What headphones are you using and did you let it warm up first? Thereās a big difference in how it sounds warm
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Thatās weird. I didnāt hear any difference between having 2 hours of warm up vs zero warm up. Iāve tried HD Zeus, TYGR 300r, kph30i with 3xp
yepā¦ I typically let the Soloist and Holo Spring warm for about an hour before use. Itās probably gtg in 30 though.
I havenāt tried the soloist with many dynamic headphones that arenāt high impedance like a t1.2, 880/990 600ohm and hd800s. For my 177x I still use my a90 cause theyāre just too easy to drive but theyāre the only low impedance dynamics I have left. Not sure if maybe thatās the issue.
Iād be very interested in your G111 vs RNHP vs Soloist comparison.
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RNHP soundstage is not as wide as the other two. The RNHP is studio forward. Mids front vocals take center state and are well separated. Vocal sound tiny but with a 3D effect to it. I find it impactful, not the bass the presentation overall. BF2 and RNHP is a killer combo, almost everything sounds good so far (t1.2nd okish but not great). Best timber of the two.
G111 brighter with more bass than the RNHP. Soundstage is wide. Vocals are a little loss in the mix. Not as clear as the other two. The bass is not as tight but have more amount. Better stereo separation than RNHP (RNHP can sound closed in with layers).
Soloist 3xp seems wider than the G111. The soundstage have more height compared to the other two. First time I tried with the SE out, I thought it was more detailed and brighter than the G111 ( going back to the G111 it sounded muffle.). Then I run it balanced out. It sounded way warmer. The cymbals are really dial back. Going to the G111 from balanced out, the G111 sounded brighter. Vocals are really good in this one. Better separated with more 3D effect than the RNHP. It have good musicality wide and relaxed.
Overall Iām just testing the soloist 3xp. I have only used the t1.2nd SE and balanced. Going to use the balanced out for a few days and then go back to SE or bypass mode. I am waiting for the supercharger (which I bought from burson audio, will probably take about two weeks).
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Nice! I donāt really know much about balanced (which HPs can be ran balanced and which canāt etc ( except for things like the Argon Mk3)) so I think Iāll go with the RNHP for now. I can get it at its old price (price was raised 1-2 weeks ago) which is also nice if I decided to sell them. It did sound pretty (mid-)forward to me as well which should compliment most of my HPs.
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Burson Soloist 3X GT vs Burson Soloist 3X P
Revisited after DDC installed
Tracks and testing using the following:
Headphones: HE6se V2
DAC: D90se
Amps: Burson Soloist 3X GT vs Burson Soloist 3X P
DDC: Duok U2 Pro
Chain: PC > USB > Douk U2 Pro > HDMI > I2s connection on D90se > One Little Bear switcher > to each amp
TLDR
The Soloist 3X GT does the following better over the Soloist 3 XP:
- Improved layering and depth
- Better spacing (It is taller and wider)
- Improved Bass. It is a bit tighter
- Improved tonality
- Sound is smoother
- Vocals are clearer and less harsh
Tracks used for testing:
Silk Sonic - Skate
- GT has more vertical stage height in the sound
- GT has more depth
- GT bass is tighter
- GT vocals are clearer, less harsh
- 3XP sounds a bit more muffled or maybe smear when the track gets to busy?
Trapped by Bruce Springsteen (live recording)
Passion for sound - (track he used for comparison)
- There is better spacing in the GT (Think of this as the space is taller and wider)
- Sound is smoother on the GT. Vocals are clearer, less harsh
- The tonality is better on the GT.
Example: He mentions the sound of the woody sound of sticks hitting the drum and how there is a different tone in the hit. On the 3X it is more of a ātinkā instead of a āthunkā sound on the GT if that makes sense.
Free - Alright now
- Vocals are smoother on the GT. They really standout better on the GT. It is easier to pin point where each singer - is in the room.
- Tambourine that is playing is has better tonality on GT
- Snare drum that is playing during the track is tighter on the GT
- Better spacing on the GT once again. The room seems larger on the GT vs the 3X P
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Nice work, Sir. The work presents well. Iām taking it in, nowā¦
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Thank you this breaks it down very clearly!
