[Decommo]

 

Thank you very much for your response. When you compared between the two, did you find that Soloist MK2 has more power than iDSD? I am very keen to purchase Soloist and would be greatly appreciated if you can share power out impression between the two. Thank you.

iDSD micro definitely has more power than the burson. I'm only at eco mode using LCD-2 and K701 with the iDSD. On the Burson I need to go to high gain mode and only use the low gain mode for iems. 

But as I've said, I like the burson much more than the amp section of the iDSD. I don't know about the iCAN SE though, as it is also a class A amp.

Thank you very much.. I am ordering Soloist now.. I should have it by end of this week. Will share impression after receiving and burning in.

 

[drac079]

  STX II works great with the MK2.  Both Muses8820 and 8920 as well as Texas 47920 even though inferior.  When the amp took the 100 hour mark burn-in turn it felt like I changed the op amps to something better.

Cool, thanks for the info.

 

[EternalChampion]

  Cool, thanks for the info.

Forgot to mention: Prepare yourself for some op amp rolling sessions with this card

  You get 4 Muses chips,  3 distinct sound signatures.
 
I purchased a headphone-to-RCA cable so to neutralize the buffer LME chip and utilize just the 2 Muses I'm left with. and despite the signal feels slightly less refined it's still preferable.  The 47920 simply lack (sub)bass extention and texturing.
 
And when I receive the 3 SS V5s I'll switch to the RCA.

 

[drac079]

  Forgot to mention: Prepare yourself for some op amp rolling sessions with this card

  You get 4 Muses chips,  3 distinct sound signatures.
 
I purchased a headphone-to-RCA cable so to neutralize the buffer LME chip and utilize just the 2 Muses I'm left with. and despite the signal feels slightly less refined it's still preferable.  The 47920 simply lack (sub)bass extention and texturing.
 
And when I receive the 3 SS V5s I'll switch to the RCA.

Nice was wondering what those Burson SS V5s sounded like, be sure to post back impressions of them, and with the mk2.

 

[Decommo]

I received Burson Soloist MK2 that I purchased 2 days ago just now. Now burning in. Just tested with Shozy Alien Gold > Soloist > Ety ER4S... Sounds GREAT~~~~~. Will continue burning in.

 

[Decommo]

I got curious the difference between Soloist and Soloist SL MK2. Hence asked Burson suport line and got instant response as below;
 
"The Soloist SL is a very special product, we have released this design based on our Soloist. While the Soloist has many review and following over the year the SL has been overlooked. But we personally think the Soloist SL is a great value product and Perfect fit for 95% of all phone on the market  
 
The Soloist SL also use only 2 pair of output transistor instead of the 4 pair like the Soloist means lower output power but also means less distortion and more pure sound "
 
Great Design, Great Performance, Great Sound. I cannot ask for more and feel confident that I will enjoy using this desktop amp for many years to come.

 

[bharat2580]

i have one on sale

 

[Steakface]

I just received my Soloist SL (Mk. 1) as an upgrade for the Asgard 2 I've been using for the past 10 months.  I'm currently using it with the HD 650's and SMSL M8/P1 stack.  I picked it up from Amazon for $400.  They ended up shipping it in from Australia, so it took a solid week to get it here in the states.
 
The first thing I noticed was the bass/mid bass was less boom-y and much cleaner.  Peaks have been tamed as well; with the Asgard, I was always wanting to turn it up and jam, but would be punished by heavy hitting peaks in the songs I listen to (lots of techno/trance).  With the Soloist, the peaks are a bit calmer and cleaner, which my ears like quite a lot.  Sound stage might be a tiny bit smaller than the Asgard, but the difference isn't very big to me.  I'll need to do some more critical listening to know for sure.  Highs are crisp without being fatiguing, overall a nice improvement.
 
The only thing I'll miss about the Asgard 2 is the pre-out, but other than that I am super happy with this amp.

 

[Oink1]

Just scored a Soloist SL on the classifieds. Winging its was to me from Aus as I type. Impressions to follow at some point after I've lived with it for a while

 

[EternalChampion]

Ok. I'm done with the break in of the V5s! 10 days of painful anticipation, 150 hours of cookin. I wanted to let them burn in for more, but could not resist anymore. In fact, the changes in the sound waves reaching my ears from the headphones would make it even harder to cope with

 
So, I'll start with the accident! Op-amp rolling occassionally brings trouble I have no idea why. I'm gentle, still legs come off or break. This time an lme49720 leg was cut in half deep inside the Burson extension socket, which is now useless. The socket is required for the V5 to fit on the STX II, so I'll have to get a new one.
 
In regards to the sound, I'm not going to repeat what has already being said in terms of bass, mids, treble, soundstage, dynamics etc. I wlll simply attach "superb" next to every term I'm aware of. The rest comes down to personal preferences.
 
