General Information
My (basshead oriented) gear:
Phone: Samsung Z-Flip 3 5G (only using BT at highest quality LDAC 990kbps)
Music Player: Neutron, (Heavy on bass EQ, preamp slider at -30, gain slider at 100)
Dac/Amp: Xduoo XD-05 Balanced (1000mW)
Balanced 4.4 mm cable: (Aliexpress) ivipQ Jinzhi 8-core HiFi IEM Cable Graphene & 6N Silver-plated OCC
IEMs: Sony EX800ST (they need around 500mW+ to shine) + tape mod
Opamps I tried in Xduoo XD05 bal:
Burson V5i-D, AD708SQ, stock (the preinstalled) OPA1612
Pros:
100% new&original part if bought from Burson directly, very easy to install with sturdy/unbreakable pins, good price for the sound boost/build quality, good looking design, no distotion at any frequency, absolutely black background, no ear pearcing highs (no need to eq highs at all)
(not really) Cons:
Volume knob on Xduoo XD05 bal needs +2 steps compared to other opamps I tried (below), but I never needed to turn its gain switch on.
Opamps vs Opamps:
Stock Xduoo's OPA1612 vs AD708SQ vs Burson V5i-D:
Stock opamps are sounding like you hear music from a room next door. They were ok, very neutral, until I bought AD708SQ. I am very bass/subbass oriented (95% UK DRILL) and AD's gave me the real bottomless (sub)bass I always wanted, however, mids and voice with AD's are a bit rolled off and highs are sometimes sibilant.
WIth Bursons, I get solid and higher quality (sub)bass, say 90% compared to AD's, but mids, voice and highs are pleasure to listen to. No matter the quality of recording (!)
With all 3 opamps I used same EQ settings. When real deep and strong (sub)bass hits, only Bursons play the frequency correctly and I must lower the volume temporarily to protect my ears. It is like Bursons do not overload/skip focus under any power input/output.
Stock opamps would not reach so deep and AD's would sometimes distort (kind of cool sounding distortion, but there is more quantity and less quality (sub)bass for sure) which is allright if you do not care about quality/quantity (sub)bass ratio so much.
I would say AD's will let you not care about quality but they go more into 20-40Hz with raw power. Bursons will play the 20-40 Hz with more precise sound and 90% raw power compared to AD's, which I gladly take.
I only have the Bursons for 2 weeks (about 50 hours total listening time), and the more I hear the sound the more I like it. I am not a native English speaker but with Bursons now I understand music lyrics much more clearly than with any dac/amp I owned before.
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When listening to not so uber (sub)bass or basshead oriented music:
Depeche Mode, The Prodigy, Sonic Youth, Kool Keith, Public Enemy
_________________________________________________________________________________
Bursons all the way. Period.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: Samsung Z-Flip 3 5G (only using BT at highest quality LDAC 990kbps)
Music Player: Neutron, (Heavy on bass EQ, preamp slider at -30, gain slider at 100)
Dac/Amp: Xduoo XD-05 Balanced (1000mW)
Balanced 4.4 mm cable: (Aliexpress) ivipQ Jinzhi 8-core HiFi IEM Cable Graphene & 6N Silver-plated OCC
IEMs: Sony EX800ST (they need around 500mW+ to shine) + tape mod
Opamps I tried in Xduoo XD05 bal:
Burson V5i-D, AD708SQ, stock (the preinstalled) OPA1612
Pros:
100% new&original part if bought from Burson directly, very easy to install with sturdy/unbreakable pins, good price for the sound boost/build quality, good looking design, no distotion at any frequency, absolutely black background, no ear pearcing highs (no need to eq highs at all)
(not really) Cons:
Volume knob on Xduoo XD05 bal needs +2 steps compared to other opamps I tried (below), but I never needed to turn its gain switch on.
Opamps vs Opamps:
Stock Xduoo's OPA1612 vs AD708SQ vs Burson V5i-D:
Stock opamps are sounding like you hear music from a room next door. They were ok, very neutral, until I bought AD708SQ. I am very bass/subbass oriented (95% UK DRILL) and AD's gave me the real bottomless (sub)bass I always wanted, however, mids and voice with AD's are a bit rolled off and highs are sometimes sibilant.
WIth Bursons, I get solid and higher quality (sub)bass, say 90% compared to AD's, but mids, voice and highs are pleasure to listen to. No matter the quality of recording (!)
With all 3 opamps I used same EQ settings. When real deep and strong (sub)bass hits, only Bursons play the frequency correctly and I must lower the volume temporarily to protect my ears. It is like Bursons do not overload/skip focus under any power input/output.
Stock opamps would not reach so deep and AD's would sometimes distort (kind of cool sounding distortion, but there is more quantity and less quality (sub)bass for sure) which is allright if you do not care about quality/quantity (sub)bass ratio so much.
I would say AD's will let you not care about quality but they go more into 20-40Hz with raw power. Bursons will play the 20-40 Hz with more precise sound and 90% raw power compared to AD's, which I gladly take.
I only have the Bursons for 2 weeks (about 50 hours total listening time), and the more I hear the sound the more I like it. I am not a native English speaker but with Bursons now I understand music lyrics much more clearly than with any dac/amp I owned before.
_________________________________________________________________________________
When listening to not so uber (sub)bass or basshead oriented music:
Depeche Mode, The Prodigy, Sonic Youth, Kool Keith, Public Enemy
_________________________________________________________________________________
Bursons all the way. Period.
__________________________________________________________________________________