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Alright, it took me a while to figure this amp out
First, it is a somewhat sensitive dude. It should be called the singleton instead of the soloist. It sounds best when powered by a separate breaker, and it has medium tolerance for neighbors or surge protectors. So, you have only one breaker available? Let me seeā¦ I sense that you have some lights - turn them off, the burson shines bright enough with itās oled screen. So, you have a nice noisy fridge, full of food? Food is overrated, just turn it off. Oh, you have a nice big tv and a beefy gaming pc? I know you have one, just plug them somewhere else. Well, you get the idea 
. But what about ground noise, wonāt I get plenty of it? No matter how Iāve connected it, Iāve never heard a single drop of ground noise, while most other amps would have been choked by the noise with these connections
Next, the tonality tuningā¦ Itās not ordinary. I was shocked by that for the first couple of days. With itās stock tuning highs and lows are about 5db recessed compared to most other amps Iāve heard. if you have a bright chain and canāt or donāt want to EQ, then this is the perfect amp for this kind of chain. For example, itās great for native DSD with bright headphones. Because of this excessive mid-forwardness, with stock tuning, this amp produces quite a small but deep soundstage; it sounds like a deep narrow tunnel with artificial depth with most headphones. Once Iāve reEQed everything back to my preferred tonality, which is Harman, the change was enormous. Cymbals gained their lost volume back, stage became wide and airy, holographic and natural sounding, dangerously close to my tube amp while being a lot more transparent and way more powerful
This amp probably should not be paired with excessively smooth dacs, because the sound will get too smooth, especially bass
Transient speedā¦ just perfect - it can produce both impactful bass and speedy highs just as well. Hi-rez sounds quite impressive and low rez sounds well
Separation? Youāll hear it all. There isnāt any unnatural amount of air between instruments, so stage is organic, while every instrument is well defined within itās space
I have a soloist / composer stack. I purchased some black friday sparkos op amps. Iām happy with what I have now ā¦ other than would like a wider sound stage. The composer is pretty laser focused and wall of sound like.
I use the soloist in power amp mode and control volume with the composer in pre out mode.
If I roll in a couple of these sparkos op amps, where would the best place be to open up the sound stage a bit
Thanks in advance for any input
i have definitely found i like a more analytical detail focused DAC for the soloist and let the soloist handle the coloration. it handles detail and resolution so well that i hate to hold it back.
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This āpower amp modeā mentioned, basically taking the volume pot out of the equation by maxing out the dial, I remember a similar practice being spoken about regarding the 789. Could this possibly bear fruit for other amps like a Singxer SA-1 or Aune X7Ss for example?
Watching this now. He is sharing some insight on the different swappable op-amp designs. Since there was a bit of discussion on the board about this, I figured I would share it here.
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So I had went ahead and had made the purchase of the Sparkos Labs SS3602 op-amps. I know I didnāt think I needed to add them but curiosity got the best of me. 
After watching the vid, I went back and double check that I had installed them correctly. Not that there were any issues, just wanted to be sure. I did remember aligning them based on the cutoutā¦ but being that this was my first time messing around with this, I just wanted to be sure.
I did install them into the Volume Control and Buffer Stage on the Soloist GT. I think I do prefer them over the vivid as they seem to produce a smoother overall tonal sound. Still really only been a day using them, so need to give it some more time.
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for me I found the same for my preferencesā¦ still awaiting my supercharger (orders @50% off for black friday sale). So that may change with the SC.
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So i was finally able to test the Douk U2 Pro and i like it a lot! Funny thing is i had no SPDIF cable so for the first couple of days i used a Schiit pyst cable hoping it was 75 ohms, and on those first couple of days i could not really hear any improvement in the sound compared to USB, but now i have received a proper 75 ohm cable and yep, the improvements are there.
The two things i can put my finger on are a more āairyā soundstage and a more impactful bass slam. There are probably other differences there for which i donāt have the ears or the vocabulary to explain, i just like the sound a bit better with it than the Modiās USB.
I was kind of shocked after i listened to a track i REALLY know like the palm of my hand with the Douk and the new SPDIF cable, then i switched back and forth between the Schiit cable and the 75ohm cable, the difference was very clear.
This is such a cheap addition to my chain and the improvement was quite clear, i recommend you guys try it even if you donāt really believe it will make a difference, worst case scenario you can return it (got mine on Amazon) but i doubt you will.
Thanks @Pokrog for bringing this to my attention!
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itās odd how just having the sub bass be that much more precise gives it way better slam and rumble, isnāt it? that stupid low sub bass between like 15-35hz gets a certain clarity that makes it sound like the room is shaking around you and the sense of soundstage precision and depth you get is so nice as well. that stupid thing transformed the he6 for me.
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