Speaking of preferences, I have to say that the V5s are not ideal for my tastes. I miss some of that liquid warm presentation I used to get from the Muses to be honest. It has less coloration (I'm sure it pairs better with HD650 than HD600) and perhaps very slightly dryer stance. Coincidentally, the instrument/vocal placement is exactly the same to my previous op amp configuration (Muses8920+Muses8820(swap kit)+lme49720). Mid-distance is perfect for 50% of the recordings, some others are just "ok" with that while a great deal of them sounds just awful. Sadly, this is the case with SS V5 as well, the sense of compressed tone hasn't changed at all. The lack of fatigue helps to crank up the volume a bit but this does not solve the issue, it simply doesn't fill your ears.
 
Therefore, it would be great if Burson Audio decides to deliver such an alternative: A closer sounding V6!!
　
PS. The MK2 now serves as the mandatory and wonderful finishing touch on a well-made cake. It adds all of those little things the upgraded STX II can't.
 
PS1. Throw onto the ring any sub 1K DAC against the "supremed" STX II. It's going to be an interesting fight I'm sure!
 
PS2.  Default STX II should be considered by no means an "audiophile" piece of gear.  It needs lots of corrections and improvements from up down to the bottom.   We can't ask for much from a 200 Euros device though.  It will serve as a solid base to start building upon.   The end result after having spent a total of 1000 Euros excluding the headphones, to my ears it feels really high-end now and I can live with it for many years to come.   The signal is powerful enough to feed more demanding headphones without question.
 
I'll come back for any further changes/improvements I may notice in the future.  Stay tuned.

 

 

[Robert777]

Has anyone tried this amplifier with the HD800's?
 
Cheers.

 

[EternalChampion]

Update on the V5s through the MK2:
 
Ok I took my dose and decided to give another full 3-day burn in to the modules. WOW! The bass is smoother and extends low. When I say low, I mean LOW. Also the touch of dryiness that existed is gone. Mids have come a bit forward and treble is now more natural. Cymbals hit and go all over the place, the way they should! Everything sounds smoother than before. I can hear "new" things as well. Rolling in the other op amps, most nuances still exist but so recessed that previously my ears could not process. It simply reshapes the way you listen to your music. I'm trying not to overreact and be as sincere as I can but this is what I'm experiencing right now.   It's not the HD600 suddently produce the quality of 10x the price headphones, it's more like a new, trully Hi-fi approach.
 
I'm tempted to continue and finish it off. 300, 400 hours? It appears that these op amps need their time to calm down and settle after torture. When it will finally settle I have no idea. Only the thought of possible further improvement of these trully amazing devices is enough.
 
If only they were tuned for a touch of more forward sound!

 

 

[dudlew]

  Update on the V5s through the MK2:
 
Ok I took my dose and decided to give another full 3-day burn in to the modules. WOW! The bass is smoother and extends low. When I say low, I mean LOW. Also the touch of dryiness that existed is gone. Mids have come a bit forward and treble is now more natural. Cymbals hit and go all over the place, the way they should! Everything sounds smoother than before. I can hear "new" things as well. Rolling in the other op amps, most nuances still exist but so recessed that previously my ears could not process. It simply reshapes the way you listen to your music. I'm trying not to overreact and be as sincere as I can but this is what I'm experiencing right now.   It's not the HD600 suddently produce the quality of 10x the price headphones, it's more like a new, trully Hi-fi approach.
 
I'm tempted to continue and finish it off. 300, 400 hours? It appears that these op amps need their time to calm down and settle after torture. When it will finally settle I have no idea. Only the thought of possible further improvement of these trully amazing devices is enough.
 
If only they were tuned for a touch of more forward sound!

 

  Ok.... I have been reading your posts about the MKII and the V5s...... I am a bit lost..... where are the V5s installed? is it that you have the V5s installed in a different device like a DAC or are they installed in the MKII? Just clarify that for me please so I can understand whats happening? 

 

[EternalChampion]

    Ok.... I have been reading your posts about the MKII and the V5s...... I am a bit lost..... where are the V5s installed? is it that you have the V5s installed in a different device like a DAC or are they installed in the MKII? Just clarify that for me please so I can understand whats happening? 

How did you miss my reference to the STX II so many times?

 
"Through the MK2" I mean impressions of the final audio signal.   Inside the Soloist nothing can be installed. 

 

[dudlew]

  How did you miss my reference to the STX II so many times?

 
"Through the MK2" I mean impressions of the final audio signal.   Inside the Soloist nothing can be installed. 

I did see that in an earlier post, just that it seemed that your impressions were more of the op amps than the soloist, so that was why i was inquiring