Hello Everyone,
Nearly two months ago John from Burson Audio contacted me and asked me to try their hi-end opamps and write a 'honest' review about them.
Of course I said yes. Because of two reason;
First of all I don't believe hi-end stuff. I believe science, measurements, facts and finally my ears.
I'm not saying hi-end stuff cannot be scientific or measures good.
I was curious about burson opamps, some of my friends used them in the past and they said good things about them.
I also want to compare them to other opamps.
I built a R2R dac years ago, based on PCM61. I tried Vivid6 Singles, alongside with AD711,AD825,AD844,NE5534,LME49990.
Dac is pretty simple. Digital and analog ground is separated. PCB have discrete IV selectable with jumpers.
Dac power supply is based on Placid shunt psu.
Raspberry Pi and USB Xmos supplied with homebrew L-Adapter.
IV stage power supply is simple 317/337 regulators.
IV resistors are 3.3K, Lpf cap is Wima 470pf.
Player is Moodeaudio.
No oversampling.
IV stage psu voltage is 14.5V
First I tried Burson Vivid 6 Singles. Listened songs that I listened thousand times. First impression was mostly good.
After sometime when I power off dac, there was a nasty pop at the speakers.
I never had that before. This PCB was working with other opamps without any thump or pop.
I measured dc offset at the output of opamps. To my surprise there was a huge dc offset, around 50-100mV, both channels.
I never used any capacitors at the output of IV stage. Other than AD844 opamp has only few mv at the output, for AD844 I'm nulling DC with trimpot.
So I have to fix this problem with the Bursons. I simply put 10uf muse es capacitors at the output for both opamps.
So no pop or thump at power off.
Vivid 6's midrange sounding opamps. Bass is rolloff a little bit, Treble is balanced.
Vivid 6 singles more or less identical sounding opamps as LME49990.
AD825 has edgy sound, more harsh than vivid 6's and LME49990.
NE5534 (my favorite go to opamp for most projects) more flat than others. Not bad, but not spicy.
AD711 more balanced than any other.
Finally AD844 is (still) most impressive between these opamps. AD844 has firm bass notes, more controlled and more refined.
If I have to say more things about vivid6's, their ferrari red cases are looking great. It does not cause headache after long hours of listening.
Also I compared my analog setup and digital setup with same song with dB match. PCM61's with vivid6 and Empire e2000/iii with jico stylus sounds so close to each other.
cheers,
Nearly two months ago John from Burson Audio contacted me and asked me to try their hi-end opamps and write a 'honest' review about them.
Of course I said yes. Because of two reason;
First of all I don't believe hi-end stuff. I believe science, measurements, facts and finally my ears.
I'm not saying hi-end stuff cannot be scientific or measures good.
I was curious about burson opamps, some of my friends used them in the past and they said good things about them.
I also want to compare them to other opamps.
I built a R2R dac years ago, based on PCM61. I tried Vivid6 Singles, alongside with AD711,AD825,AD844,NE5534,LME49990.
Dac is pretty simple. Digital and analog ground is separated. PCB have discrete IV selectable with jumpers.
Dac power supply is based on Placid shunt psu.
Raspberry Pi and USB Xmos supplied with homebrew L-Adapter.
IV stage power supply is simple 317/337 regulators.
IV resistors are 3.3K, Lpf cap is Wima 470pf.
Player is Moodeaudio.
No oversampling.
IV stage psu voltage is 14.5V
First I tried Burson Vivid 6 Singles. Listened songs that I listened thousand times. First impression was mostly good.
After sometime when I power off dac, there was a nasty pop at the speakers.
I never had that before. This PCB was working with other opamps without any thump or pop.
I measured dc offset at the output of opamps. To my surprise there was a huge dc offset, around 50-100mV, both channels.
I never used any capacitors at the output of IV stage. Other than AD844 opamp has only few mv at the output, for AD844 I'm nulling DC with trimpot.
So I have to fix this problem with the Bursons. I simply put 10uf muse es capacitors at the output for both opamps.
So no pop or thump at power off.
Vivid 6's midrange sounding opamps. Bass is rolloff a little bit, Treble is balanced.
Vivid 6 singles more or less identical sounding opamps as LME49990.
AD825 has edgy sound, more harsh than vivid 6's and LME49990.
NE5534 (my favorite go to opamp for most projects) more flat than others. Not bad, but not spicy.
AD711 more balanced than any other.
Finally AD844 is (still) most impressive between these opamps. AD844 has firm bass notes, more controlled and more refined.
If I have to say more things about vivid6's, their ferrari red cases are looking great. It does not cause headache after long hours of listening.
