[WilliamLeonhart]

Just installed V6 Classics, first 2 Classic Singles and then 3 Classic Duals. It took me some time until I realized that I have to remove the DIP8 sockets in order to be able to close the case.
First impressions: the Singles increased the soundstage and brought immediately more dynamic and punch over the stock op-amps. Adding duals was more noticeable in adding some richer tone colors and immediacy to the sound. On the other hand I have a feeling that on some bad recordings sibilance got stronger and some analog recordings hissing is more prominent now. After a longer burn-in, will take some more time to review the upgrade.

My biggest problem with the Classic and it's even worse on the Sparko op-amp. I often leave a full set of Vivids inside and sometimes I'd put my Classics single into the Play, but in general I prefer the Vivid.

 

[raoultrifan]

William, you should try 3 x AD8599 + 2xAD797.

 

[DjBobby]

I like V6 Classic more than V5; it's about its neutrality and "real sound".
I find V6 Vivid a bit too...vivid for my taste, maybe could be a good match with dark headphones or headamps.

William, you should try 3 x AD8599 + 2xAD797.

Can you compare the V6 Classic and the AD combo?
Right now, out of the box, Classic doesn't sound quite neutral to me, I do hope that the burn-in will shift the balance a little bit.

 

[holden4th]

Just had a call from Addicted to Audio who are happy to give me a new unit as the old one had definitely had the power die. I forgot to ask what the issue was. I also parted with a just a few more dollars and the V6 Vivid is heading my way. I did ask if they could build a hybrid for me but the answer to that one was no. From reading between the lines on this thread the Vivid will pair very well with my Sennheiser HD580s. How they will go with my Flares I'm not sure yet as the original Play had not yet burnt in. This is a process I'll have to start all over again.

 

[Eiffel]

Right now, out of the box, Classic doesn't sound quite neutral to me, I do hope that the burn-in will shift the balance a little bit.

They aren't very neutral - mids are accentuated. That's why I mixed them with Vivid's. However they are the most neutral from all Burson OP-AMPS.
Also it depends on what you listen. If your headphones have a V shape sound signature they will pair well and the sound will be more neutral.

About the Burn-in - the V6 Classic sounded better after only 60h ( I could noticed a more realistic sound for the violins ). After that I wasn't able to detect any sound changing.
The V6 Vivid however needed more than 150h to hear an improvement in the mid's area. But bass was also accentuated a bit after that- and they already have it plenty.

 

[kebcy]

Well hello everybody.

I just got my PLAY! about 2 month ago, and I would like to write a very little about it. Unfortunately I am not so good with the reviews, tho wish I would be better in this, anyway I will do my best to write down my best.

So first of all, I was kinda hyped to get my hands on my own unit, and actually this little box on my desk still surprising me a lot of time. I re-listened every music what I own on my computer, also managed to get some good .FLAC, .MKV, oog, samples from those albums what I love, and actually this little box managed to achieve (again) that "wow" feeling. I mean, switching from a youtube1080p music to a .FLAC (aproxx 5gb big) file.. there is literally a dimension change.

Back then when I had the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude soundcard with a V5 opamp, the change was noticable very much compared to the stock Auzentech opamps, but when I made the bigger change from Auzen to Burson PLAY, there was like an instant teleport to the Andromeda system. Literally.

My English unfortunately not as good as yours, so I cannot explain very much how changed the violin before-after or how I feel the vocals, drums, and other things, but there is a big change, even more in the soundstage. Everything feels much more "alive" and "punchier" and also "warm" meanwhile I am using it with a mixed setup, like I got more V6Classic then V6Vivid in my Burson (like 3-2 or something like that) and still feels very warm, but very very accurate in the sound. The headphone what I am using is the Beyerdynamic Amiron Home 250Ohm version. Totally drives the crap out of my phone.

Now this part was the simple "music listening" section, now change to the "gaming section"


Cause I am a professional gamer for me it's important to hear the sounds. The accurate sounds, and the PLAY! plays a big role in this. With the Auzen I was not so confident in myself where do I hear the footsteps and how far was the enemy but somehow the PLAY! could do this, and I am amazed how, meanwhile this is only a Stereo headphone, with no EQ and things like this..
Everything sounds real, powerfull, accurate, and live. Sometimes I play PUBG, and when I hear a grenade explosion my heart stops for a moment cause of the sounds. Cannot describe more.


Anyway this little box worth the money. Pretty much, also the Burson Support (Alex) is a great member of that team. Every time when I bought something from them, he was the one who did everything for me. Even lower the price to not get caught on the post office in here Hungary. Big deal for me.



I got some questions for you guys by the way.

