genclaymore
Headphoneus Supremus
Burson Supreme Sound Audio V5-OPA-D and V5-OPA-S
I will be reviewing the burson Supreme Sound V5’s while comparing it to the LT1355 and LT1489 from linear, The AD797BRZ will be used in the single channel sockets for the first part of the comparison. The last part will be the V5-OPA-D together with the V5-OPA-S to see how they stand against the prior combos.
I’m new at this I never done an op-amp review but I will do my best while doing this, I don’t know how to explain how the songs sound to me but will try to describe it the best way I can based on what I hearing.
The setup
I will be doing everything with the Gustard U12 usb converter, which will be connected into the Gustard X12 by I2S. The Gustard H10 will be using RCA. The Xmos drivers that I am using are the 2.40. The headphones that I will be using will be the Hifiman HE-500 with velour ear pads with a silver cable. The headphone itself is not modified.
I will be using J-media Center music player that I normally use, to make sure nothing will interfere with the music, I will use Asio for playback.
The Songs
I picked Three songs to keep this simple, they are (Dance) overwork- Create, (Jazz) Oscar Peterson – Close Your Eyes, and (Electronic) Figure – Stars That Never Burn out.
2xLT1355+2xAD797BRZ
Song 1: overwork- Create
The drums are very accurate as the bass has a very good impact to them. The hit hats are heard really well in the song. One of the synthesizer’s that is heard in the song is very detailed to the point that it comes off as too much bothering my ears. A second synthesizer’s is heard and is pleasing to the ear unless the first one. The sound has an airily feel to the song. The Highs are detailed might be a bit too much. The song sounds alright with this op-amp but not perfect.
Song 2: Oscar Peterson – Close Your Eyes
The first thing I notice is the piano sound very clean and the hit hats sound like there behind my right ear while the bass instrument is heard from my left ear near the edge of the ear. While the drum is on my right side and is very accurate. I can hear the separate instrument’s them self. The song has very good separation and good Sound stage with the LT1355. But the location of where the sounds are coming from is off center.
Song 3: Figure – Stars That Never Burn out
The song has very good sound panning with, the hit hats are very detailed and the drums are very accurate with a snap to them. The Piano has weight behind it. The song isn’t that clear and the hit hats has a little brightness to them. The bass also have weight behind them as well. But the song in general has a lot of detail but is not clear. The hit-hat has a shh... Type of sound to them. The sound stage is kind of medium but it sounds like it isn’t that big with this song. The Hit hats would sound ok if they wasn’t that bright.
2xLT1489+2xAD797BRZ
Song 1: overwork- Create
The drums are very accurate as well as the hit hats, they both sound really Good. The bass has a slight impact to them. The sound imaging is coming out very well with the LT1489, The Sound stage is big and there is good separation between the instruments. The down side is the lead’s is a mess and is not clear or clean like the tone is all together and not separate.
Song 2: Oscar Peterson – Close Your Eyes
The LT1489 with this song the sound imaging is very good, the results are similar to the LT1355 with slight differences. Though the drums are not clear but they sound like the drummer is playing to my front right, with the piano sharing the same spot, the piano is clear so is the hit hats. Like the LT1355 the bass violin is on the left side like he’s sitting right beside me playing.
Song 3: Figure – Stars That Never Burn out
The Drums and hit hats are very clear in this song making me feel that the drummer is directly in front of me hitting the drums and the hit hats, there very accurate. The Drums has some weight behind them, with the bass drum on the floor. I can hear the instrument’s separate from each other. The hit hats sounds like their reverbing like the piano. The downside the synthesizer sounds like it’s behind the drummer but I can’t really tell as it sounds like it blending in with the drums at times.
V5-OPA-D+AD797BRZ
Song 1: overwork- Create
The drums sound very clear as so the hit hats I can hear the beat really well. The bass sound really good too. I can hear some of the instruments clearly, the rest sound like they mushed together like the synthesizer and the Guitars at some point in the song. While other parts of it I can hear Both Separated easier.
The hit hats really are accurate. Through the guitar is hard to hear, and is the synthesizer Bright. I really like the drums with the V5-OPA-D paired with the AD797BRZ. I do like this pairing a lot better than the other two combos.
Song 2: Oscar Peterson – Close Your Eyes
The bass violin sound really nice, the drums sound really nice, I can hear the different musical instruments. I can really hear the way the drum being played. I can clearly hear the drum player and the pianist being separated from each other as the player is beside the piano. Unlike the 1489 with the AD797 where it sounded like the drums was fused inside piano blending in with it. I want to sit here and keep listening but I know I got more work to do.
