[flea22]

Hi Leigh, this post is about opamp upgrades to the asus xonar, these go BETWEEN the dac inside the xonar and its internal headphone AMP, so this isn't an upgrade for the amp itself, these are attempts simply to refine the DAC sound going to the internal amp or to an external amp, so its unlikely to change its ability to drive something like the lcd-3's, other than possible making it output nothing but noises and crackles before it dies (a common occurence with the burson). The internal amp should be adequately capable of driving the lcd-3's but I dont own them and am not looking at the specs, but it sounds like you have them, so I'll say if the volume level is the problem you need to find a different option for a headphone amp, this thread doesn't have headphone amp discussions, although seemingly plenty of australian users like yourself and burson sales people...

Thanks for the info, I ended up getting a wa7, I still want to try the wa7 with the stx. Im not going to use the stx headphone amp. So will I only need 2 burson v6 opamp's? Dont want to spend money I dont have too. If anyone could answer this question that would be great.

 

[recepky]

so I have the STX2 and so far I like it alot. but I'm upgrading my pc and getting a pair of monitor speakers (Adam A7X)
and thought I should really upgrade my amps while at it.
do any of you have experience with pairing V5i's and Muse 8920 or sparkos ss3602 combo?
I was thinking V5i's on I/V and Muse 8920 or sparkos SS3602 on buffer?
how do you think this would work?

I am using 2 sonic imagery 994enh on IV stage and 1 burson v5 on buffer, very impressive, you can start with IVs, I strongly recommend sonic imagery opamps

 

[481680]

sonic imagery 994enh

well with that price tag, it should be impressive

but I'm planing to mainly listen to RCA outputs. not sure how I should pick my op amps because it's the first time upgrading for me.
I've been thinking two V5i's and one LT1028ACN8 or LT1010 buffer
want to get the most out of my monitors. could also afford to spend up to 100$ for amps, but can't have anything that would protrude through EM shield.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

I decided to sell my Burson V5-D modded STX 2 if anyone is looking to buy one.
This is the link I have it for sell on Ebay currently. http://www.ebay.com/itm/263242615165?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[Voxata]

Figured I'd post an update here as my last Essence STX w/V5s has officially been retired from HTPC duty and gifted to a friend. I'm now running a Burson Play! with V6 Vivid OpAmps. On the STX the V5's to me were the best opamp option as they help with soundstage height, punch and authority. I really enjoyed the combo however the micro detail presentation would be the biggest weakness to me. I saw some mods using resistors on the back of the STX that would supposedly help this problem a bit however, not solve it. When listening to the STX I have the urge to crank the volume through the roof. As if my brain was craving more information in a way. With the Play! I'm able to keep my volume lower and the detail retrieval is on another level. The euphoric presentation is still there too. There is also a preamp out rear panel, front 1/4 jack and 3.5mm mic in - plus a remote and it is 5.25 form factor with external desk mount option. So, no more using my keyboard hotkeys on the couch haha. I'll be getting into some comparisons later this week for those who want more info from an early adopter but seeing used OpAmp STXs go for $200 range I can't see a single reason to not just get a Play instead. More to come soon, fellow PC Master Race friends.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

Figured I'd post an update here as my last Essence STX w/V5s has officially been retired from HTPC duty and gifted to a friend. I'm now running a Burson Play! with V6 Vivid OpAmps. On the STX the V5's to me were the best opamp option as they help with soundstage height, punch and authority. I really enjoyed the combo however the micro detail presentation would be the biggest weakness to me. I saw some mods using resistors on the back of the STX that would supposedly help this problem a bit however, not solve it. When listening to the STX I have the urge to crank the volume through the roof. As if my brain was craving more information in a way. With the Play! I'm able to keep my volume lower and the detail retrieval is on another level. The euphoric presentation is still there too. There is also a preamp out rear panel, front 1/4 jack and 3.5mm mic in - plus a remote and it is 5.25 form factor with external desk mount option. So, no more using my keyboard hotkeys on the couch haha. I'll be getting into some comparisons later this week for those who want more info from an early adopter but seeing used OpAmp STXs go for $200 range I can't see a single reason to not just get a Play instead. More to come soon, fellow PC Master Race friends.

They’re already shipping? I didn’t think they were shipping until the 15th o.O

 

[Voxata]

That's obviously a soft date, they seem to be shipping sooner I'm not the only one shipped to yet.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

That's obviously a soft date, they seem to be shipping to some sooner I'm not the only one shipped to yet.

Alright hopefully mine will be in soon too. I ordered mine back the first day they were available to order. I already sold my STX 2 so I'm eagerly awaiting this one. I have a conductor air I ordered from them a while back that I've been using that I still prefer to the STX but this should be a fairly sizeable upgrade to even that and it will mount inside a desktop too which will help a lot.

 

[Voxata]

Mine took some email communication, I'm sure it'll ship soon. I also liked the STX over the Air in all but detail retrieval depending on the system used. The play just kills the STX though in everything. I'm primarily using AKG K702s and a Carver M200T with Event 20/20 monitors. Very, very revealing setups.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

Mine took some email communication, I'm sure it'll ship soon. I also liked the STX over the Air in all but detail retrieval depending on the system used. The play just kills the STX though in everything. I'm primarily using AKG K702s and a Carver M200T with Event 20/20 monitors. Very, very revealing setups.

I use the HD 700's for my pair of cans. The 700's and 800's tend to be extremely picky over their signal source versus other headsets I've used. Thus far I've found Burson's products to be the best for them.

 

[Voxata]

The play would be a good match with vivid opamps for those cans I believe. I found this to be forgiving of harsh treble yet still detailed and enjoyable. On the 702s through my other gear I have trouble enjoying EDM and other treble sharp genres for long. On the play I feel like I can listen to the K702s for hours and the engagement is excellent. It's not rounded or smoothed over up top, everything is present - just not piercing.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

The play would be a good match with vivid opamps for those cans I believe. I found this to be forgiving of harsh treble yet still detailed and enjoyable. On the 702s through my other gear I have trouble enjoying EDM and other treble sharp genres for long. On the play I feel like I can listen to the K702s for hours and the engagement is excellent. It's not rounded or smooth over up top, everything is present - just not piercing.

I made sure I purchased the Vivid's when I bought one. So we'll see how it goes.

 

[Voxata]

I've posted my review Jonathan, https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/burson-play.22702/

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

I've posted my review Jonathan, https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/burson-play.22702/

Looks good I also wrote Burson today and asked them to join the audiophile community over at Massdrop. There's a lot of audiophiles there and you can get a lot of headphones there at a great price. Even some custom models are made by manufactures such as the HD6XX (special edition HD650 that they sell for $199,) AKG, Fostex and many others.

 

[gandahar]

did anyone upgraded to something better than the xonar stx ?

i am looking for one device (amp+dac) which would be better than the xonar stx
any suggestions ?