DaOchin
100+ Head-Fier
Unless they made a significant improvement I think that would be a mistake but I'm not Topping. It's one of my favorite things about the Dx7pro.
I've never opened mine and it's only been moved a couple times in the 16 months I've owned it. The last 'move' was about 6 weeks ago but it had been working fine up until today. I'll wait to hear back from Topping before I open it up, just in case they decide to cover it under warranty.Could the ribbon cable have detached itself from the back of the control panel? It’s the one you need to disconnect in order to open the unit up.
Recently I had the opportunity to try some Burson op-amps in my DX7 Pro.
The op-amps I tested were the V6 Classic Dual, and the V6 Vivid Dual. I also used a pair of the Burson Extension Legs, which made testing the 2 op-amps back to back an easy task. You will need the extension legs if you plan to upgrade to these op-amps, as they are too tall to fit inside the housing without them. I tested them in the headphone output stage only, with Sennheiser HD820 headphones.
Dismantling the housing is a fairly simple process of 6 screws on the underside and 2 at the rear. The motherboard will then slide out of the housing (after disconnecting a single ribbon cable connected to the front panel). After doing this, you can re-connect the front panel ribbon cable, to enable bench top testing with easy swap-out of the different op-amps via the extension legs. Otherwise, if you are upgrading without testing, it is a simple matter of connecting the extension legs and op-amps, then bending the extension legs so that the op-amps will clear the enclosure when it is slid back on. I will admit that this part was a little daunting for me, as I had seen many photos of these coming apart during the bending process. I needn’t have worried though. I found that pinching the wires near their mid-point and bending/twisting as required was the best way to do it without putting too much strain on the connections.
First up I tested the Classic op-amps. Immediately there was more detail across all frequencies, as well as an improved soundstage. Instruments were ‘de-cluttered’, with much better separation. Overall sound was slightly warmer than the stock op-amps in the DX7 Pro. Bass was deep, but appeared to have better detail. I thought to myself ‘I am keeping these!’
I then swapped the Classics out for the Vivid, and immediately there was a ‘sparkle’ to what i was listening to. They had all the benefits of the Classics, but treble became more pronounced, (at the slight cost of warmth), but i think this is exactly what is needed for the HD820, as they are a little warm to begin with. With the fantastic soundstage, this now gave an airiness to everything, with much more of the ‘just like being there’ feeling.
The DX7 Pro is an excellent DAC, but in my opinion has always been a little lacking on the amplifier stage. These op-amps go a long way to solving this, and making the DX7 Pro a more ‘complete’ DAC/Amp combo.
I will be keeping the Vivids, and look forward to many hours listening ahead
Burson Has kindly sent me a pair of V6-Vivid to test and write a review, using my DX7 pro.Not to jump on the bandwagon...
I was recently presented with the opportunity to test out any Burson Op-amp I chose and provide a review of my experience. After evaluating the options I decided to test the V6 Classics.
Impressions using the LCD-XC (2021), I tested both balanced and singled ended to compare if one provided a benefit over the other. To my ears the single ended output performed better, more detail, soundstage and punch from the drums so I stayed with that. Burson describes the Classics as more intimate but there is still plenty of space between the instruments and the imaging is superb. I would describe the sound as a bit more on the analytical side but still somewhat warm.
The new XC tuning is really good from the factory so I haven't used EQ much at all. Drums really shine, snare, toms, cymbals and bass kicks sound so immersive and when the recording separates the channels well it really adds another dimension to the sound. I've used my Elex, Ananda and Crystal 6 and I had baseline eqs set for all of them, I have been leaving the eqs disabled and honestly really been enjoying the different sounds of the headphones themselves. The flaws they have seem to stand out less or my hearing is going, either way the Classics make them all sound really good.
One of the few negatives is the form factor, the extensions are required to have any hope of closing the casing back up. As mentioned by others they are too tall to fit in the stock position unless maybe the front heat sink is changed and the plastic housing on the Opamps are removed. I have seen other posts about the flexible extension wiring failing but I have not been able to confirm this personally. Features of the sound signature have been relatively consistent across my headphones. Some may not like this but that's all down to personal preference. It could be said there is more coloring and it's not presenting the actual headphone sound signature. While eq is great it can be said there's a benefit to just sitting down and listening as well. I would like to try the Vivids to directly compare but that may have to wait a bit.
When I first purchased the Dx7Pro I was pleased but a little underwhelmed as perhaps I was expecting more from it. The Bursons are a great option for unlocking the performance that can be obtained from this DAC.
I am running V6 Vivds in the DX7 Pro in the pre circuit and I like it. The Burson extender legs are fragile as a daddy long legs with rickets. I tried filling out an Asus Essence II Strix 7.1 card with the Burson V6 using the extenders. What a nightmare!. I have a set of Sparkos that I was planning to slap in the DX7 Pro. I have been warned. I also have a set Burson V6 Classics that I might try. I do like the opamps in the pre-proHey guys, I've been following this thread for a while and I want to share my experience which is pretty fun IMO. First of all I tried the Burson V6 on both Headphone stage and DAC stage. Ngl I felt disapointed to hear no to REALLY subtle difference with the stock LMEs (even after 24h+ of burnin). But looking at this thread with ppl saying Sparkos 2590 are an even bigger step from burson, I wanted to try it myself. It shouldn't fit, but I thought I could make those fit somehow. First I tried it with sockets, it feels quite nice. As I know myself and I wouldn't turn back with LMEs, I tried to make those fit, the one on the right with 2 sockets barely fits and is not securely plugged. The second one was the most difficult by far : I thought I could just plug 2 extenders in a row, but it just wouldn't fit (the extremity where the socket is is too stiff and I broke 2 of them trying to bend them to their maximum). As I really didn't want to call this a day and leave my new op amps unused, I decided to make my own extender. I took 2 sockets, and soldered 8 wires. I was so desperate I didn't expect this to work, but my extender was in fact stronger than Burson ones. I managed to solder it 90° so I could make everything fit. And it works ! I closed the box and I'm listening to it right now. Conclusion : DON'T THINK YOU CAN FIT SPARKOS 2590 IN THE ORIGINAL CASE. Not that I find myself particularly good, but rather lucky, and actually it isn't worth the HIGH risk of breaking sockets, op amps or anything. I just put a picture of the final pre-assembly. As for the sound, I find it better now that theres some hours of burn in. The investment is not worth but I always was into this "get the most of your device" kind of thing. I ordered cheap class A opamps from ali express just because I wanted to have every socket in discrete but I won't even consider to re open the case, I'll just let it that way, I've done way too much already. (I don't know how to upload picture dumb me)
I was talking about SS2590. Those are the big pro version. But if you have the 3602 this is even a better fit than burson it appears, you shouldn't have any problem with themI am running V6 Vivds in the DX7 Pro in the pre circuit and I like it. The Burson extender legs are fragile as a daddy long legs with rickets. I tried filling out an Asus Essence II Strix 7.1 card with the Burson V6 using the extenders. What a nightmare!. I have a set of Sparkos that I was planning to slap in the DX7 Pro. I have been warned. I also have a set Burson V6 Classics that I might try. I do like the opamps in the pre-pro