- Is it okey, if I am using the PLAY! around 55 volume, or it's too high for it?
- For normal use, and also for listening - gaming I am using the PLAY! as default soundcard. Is this ok? Should I change something in the drivers?
- I am using Windows 10 1803 should I change something in the drivers to get more "juice" out of the PLAY! or delete the default windows sound drivers? This could cause problems for me or nope?
- I read in this forum somewhere that some people have "hissing". I don't have any, tho have to admit I am using the PLAY! on my desk, and not in my comp, but I was aware and I connected the power cord to a different power output, not besides my PC power cord, and also I paid attention to the cable management.
- The default Burson driver allows only 192khz sample, but the new Windows 10 1803 would allow 392khz. Any difference between these samples? I guess nothing, but I am curious.
- Any tips how can I improve my audioplaying - listening? Like foobar or something? Actually for .FLAC, .MKV I am using the VLC Media Player but I guess, there is a better way to listen music on my PC.



Cheers
~Kebcy

 

[raoultrifan]

Can you compare the V6 Classic and the AD combo?
Right now, out of the box, Classic doesn't sound quite neutral to me, I do hope that the burn-in will shift the balance a little bit.

AD8599 and AD797 are very low-noise op-amps and might decrease any existing hissing when using IEMs. However, these are neutral op-amps, so might worth a try out.
Honestly, I find V6 Classic very neutral op-amps, even in A/B tests versus ODAC and ASUS Essence One Muses MKii, so your mileage might vary.

 

[raoultrifan]

Well hello everybody.

I just got my PLAY! about 2 month ago, and I would like to write a very little about it.
[...]

- Is it okey, if I am using the PLAY! around 55 volume, or it's too high for it?
- For normal use, and also for listening - gaming I am using the PLAY! as default soundcard. Is this ok? Should I change something in the drivers?
- I am using Windows 10 1803 should I change something in the drivers to get more "juice" out of the PLAY! or delete the default windows sound drivers? This could cause problems for me or nope?
- I read in this forum somewhere that some people have "hissing". I don't have any, tho have to admit I am using the PLAY! on my desk, and not in my comp, but I was aware and I connected the power cord to a different power output, not besides my PC power cord, and also I paid attention to the cable management.
- The default Burson driver allows only 192khz sample, but the new Windows 10 1803 would allow 392khz. Any difference between these samples? I guess nothing, but I am curious.
- Any tips how can I improve my audioplaying - listening? Like foobar or something? Actually for .FLAC, .MKV I am using the VLC Media Player but I guess, there is a better way to listen music on my PC.



Cheers
~Kebcy

Hi Kebcy and congrats for your PLAY!

55% volume seems fine for low-to-mid sensitivity cans like Amiron, just don't push the volume too hard unless you want to "burn" your ears.

So you're not using default BURSON drivers? Are you using Windows driver? I wonder how have you succeeded to get native 394kHz samples playing. Thank you!

 

[kebcy]

Hi Kebcy and congrats for your PLAY!

55% volume seems fine for low-to-mid sensitivity cans like Amiron, just don't push the volume too hard unless you want to "burn" your ears.

So you're not using default BURSON drivers? Are you using Windows driver? I wonder how have you succeeded to get native 394kHz samples playing. Thank you!

Hey!

No, as I said, I am using the Default Burson drivers, but cause of my own curiosity I wanted to see what is capable of my Windows 10, and I was kinda surprised when I could raise up to 392khz the sample rate, and I started to wonder Burson directly reduced - reducing to 192khz, or I have some kind of bug.
I used the default Windows 10 drivers and it allowed me to change it to 392khz. I wonder why.

I tried to raise the volume up around 70, and Amiron still able to do his job very well, tho I am using it 55 on a regular basis.

 

[raoultrifan]

I was also able to play 24-bit/352kHz and 24-bit/384kHz audio files and also 32-bit/352kHz and 32-bit/384kHz files too. I was using Foobar and jRiver with Kernel Streaming and ASIO as well; WASAPI wasn't working with these very high resolution files. However, DSD256 playback was not possible, unless disabling BitStreaming-to-DSD in jRiver and choosing to downsample files with a sampling rate higher than 384kHz.

I was using "XMOS USB Audio 2.0 ST" applet to check the actual bitrate and it was just fine.

Sample files gathered from http://www.msbtech.com/support/supportHome.php and from http://www.2l.no/hires/

 

[Eiffel]

Default Windows 10 drivers are using Direct Sound and WASAPI. You can select in Direct Sound up to 392kHz.
Burson driver can use Direct Sound - but limited to 192kHz if you go to Control Panel Sounds, WASAPI and ASIO. Also you need them if you want to play DSD in native format ( without PCM conversion in player ). i don't have files over 192kHz to check if in my player I can go over 192kHz using ASIO, but in Sounds you cannot check more.

