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Review: The Burson Audio Play V6 Vivid

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Burson Audio Play V6 Vivid

The Play is the perfect all in one solution for PC audiophiles, and avid gamers! With a powerful headphone output, super clean DAC section and mic input it has all you need.

 

Burson Audio Play

 

Aesthetics and Build Quality:

The Play is a more industrial looking unit, with a simple black aluminium casing that feels sturdy and well finished. It is not a fancy looking unit, but it is functional and the size is excellent for desktop use. The LED display on the front looks great, and the volume knob fits in well with the overall design.

Build wise all the sockets are high quality and everything clicks into place tightly, there are sturdy RCA outputs on the back along with the power input. Burson offer a 5-year warranty on their products, so you know this is a unit that is built to last.

 

Features:

The Play is a DAC/Amp, it only has a USB input so you cannot hook up analogue sources unfortunately. On the upside, you can mount the Play in a PC tower by removing the case. It also has a Molex power connector to hook it up to your PC power supply and a backplate with the RCA outputs on it for use as a pre-amp.

The Play has a mic input on the front, which is not a simple pass through but it contains a high-quality pre-amp inside along with an ADC so it shows up as an input when plugged in via the USB. The quality of the mic input is really impressive, super detailed and quiet too.

 

Sound:

The Play with the V6 Vivid op-amps is one super combo, the Vivid op-amps are like the name would suggest. They inject a dynamism into your music and gaming experience like no other amp, and yet it doesn’t sound overly coloured either. The Play has an incredibly powerful class-A output stage that will drive the majority of headphones on the market with ease; it isn’t the best match for sensitive earphones though, and favours full-size headphones.

The sound is crisp, clean, and above all punchy. It has an engaging and highly enjoyable sound without becoming fatiguing. There is a tiny bit more body down low, but nothing that is excessive and the midrange is not affected by this. The same with the treble, there is a tiny bit more sparkle but without becoming harsh, as the sound is very natural.

With the Play you can roll op-amps to your heart’s content, but if you are looking for a great all rounder that injects a little fun into your listening, the V6 Vivid model is perfect.

 

Conclusion:

The Play with V6 Vivid is a versatile and powerful DAC/Amp that fits into a PC tower and includes a great mic pre-amp. Burson know how to make an excellent sounding and well built DAC/Amp, the Play is really an excellent piece of kit for the price.

Getting Amped Up for Autumn

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Getting Amped Up for Autumn

Our top recs for seriously impressive headphone amplifiers.

 

Stick a pin in it, summer’s just about done for.

Now we’re staring down the barrel of the big chill, and we’re gonna have to get serious about our indoor entertainment if we want to get through it without  either losing our marbles or freezing them off. What else are you supposed to do, take in the beautiful changing foliage? Get really into trick-or-treating?  As if.

It doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom, though! Whether you’re looking for something to complement your perfect gaming rig or a punch of power for your juice-hungry headphones, we’d be willing to bet we’ve got something for you to get excited about.

Pick 1: The Burson Audio Play with V6 Vivid

Settle in for a long winter’s night with this awesome, customisable amplifier from Burson. This is one of the most powerful headphone amps around, and it’s perfect for anybody looking to upgrade their gaming setup to include a serious sonic boost.

No high end soundcards in gaming feature the DAC chip found in the Play, which means PC gamers have to settle for distortion, poor sound quality, and noisy power supplies. Who wants subpar audio dragging you out of the moment when you’re trying to keep an ear out for raiders lurking in the capital wasteland?

The Play is perfect for users wanting to roll their opamps, which means you can tweak that sound to your exact specifications and lose yourself completely in whatever world you’d like to substitute for the cold, wet one outside.

Pick 2: The iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label with USB DAC

You’ve gotta show your face in the real world eventually, but why resign yourself to a less-than-stellar listening experience while you’re making moves?

The Micro iDSD Black Label is a perfect portable companion for those wanting to maintain a high standard both at home and on the way to your friend’s ill-advised homemade fireworks display. Drown out the sounds of his self-inflicted injuries with three power output modes to make it the perfect match for the most sensitive headphones all the way to the most power-hungry. What’s that? You need more options? It’s got you covered- the 3D+ option allows you to focus the stereo image, and the XBass+ gives you control over deepening and tightening bass frequencies.

