[Slade01]

That ASR forum is probably the most toxic place I have seen. I've never seen such a hateful and negative community and engagement throughout the site and reviews. Some reviews are polar opposite of general consensus so taking with grain of salt with that.

It's a learning curve. People are free to believe that if they want to. I would always recommend taking whatever information you find or believe to be true (whether on ASR or Head-Fi, or any other audio forum) and put it to the test as best you can and see if your beliefs are validated or not.

 

[531412]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...urson-soloist-3xp-review-headphone-amp.34353/

I hope he has not used the opamps which are shown on the picture https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...down-balanced-3xp-stereo-headphon-jpg.209178/

 

[550591]

I hope he has not used the opamps which are shown on the picture https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...down-balanced-3xp-stereo-headphon-jpg.209178/

If you read the review he tried different op-amps.


No I'm not trolling.

 

[Slade01]

If you read the review he tried different op-amps.


No I'm not trolling.

Lol. No worries. You just dropped the link, w/o any context. I myself am biased about ASR. If you look at the AmirNADs chart, I tend to like a lot of gear on the lower half of his rankings. So to each their own. I hold the Burson Soloist in higher regard. For me, I know its a specific use case with trying to power a power hungry headphone, but what it does, it does extremely well in my book.

 

[ericx85]

I used to have the Soloist 3xp, now have the Soloist GT.

Before the Soloist 3xp, I had the A90. Soloist 3xp destroyed my faith in measurements. A90 wrecks 3xp in numbers while 3xp wrecks A90 in sound. Measurements for 3xp were posted awhile ago by someone else with an AP, I had a VERY hard time coming to terms that the amp that sounded so much better than the A90 for me measured like a rotten turd. You really don't know what you're missing out on if you don't demo gear.

Im pretty sure Burson was well aware the amp was going to measure badly and said something along the lines of "**** the numbers, we're going to make people's ears have their first orgasm"

 

[dracynical]

Personally, I don't see the fuss with bad measurements. Most of the things that measure badly are out of the human hearing range. Subjectivity is what makes people make purchases. Having tried the Soloist 3X GT, I'm directly upgrading from the 3XP to that and I couldn't care less about the measurements when I haven't found any amp that can bring as much enjoyment to my listening experience as these two Burson products.

 

[Atriya]

Yeah I've noticed the people who like power amp mode on this thread tend to have headphones like Verite Closed or Meze Empyrean/Elite. I didn't notice any Arya owners like us who prefer power amp mode, but would be helpful to hear from someone like that if they're out there (maybe I missed it).

My understanding is the Composer is a delta sigma DAC, though one of the smoother ones, so I'm not surprised that aggressive DAC + aggressive power amp + aggressive headphones would be too much of a good thing.

I have a Bifrost 2 coming this week and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it gels with the Soloist in normal amp mode and Arya. If the Bifrost feels like it softens the presentation too much for hard hitting metal tracks, I'll try the power amp mode.

I have been testing the Arya v3 (SE) in both power-amp mode and normal volume controlled mode, with the V6 Classic opamps in input stage and V6 Vivids in output.

In fact, I find that while certain things such as subbass might be superior in power-amp mode, it also seems to add a kind of harshness and over-forwardness to vocals, as if the vocalist is "shouting" at me, with the effect of being more fatiguing over time. The normal volume controlled mode sounds a tad smoother and more relaxed. That said these impressions are preliminary, and could be confounded with other factors.

Curious to hear if other Arya SE users are using power-amp mode or not.

When in power-amp mode I'm in low gain (balanced output), with a -8db or so preamp. When not in power-amp mode, I use the volume knob and medium gain to achieve the same volume.

 

[OCC7N]

Yes, it’s a Merging Anubis.

How good is that DAC?

Powerful enough for Hifiman Arya, and drive active speakers?

 

[haasaaroni]

I have been testing the Arya v3 (SE) in both power-amp mode and normal volume controlled mode, with the V6 Classic opamps in input stage and V6 Vivids in output.

In fact, I find that while certain things such as subbass might be superior in power-amp mode, it also seems to add a kind of harshness and over-forwardness to vocals, as if the vocalist is "shouting" at me, with the effect of being more fatiguing over time. The normal volume controlled mode sounds a tad smoother and more relaxed. That said these impressions are preliminary, and could be confounded with other factors.

