Burson or Schiit amplifier?

Which Burson and which Sciit are you contemplating? 

Budget?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Couch Potato 

i know they have huge differences in price, but should i invest money into Burson Amp?

If you're planning on going the HA-160 or any of its variants, it's a great amp for the HD650, but IMO terrible for the Planar Magnetics.

Can't comment on the soloist as I've never heard it.

Schiit is great bang for buck gear.  It's evident that the HA-160 is in another league in terms of technicalities... but I'd almost argue that some of the cheaper Schiit gear is more musical.

I'd go with Schiit, as the Bursons currently have terrible re-sell rates on the for sale forums, and they're heavy which makes shipping not fun.  The re-sell rates for the Schiit are still fairly competitive.  This is all with the mindset that you'll get that audiophilia addiction where your gear is never good enough.

It depends on your headphones/needs. 

Basically this way:

HA-160 > for headphones up to 600ohm

HA-160D > same amplifier, with a dac, pre

Soloist > Headamp/preamp, DOES a nice job with multiple headphones (planars). Even the HE-6 (been listening to it for 2 weeks now) 

They are keeper amps, and you don't need to worry about re-selling. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Couch Potato 

Soloist, Asgard, dac is the bifrost

 

1000-1200max

 

i like how u mention the resell rate, i bought hd650 with zu cables and im pretty sure i have no problem selling those again in the near future, just trying to find similar product with the amp/dac.

which dac do u use with the soloist?

 

 

 

man i shouldve settled with the m50 on this forum and not look anymore further lol!

 

well now im pretty sure i want a solidstate than tubes since tubes will sound vary and needs to be replaced after a period of time ( becomes black )

 

right now i have hd650 with zu cables, i might progress to HD800 or LCD2 rev1 in the near future

 

 

was trying to find an amp which does a great job in 3 of those headphones,

 

the price should be around 1k for both the DAC and Amp

ive been looking at the Burson Soloist, Asgard as for the DAC currenty Bifrost

 

 

budget is around 1k

Asgard+Bifrost combo should be 700 Retail Price

Soloist should be 1k Retail price (?), if i could find a 2nd hand which sells for 600-800 id probably pay and buy the bifrost which brings me up to around 1k

 

well not sure if i should do it, ive heard class A amps from schiit actually becomes very very hot after a period of time, but the company said its no problem since its got 5 years warantee.

 

another user who owns the soloist told me that Soloist stays cool-warm but never hot.

 

i dont think ill be considering other amps dac e.g. bottle headcracl,Icon HDP,Hrt-II

I always recommend the Violectric V200.  To my ears, it is better sounding than the HA-160D and any of the Schiit products (Discluding Mjolnir since I have yet to hear that as well).

It is especially good with the LCD2 and HD800.  I have it paired with the HRT MSII+ for musical bliss.

Whether or not you want the Stepped attenuator should be concerned, especially Burson's... as it is quite common for them to have mechanical noises, ticks and pops, etc. when switching volume (which can be remedied, but nonetheless a bit annoying).  It's something I found quite annoying when I had the 160D as I change volume often during my random shuffle listening. Of course, the 160DS version wouldn't have this problem as they use a pot.

Resale value is an interesting point, though. Should you not like it, you may be taking a significant hit if you try to sell it off, especially with the older amps in the 160 series (the Soloist/Conductor are fairly new and should still sell fine).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Couch Potato 

hmm about the HRT MSII, heard its good dac but the size and appearance questions me alot.

Violectric V200 i need to look into that

Not quite sure I follow you on size and appearance, unless you're looking for a super flashy DAC... Generally sonic performance is all I really care about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by K_19 

Whether or not you want the Stepped attenuator should be concerned, especially Burson's... as it is quite common for them to have mechanical noises, ticks and pops, etc. when switching volume (which can be remedied, but nonetheless a bit annoying).  It's something I found quite annoying when I had the 160D as I change volume often during my random shuffle listening. Of course, the 160DS version wouldn't have this problem as they use a pot.

 

Resale value is an interesting point, though. Should you not like it, you may be taking a significant hit if you try to sell it off, especially with the older amps in the 160 series (the Soloist/Conductor are fairly new and should still sell fine).

Yep, to give you an idea of resale:

I bought the 160D new off amazon for $1100 back in April of 2012 (Back before I knew it was a better idea to go secondhand).

Sold it last month for $800 - $40 shipping - $24 paypal fee.  Lost a pretty large chunk of money in that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by K_19 

Whether or not you want the Stepped attenuator should be concerned, especially Burson's... as it is quite common for them to have mechanical noises, ticks and pops, etc. when switching volume (which can be remedied, but nonetheless a bit annoying).  It's something I found quite annoying when I had the 160D as I change volume often during my random shuffle listening. Of course, the 160DS version wouldn't have this problem as they use a pot.

 

Resale value is an interesting point, though. Should you not like it, you may be taking a significant hit if you try to sell it off, especially with the older amps in the 160 series (the Soloist/Conductor are fairly new and should still sell fine).

Anyone know if they fixed those issues with the new Burson Conductor? 

Does the DAC click at all when switching bitrates? 

Is the Conductor better for planar magnetic headphones? I understand the 160D was not very good for those. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan 

Anyone know if they fixed those issues with the new Burson Conductor? 

 

Does the DAC click at all when switching bitrates? 

 

Is the Conductor better for planar magnetic headphones? I understand the 160D was not very good for those. 

I have the Conductor + LCD2 Rev.3(bamboo). I love it! It is a magnificent pair! I previously  had the HA-160DS. The improvements are huge. Actually I have auditioned it before buying it, and I could tell that from the first minute . I think that Conductor is good for almost any headphone. I tried the hd800 on it too. It gave it musicality and slam and took out the brightness. I started liking listening to rock on hd800 :D

It clicks when it changes bitrates, but that is normal.

I'm sorry, it's not even close the Soloist > Asgard all day. With Bifrost as source.

V200 W/DAC option > Soloist/Bifost. FWIW.

I'm running the Soloist with the Bifrost as the source. Didn't do a direct A/B test but honestly I can't really hear the difference between this pairing and the Conductor that my Cousin has. There may be some differences if we do a direct A/B but I doubt they are big. This is with the LCD2 and Denon D2000. My brother has an Asgard with the DACPort as the source. No contest. The Soloist is clearly better in every way (though that is sort of expected for the price difference). This is with the LCD2 and T1.