This amp is a real ride-or-die. You’ll get 6-12 hours of power out of it depending on use and settings, and the USB port means you can charge your phone or other electronic devices as well! Do your other friends put in this kind of effort for you? Ricky won’t even lend you £5 for lunch. Serves him right about the fireworks mishap.

Pick 3: JDS Labs ‘The Element’

 

 

Treat yourself to a slice of simplicity in the form of The Element, a deceptively powerful unit from JDS Labs. You don’t need anything too showy- not like your neighbours already throwing their Christmas lights up. The Element’s gentle copper-coloured ring of light beneath the volume control will inspire plenty of warm cozy feelings.

The Element’s minimalist design houses absolute reference quality perfection in a body that doesn’t fight for attention, but will probably get it, because- let’s face it,  it looks good.

And it’s more multifaceted than it appears- just turn the amplifier off and use the analog jack inputs to turn The Element into a standalone DAC. The gift that keeps on giving!

So whether you’re dreading the change of the seasons or welcoming it with open arms, it’s more fun to do things with a buddy. Or three.

 

Shanling UP Portable DAC / Amplifier Review

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Shanling UP Portable Headphone USB DAC and Amplifier

Up your portable audio game with the Shanling UP, with excellent detail retrieval and a wide soundstage, a must have for the audiophile on the go.

Pros:

  • Clarity
  • Size
  • Value for money

Cons:

  • None for the price

Aesthetics, Build Quality and Accessories

The Shanling UP is a tiny little device, the size of a memory stick, with a glossy black front and matter black rear. It has a USB tybe C socket on the top and a 3.5mm headphone jack output on the bottom, on the front an LED will light up telling you the device is on and what sample rate is playing. It is so simplistic and elegant it will fit into any system with ease.

The build quality is excellent with the glass front and the rest of the body being aluminium. Both sockets feel tight, and there is nothing on it to go wrong.

Accessory wise all you get is various cables, which is all that is needed. You get a lightning to USB C, USB C to USB C, Micro USB to USB C and a regular USB to USB C cable, so it covers most phones and PC use.

Ease of use

The UP does not have an internal battery, it just plugs into your device and runs as a DAC/Amp. It should work with most android devices that support OTG accessories, iPhones with lightning port and also PC’s. With the new Windows 10 creators update you no longer need to install drivers.

The devices has no buttons, thus you control the volume level via your phone or PC, I had no issues getting it to work with a Samsung phone, and a regular Windows 10 PC. It is recommended you use the Hiby music app when using the UP.

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READ MORE: NuForce uDAC5 Portable Headphone DAC/Amp Review

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Sound Quality

The UP is so clean, so clear it is hard to go wrong for the price. I am a DAP user, and don’t use my phone for music as I like having files stored locally. But the trend to not want to carry an extra device nowadays has grown and also Apple did away with the headphone jack so the market for portable DAC/Amps is booming.

There are plenty out there, but few that offer full DSD support and an ES9018 DAC chip for this price. The Shanling UP may only be able to output 35mW @32 Ohms, but it gets loud and driver easy to medium hard to drive headphones.

From IEM’s to portable full-size headphones you will be guaranteed to get much cleaner and better separated sound with the UP.

  • Bass

The bass is tight and controlled, with precise kick and good body to back it up, the bass notes also decay as they should.

  • Mids

There is no added body to the lows, this means the midrange is allowed to shine and it does, with vocals coming across clean with excellent detail retrieval. There is also plenty of air around notes which allows you to pinpoint each and every part of the recording.

  • Treble

The treble is well extended without any harsh metallic tone to it, what is best about the highs is their imaging, the placement within the soundstage is critical and this little device has managed to get it spot on.

Conclusion

The Shanling UP is a superb High Resolution DAC/Amp for portable use, if you have some good headphones, you are not hearing their full potential out of a phone. This will change that, the UP with give you the clarity, detail and soundstage that your phone simply cannot.

Even being used with a PC there is a substantial upgrade from the on-board audio, so this can be used on your morning commute with your phone, then plug it into your PC at work and enjoy the same quality of music.

