Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
VRacer111
491
Jun 27, 2017
Looking for an amp with some ooomph that sounds neutral, clear, and detailed... from what I've found on the H10 it will do well with my modded TH-X00 PH and M1060, both which come alive with a powerful amp. And you can upgrade the Opamps to Burson V5's to improve it even more. Just need one more person...
VRacer111Pairs nicely with most of my 'phones... X00 MH, HE500 and many more from sensitive iem's, to Grados to high impedance dynamics like my T1.
VRacer111
491
Jul 21, 2017
ElectronicVicesYeah, it really pairs well with both my modded M1060's and modded TH-X00 PH's. Really enjoying this amp... so much I've put my Meier JAZZ-ff up for sale. Also, currently doing some modding to one of the H10's, adding in heatsinks and will be venting the case for better heat management. Here's how the H10 looks now, all opened up, while waiting for more parts to come in (decided to go with the brand new V6 Burson opamps, full set in both Vivid and Classic tunings):
search
PirateIce
232
Jul 21, 2017
VRacer111oh man, burson hype delusions have reached massdrop.
IcyBeer
33
Jul 23, 2017
PirateIceWhat do you mean by that? This is the first I've heard of this amp, kinda newish to the audiophile game.
PirateIce
232
Jul 23, 2017
IcyBeerI didn't make a comment about this amp, I believe Gustard is known for quality amps but have not used one. This was a reply to a comment made about taking opamps OUT from a quality amp, and replacing them with opamps from a small australian company that has focused on a few headphone amps and their own discrete-ish- opamps... and their cables with opamps stuck in them... that tend to get overhyped on head-fi from reviewers sent free samples, at least the ones whose soundcards didnt blow up tend to put up rave reviews. I used them on soundcard they list and they couldn't even work for more than few moments without cutting out and crackling. We're talking snake oil... i mean opamps, that cost almost 100 dollars a piece. To compare you can buy an IC opamp to replace these for about 1 dollar... if you're not a student getting it as a free sample... But to get a fully discrete opamp from a competing company, max 40 bucks, still usually overkill.
VRacer111
491
Jul 24, 2017
PirateIceWell, I've not done any opamp changing before but I did buy 2 of the H10s from the last drop precisely so I could leave one stock as a standard while I change opamps in the other to see what differences they make. Decided to try the Burson V6's first since they are brand new, was able to get %15 off them, they have long lead time, and the overheating issue with the V5s when used in the Gustard has supposedly been solved (higher voltage range in the V6 and a vented design [V5 are 'sealed']). Plan on trying out all different opamps in every price range to see what changes they make, but starting with the Bursons first because they are considered the top one for use in the Gustard H10 by most Gustard H10 owners swapping opamps.
Down the line will also be changing out the main capacitor bank for higher capacitive rated ones... so will go from the stock 35,200uf configuration to around a 75k+uf configuration.
PirateIce
232
Jul 24, 2017
VRacer111Sounding pretty over the top, care to support that "most gustard users" statement? I'm guessing its a head-fi link if you come up with something. Personally I'd be a little more concerned about those "supposedly been solved" issues when we are talking 70 dollar opamps. I mean Burson marketed this pretty aggressively to gustard users with the v5's and no they could not handle the voltage, so less than a year later burson comes out with the v6 and people act like the v5 got rave reviews... from its sample recipients yes, from others? mostly crack, pople, oh snap... Sorry but I'm a little wary of the fact that Burson's income seems to be from supposedly objective "reviews" of people not disclosing their involvement with Burson, and head-fi seems to be quite the place to bring these people together whereas most people already wary of snake oil stay far away from such over priced op amps. You realize sparkos makes discrete opamps, cheaper, long since had rave reviews, doesnt have to "fix" it every year to try and keep selling, and is unlikely to blow up your amp or pop and crackle... yet this eludes most burson commenters because its beside the point they are trying to make... buy our opamps!
VRacer111
491
Jul 25, 2017
PirateIceYes it is the Gustard H10 thread over at Head-fi. I'm also getting the Sparkos Labs SS3601 opamps as well. The Sparkos are very highly regarded in the thread, even moreso than the Bursons, but their dual opamps are not compatible with the Gustard. I will be trying basically every opamp that will work with the Gustard, I very much like experimenting and tweaking. First starting with the Burson V6's because of the reasons I listed previously. The V5's were NEVER going to be one of my choice due to all the issues it has being in an enclosed and unvented Class A amp. The Gustard H10 head-fi thread is littered with V5 issues and horror stories.
Was planning to go with the V4 (which has no such issues and are cheaper) but when getting ready to purchase, the V6 made it's appearance and decided to take a chance with them instead. I truthfully am a little uneasy with going with the Burson V6, it's brand new and somewhat similar to the V5 in form factor. But I am also willing to take a chance on them being my H10s will have a lot more cooling than stock and there is enough of a change from the V5 with the V6 that it seems they could be used in an H10. We will see in time.
I bought two H10s for a reason, one to be a standard and one to use as a testing platform - to see what kind of tailoring can be had for its sound profile. Both will get identical cooling mods, but only one will be used to try out different opamps. I will say though, stock the H10 is most excellent sounding amp, especially after it has quite a few hours run time on it.
VRacer111Hi, I was wondering any luck with the Burson V6 by any chance? And on a separate note, can anyone confirm the original op-amp that was inside (make/ model)? Thanks in advance.
VRacer111
491
Sep 4, 2017
OZ.Bloody.RabbitYes, I think I like the V6 Classic more than the V6 Vivid - no issues so far.
The stock opamps are BB OPA134PA 4BW7NHB for the singles and Ti 96A35PM NE5532P for the duals.
search

