[peter123]

Hi guys,
For those who might be interested I just posted my impressions of the V5:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/burson-audio-supreme-sound-opamp-v5/reviews/15046

 

[zilch0md]

I just received a replacement pair of V5 Duals - they are perfect in every way - functionally and cosmetically.
 

 

[audiojun]

I am in Que for the multibit upgrade for my bifrost and upgrading from the bifrost uber. I know the multibit loses the discrete analog stage and in place schiit used an op amp.

Could these burson v5 replace the op amp in the multibit? I am asking just to be safe since I don't have much diy knowledge or done any op-amp rolling.

 

[beyerdude]

  I've sent an email to Burson, requesting an exchange of my twisted V5 Duals.  I hate to part company with them - the sound is awesome.

You seem to be following a similar hifi path to me  have you still got the Aurix/Metrum Octave II? - I'm about to push the button on the Burson Conductor V2+ a fabulous bit of kit by the look of it will post my impressions when I get some time - darn it if it wasn't the V5's that started me down this route!
 
The V5's are just something else aren't they?

 

[EternalChampion]

Hey guys if anyone can shed some light on how the SS V5 compares to Muses chips in terms of instrument/vocals positioning, it will be nice.
 
Those of you who own an STX II already know what I'm talking about.  Muses8920 sits very far and it is by no means a musical op amp, 8820 (swap kit) brings stuff a bit forward while keeping a great deal of the airy soundstage whereas buffer 8820 defines "in your face" audio  in the expense of literally killing the soundstage.
 
So where is the V5 placed?

 

[zilch0md]

You seem to be following a similar hifi path to me  have you still got the Aurix/Metrum Octave II? - I'm about to push the button on the Burson Conductor V2+ a fabulous bit of kit by the look of it will post my impressions when I get some time - darn it if it wasn't the V5's that started me down this route!

The V5's are just something else aren't they?

Yes, they are indeed.

I do still have the Metrum Acoustics stack, but I've come to prefer the Aurix > HD800 when driven by the Oppo HA-2's ES9018K2M DAC vs. the NOS Octave MkII.

The Aurix remains my favorite desktop amp for the HD800, but the Oppo HA-1's amo section for every thet headphone. (Speaking of which, I even orefer the Oppo HA-2's DAC to the HA-1's ESS9018 imkementation of the HA-1 - especially for USB input.

I want a more resolving and dynamic NOS DAC. The Metrum Musette is of interest.

Enjoy the Conductor V2 - it looks to be a wonderful piece of new old school.

Mike.

 

[DMarasovic]

I have received a pair of dual Burson Supreme Sound V5-OPA-D op amps last week.

Packing was firm and valuable items were well protected during long flight.

There was just enough time for burn-in at about hundred hours before serious examination.

After reading many positive opinions about Burson Discrete Op amps, I decided to try the newest design:

Supreme Sound V5, as upgrade for my Asus Essence One DAC/Headphone Amp.

Last three years I was in search for the best op amps to roll into E1 and make it sound the best possible for current layout.

I have tried many op amps and these were the best that made positive sonic impressions:

 

Near the end , I decided to spend more and the best results came from 6 Muses01 op amps - 4 at I/V conversion stage and two at LPF stage.
For other stages factory choice gives the most transparent and neutral sound.
After a while, following some recommendations I swapped two Muses02 at LPF stage and enjoyed several months of listening delight.
After contacting with Burson representative, he recommended V5 dual op amp for LPF section.
I agreed with him because swapping op amps at that position makes the biggest influence at final sound definition.
 
To bring closer what I am describing, here is my listening chain:
Asus N73S notebook (i7, 8G, SSD, HD)
JRiver Media Center 21 - all files in Flac, Asio driver
Asus Essence One DAC/Headphone amp on USB port
NAD Viso HP50 headphone (for everyday listening)
Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO/250 (for picking holes in the sound)
Active DIY 3-way loudspeakers based on the best Monacor drivers (265+135+25mm) with 6 monoblocks (total of 440 WRMS), with 24  db/Oct Linkwitz-Riley crossover at 330/3300 Hz and LME 49860 op amps, XLR balanced inputs.
 
Headphones are digitally equalized as shown here:        
 
Although they are equalized, they do not sound the same. NAD sounds very natural and easy listening, with all details present but not pushing in face. DT 770 Pro has better low extension (bass drum kick hits hard), wider sound stage (bigger headset housings), highs are more present and extended, even too much without equalization, higher sound pressure without distortion.
Loudspeakers are tuned at bass similar to DT 770, other spectrum like NAD.
 
