[37mil]

How do I identify Pin #1 on the V6 vivid? I have a Burson Conductor 3 Reference and I swapped the 2 singles for Sparkos and I really miss the vivids. I'd like to reinstall them however I am confused. On the Duals the logos both face the same way towards the right when looking at the dac from the front. HOWEVER, the singles were both facing opposite directions. So the labels were both facing outwards. I cant find any way to identify the pins for reinstallations and I am confused. Does Pin number 1 not matter on these?

Wrong insertion will kill it. There should be a notch where pin 1 is.

 

[JamieMcC]

Pretty sure the Burson V6 have a safety feature built in to protect from being inserted incorrectly. I've definitely put both classic and vivid in my amp the wrong way round on several occasions without any issue. Just pulled them out turned them around and all good.

A quick Google

"The V6 are the only op-amps in the world with reverse voltage protection. While other op-amps are instantly damaged if reversely installed, the V6 are designed to survive such accidents unscathed."

email Burson and check if it in any doubt.

 

[Voxata]

Definitely matters. One side has a notch.

 

[Josh.33]

I must have looked at these 7 times and I never noticed that ever so slight indent down the side! Thank you guys, seriously! Ironically the logo is printed on reverse sides on mine! It has no bearing on Pin 1 lol You guys really helped me out! I have SparkoS Labs SS3601 in right now but I find them to be thinner sounding and bland. There is more treble or less rolled off but thats it. Makes my Focal Clear sound lifeless but my SVS Ultra bookshelf's have more sparkle :/ Just can't win over here lol

 

[Baten]

I have SparkoS Labs SS3601 in right now but I find them to be thinner sounding and bland.

I think a lot of these very pricy niche op-amps are in fact just overrated. Tried and trusted OPA/MUSES tend to be much better value.

 

[Ghoostknight]

did anyone try to play around with additional decoupling capacitors?
im using a Aune X8 and i actually dont know whats build into the device, but adding a capacitor directly before the Op-Amp seems always to help improve sound (even as i was still using a Topping D10), i would probably say the magnitude of change is somewhere in the range of changing the opamp itself

i switched from a Nichicon KZ 10uF to a 47uF and heard good improvements ( better/louder bass & smoother overall ) but im wondering if i can even improve further?

is there any harm in trying for example 200-470uF + 0,1-0,33uF MKP capacitor?

im sure inside the aune x8 is something like 0,1uF already but im using bursons extension-cable and wondering if a additional bypass capacitor could help here?

 

[Leonarfd]

Must say thanks and sorry to Burson, they said that their discrete opamps where usable on the T90D . After opening it up the shields where soldiered/glued and not replaceable without breaking the warranty.

Wish I had something else to test them on since they sent out samples.

 

[adeadcrab]

Just spent a little over a hour giving these opamps a thorough comparison in my new setup...

Opamp comparisons
- Tested in Gustard P26
- Compared to Soekris 1421 DAC -> A90D
- Tested as Soekris 1421 DAC -> Gustard P26 -> A90D
- Volume matched to ~88dB for short listening tests

Burson V6 Vivid: overblown low-end, muddy kick drum and tom hits. Flimsy sounding cymbals.
- Wide, 2D, distant soundstage. More easily able to pick apart instruments in the mix.
- Muted dynamics and transients compared to A90D alone.
- Downward tilted sound signature that opens the soundstage and highlights low-end tracks in the mix. Can bring down overall system speed / resolution but interesting nonetheless.


Burson V6 Classic: Faster transients than Vivid, better dynamics, more microdetail, soundstage is also altered less; tracks in the mix do not have as much extra space added.
- Rounded low-end, midrange-focused, slightly roll off treble but not as much as the Vivids. Cymbals sound more realistic. Low-end is not as exaggerated as the Vivid but is still boosted over a linear presentation. Sibilance is still present on the HD800S but it adds a slight amount of midrange presence.
- More competent all-around opamp - sound is closer to stock A90D (neutral/linear) to my ears. Rounded low-end and boosted midrange are the minor changes made that make the Classics south of neutral.
- Midrange tilted sound signature that is technically more competent and more transparent than the V6 Vivids, which muddies the sound and detracts from the overall listening experience.

