They don't fit on my input buffer board, so I would have to buy a new one or get ambitious with risers. I just had a look at what new boards from Nord Acoustics would cost including SS2590 pre-mounted. Including tax: £712. I'm sure they sound great, but it's a bit much!

I have now done a lot of listening and a few comparisons with V7 Vivid against the other op amps I own. I believe the V7 Vivid are more or less fully burned-in. I didn’t notice any dramatic change in sound over time, maybe a slight softening and a cleaner character over time. I wasn’t paying...

Yes, I noticed the same thing. The pins might be thicker and maybe attached to the circuit board a fraction wider than with V6, so you need to line them up perfectly on the socket to even have a hope of inserting them.

Not yet! I remember SS3602 changed during its burn-in phase. At the start it had a distinct forward tilted treble, which over time eased off and became a more gentle diffuse sound. It then stabilized at that sound and now sounds the same every time I use them. I received V7 Vivid on Friday...

Day 2 impressions. Because of V7 Vivid's airier sound I could see situations where V6 Vivid could be preferred, because they add more density and weight compared to V7 Vivid. It's at the cost of detail, but if your system can't resolve that detail anyway, then V6 Vivid might be better. But in my...

I received the V7 Vivid today. Very impressed so far! Like others have mentioned, V7 Vivid is airier than V6 Vivid. You could describe it as more fluid sounding, whereas V6 Vivid is more tonally grey (in a bad sense) squared off, firm, and boomy in response. V7 Vivid is definitely more...

The video by Passion For Sound posted on the previous page also noted that the V7 Vivid impart less of their own sound on the signal compared to V6. He specifically mentioned the treble, where the V6 Vivid has a certain sound character to its treble, whereas V7 Vivid is more transparent and...

I went through a round of op amp testing since my last post. I retested MUSES01, MUSES03, OPA828, and AD797BRZ. MUSES01 in this particular setup has a clean and smooth sound with a beautiful tone. It's not a dry or grainy type of sound, but one that's "wet". This glossier, smoother or wetter...

I've unfortunately never heard the MUSES8820 or MUSES8832, so I can't tell you what kind of upgrade you can expect going to MUSES03. It should be big, given that the cheaper MUSES models use a single chip instead of two chips like MUSES01, 02, 03 and 05. Like many others I started my op amp...

I saw questions about MUSES03, and also comments in general that bothered me, so I decided to post. I last posted in this thread some years ago, so I might be repeating things in this post. But it's how I feel at the moment, so any repeated points just mean they're still valid to me. To set the...

In case anyone is in Japan, MUSES05 is now available on sale. https://www.nisshinbo-microdevices.co.jp/ja/MUSES/series/MUSES05.html Unlike previous MUSES op amps, it's a SMD style op amp. But for DIY purposes there is a version pre-mounted on a DIP8 adapter. So far, this is the only store where...

I have no doubt about that! On my old Asus Essence III all the inputs (USB, Coax, Toslink, AES) sounded identical, whereas on the Pegasus they all sounded different. That was using the same speakers, headphones, amplifiers, sources and cables on both dacs. I assume it's all down to how the...

I recognize your screen name, the Pegasus you bought is mine. In my experience I2S has a cleaner sound, whereas AES and coax have different styles of haze over the sound. AES sounds harder, whereas I2S is smoother and cleaner. With HD 800 it was very clear that I2S was the more pure reproduction...

Musician have similar info on the Pegasus product page, all the way at the bottom http://www.musician-audio.com/en/col.jsp?id=122 but no such clear info on the Aquarius page. If you mail them, they will probably give you the information and update the Aquarius product page. I've found Musician...

You're correct in that AES and I2S don't sound the same, with I2S having a cleaner sound. This was of course very noticeable in my tests, especially with headphones like HD 800. But I used AES as reference because it was guaranteed to be correct, whereas an imperfect I2S signal would have...