xMUSES8920 in IV and 4xMUSES8820 in LPF and VAS sound even better. So, if the price you paid is very good for a regular Essence One, then perhaps you could keep it.

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So basically they offered or a full refound or a 20% refound if I want to keep it. With that 20% back if I keep it the amount that I spent is equall to €200, which is not that bad, but still in case I decide to put original Muses inside the total amount will be 520€. And actually a brand new one is €595. In my humble opinion anyway the muses is not really worthed. Probably i can get the same for less. I have right now in my hand 2 Lm 4562 na which i was thinking to use in the LPF area. I don't know what to use in stage I/V. I got you're advice with muses series 8000 but do you have any idea how much they cost ?

Just ask for a quote to PROFUSION UK, tell them you bought a counterfeit product from a warehouse deal, maybe they'll give you a discount. If you can get for I/V stage 4 x MUSES01 for 150 EUR I think you should keep this DAC if it has at least 1 year of written/proven warranty.
 
For LPF you can also get 2 x MUSES02, but to be honest the most significant improvment you'll hear when replacing the op-amps from I/V. I've tested myself MUSES02 and MUSES8820 in LPF with 2 identical Essence One and it didn't convinced me to pay the money for 2xMUSES02. MUSES8820 would be about 6 EUR/each, so you can easily buy 2xMUSES8820 for LPF and 2xMUSES8820 for VAS (from headamp, nearby output opamps). Feel free to check Profusion prices or find another NJR authorized distributor.
 
Good luck and feel free to check Hed-Fi in thorough for posts about EssenceOne and op-amps rolling, just in case you decide to keep this DAC.

raoultrifan said:

Just ask for a qute to PROFUSION UK, tell them you bought a counterfeit product from a warehouse deal, maybe they'll give you a discount. If you can get for I/V stage 4 x MUSES01 for 150 EUR I think you should keep this DAC is it has at least 1 year of written/proven warranty.

For LPF you can also get 2 x MUSES02, but to be honest the most significant improvment you'll hear when replacing the op-amps from I/V. I've tested myself MUSES02 and MUSES8820 in LPF with 2 identical Essence One and it didn't convinced me to pay the money for 2xMUSES02. MUSES8820 would be about 6 EUR/each, so you can easily buy 2xMUSES8820 for LPF and 2xMUSES8820 for VAS (from headamp, nearby output opamps). Feel free to check Profusion prices or find another NJR authorized distributor.

Good luck and feel free to check Hed-Fi in thorough for posts about EssenceOne and op-amps rolling, just in case you decide to keep this DAC.

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Thanks again for you're advices. Later I'm going to add some rep. Btw anytime you come downtown in Bucharest the first beer is on me.

Hi guys, 
 
Got few hours today to do the first test of a six-pack of...BURSON SS V5-dual op-amps. Yes, a six pack I said!
 

 

 
By using 2 x SS V5 dual in LPF and 2 x SS V5 dual in headamp's VAS I've noticed more details and clarity, but also a wider soundstage, especially when using AKG K701 and DT880 headphones. I've also used for this test Grado SR60i L-cush and Beats Solo 2, but results were unsure or non conclusive, so you really need some decent headphones to be able to get SS V5's sound improvements.
 
By using  V5-duals in output buffers results were non conclusive yet, but will keep on testing during next weeks. Most likely the sound gets "created" in InputVoltage stage, LowPassFilter and VoltageAmplificationStage, so these are probably the 3 most important stages from Essence One where we could get most juice out of this beautiful DAC/headamp.
 
Temps were 51.5C on the V5s placed in LPF, 49.5C on the V5s placed on VAS and 41.5C on the V5s placed on output buffers, with case fully open and room temp around 28C (yes, it was pretty warm in my testing room).
 
My initial conclusions are mostly related to clarity and soundstage, so here are my thoughts about SS V5-dual op-amps:
 
PRO:
- real solid-state integrated op-amps with very good ripple rejection factor
- simple internal designed made especially for audio chain (that means lower THD and lower internal noise)
- increases details and clarity
- opens up the soundstage
- women voices are sounding a bit better
- definitely an upgrade over common op-amps
- seems to work pretty fine as DC-servo op-amp when used in VAS of EssenceOne (max. DC measured was 0.7 mV, which is a very good value).
 
CON:
- price (though for high end devices and complete audiophiles this should not be an issue, I guess)
- size may be too big for some devices (you may need 90 degrees DIP8 adapters to fit V5 inside Essence One or at least you need to desolder existing DIP8 sockets, so you can close the case; you can also use V5i that are way much smaller)
 
My advise for those who want to try these solid-state op-amps in Essence One DAC: start from LPF stage first, then continue with headamp's VAS if you intend to use the internal amplifier; if you're using an external amplifier, then you might 
start thinking of upgrading output buffers as well (1 op-amp for the single-ended output or 2 op-amps for the balanced outputs). For budget audiophiles and op-amp rollers that don't want to spend money on SS V5: MUSES8820 is still better then stock LME4562.
 