This is the play list I use for examination - material that I usually use for comparisons:

Some Pictures of Burson V5's in place:


 
 
Sound impressions:
 

• At I/V conversion stage the best results in all combinations gave 4x Muses01 op amps.
• AT LPF 2x Muses01 op amps sound natural, bit of analytic with wide sound stage. There is some shortage of bass extension that may seem as there is too much high extension. This may match to darker sounding headphones with stronger bass. There is little sibilance in highs.
• AT LPF 2xMuses02 op amps was my favorite for last year. Comparing to Muses01 sound balance is more natural, bass extension is great, sound stage is wide, easy instrument positioning. Sibilance is reduced but details in highs also.
• Winner takes it all : AT LPF 2x Burson Sound Supreme V5 op amps showed their faces right after plugging them into dip-8 sockets. The change in sound was immediate so that I could not believe that it is possible. Just for sure I let them burn-in for several days to make comparisons. General impression is that sound is more natural and transparent. It has similar bass extension as Muses02, but bass hits harder and faster. Mid range is richer, more detailed , sound stage wider and instruments easier to locate and follow individually. Highs are in volume between Muses01 and 02, but much cleaner, analytic and musical at the same time. At first I heard that triangle sounds as it should, with precise and fast attack and long controlled decay. Listening to cymbals is a real pleasure, easy to differentiate one from another, never harsh and offensive. Saxophone has full body, richness of overtones and steady position. Male and female voices are intimate, like singing just for me. There is also important characteristic: Dynamic seems like somebody plugged expander into sound chain. Changes in sound levels are dramatic and with no limitation. All those characteristics are usually related to studio or analytic equipment, but Burson somehow disappears and sounds musical and easy to listen for hours. There is another impression: tempo seems to me like being slower (it really is not possible), maybe because more information come to the brain at ease and there is no strain during listening.

 
Conclusion is simple: Asus E1 became high-end source. I would recommend everyone to try Burson V5 op amps. They are not cheap, but give much of what many of us are looking for. When time comes for new DAC/Amp Burson will be my first choice to examine.
 
For the end, take care of V5's dimensions. It is too high to fit in E1's housing vertically. Burson makes adapters for horizontal placement.
As experienced DIY-er, I am planing to desolder factory dip-8 sockets and solder V5's directly to circuit board to fit inside.
 
 
 
Every picture shows in bigger size by clicking on it.
 
I am glad to have the opportunity to share impressions about such impressive product.
Best Regards,
Damir Marasovic
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

[raoultrifan]

Hello, 
 
This post was firstly published in the O2 thread, because I was not aware of existence of Burson's thread, so I'm gonna just copy-pasted here, in case anyone's interested to read about it. Thanks!
 
I did myself a complete test with the new solid-state BURSON V5-D op-amps in my Objective2 headphone amplifier. Everyone knows that O2 sounds very good "by default": it has a dark background, sounds quite neutral and doesn't emphasis treble nor bass, so I didn't expected much improvement over original sound, though I was hoping to get a little bit of a bigger sound-stage.

 
Headphones used for this test were Dr. Beats Solo 2 (32 ohms), AKG K701 (62 ohms), Beyerdynamic DT880 (600 ohms) and DAC used was ASUS Essence One MKii MUSES.
 
Music used for this test was FLAC:
- Chesky Records - The Ultimate Demonstration Disk
- Ultimate Demo Disk
- Super Audio Check
- Legendary Sound (LS3/5A)
- The Nordic Sound - 2L Audiophile Reference Recordings
- Ayre - Katie Mahan Collection
- Head-Fi And HDtracks - Open Your Ears (2010)
 
What am I comparing these BURSON op-amps with? Well, I already have MUSES8820 in my O2's VAS right now and I'm quite pleased because I found MUSES sound being a little bit more  spacious and cleaner than the original NJM2608. As output buffers I have NJM4556A, original O2's paralleled buffers.
 