Song 3: Figure – Stars That Never Burn out
This combo really sound nice as well, I can easily locate the position of the instrument’s in the song. The drums sound like that they’re in front of me hitting the drums. The hit hat and the snare are very clear while the beat is accurate and also clear. The piano has weight behind it while being soft and has a nice reverb sounding effect to it. The bass sound very nice. Has a nice airily sound to it.
Burson V5-OPA-D + Burson V5-OPA-S
Song 1: overwork- Create
The song sound really nice with these Burson’s, everything is so clear. The drums, hit-hats and bass drum sound very good to my ears, I can easy hear the location of the different instruments. The drums has weight behind them as well the synthesizer. I like this song a lot better with these Burson’s, A lot more than I ever did on the 1489+AD797s.
Song 2: Oscar Peterson – Close Your Eyes
I enjoying this song very much on the Burson’s, I hear all of the instrument’s very clearly everything so nice. I can hear the slight voice in my left ear from my left side. Which I didn’t notice before with the other op-amps. I like the way the piano and the drums sound.
Song 3: Figure – Stars That Never Burn out
I love the way the drums and the hit hat are done in this song, very snap like and clear. The piano spreads out from my left ear towards the center and have some weight behind it. With the drums sounding like they are coming from the center. The bass drum sound nice too, I can’t really explain how it sound to me.
Song 4 Extra:
I decided to do one more song that I have done with the LT1355 and 1489 with the AD797 but not in the review.
Skeptical -Delusions of Grandeur(drum n Bass)
The song is very airily, I can hear the hit hats on my center part of my ears and it sound really nice. One of the voices sounds like it coming from in front of me like the person is on stage. Another one in front of me as well but off the stage. The instruments are placed very well in this song with this pairing. With the other op-amp’s it wasn’t like this. I can hear the bird’s clearer as well like I’m in the jungle from the trees. There are even sounds that feel like they’re coming behind me as well.
Results
LT1355 /w AD797BRZ
Results so far I don’t like the LT1355 with the AD797BRz as much as I thought I did, the highs is actually bright sounding from there being too much detail and the mid’s sound like it being held back even though it has some weight to the Mid's. The Drums was ok but the hit hats in a lot of these songs had a Shh to the sound in the first few seconds of them being hit. Second song the separation was ok but the instrument’s was off centered and didn’t sound right to my ears. The only thing good about using the LT1355 with the AD797 was that it did had more weight behind the Mid's. But the Cons out weight the pros.
LT1489 /w AD797BRZ
The LT1489 and the AD797 are a better match together then the LT1355 was, but there was parts in different songs where it wasn’t clean in some parts and was in others. Couple of songs had a good sound image while others it was hard to tell. But I liked this combo a lot more than the LT1355.
The main thing I like about the LT1489 over the LT1355 is it sound stage and sound imaging which are wide and 3Dish when paired with the AD797brz. While the LT1355 had a medium sound stage with
Mid’s that wasn’t clean but was full which what I didn’t like about the LT1355 in compared to the LT1489.
V5-OPA-D /W AD797BrZ
The music sound really nice with this combo, I liked these two more so then the Linear op-amps. Everything sound clear, some songs the location of the piano and drums was placed better and not sound like they took the drums and set them inside the piano. Other song I heard the location of the different sounds easier, the some of the songs had a good spacing between the instruments.
V5-OPA-D /w V5-OPA-S
The V5’s sound really good the highs are detailed which I find to be smoothed, the voice’s come out clear and clean and have some weight behind them.
The drum’s hits are accurate which is very clear with detail, with the way they are produced you can hear how hard the drummer hitting and how soft. The sound stage is really good, the sound has a 3Dish sound to it as the instruments in a lot of songs sound like that they are around you and spaced apart.
Conclusion
Out of all of the op-amp combo’s that I tried in this review, I enjoyed the V5’s the most. They sound very wonderful to me. As the days go on I feel that I will enjoy them more and more as they burn in. Burson Audio done a very good job creating these op-amps. I know they will sound even better as the days goes on during my listening. I can’t wait to try other op-amps with the Burson’s to see how they perform.
I want to thank burson audio for giving me the chance to hear something I never heard before. Through one of my favorite songs.
