I voted this as "Poor", I think you could say it's even "broken" given it's myriad of poor performance and strange inconsistencies combined with the very high price you're paying for this headphone amplifier.
What is discreet about it when there were so many op-amps that you can even roll?Incapable SOTA engineering (most likely) based on the myth that „discrete“ is (automatically) better.
So did I. The missing DC offset regulation left me no other choice.I voted this as "Poor", I think you could say it's even "broken" given it's myriad of poor performance and strange inconsistencies combined with the very high price you're paying for this headphone amplifier.
There's actually a lot to like but it's so poorly done. It's maybe serviceable with those well mounted/cooled outputs, the rolling OP amps is good for the rolling crowd. It has a bit of a heavy duty car audio amp look to it and some dig that stuff. USD $1200 is just wayyy too much.woah
Subjective people worship this amp.
What I find very telling tough is how far down this amp is in the SINAD chart, and Yet Amir couldn't detect any audible distortion or anything wrong with it.
Can you list a few?There's actually a lot to like but it's so poorly done.
The objective value of engineering for ultra low distortion is just theoretical, no demonstrated audible benefit.What do you find telling about that?
The objective value of engineering for ultra low distortion is just theoretical, no demonstrated audible benefit.
It appears to be all exposed when opened and for some buyers that is a good thing.Can you list a few?
Do you list these as positives for people who ASR aims to educate or for you?It appears to be all exposed when opened and for some buyers that is a good thing.
The PCB red color and other colored components create interest.
OP amp rolling is good for many peeps and here they have a whole system of that stuff ready to roll.
Some dual power supply thing might be more geek heaven to delve into.
The case appears to be nice and heavy duty.
Everything appears to be firmly/tightly mounted on the PCB including those aligned/misaligned jacks.
The components are manageable in size and easy to see.
For a noob this is geek heaven.
It's lay'd out in a fairly logical manner. If a service manual is available that would make it more valuable.
If somebody could figure out how to RGB this thing that would be ace.
True that, but theres also the counter part to that, why not just do a good permorming amp, like topping, smsl and so many others have demonstrated its possible and just create a defeatable filter that "rounds" the tonality lowering the highs and lows (which is the real difference between a linear amp and this) and an analog second harmonic distortion generator that you can set to your liking and voila, you have an amp that does it all, has a sound signature you can tailor to your brand and has actual features, not constrains, that you can justify its price on.The objective value of engineering for ultra low distortion is just theoretical, no demonstrated audible benefit.
For neither. It's a great piece to play with, change things, and maybe try to overcome it's horrible test specs. There's peeps/enthusiasts that dig this sort of cult status or whatever this gear has and they dig changing things for what they imagine are the better. I made a conscious decision a few months ago to not hassle OP amp rollers and MOD'ers because they are just into that scheme of things and for many this is their way of getting educated in electronics. So I don't see the Burson tested here as being a throw away. It has uses for some people and some of those OP amp rolling peeps are here at ASR I think going from what I've read. As this unit has lethal to headphones output power capability I imagine for some peeps that makes it better/more exciting for them and the amp is then held to a higher regard. I don't think forcing OP amp rollers into the closets is a goal. They should be able to come forth and request help with stuff so they can self educate.Do you list these as positives for people who ASR aims to educate or for you?
I don't see this amp having recessed highs and lows. I don't know where you got that from. I have no desire for flawed frequency response or a distortion generator. All that would cost money. Of course the law of diminishing return is what it is, but I don't think I have seen any Topping or SMSL produce that much power. What is "performing"? Performing in some extreme metrics that don't matter to no one? This amp performs in producing power, yes as Amir said, it's a niche need, but at least there is a niche part of the market that would benefit from this.True that, but theres also the counter part to that, why not just do a good permorming amp, like topping, smsl and so many others have demonstrated its possible and just create a defeatable filter that "rounds" the tonality lowering the highs and lows (which is the real difference between a linear amp and this) and an analog second harmonic distortion generator that you can set to your liking and voila, you have an amp that does it all, has a sound signature you can tailor to your brand and has actual features, not constrains, that you can justify its price on.
Yeah, that's just another problem to add to the others.......not to mention the philosophy of messing with opamps seems unnecessary as a starter.So did I. The missing DC offset regulation left me no other choice.