Burson Soloist 3X Performance

[Martin]

Hello @Martin,
Any luck with the burson refund ?

I received a full refund. The Conductor 3X Reference is currently on backorder. A death in my immediate family has also put my search on hold. It may be a number of months before I get another one to Amir for testing.

Martin

 

[Red@]

I received a full refund. The Conductor 3X Reference is currently on backorder. A death in my immediate family has also put my search on hold. It may be a number of months before I get another one to Amir for testing.

Martin

I'm sorry. God rest his/her soul
Thanks for your reply

 

[Veri]

I received a full refund. The Conductor 3X Reference is currently on backorder. A death in my immediate family has also put my search on hold. It may be a number of months before I get another one to Amir for testing.

Martin

Sorry to hear. Wishing you strength.

 

[ALex_hha]

But from my experience with both, the usb B is more robust so for stiff cables it will les likely break compared to usb c ( usb c is susceptible to breaking from my experience)

so it is more about practical point of view not sound quality ?

 

[Red@]

so it is more about practical point of view not sound quality ?

In my opinion yes

 

[Martin]

I thought Burson's use of a USB-C for the DAC input was odd, one expects USB-B. I agree there should be no difference in sound quality and that the B connector is more robust than the C connector but in a stationary desktop DAC Like the Conductor 3X cable/connector durability should not be an issue. USB-C cables for use with cell phones seem to be consumables like lightning cables. They break frequently and are easily replaced with cheap and plentiful replacement cables.

Martin

 

[Doodski]

I thought Burson's use of a USB-C for the DAC input was odd, one expects USB-B. I agree there should be no difference in sound quality and that the B connector is more robust than the C connector but in a stationary desktop DAC Like the Conductor 3X there should be no issue. USB-C cables for use with cell phones seem to be consumables like lightning cables. They break frequently and are easily replaced with cheap and plentiful replacement cables.

Martin

The durability and capability in cycling USB connections has really improved.

 

[Red@]

Already read this review, very few data. Data hard to read in my opinion.

Regarding this review, I wouldn't trust very much. The graphs are cherry picked ,and mostly without load, and there is no details in the legend of those very few graphs. also within the forum itself, the graphs have differences.
Having read the Fun amp review by @amirm you can see that the performance changes dramatically depending on load.
Also even @amirm did not include the cross talk figure (maybe bad in there) for the fun.
I really wonder why is there sooo little mesurements info for this brand. all its reputation is based on subjective reviews from austrialian reviewers that hypes it.
Somebody needs to have a look at it sometime seing how expensive it is compared to similar performance competition products.
I still hope it is a good brand having bought one myself based on that hype around it (rushed decision likely )

 

[saadi703]

Regarding this review, I wouldn't trust very much. The graphs are cherry picked ,and mostly without load, and there is no details in the legend of those very few graphs. also within the forum itself, the graphs have differences.
Having read the Fun amp review by @amirm you can see that the performance changes dramatically depending on load.
Also even @amirm did not include the cross talk figure (maybe bad in there) for the fun.
I really wonder why is there sooo little mesurements info for this brand. all its reputation is based on subjective reviews from austrialian reviewers that hypes it.
Somebody needs to have a look at it sometime seing how expensive it is compared to similar performance competition products.
I still hope it is a good brand having bought one myself based on that hype around it (rushed decision likely )

Have you received your Burson Soloist 3X Performance yet?

 

[preload]

A good friend of mine is an analog chip designer. I asked him what he thought about the concept of discrete "IC" op amps, and said it made no sense - because the tolerances of the components inside a standard op amp are far tighter than can be achieved by through-hole or surface mount components.

So the whole idea of discrete op amps sounded like Burson creating a problem to match its solution.

 

[Red@]

A good friend of mine is an analog chip designer. I asked him what he thought about the concept of discrete "IC" op amps, and said it made no sense - because the tolerances of the components of a standard op amp are far tighter than can be achieved by through hole or surface mount components.