Test with SS V5-D in Voltage Amplification Stage (VAS):

- Sound is definitely more detailed with V5 then with MUSES8820, especially when cymbals are involved...hmmm, I didn't expected that. Details in cymbals were immediately noticed, without feeling any increase in trebles, so the same neutral sound but more detailed and with much better sound accuracy; now cymbals sound like I'm on the scene.
- Women voices are very clear and "mild" even when singing loud, not fatiguing at all. Also Kenny Roger's saxophone sounds better in every way, like a delicate immersion into the music. I am sensitive to saxophone and to women yelling, especially when DT880 are used, so BURSON V5 is really helping me here with their sound.
- Bass sounds about the same as MUSES to me, noting has changed I'd say. I tried "Chesky - Percussion Test" and also "Ultimate Demo Disk - Percussion" and I couldn't realize any differences; I got the same fast and powerful bass, especially with my K701 headphones.
 
Test with SS V5-D as output buffers:

- I was unable to get any noticeable differences between the original NJM4556A op-amps and BURSON V5-D, though scene might get increasing a little bit, but not much to make a difference.
- As O2's output buffers are directly connected to headphones, DC-output voltage of SS V5 op-amps might be a little bit higher for low impedance headphones (see V5's datasheet). For 60 ohms or higher impedance I don't see any concern here.
 
PROS:
- Upgrading Objective2's VAS op-amp with solid-state V5-D from BURSON will get you the same neutral, natural, clean and balanced sound, but with more details in sound and with increased sound-stage.
 
CONS:
- Price, especially comparing with O2's MSRP.
- Size, because you'll definitely need a taller case like B4-080 model or some DYI case made of acrylic or anything else (3D printer perhaps?). 
 
Note 1: BURSON V5-D op-amps were both tested for any possible oscillations or strange harmonics by using Pico-Scope. Nothing strange was found, of course, feel free to check attached screenshot.

 
Note 2: V5's temperatures during this test were between 43-49C in free air/open case (24C room temperature), depending on the volume uses. IR thermometer was used to read the temps.
 
Note 3: Many thanks to BURSON for providing me those 2 dual solid-state op-amps to do this test!

 

[b0bb]

Just did a mini review of the V5-OPA-D compared to the MUSES01.
 
The Burson is transparent, neither adding nor subtracting from the sound.
 
Opamp used in the unbalanced section of my DAC's analog post filter.
 
This particular DAC derives the unbalanced output from the balanced output, the Burson's does its job transparently, for most purposes it is a piece of wire with gain.
 
I used a headphone amp which allows the inputs to be transparently switched with no audible artifacts, this allows for a mini ABX type testing.
 
I cannot tell the difference with the Burson in or out of circuit, I can always detect the MUSES01 which adds a subtle veil and midrange bloom to the sound.
 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/745032/lks-audio-mh-da003/210#post_12471210

 

[beyerdude]

Hello all, 
 
I’ve been very happy with the Eastern Electric Minimax with V5 Opamp upgrades that I carried out some months back, my mini review/impressions were posted earlier on in this thread.
 
I was very impressed with the improvements from Stock Opamps - far more than I have experienced with any other Opamp rolling in the past including use of the more highly regarded/expensive opamps like the MUSES 01/02 and OPA627
 
Reading around the possible further improvements to be made to the V5 opamps (well there’s always something more that can be done surely?), I decided to replace a number of the capacitors on the MiniMax - initially the capacitors around the power input rails on the V5’s.
 
On speaking to Alex from Burson Audio regarding this, he kindly sent me some photos with the relevant capacitors that would benefit from changing (attached), as well as installing bypass capacitors directly across the opamps - Note that the correct top capacitor is circled in BLUE and not RED - it's underneath the digital cable by default.  
 

 
With the Minimax, removal of the circuit board is fairly straight forward, all connectors bar the tube power supply wires are detachable, for ease of working on the board I would recommend removing the soldered connections but be aware that these are high voltage. Also note that the circuit board will hold high voltages for some time so there is a chance of getting a slight shock.
 
The USB connector wires are single core and will only stand a few movements back and forth before they snap off. Mine did after removing the board twice - it’s pretty hard to remove the board without bending the USB connector out of the way. 
 

 
One thing to note is the recommended capacitors (220uf 35v Elna Silmic II) are in the order of several magnitude larger than the stock 47uf Nichicon FW capacitors. The lead pitch is also greater and the capacitors leads will just go though. Also there is not a great amount of room around them so the end result is a haphazard looking arrangement - it works fine but they do need to be installed a little proud of the circuit to allow them to be bent away from the Opamps.
 

