Definitely want to hear your thoughts on them. I confirmed Iāve got a bad op-amp. So I might have to buy one (if I go vivid again) or two anyway.
Every review says that. So I bit the bullet and got the Burson. Local stock is a couple of weeks behind. Thanks Z Reviews. lol.
Been wanting this for months then finally have the money and Z bombs the stock.
I am really curious a out the op amp rolling too. As soon as I have mine in hand I am ordering the classic Op Amps and the the stand from Burson. Got to finish the package.
Did a little comparison between the Classics and the Vivids some time ago.
If interested hereās the link: BURSON Soloist 3X Performance - Class A Headphone/Pre Amplifier - #216 by hifiDJ - Official AMP/DAC/DAP Model Discussion - The HEADPHONE Community
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I donāt think I will roll OP Amps. It sounds great as is. I got mine when it was on sale at Underwood Hifi. I am also a Pateron of Z so I saw his review a few weeks earlier.
I think it would be good to have both. I have a little tube amp I use sometimes to get some warmth when I feel like it. The Op Amps are a relatively cheap way to do similar things by the sound of it.
I canāt wait to get mine now.
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So I received mine today. Wow. Just wow.
Up until now I have been using my Drop 789 and I have been adding bass via eq to my 6xxās and now I dont have to do. Not to mention that there is just so much more sound available.
I donāt know the terms to use here, but things are just sounding filled out more, but especially mids and lows. I havent spent anywhere near enough time with my music or gaming yet, but so far I am very impressed.
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Posted some thoughts/impressions of the Super Charger. Feel free to give it a read!
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cool writeupā¦ now Iām interested in the extra op amps and the and the power supply. I had similar impressions going from the vivids to sparkosā¦ I wonder how stocatos to sparkos would compare.
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I donāt have the Sparkos but from what Iāve been reading I think the Staccato would be somewhere in between the Vivids and Sparkos.
You changed all four, right?
Yesā¦ I have not tried just using two and testing the difference yet.
One of the things I noticed with the Staccato is that they lack bass impact on certain headphones. Did you find that to be the case with the Sparkos?
Nopeā¦ listening to my lcdx right now which have the weakest punch and slam (non eqād) of what I own. They sound nearly perfect with the sparkos! If I put on nothing else matters (s&m) I get no harshness on highs and perfect bass slam. The vivids were a big to v shaped for my tastes.
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Staccato op-amp rollā¦
**Holo Spring 3 > Soloist > ZMF VC / IE 900 (all balanced)
**Link: Offer - Staccato Audio
So Iāve been spending quite a bit of time over the past few days op-amp rolling the Staccato op-amps and experimenting with various combinations. To make things easier for me (and the reader), Iāll only write about which combination I liked best.
TLDR:
2 Vivids on the input buffer stage, 2 Staccato on the volume control stage
4 Vivids (only w/ Super Charger)
Quick notes about the Staccato op-amps:
- uses narrower pins which result in a looser fit; might affect noise floor
- noticeably higher noise floor when placed on med gain or higher
- barely fits inside the Soloist chassis w/ no headroom to spare
To start letās talk about the strenghts and weaknesses of each respective op-amp. Note that these thoughts and impressions are without the use of the Burson Super Charger.
Vivids
The bass on these, I feel, is the weakest part of the Vivids with the emphasis here on quantity over quality. As a result, individual bass lines are not easily discernible. For example, in the track ē“ č®čÆ THE FIRST TAKE, the piano throughout sounds noticeably muddier in comparison to the Staccato. At the end where the piano finishes off with a pounding of lower register notes, it sounds like they are all overlapping with one another revealing the Vividsā lack of control and grip in the bass regionāa more fun presentation.
Mids, on the other hand, have a bit of added tonal weightiness to them which adds a certain sweetness and color. In addition, the Vivids tend to alleviate the slight edges presented in recordings giving it a more relaxing and smoother presentation overall. Highs, for the most part, are also smooth and relaxed while still sounding fairly extended and airy. Moving on to staging, the Vivids have decent depth but poor width overall. In all honesty, itās not as impressive as I initially thought when I first had the Soloist.
For dynamics, this is where it gets interesting. I feel that the Vivids slightly emphasize the initial attack of each hit which gives it that extra bit of dynamism. However, this ends up sacrificing control of the decay where it seems to ālet goā a bit too early. So, tradeoffs for an overall engaging presentation.