The Big Apple Rig Shootout – Which DAC and Amp is the Champ?

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Here at HiFiHeadphones we’re asked regularly about what amp/DAC combo might make the best job of converting and amplifying your Apple binary music collections. Would it be best to get an all in one solution like the Cypherlabs Theorem or Fostex HP-P1, or get a DAC such as the Cypher Labs Algorhythm Solo with a separate amp?

Further, how does the DAC in the Fostex compare with the DAC in the Theorem if both are connected to the same amp?

The proof of the audio pudding is in shoving the thing into your ears, so here’s our thoughts about how each solution compares!

Firstly, why even bother? The Apple iPod/iPhone has a headphone socket (just) so let’s plug straight in right? There’s nothing wrong with this, and most people find the internal DAC/Amp to be quite satisfactory when used along with their stock white earpods, or any low impedance headphone designed for portable use.

However there are those awkward types who require more power for their chosen headphones; more than the iThingy can put out. Others include those with high value in-ear headphones who will not compromise on audio quality when it comes to the digital to analogue conversion.

The wonderful full size Beyerdynamic T5p and in-ear Sennheiser IE800 were used to ascertain what might comprise the best sound and value for the average portable audiophile.

Fostex HP-P1

The original combined dac/amp for Apple; how does it fare with the new available equipment? When tried with both the Beyerdynamic T5p and Sennheiser IE800 the Fostex HP-P1 does a splendid job. Certainly better than the on-board Apple kit, but other makers have been doing their best in the intervening years of course. With this setup, the HP-P1 filter was slightly more natural sounding so assume the filter is in postion one throughout this test. Being the first up in a comparison, there’s not much to be written now but read on..

Cypher Labs Theorem 720

With the Sennheiser IE800, the Theorem gave a much better impression of control and there seemed to be more space within the midrange region. In comparison, the HP-P1 just got a bit cluttered there and the result was a loss of detail and imaging.

The Theorem compared favourably using the Beyerdynamic T5p too – the soundstage was wider and deeper with better imaging leading to a more immersive 3D sound. The detail level appeared to be the same, but with the Theorem this was smoother and more lush sounding; the Fostex HP-P1 was a little brittle next to this.

Cypher Labs Algorythm Solo with Just Audio AHA-120

I’ve compared this Class A amplifier with the Theorem before; I put it as the Theorem’s spandex versus Just Audio’s silk. Not to say the Theorem is a slouch, but when compared to a Class A amp it sounds slightly less good! And that’s the tradeoff – if you want no compromise in sound quality and wish to pick every component you will pay for it, and you will have to carry it around as well!

DACs Compared Only

For this test I decided to get a decent portable amp (Fiio E12) and compare the Line-Out features of the HP-P1 and Theorem. Things were not all that different in comparitive terms.

  • The HP-P1 had good detail but the presentation was flat with a limited soundstage; a bit on the dry side.

 

  • The Theorem had a wider soundstage but was still a little dry sounding. Detail was similar to the HP-P1 but again with more control.

 

  • The Algorythm Solo was a slight let down used in combination with the E12; soundstage was decidedly average with a flat feel to proceedings. Detail was comparitively muddy sounding.

And compared with the E12 amp (with no bass boost), the internal amp of the HP-P1 was slightly darker and more laid back, while the Theorem amp was much fuller and lusher sounding than the Theorem DAC + E12 combo.

Conclusion

The best solution in terms of sound only is the Algorythm Solo/AHA-120 pairing, but this scores lowest in terms of cost, bulk and convenience. Having to keep 3 separate battery operated devices charged is worth considering, and then there’s the interconnects which add cost and lengthen the audio chain. The sound is rich and effortless – a real treat which is earned by those having to carry all that gear!

The Cypher Labs Theorem 720 is the best all-rounder in my opinion – there’s an engaging, exciting energy about the sound from the Theorem which is close to the Solo/AHA-120 combo but it swaps the silky smoothness of the AHA-120 for a more in-your-face powerful sound. Also the amp in the Theorem gives a lushness which is really attractive.

The Fostex HP-P1 is the least impressive of the three; given that it was the first to be introduced this is no surprise. It is still a very competent and fine-sounding unit but has been surpassed since its introduction.