Curious to hear if other Arya SE users are using power-amp mode or not.

When in power-amp mode I'm in low gain (balanced output), with a -8db or so preamp. When not in power-amp mode, I use the volume knob and medium gain to achieve the same volume.

I’m an Arya V3 user and frankly I haven’t even tried power amp mode. I don’t have a preamp, and find the very clean, clear, and non fatiguing sound of the regular mode on medium gain just fine.

In other news, I’ve recently bought a Kinki Studios THR-1 and am currently burning it in. I’ll post some comparisons here if folks are interested. I think it might replace the 3xp for me. It’s just a different kind of sound that I also really love, but the 3xp also has a sort of magic to it. The competition will be tough!

 

[gonzalo1004es]

How good is that DAC?

Powerful enough for Hifiman Arya, and drive active speakers?

Extremely good, both as a stand-alone dac and as headphone amp. The headphones amps are very powerful, they can drive the Susvaras with ease, so obviously the Aryas are driven easily. As a preamp, outputs levels are 18-24dBU, very powerful. The Anubis is a pro oriented product, with a marked learning curve, and requires a computer with specific settings to work in the Ravenna/ethernet ecosystem. It’s not a plug and play device, so I’m not sure I would recommend it unless you’re very committed to work on everything it implies.

 

[masabueno]

Is it possible to use the two headphone outputs together, safely, on the Soloist 3XP? I didn't find this information anywhere...

 

[Atriya]

Has anyone tried the 3XP with the Hifiman Arya/Arya SE in low-gain power-amp mode? I'm finding it to be noticeably better than using volume control, and the low-gain setting is a pretty good match for my Arya SE. While my DAC (Chord Qutest) doesn't have volume control, I apply a preamp ranging from -2db to -6db (depending on the recording) in HQPlayer on my laptop (which is streaming in NAA mode from a Raspberry Pi), and that gives me my desired volume.

I can now report with some confidence that low gain mode (power-amp mode enabled or not) doesn't drive the Arya SE well. While there is more than enough volume, especially in low-gain power-amp mode, SQ is much improved with medium gain, which is something I didn't know was possible (I had the impression that ample volume meant the headphones were driven well).

Unfortunately now with medium-gain power-amp mode, much more attenuation of the input signal is required, either with a preamp or digitally, otherwise things are too loud. It seems counter-productive to attenuate the signal a lot and then amplify it a lot, which is why I had tried low-gain mode first (requiring less attenuation).

 

[TheFrator]

I can now report with some confidence that low gain mode (power-amp mode enabled or not) doesn't drive the Arya SE well. While there is more than enough volume, especially in low-gain power-amp mode, SQ is much improved with medium gain, which is something I didn't know was possible (I had the impression that ample volume meant the headphones were driven well).

Unfortunately now with medium-gain power-amp mode, much more attenuation of the input signal is required, either with a preamp or digitally, otherwise things are too loud. It seems counter-productive to attenuate the signal a lot and then amplify it a lot, which is why I had tried low-gain mode first (requiring less attenuation).

Link to a relevant comment I made a while ago with an article by Audeze about why planars love power. Might help explain why you prefer medium to low gain on the Soloist.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bur...muse72320-volume-control.941047/post-16915540

 

[TheFrator]

Is it possible to use the two headphone outputs together, safely, on the Soloist 3XP? I didn't find this information anywhere...

Yes it is. I used both when I had friends over and we were simultaneously jamming and listening for differences between Arya Stealth and Verite Open. However; getting two separate headphones to a similar volume level at the same volume reading on the Soloist can be a bit tricky.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

Today I've finally gotten round to using my Soloist in Headamp mode. Using it to have fun with my T60 and Mk3 Argons.

I noticed that in high gain in head amp mode there is highly audible noise hum when there is no music playing. I'm assuming its just too high a setting for the headphones, which seem to be comfortable with medium gain. Does anyone else experience a similar noise issue?

I also have a technical question to do with power vs gain mode. Burson state that using XLR, the soloist delivers 4W @ 32 ohms. Assuming my headphones are 32 ohms, will they be drawing 4 watts of power from the Soloist in low or medium gain, or does it have to be in high gain mode for the full 4W to be available?

Any clarification much appreciated.