Staccato
The bass on these, in contrast, is both its strength and weakness. The Staccato handles individual bass lines quite well and more clearly than the Vivids. Itās tighter and more controlled, but the tradeoff here is quantity; it lacks impact. Depending on the headphones used or the preferences of the listener, this can be a good thing. I briefly tried the Audioquest Nightowl with the Staccato and the results werenāt that bad. Not only did it tame the bloated and emphasized bass of the Nightowls, it made them a bit more balanced. So, synergy matters. The lack of bass impact is the reason why I prefer placing the Staccato on the volume control stage of the Soloist. Placing different op-amps on this stage, significantly reduces the impact op-amps have on the overall sound. This is why Burson recommends changing op-amps on the input buffer stage rather than the volume control stage.
Overall, the Staccato sound more balanced than the Vivids and because of that I do perceive it as slightly more detailed. Mids are slightly clearer and cleaner but with noticeably less tonal color on them offering more linearity. As for the highs, they are a bit less smoother overall and the slight edges found in recordings are not slightly masked like they are on the Vivids. In addition, I do hear a tad more sibilance on the Staccato. Iām talking super slightly here, like 0.5% harsher. Iām on the young side, so older people might not notice this at all. Stage on the Staccato is fairly good in terms of width but poor in terms of depth; opposite of the Vivids. Lastly, I found the Staccato, oddly enough, to sort of have this āstaccatoā like quality to them. In other words, to my ears each note is a bit sharply detached. It was just something I noticed while listening to them and thought it was worth sharing.
Combinations
With strengths and weaknesses out of the way, this brings me to the combinations I liked most. The first combination is 2 Vivid op-amps on the input buffer stage and 2 Staccato op-amps on the volume control stage, which alleviates the Vividsā shortcomings to a certain extent. Bass quantity is slightly reduced while gaining some tightness and control. Mids end up being slightly more linear and clear. Highs are also less smooth overall. Stage does end up widening a bit, but depth is more or less the same. Overall, the presentation here is a bit more balanced than you would find placing all 4 Vivid op-amps albeit a bit boring-sounding, at least with the VC. If I didnāt have a Super Charger this is probably what I would be rocking most of the time.
Now my preferred combo is with all 4 Vivid op-amps but only with the Super Charger in the chain. I didnāt think Iād be coming back to the stock op-amps amidst its shortcomings, but surprisingly the Super Charger here alleviated most of the problems I had with the Vivids almost completely. Bass impact quantity-wise is still present but the Super Charger tightens it slightly and gains control as well as grip. Although I say slightly, the subtle change brings a not so subtle improvement with how I perceive the presentation overall. With this you get both quantity and qualityāwho wouldnāt want both? Mids are still tonally weighty and just a bit lush/warm while still remaining clear and nuanced. Highs are still slightly smooth but because of the blacker background the Super Charger brings, you end up hearing even more resolution and detail. Itās a bit difficult to conveyāyou just have to hear it for yourself. Staging does improve slightly as well expanding its width just a little bit. Overall, you get a slightly better sense of stage but you donāt get a big and wide stage. I mentioned earlier that the Vivids tend to slightly emphasize the attack on each note while trading off some control over the decay. To my ears, the Super Charger fixes all that and you end up with something that is slightly even more dynamic, both micro and macro, with greater control of both attack and decay all while being unfatiguing but engaging. Although these changes are a subtle improvement, they all add up to a greater sense of listening pleasure and satisfaction, at least for me.
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Did you get the spring 3 KTE with preamp ?
If so you might want to test the soloist in power amp mode.
I did. Not the biggest fan. I like the bit of color that comes with the op-amps in the volume control stage. Sounds transparent though!
Thanks for the feedback I was hoping the preamp volume stage in the Holo would be better than Burson so that In power amp mode youād get significantly better performance.
I was told the two op amps on the input / output stage were more important to the overall sound that the volume stage.
The pre-amp is technically better on the Holo. It doesnāt sound like anything at all; no coloring I can detect. The Burson, on the other hand, adds a bit of flavor. I just happen to like that bit of flavor. Iāll probably try it out again since I didnāt spend that much time on it.
Yeah the change is more obvious at the input buffer stage, but sometimes you want less of that change in which case you change it at the volume control stage, is what I found.
how does the he6se sound on burson? how does it compare to something like topping a90 or thx 789? Curious if the class A discrete nature of the amp adds much better bass?
The soloist is still my favorite amp for it. I donāt own an A90. But I tested the 789 for a bit and found it did an okay jobāassuming you donāt have an issue with the 789ās treble. The soloist gives better bass performance and has a warmer, thicker sound. Which is also the case when paired with most headphones.
Hereās my post with impressions on the HE-6se
š¶ Hifiman HE6SE - #416 by marcgii
I have both an a90 and a soloist 3xp and itās not even a close race. Soloist drives with far more authority and is way more musical. I never plug my he6 into my a90 anymore.