TL : DR - Surprisingly the Classics are the winner here, they sound the more linear of the pair.

I have a theory, if you consider Burson from a business perspective, they had an idea for many years of a 'flagship' amplifier (what we know as the GT). They wanted a house Burson sound, smooth, thick, lush - and designed an opamp that would work well in the GT. That opamp is the V6 Vivid.
They then worked on another opamp, and focused more on actual sonic performance - and that opamp is the V6 Classic. But they marketed the V6 Vivid as the linear one.

I was always instantly impressed when rolling the Classics in over the years, not analysing too much, but over multiple headphones I had better long-term experiences - Focal Clear, LCD-X, Grado GS1000 - right now with HD800S. At the time I thought - 'Of course I won't roll the Classics for too long, after all they're the warmer opamp' - that seems to not be the case at the moment...

edit: the Classics are more linear on the top and bottom ends, with a boosted midrange. Vivids are linear in midrange with a downward tilted sound..although they're both not linear in the treble.. on the hunt for new opamps

 

[JamieMcC]

Fwiw I ran the Marantz HDAM discreet opamp clone that's on eBay.

Ive had both Vivid and Classic V6's as well the Marantz which I thought performed some where between the two not as extremely detailed as the Vivid but b
More than the Classic and less textured than the Classic but more than the Vivid.

I settled on the Vivid but that was after about a year of listening to all three. Interesting I didn't get on with the Vivid at first and moved to the classic and later the Marantz only after going back to the Vivid much later did I start to develop a preference for it over the others in my own system.

 

[Vitalstatistix]

Hey guys - is there a good way to remove the opamp from the board? My V6s are pretty stuck on in the Conductor 3X GT - tried using extraction tools from mechanical keyboards but it wont budge.

 

[Hal Rockwell]

Hey guys - is there a good way to remove the opamp from the board? My V6s are pretty stuck on in the Conductor 3X GT - tried using extraction tools from mechanical keyboards but it wont budge.

Aren't the V6s are large enough to be extracted by hand?

 

[Vitalstatistix]

Turns out the V6s were secured to the attachment by zip ties ….

 

[Scrufboy]

Wrong thread... Sorry gang

 

[Ghoostknight]

did anyone try to play around with additional decoupling capacitors?
im using a Aune X8 and i actually dont know whats build into the device, but adding a capacitor directly before the Op-Amp seems always to help improve sound (even as i was still using a Topping D10), i would probably say the magnitude of change is somewhere in the range of changing the opamp itself

i switched from a Nichicon KZ 10uF to a 47uF and heard good improvements ( better/louder bass & smoother overall ) but im wondering if i can even improve further?

is there any harm in trying for example 200-470uF + 0,1-0,33uF MKP capacitor?

im sure inside the aune x8 is something like 0,1uF already but im using bursons extension-cable and wondering if a additional bypass capacitor could help here?

i did switch now to nichicon KZ 100uF + Vishay 0,1uF, there definitely was further improvement, im pretty happy right now, sound got even "smoother" than with the 47uF and i think the 0,1uF cap helps with reducing noise, i could definitely hear a change in high frequency presentation

 

[FritzS]

i did switch now to nichicon KZ 100uF + Vishay 0,1uF

Is this the output cap, or between amp stages?
In my DIY HA I use 1000µF 25V BlackGate non polar at the ouput,
in my modified Philips CD650 CD-player I use Nichicon KZ 220 µF 25 V bypassed with WIMA FKP2 10nF/63V at the output.

The old vintage Philips CD650 CD-player still plays very well! The younger Marantz SA7001 KI SACD/CD player have problems with drive, especially for SACDs.

More you could see in my DIY projects - link in my signature.