In his Ampapa Q1 review, Andrew of AndrewChoppa’s Audio Addiction installed Burson V7 Classic op amps in the Q1’s ESS Sabre section. The Q1 is a desktop DAC with two separate DAC architectures and swappable op amps.
He had no op amps small enough for the Q1’s AKM section, so he installed the V7 Classics on the ESS Sabre side.
With the Burson V7 Classics in, he found the difference became more apparent: “some of the body missing from the ESS chip had returned”, and the staging got bigger, with more in front and behind. On Metallica’s “One” the ESS section with the V7 Classics “passed the chopper test with flying colors”.
Overall, with the Burson V7s he preferred the ESS chip, for its crisper leading-edge notes, resolution, gain in the lower end and bigger soundstage.
Comparing the Q1 with the V7 Classics to a FiiO K13 R2R, he found staging and placement better on the Q1 with the Bursons. “With the V7 Classics, the Q1 really sounds great,” he says, noting that without the Bursons the comparison would probably have been a lot closer.
Discover the full features and specifications on the Burson Supreme Sound Opamp V7 Pro product page.