 

 
Notes:
- The six-pack I got it from Charles from Burson so I can test them in the few DACs and headamps I have at home, so thank you again Charles for giving me the opportunity to test these babies!
- I've done my SS V5 compare against MUSES8820, which are already an upgrade over the stock 4562 op-amps, especially because of a cleaner sound and blacker background.
- While doing these tests I haven't noticed any oscillations on my Pico scope, just clean & natural sound.
- I haven't tested SS V5 in I/V stage because, per manufacturer specs and docs, these op-amps were not designed to be used in conversion of current to voltage stages.

raoultrifan said:

  I haven't tested SS V5 in I/V stage because, per manufacturer specs and docs, these op-amps were not designed to be used in conversion of current to voltage stages.

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We don't care about datasheets.  Just pull all four Muses01 out, plug the Kangaroos in and give us your feedback when you have time  

Sorry, no can do that. BURSON SS V5 are audiophile quality very fast BJT-input devices, but they are not mean for I/V stages and we all know that Essence One has some troubles with some fast op-amps when used in I/V stage. Also, Burson told me I shouldn't use'em in I/V, so this is what I'm going to do.
 
Also, we all know that I/V stage needs a fast FET-input op-amp, right?
 
What I can tell you for sure is that by using SS V5 in LowPass, VoltageAmplification and also in OutputBuffer stages you could increase audio quality more or less, depending on your DAC/headamp and the PSU inside.

raoultrifan said:

  Sorry, no can do that. BURSON SS V5 are audiophile quality very fast BJT-input devices, but they are not mean for I/V stages and we all know that Essence One has some troubles with some fast op-amps when used in I/V stage. Also, Burson told me I shouldn't use'em in I/V, so this is what I'm going to do.
 
 

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Burson told you that you "shouldn't" because you might end up frying things or because of performance limitations?  Please clarify this.  
 
Afterall, lots of people plug their V5s on the STX II's I/V including me with no issues reported yet.  It won't excel unlike it does when used in LPF but I get no weird sound or noise either, it just fails to stand up against the buffer performance.   Still better than Muses8920 in I/V though.

 It was a thread between a head-fier and Burson representative where Burson engineer explained that this op-amp was not designed for I/V conversion and they can't recommend it; if I'll find the thread I'll copy-paste the link here. Anyway, I'm not sure I can take out the existing MUSES01 from my I/V stage, because those MUSES01 are quite thin & soft pins (I had them unplugged for many times before and i almost broke them).
 
MUSES8920 is FET-input and it was designed to be used as I/V converter. It works flawless in Essence One, though it's behind MUSES01 in musicality, soundstage and clarity.

Oh I see.  I had a few accidents with Muses8920/8820 myself when the legs came off.   From what you're saying Muses01/02 are equally weak or even more prone to failure, which is unacceptable for such an asking price, thinking before buying that you might end up having an unusable 50 euro worth op amp just becasue a leg got detached or broken during regular swapping.    Burson on the other hand ship their modules with golden, literally indestructible contacts for the same cost.. 

MUSES01 & MUSES02 have way much weaker pins than 8820/8920, but this is perhaps because of the conductive material that is made (perhaps too much copper or maybe some gold inside, who knows).

raoultrifan said:

   It was a thread between a head-fier and Burson representative where Burson engineer explained that this op-amp was not designed for I/V conversion and they can't recommend it; if I'll find the thread I'll copy-paste the link here. Anyway, I'm not sure I can take out the existing MUSES01 from my I/V stage, because those MUSES01 are quite thin & soft pins (I had them unplugged for many times before and i almost broke them).
 
MUSES8920 is FET-input and it was designed to be used as I/V converter. It works flawless in Essence One, though it's behind MUSES01 in musicality, soundstage and clarity.

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I can concur that burson stated the exact thing, somewhere along the line of oscillation/heat/fried board.
I had my 2x E1 MUSES MKII populated with 11x MUSES01. When I popped in the Burson V5, I was surprised there was a slight improvement in the soundstage and clarity.
My only concerning factor was you can't close the case and the cost of 9x V5.
They work kinda well in the amp section, it louder at the same volume as the MUSES01 too beside the slight sonic improvement. Drove my 600ohm HD600 with more authority.

mach3 said:

  I can concur that burson stated the exact thing, somewhere along the line of oscillation/heat/fried board.
I had my 2x E1 MUSES MKII populated with 11x MUSES01. When I popped in the Burson V5, I was surprised there was a slight improvement in the soundstage and clarity.
My only concerning factor was you can't close the case and the cost of 9x V5.
They work kinda well in the amp section, it louder at the same volume as the MUSES01 too beside the slight sonic improvement. Drove my 600ohm HD600 with more authority.

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So what is your op amps configuration right now?  Did you prefer the V5s over Muses01 at the I/V sound-wise? Have you experienced any overheat or malfunction from using the V5s at that stage?
 
If anyone can find and post that thread it would be great.

Current configuration is 11x MUSES01. I did prefer the Burson V5 over MUSES01 in all the other section except for the I/V as it was advised against to do so by Burson.