[DMR14]

Listening to it and the sound is quite captivating. Compared to my Arcam rHead, it sounds better......and hotter!

Indeed and they run hot My supercharger is shipped and supposed to be arrived tomorrow. One step closer to complete my main setup!!

 

[Taz777]

Indeed and they run hot My supercharger is shipped and supposed to be arrived tomorrow. One step closer to complete my main setup!!

Could you tell more about this 'supercharger' please? I've heard it mentioned a few times in this thread but I have no idea what it is!

 

[Taz777]

My new Soloist 3XP has settled in under my Mac, displacing an Arcam rHead as part of my desktop audio system which is both speaker- and headphones-based. Audirvana Studio is the music app that I use mainly, as well as TIDAL. The external DAC on the right is a Gustard A18 which uses the AK4499 DAC chipset, The Solosit 3XP, on the left, feeds a pair of Audeze LCD-X headphones.

Both the Soloist 3XP and the Gustard A18 run hot so I won't need the heating on during the Winter months in my room. I asked earlier in this thread about the dimensions of the Soloist 3XP before I purchased it as I wanted it to reside under my iMac. It does, with about 1cm (1/2") of space to clear!

 

[tamleo]

Listening to it and the sound is quite captivating. Compared to my Arcam rHead, it sounds better......and hotter!

Hi. Can you please elaborate more? Tks

 

[DMR14]

Could you tell more about this 'supercharger' please? I've heard it mentioned a few times in this thread but I have no idea what it is!

It is a Burson's dedicated power supply for Soloist 3XP and composer and other items. Go check out at Burson website under shop or product and it has some details. Also Passion for Sound (Youtube) has a good review of the unit.

 

[Taz777]

Hi. Can you please elaborate more? Tks

Sure. The Arcam rHead was such a undervalued headphone amp that I actually had three at one point, in three different audio systems around the house. I sold one a while and up until today, kept two rHeads. It's a Class A headphone amp with average to above-average power. The sound is warm, musical, powerful and instrument separation is good. It takes balanced XLR inputs. Outputs are single-ended 1/4-inch and 3.5mm. It runs warm given that it's Class A and the amp is always primed. It's a budget to midrange amp, but the sound quality is outstanding for the price,

It's been great driving my Beyer T1.2 (600 Ohms) and new Audeze LCD-X (20 Ohms, I think). With the LCD-X in particular, I could sense that the rHead wasn't delivering everything the LCD-X is capable of.

After some research and several questions on here, I bought the Soloist 3XP. The things I was looking for, and things that were slightly missing or subdued in the rHead, were subtlety in particular, and an effortless presentation. By subtlety, it could be hearing more 'breath' of vocalist, a new instrument playing that is so quiet and 'far' that it's difficult to make out with the rHead. By effortless I mean the song is presented with great depth whilst not sounding strained at any time.

I've definitely heard some of these improvements to some degree during an initial listening session today. I'm also able to use the balanced headphone out but I will need to compare it to the single-ended output to see of there's a discernible difference.

Of course, we are talking about diminishing returns when it comes to HiFi, and I'd be a fool for suggesting that I'm hearing night and day differences. The differences are small, but an improvement.

I have a couple of playlists that have songs that I've listened to hundreds of times so I'll be using those playlists over the next few weeks to evaluate the improvements in sounds quality. I've run the Soloist 3XP through a headphone test playlist a couple of times already and it was pretty good.

 

[DMR14]

Sure. The Arcam rHead was such a undervalued headphone amp that I actually had three at one point, in three different audio systems around the house. I sold one a while and up until today, kept two rHeads. It's a Class A headphone amp with average to above-average power. The sound is warm, musical, powerful and instrument separation is good. It takes balanced XLR inputs. Outputs are single-ended 1/4-inch and 3.5mm. It runs warm given that it's Class A and the amp is always primed. It's a budget to midrange amp, but the sound quality is outstanding for the price,

It's been great driving my Beyer T1.2 (600 Ohms) and new Audeze LCD-X (20 Ohms, I think). With the LCD-X in particular, I could sense that the rHead wasn't delivering everything the LCD-X is capable of.

After some research and several questions on here, I bought the Soloist 3XP. The things I was looking for, and things that were slightly missing or subdued in the rHead, were subtlety in particular, and an effortless presentation. By subtlety, it could be hearing more 'breath' of vocalist, a new instrument playing that is so quiet and 'far' that it's difficult to make out with the rHead. By effortless I mean the song is presented with great depth whilst not sounding strained at any time.

I've definitely heard some of these improvements to some degree during an initial listening session today. I'm also able to use the balanced headphone out but I will need to compare it to the single-ended output to see of there's a discernible difference.

Of course, we are talking about diminishing returns when it comes to HiFi, and I'd be a fool for suggesting that I'm hearing night and day differences. The differences are small, but an improvement.

I have a couple of playlists that have songs that I've listened to hundreds of times so I'll be using those playlists over the next few weeks to evaluate the improvements in sounds quality. I've run the Soloist 3XP through a headphone test playlist a couple of times already and it was pretty good.

I only wish I can write something like this...very nice.

 

[Taz777]

Is to normal to hear quite a loud click through the headphones when powering the Soloist 3XP on?

 

[DMR14]

Is to normal to hear quite a loud click through the headphones when powering the Soloist 3XP on?

I always unplug my headphones before turning it off or turning the amp on first before plugging my headphones....

Sorry.

 

[Taz777]

I always unplug my headphones before turning it off or turning the amp on first before plugging my headphones....

Sorry.

Interesting! I shall try that too. The click is quite loud.

 

[sabloke]

Just leave it on 24/7.

 

[rmsanger]

Contact Burson with this descr

Could you tell more about this 'supercharger' please? I've heard it mentioned a few times in this thread but I have no idea what it is!

 

[mynamesjeff]

Again I have to reiterate how amazing this Amp is with my Qutest and HD800S. I get that extra richness in the low end with my HD800S to compliment the headphones own strengths. Loving it with Apple Music Lossless!

 

[BattousaiX26]

Again I have to reiterate how amazing this Amp is with my Qutest and HD800S. I get that extra richness in the low end with my HD800S to compliment the headphones own strengths. Loving it with Apple Music Lossless!

Agreed with this. I only tried ifi neo + soloist but the sound is already really really good and I bet it will be better with that Qutest pairing, totally removing that top end glare

 

[sabloke]

Loving it with Apple Music Lossless!

How do you stream Apple Lossless? The only way I managed is by plugging in my phone directly to the DAC over USB of course. I don't own an iPhone and the only option I see in the Apple Music app is Chromecast, which does not work with Zen Stream...