search
VRacer111Hi, nice to hear good news. The reason I am asking (and my bad for the late introduction) is since I bought mine 2nd hand from the seller already in 2nd hand, and in stock form I am having trouble convincing myself this is a 300 washington desktop amplifier. My main issue is pairing with my PM2 and K712, which have horrible muddy mid and grainy or tiny highs. Not so much trouble with my hd700 and dt880 edition. Like many others, I started ordering alternate opamps for rolling, and the first to arrive is a pair of lme49990 (in dual dip8 form) swaping out the 5532. My batch of mono are still in mail. The first instant I switch it on I was left speechless, in a goodway. I spent the next 90 mins melting away in the music, almost moving to tears on few occasions. I would discribe it in much more transparent, sparkling harmonics, open stage and details ( I'd guess which some would say is treble heavy) but retaining authority in the bass department. Suspecting I might just have a bad batch of chips, I swapped with some 5532N (arriving day after) which is design for audio and the nightmare returned... More chips is on the way, we will see. My 5532P is ti 46AQSHM (I tried to upload some picture but having difficulty sync between my phone storage and the app)
VRacer111
491
Sep 4, 2017
OZ.Bloody.RabbitI thought the stock opamp sound was good, definitely liked it better than the Meier Audio JAZZ-ff because of how the mids and bass comes across along with better microdetail. My main phones are modded TH-X00 PH (Lawton driver housing dampening and Jmoney earpads with custom made attenuators), modded Monolith M1060 (Audeze LCD microsuede pads, custom designed and 3D printed grilles, and paper towel 3" disc under the grilles), and stock HD700. Also have modded Philips SHP9500S (Shure 1840 pads with custom made attenuators and modded MrSpeakers comfort leather strap for the Fostex TX0RP) which are mainly for gaming or unamped listening. The Burson V6 classic did improve upon the stock sound with better clarity and detail, once the dip switch was moved to the +6 setting for each channel - on stock default setting was not really feeling them. This is how one of my H10's currently looks:
search

search

search
Still in the process of making it actively cooled. Will be designing an exhaust manifold for the top slot over the large heat sink which a small remotely controlable fan will be attached to via ducting, and also covering the side intake holes with custom 3D printed filters.
I will be modding the second H10 to try passive cooling with it, basically just drilling the top with a strategic pattern of vent holes. Internally right now it looks the same as the one that will be actively cooled, just with the V6 Vivids:
search
VRacer111Sexy looking indeed. I don't oppose to the active/ passive cooling thing, considering how Class A topology works and it's pumping out massive current. But I will be careful with the power supply of fans or pumps (PWM power supply) as being fairly noisely signal wise, not to mention physically noise and vibration. A solution (if I'm doing it my self) might be running the fan (a large one, you get enough pressure, not "speed") or pump (in a water chilled) in a separate DC circuit. And the mesh to cover the hole is a good idea, as dust-bunny/s and bugs and what-no tends to attractive to holes uncovered. Having speak that, I don't notice any significant heat generated on my unit, even I tend to run it overnight on every night (after dinner to morning before I leave for work). I did intented to use the OPA627 on my momo chip and might warrant a stand alone heatsink on top (they are still in the mail). It appears that the 5532 just doesn't like the +/-15V supply. I did fiddle with the dip switch and now I'm happy with the +6 with my LME49990ma dual chips installed. I found a new use of my set of 5532 in a buffer stage (running at +/-12V) between my DAC O/P and passive preamp.
search

search

search

search
The white box is the buffer stage, a +/-12V supply to pair of 5532 p. ch. in unity gain. My passive preamp (mono 10k trim pot) I left them at 12 o-clock, going into H10, +6 pre gain, then usually 1 or 2 o-clock for most of my cans. Now I can use most of my cans, PM2, K712 for almost everything K550 and mdr-7506 are too clean/ bass polite other than critical listening ATH-W1000X and mdr-Z7 are good for movie or effects
PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE
Trending Posts in Audiophile