 

 
Installing the bypass capacitors (pin 4/8 on dual and 4/7 on single) is relatively simple - there is sufficient clearance on the back of the board and the whole process took a few minutes.
 

 
 
Once I had installed the board back the stand out issue with this upgrade is that once the Silmics are in place there is absolutely no way that the selector switch wiring (runs diagonally though the Opamps normally and then only just) will allow the switch to be reinstalled. 
 

When I purchased the Minimax second hand the selector switch was also failing - mainly due to the wiring from the back of the circuit board putting strain on the front selector switch without any mods - the front switch is flimsy to say the least - end result digital drop outs and generally unreliable/substandard digital signal. 
 
The best option for this is to totally remove the selector switch from the circuit - desolder all cables and put a bridge between the IN connector and the relevant input (in my case to USB to test, I only use one digital input in general so hardwiring is a far better option)
 

 
Having installed the circuit board back, reconnected and left on for a while - the improvements were subtle but immediately obvious - bass definition is marginally improved and the background is blacker - everything sounds cleaner. The differences are not substantial but worthwhile. For the cost of the upgrade (around $20) and the time taken/experience it is a no brainer.
 
Further optional upgrades.
 
Following on from this, I decided to also upgrade a number of other components on the board - The Minimax (in my opinion here) uses fairly bog standard components in the power supply section and can benefit from further improvements for not a great amount of cost. 
 

• Upgraded the 2200uf and 3300uf power filter capacitors from Nichicon YXF to Panasonic FC
• Upgraded the 47uf filter capacitors after the voltage regulators (Nichicon FW to Panasonic FM)(7 in total)
• Upgraded the all capacitors around the ES9018 Dac chip and clock from Nichicon FW to Panasonic FM
• Changed standard Blue Alps Potentiometer to Noble High End potentiometer
• Disconnected high voltage supply to Valve amp section totally.

 
All capacitors are now burning in and the end result is a DAC that sounds substantially better than the stock. The power supply caps have again resulted in an overall better sounding DAC - there is obviously no way of A-B’ing this type of upgrade, but prior to each change I have listened to the same tracks and tried to gather an impression of how it sounds (intrinsically flawed I know!)
 
Overall the DAC is now far cleaner sounding - Treble response is clean extended and smooth, the bass is well defined and clear but the biggest change overall is that the background is blacker. I will have the chance to compare the Minimax DAC with the DAC section in the new Burson V2+ (got the burson bug and have bought one of these as a all-round desktop headphone rig) which should be an interesting comparison.
 
Total cost of the capacitor upgrade in the region of $20 + 2 hours work. Noble Potentiometer salvaged from blown amp so ‘free’…..
 
If the Minimax is used as a fixed output DAC I would completely recommend bypassing the Volume Switch as well.

 

[Alek5]

Hello to all lovers of quality sound !!! Share'd like with you my experience of Burson V5.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/804090/teac-ud-501-upgrade-burson-v5-in-place-of-n5532a-review

 

[Audio Addict]

Okay, I finally got up enough courage to use the SSA leg extensions with the SSA V5S and with enough manipulation got them installed in my Ray Samuels Audio Apache. Next step is to let them play awhile and then see how everything sounds.
 

 

[Audio Addict]

  Okay, I finally got up enough courage to use the SSA leg extensions with the SSA V5S and with enough manipulation got them installed in my Ray Samuels Audio Apache. Next step is to let them play awhile and then see how everything sounds.
 

 
Okay, they have had some time to settle in to the Apache.  I am not that great at explaining the changes but let me put it this way, it puts a smile on my face when I listen.  
 
I was at Axpona last weekend and I can say while I enjoyed my time at Ear Gear and in the various main system rooms, when I sat down for an extended listening session yesterday while my wife was gone for a few hours, the Apache with the v5 sounded every bit as great as the megabucks systems at Axpona.  Of course I am probably a little biased 

 

 

[genclaymore]

I recently move down to an Matrix M-stage dac from an gustard X12, and i found the V5-OPA-D's to work wonderful in it, but I do have the V5-OPA-S's inside my gustard H10 with 2 pairs of OPA627Au, which i enjoy with the setup. of course i had to take that adapter off the end so it would fit into the matrix M-stage dac.

 

[Voxata]

I've shared my impressions in the STX thread for these here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/708756/asus-xonar-essence-stx-ii/435#post_12570136