Also I compared my analog setup and digital setup with same song with dB match. PCM61's with vivid6 and Empire e2000/iii with jico stylus sounds so close to each other.
cheers,
Interesting.
I replaced the stock LM833N opamps in my WAF Najda DSP X/O DAC to Burson years ago and was pleased with the result.
The sound was, how shall I put it -a bit more 'vivid'🙂
Many have done this change too.
No pops or cracks on power off ever. Not heard of any other Najda user having that either.
Yours are off course the newer more compact ones.
It's been 8 years + now, and they have been good as gold.
This is them mounted on the first Najda version. I'm now on a later dark green V1.3 (I think it is) board with the same result.
I replaced the stock LM833N opamps in my WAF Najda DSP X/O DAC to Burson years ago and was pleased with the result.
The sound was, how shall I put it -a bit more 'vivid'🙂
Many have done this change too.
No pops or cracks on power off ever. Not heard of any other Najda user having that either.
Yours are off course the newer more compact ones.
It's been 8 years + now, and they have been good as gold.
This is them mounted on the first Najda version. I'm now on a later dark green V1.3 (I think it is) board with the same result.
Update;
I noticed opamp sockets causes oscillation somehow (intermittent connection?).
I decided to remove sockets and solder Burson Vivid 6 opamps directly to pcb.
With sockets opamps was heating (more than I expected). Without sockets they run cooler.
Also I was dealing with high dc offset. I never thought sockets introduce this.
Directly soldered opamps now have few mv DC.
Other IC opamps does not have this problem. Because their legs are thicker. Burson opamps legs are precision type and after few removals sockets lost precise contact.
For the sound; It changed a lot. Now vivid 6's my favorite opamps 👍
I noticed opamp sockets causes oscillation somehow (intermittent connection?).
I decided to remove sockets and solder Burson Vivid 6 opamps directly to pcb.
With sockets opamps was heating (more than I expected). Without sockets they run cooler.
Also I was dealing with high dc offset. I never thought sockets introduce this.
Directly soldered opamps now have few mv DC.
Other IC opamps does not have this problem. Because their legs are thicker. Burson opamps legs are precision type and after few removals sockets lost precise contact.
For the sound; It changed a lot. Now vivid 6's my favorite opamps 👍
Stray inductance and capacitance probably - different opamps require different amounts of decoupling so its easy to get oscillation problems rolling high speed opamps in a circuit designed for slower / stabler ones... Perhaps adding more decoupling would also have fixed it.
The heat and offset are symptoms of the RF oscillation too, not just the big increase in distortion and noise.
All modern high performance audio opamps should sound the same if correctly decoupled and not overloaded, except for different noise floors. Oscillating opamps all sound different!
The heat and offset are symptoms of the RF oscillation too, not just the big increase in distortion and noise.
All modern high performance audio opamps should sound the same if correctly decoupled and not overloaded, except for different noise floors. Oscillating opamps all sound different!
So basically another pointless thread based on a faulty setup.
I wonder if there are 100n decoupling caps on the burson boards already.
And if not, why not - seems like a simple addition that would improve the success rate of their product when blindly dropped into a circuit without measurement equipment.
I always use decoupling caps for opamps. Directly soldered underside between power pins. Shortest distance. COG 100nf 👍
I don't think burson opamps have it internally.
I don't think burson opamps have it internally.
IIRC that's right, no decoupling caps internally. C0G shouldn't be necessary, these are decoupling caps!
There was a increased distortion and some kind of buzzing noise at one channel. It was random.
So I decided to remove the red cases;
Opamp pins at one side is not cutted from inside and these pins were touching each other. Other opamp pins was ok.
As I said it is intermittent and random. Before I removed the red cases when I tap top of the opamp this buzz and distortion vanishes or resurface.
I cut these inner pins. But buzzing sound does not go away anymore. I think opamp has damaged by this manufacturing error.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted 🙂)
So I decided to remove the red cases;
Opamp pins at one side is not cutted from inside and these pins were touching each other. Other opamp pins was ok.
As I said it is intermittent and random. Before I removed the red cases when I tap top of the opamp this buzz and distortion vanishes or resurface.
I cut these inner pins. But buzzing sound does not go away anymore. I think opamp has damaged by this manufacturing error.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted 🙂)
Just how much do these opamps cost....?
Enough to justify each one being tested before being sold?
Enough to justify each one being tested before being sold?
A beautifully succinct statement and long overdue in this forum 🙂
I just checked their price. 75$ pair. They are covered by lifetime warranty.
These were send as samples. Thus I didn't use this option to change things...
These were send as samples. Thus I didn't use this option to change things...
Might be worth contacting them anyway to see if they will replace the defective one.
