My first impression was here which you can look around if you haven’t read that.

Last time, I ordered 5 pcs of Burson Audio Discrete OpAmp for my ASUS Xonar Essence One. Unfortunately, I did a mistake. I needed 7 pcs instead of 5 pcs to complete the 4 pcs I/V, 2 pcs LPF, and 1 pc buffer stage. With only 5 pcs on hand that time, I only could use half side of the I/V stage – which was unfair to test.

So finally the last pair arrived somewhere last week, and I just could resist to plug them in.

Another unfortunate thing is, the PCB on the ASUS Xonar Essence One itself already too crowded. See the big giant Elna Cerafine capacitor below? That consumes enough space on the surrounding of the opamp socket. Surely there is no way for me to put those giant Burson Discrete OpAmp there.

I know it sounds a bit stupid and ridiculous, but the fastest way to solve this problem is by stacking opamp socket to elevate the socket higher, above the Elna Cerafine. By doing this way, I can easily plug the Burson in. Some of you might comment that this way may degrade the sound. Yes, that could be correct. But the worst sound still better than no sound (I mean, there would be no sound if I don’t plug the Burson into the I/V converter stage). Going back to the original DIP opamp definitely will not be a wise choice…

Socket

Here you go, the view from the top. As you can see the Burson Discrete OpAmp on the output stage? It consumes a lot of space on its surrounding. Definitely would be a big problem if you don’t have that kind of space around.

Top

Voila, the Burson all plugged-in. A bit crowded there, but definitely this is the best way from the worst – or I would say, I don’t have choice 😉

Back

The appearance from the side. The I/V stage definitely “higher” as I stack several opamp socket. While the LPF and output stage can be fitted normally without any additional opamp socket.

Side

How did it sound? At first few hours, the sound was a bit awful – I almost believed as I ever read somewhere long time ago that Burson was not suitable in I/V section. I fired up XLO Demagnetizing Track and Burn-in Noise for several hours and went to lunch, meeting, etc. Then the enjoyment begun. The separation was great, better than my previous experience with Burson on the LPF and output stage only. Staging was wide. Micro dynamic was much better. Bass was not too strong, but well pronounced. Mid and high were great – from Ingram Washington to Chie Ayado – all were impressive I would say. In overall, I think I’m happy to have them in my I/V section.

More impression should come later as I plan to put this ASUS Xonar Essence One into a more serious system…