So the whole idea of discrete op amps sounded like Burson creating a problem to match its solution.

I understand. But if they make those opamps cheap enough (compared to the margins they are generating on their products), they can manage to buy/produce them in an overwhelming bulk, and only select the ones within that tight margin.
Maybe that's what explains the price hike compared to other top performing SS amps.
(My soloist arrive in 4th week of may. Hope it is good. )

 

[preload]

I understand. But if they make those opamps cheap enough (compared to the margins they are generating on their products), they can manage to buy/produce them in an overwhelming bulk, and only select the ones within that tight margin.
Maybe that's what explains the price hike compared to other top performing SS amps.
(My soloist arrive in 4th week of may. Hope it is good. )

Not sure if you do. Each op amp contains numerous microscopic internal components - transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc. The tolerance of each of these components in an opamp is exceptional compared to what can be achieved with conventional components, soldered to a PCB, as featured in a so-called "discrete" op amp (a la Burson). So the prediction is that a discrete op amp will perform poorly compared to an audio grade (I use thst term loosely) op amp that can be mass produced with remarkable tolerances. Think about it, if you can cram a million transistors into an Intel cpu, the technology is certainly there to fabricate a simple op amp.

I also believe someone actually measured a Burson discrete amp and compared it to the "usual" suspects from BB/TI, Analog, etc., and the Burson was terrible.

 

[Red@]

Not sure if you do. Each op amp contains numerous microscopic internal components - transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc. The tolerance of each of these components in an opamp is exceptional compared to what can be achieved with conventional components, soldered to a PCB, as featured in a so-called "discrete" op amp (a la Burson). So the prediction is that a discrete op amp will perform poorly compared to an audio grade (I use thst term loosely) op amp that can be mass produced with remarkable tolerances. Think about it, if you can cram a million transistors into an Intel cpu, the technology is certainly there to fabricate a simple op amp.

I also believe someone actually measured a Burson discrete amp and compared it to the "usual" suspects from BB/TI, Analog, etc., and the Burson was terrible.

I would like very much to understand this more, as I don't get what a "discrete opamp" means. To me an opamp is an opamp.
Would you care to explain the difference or provide some link ?
I say that beceause to the best of my knowledge there is no soldering in burson opamp implementation, an that is exacly why people keep rolling opamps inside the soloist for exemple.

 

[preload]

I would like very much to understand this more, as I don't get what a "discrete opamp" means. To me an opamp is an opamp.
Would you care to explain the difference or provide some link ?
I say that beceause to the best of my knowledge there is no soldering in burson opamp implementation, an that is exacly why people keep rolling opamps inside the soloist for exemple.

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/supreme-sound-opamp-v6/

 

[rmsanger]

Upgrade time fellow soloist 3XP owners!

https://www.bursonaudio.com/product...il&utm_term=0_dcbad555fe-23c5329898-393371376


https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/soloist-3x-grand-tourer/

 

[Doodski]

Upgrade time fellow soloist 3XP owners!

https://www.bursonaudio.com/product...il&utm_term=0_dcbad555fe-23c5329898-393371376


https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/soloist-3x-grand-tourer/

Those sure do look nice. I've been so so close to buying a Burson a couple of times but I just could not pull the trigger.

 

[Jimbob54]

Those sure do look nice. I've been so so close to buying a Burson a couple of times but I just could not pull the trigger.

Id love to see one of the soloists measured here. I think the results might surprise some.

 

[Veri]

Id love to see one of the soloists measured here. I think the results might surprise some.

Saw this by @WolfX-700 !
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/burson-soloist-3x/

 

[Jimbob54]

Saw this by @WolfX-700 !
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/burson-soloist-3x/

Ouch- but as I suspected.

 

[Wegi76]

Oh.... These DC offsets graphs at the bottom of the article do not create much confidence... That explains the clicking in the headphones when I connect / disconnect them to the Soloist, right?. Don`t like to wait for 10-15 Minutes before I start listening to music after switiching the gear on.