However, DSD256 playback was not possible, unless disabling BitStreaming-to-DSD in jRiver and choosing to downsample files with a sampling rate higher than 384kHz.

How did you play DSD in JRiver ? I can only if I select DoP ( DSD over PCM ) - that's how works also in Topping D10 - it use same DAC and XMOS USB.

 

[raoultrifan]

In jRiver if DSD Bitstreaming is selected then I can listen to DSD64 and DSD128 files in both Native and DoP ways. DAC output was NONE, but you could probably choose NATIVE 2xDSD ASIO as well.
With DSD Bitstreaming not selected I can also listen to DSD256 files, but only if Output is downsampled for sampling rates above 384kHz.
Also, without any downsampling I can listen to all 16/24/32 bits files up to 384kHz in ASIO and KERNEL STREAMING.

 

[Eiffel]

I have only DSD64 files - just a few. But they don't play in native DSD. Only DoP.
Probably a JRiver issue - I have version 21.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

Announcement: Hallman Labs Burson Play Giveaway

HallmanLabs.com will be having a v1.6 Burson Play Giveaway (not yet decided on which op-amps to include, playing with some non-discrete models for best sound), you just need to come register as a follower of the site in the next month or so to be entered to win. I will draw the winner (old school style on paper cut up thrown into a hat) at the end of July or August (depending on the number of applicants). I will make a post on the website about this soon, but I wanted to go ahead and give a heads up to HeadFi readers.

^x13

Can you imagine if I posted my review to this thread like a few users? (10 pages) Hahaha

^

I am also able to listen to DSD64 and DSD256 either by DoP or natively using a v2.0 Play, however I am using foobar2000.

Wow... For some reasons I didn't received any notification from the topic for about a month - I've thought nobody posted and just checked today - lot of new pages to read...

NCSUZoSo - in your review you say:

From what I know and was discussed in the topic it's a C-Media chipset. It's the DAC part of this one that appears as a second sound card. The 9018 is just a DAC. It cannot handle a mic.

I also noticed Burson has enlarged the PC family with 2 new devices - Alex told me something about 2 months ago, but I've expected also a new DAC ( only ). May be later.

About the OP-AMP's I've played with several V6 combinations ( and not only ) - I think the unit itself has more than 400h and the OP-AMP's between 200-300h each ( due to various combinations I've tried )

I'm still stuck with 2xV6 Classic in I/V + 3xV6 Vivid for the rest ( LPF and Gain ) - It's the best for what I use - my speakers and 2 headphones ( Sony all ) have quite flat mids and treble but a bit enhanced bass and my IEM's have a V shape sound, so this configuration sound the best with all, especially with the IEM's.

I like also the 2xV6 Vivid in I/V, 1xV6 Classic in LPF and 2xV6 Vivid in Gain - but this configuration took about 150h burn-in to sound correctly for the mids. Unfortunately V6 Vivid have the V sound inherited from older versions but more accentuated. With my speakers and heaphones/earphones even if the mids and treble are very good, the bass is just too much. If I listen to some new pop or rock recording which happens to be V recorded from the studio is even worst.

So as a conclusion V6 Classic in I/V is more suitable with neutral or V shaped headphone/speakers and the V6 Vivid in I/V is better with headphones with better mids ( Sennheiser ?! )
Any combination of them will may slightly change the sound but not much - more like a very fine tunning.

Per my older review it's a C-Media chip indeed.

I was told by Alex at Burson it was powered by the ES9018K2M. I had strong doubts that the ES9018K2M wasn't instead involved in the I2S decoding like I also mention in my review, but I couldn't get confirmation. I figured this was the case due to the fact something has to take in the I2S signal and decode it. When I looked over the board though, I couldn't find another IC remotely related to an ADC. Perhaps I just missed it though.

Where is the C-Media chipset at on the board? I went over the Play with a microscope taking shots of anything that was of interest and didn't spot a C-Media IC. Not saying you are wrong, just asking to know where it's at.

@raoultrifan , I didn't see a single mention of C-Media in that review, was hoping to see a picture of the chip.

PS: Thanks for the correction!

Edit: Is the C-Media HS100B on the XMOS? I guess that is for easy access to the USB bus. Also, this now leaves me wondering what that 2nd (useless) output that shows up as a generic USB device is from. If the ES9018K2M is simply being sent the XMOS I2S signal, why is there a ghost output that isn't meant to be used? I assumed previously the ES9018K2M had to be responsible for this, am I still right on that?

 

[raoultrifan]

Yes, HS100B. It's a DAC & ADC combo chip but PLAY is only using the ADC part only to connect the microphone plug to.