Burson Soloist 3XP Review (Headphone Amp)

[asrUser]

Nah, closer to $325 based on actual parts, pcb, psu, case and country of origin.

Ok and now pls list the parts together with the prices and where to buy. And what's about R&D?

 

[Jimster480]

Burson has yet to impress. A brand that lots of people told me was "amazing" and "TOTL" when I first got into the HiFi scene almost 7 years ago now.

 

[deafenears]

Burson has yet to impress. A brand that lots of people told me was "amazing" and "TOTL" when I first got into the HiFi scene almost 7 years ago now.

Burson Fun released back in 2018. Whatever they're doing, it's working, as they're still being talked about and highly praised.

 

[Lupin]

Burson Fun released back in 2018. Whatever they're doing, it's working, as they're still being talked about and highly praised.

Everyone (should) know that HiFi is (sadly) 95% marketing and 5% actual performance.

There is a reason why €40K+ poor measuring DACs still sell like hotcakes... marketing! In every other branch one would be sued for fraud on a daily basis when making those outlandish and ridiculous snake-oil claims... but in HiFi that is daily business as usual..

 

[trl]

Well...yes and no, there're several folks out there, with lot of money to spend, which prefer to choose something that looks better and fancier if they can afford to, instead of purchasing a device that measures...well, "boring". From my point of view, as long as the SINAD is pretty close to 90dB (or better), those folks with money will probably be very happy with their purchase, without loosing any audible resolution. It's like choosing a car based more on how it looks more than how it performs.

 

[flitcroft]

I just came across this thread and created an account for this comment.

I don't experience any of the findings in the first post and wonder if a defective unit was reviewed. For example:

• My unit is barely warm to the touch after hours of use (I hear lots of people describe theirs as a space heater, but I've tested with a laser temp gun the amp came up to 90.5 F after two hours with an ambient room temp of 66.5 F)
• Rolling op-amps is simple, and the pins fit easily (though the case screws stripped and I had to get them drilled out, destroying the case, to revert back to stock)
• I hear no distortion ever, as one would hope for from a quality amp (more below)
• The commentary about high gain compared to medium gain is opposite from my amp. Medium gain is silent and I hear an audible hiss / noise floor on high gain with Audeze LCD-3's even at volume 01/100 in Power Amp mode. 7Hz Timeless AE IEMs have a silent noise floor on low and medium gain, but Power Amp is far too much and I have to run them in the standard headphone amp configuration.

My experience closely aligns with the measurements in this Head-Fi post with seemingly opposite measurements. Soloist 3XP @2V RMS measured 0.00095% THD for raoultrifan. While my ears are not a measurement rig, I have never heard channel imbalances at listening volumes. My previous iFi micro iDSD Black Label had very obvious/severe channel imbalances at low volumes so I have a sense of what that sounds like.

Thoughts from this more-technical crowd than myself?

 

[TonyJZX]

btw. you guys going on about BOM costs

i notice the back only says 'designed in Melbourne'

this is made in china... i'm 99% sure

i also have a piece of equipment designed in Melbourne. Its made in china. They justification was that it did not make sense to have boards and components shipped from CHina to be assembled in Melbourne... at $25hr+... when China can do it cheaper and with higher QC.

STILL... the allure of a Western brand name and Western design means that my piece of hifi retailed for $1,500 usd... which is way beyond what it is worth IMO...

 

[PacketofCrisps]

They have a tendency of not caring about measurements until somebody points out their favourite measures poorly. You'd think if they truly believed their ears were the best judge they wouldn't get so defensive, but that's neither here nor there.

My ears are the best judge, I will buy what I like the sound of first and foremost, but will also indulge in the science also to check that there isn't any glaring issues like channel imbalances, distortion that could be heard in real world usage etc, and I'll way that up against my subjective impressions, but usually my heart will win out! Take my Audeze Deckard headphone amplifier, it got completely butchered on here, am I offended in anyway?, nope, do I still enjoy the sound, very much so, it's one of my Fave amps even over the SA-1. partly because I like the grunt it gives over single ended.

 

[staticV3]

My ears are the best judge

Please judge if this toy says "brainstorm" or "green needle":

My ears are not good enough

 

[PacketofCrisps]

Please judge if this toy says "brainstorm" or "green needle":

My ears are not good enough

I'm aware of the McGurk effect, I am assume using that example is to prove that no amp of any measurement quality matters on that basis?, the McGurk effect would be just as impactful if not more on a individual that has been told, or reads that a particular amp measures extremely well, you could well likely hear those improvements or they could at least embellish your listening experience, it works both ways, I guess it depends on how far you want to go down the rabbit hole, I prefer to float between both camps of science and subjectivity, measurements are of course extremely important, but they are being filtered and interpreted by human beings which are an analog based lifeform, and there's a lot of baggage that comes with that.

For me music is a very emotional experience so I tend to follow my heart a little more than the science, but the science is never discounted, if something sounds a little better with distortion then sometimes I'm ok with that, but I'd never suggest that would be a better listening experience for everyone, and it certainly wouldn't be 'accurate'. first and foremost when introducing someone into this hobby I tell them to grab a cheap Topping amp because that might be the last amp you buy, I'm not on this planet to convert people, just share knowledge and information.

 

[Mista Lova Lova]

Cannot confirm that btw, Amir... I can set low and medium also in bypass mode here.

As a benefit, the DC offset went down to -3mV and -26mV in this mode :-o So, no "plop" when connecting the headphones at all on the right earcup and just a little bit on the left channel. RMEs outputlevel @ normal listening levels is now in the -25dB area. Think this is a good compromise and I guess headphones would survive if someone cranks up the volume on the DAC.
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Sorry to be quoting an old post; however I also have access to those 3 gain modes in the direct/by-pass mode. My DAC has an 5V output voltage. Since the volume control has been taken out of the equation, is there any difference between the Low, Medium and High gains in terms of the final dynamic range? Is there different amounts of incoming signal attenuation going on in different gain modes even without any volume control present?