Let’s talk all things BURSON right here!
Anybody use other op-amps on theirs aside from Burson op-amps?
I’m currently trying these Staccato op-amps; they’re pretty cool.
I’ll also have a Sonic Imagery Labs op-amp on the way; have no idea how that will sound.
I havent tried any other in my Soloist yet, but I am very curious about your thoughts. What changes did you noticed with Staccato? they look pretty intersting
They are, indeed. They look better too! lol
I’m still spending time with them but my general thoughts are I like them more than the Vivids with a few caveats…
- staging has barely any depth
- bass impact is lacking (depending on chain)
- noise floor is more audible on MED gain (not a problem if all you use is LOW gain)
As for upsides vs the Vivids…
- staging is much wider left and right
- bass is way more controlled and everything has a “staccato-like” (pun intended but it’s honestly a pretty good descriptor) precision to it
- mids are clearer and cleaner, so less tonal warmth
- detail might be better
When I said I like the Staccato more that’s only when paired with my Holo Spring 3. I do not like it on the RME DAC; it’s too bass shy.
I hope the Sonic Imagery Labs are awesome.
More thoughts to follow…
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Are you using four or just the two on the output stage?
Just 2 since Burson recommended not to. But who knows, have you tried replacing all 4?
I can try mixing and matching to see if I can tell a difference.
On a similar note, anybody here bought the Supercharger?
No I haven’t. I guess if you’re going to hear the impact the output is the place to put them. I have the V5i and the V6 Classic which I’ve tried, but I liked the Vivids most as the Eikons just gained a little more clarity and even a hint of air with them that wasn’t present in the others.
I don’t know if I’ll wind up keeping the Burson or moving on from it, but if do decide to keep it I’ll try other OP amps.
At this point I suspect that moving into a building will curb my rocking out a little, since now I can listen to my stereo any time I wish not something i’ll be able to get away with having neighbors on the other side of my wall. Perhaps that will have me using my headphones more. We’ll see.
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Yeah I don’t see anybody else op-amp rolling aside from the typical Burson/Sparkos. Hopefully this Sonic Imagery will hit the note for me.
As for other brands that are dual discrete, I can’t really find much. From research, there’s just Douk Audio, Orange, and Class-d all of which don’t look as good as the aforementioned.
4 main things I noticed with the Super Charger:
Blacker background
- The best way I can describe this is with everyday noise floor from your surrounding environs. The noise floor you hear around you during the day is vastly higher than at night. Think of it that way, but in music and in a much smaller scale.
Details
- With the Super Charger you do hear more of the micro details/nuance. In one of my go-to test tracks DEKIGOKORO, you hear the brush strokes more clearly near the beginning of the song. As the trumpets enter and take over, the inflections of the trumpet players’ breaths and resulting dynamic shifts are heard more clearly. In addition, texture and decay information are handled more easily.
Smoothness
- I find my DAC buttery smooth so the changes here are, for me, even more subtle. I can imagine if someone pairs the Soloist with a sharp DAC like the RME, to experience more of a difference. In summary, you get even less fatigue even though it isn’t really fatiguing in the first place.
Control
- Earlier I mentioned the bass on the Vivids can be a bit bloated and uncontrolled when compared with the Staccato op-amps. I found that the Super Charger holds a tighter grip overall and offers more control. As a result, individual bass lines are heard more clearly–one of the big strengths of the Staccato. For example, in one of my favorite tracks 紅蓮華 THE FIRST TAKE, the piano sounds muddy and uncontrolled prior to the Super Charger. Subsequent the Super Charger, it sounds more controlled and precise.
Bonus: Soundstage
- Burson claims “a bigger and deeper soundstage” with the Super Charger. I didn’t really find this to be the case. If anything, it does present a slightly better sense of stage and maybe slightly improved width but overall, I wouldn’t call it big or deep. YMMV.
Afterthoughts
Now I’m really curious and excited what results I’ll hear trying the Staccato op-amps with the Super Charger…
How does the Super Charger fair with other PSUs that have similar offerings? Not sure…
I wonder how the Soloist now fairs against the GSX mini, Bryston, and Violectric. I’ve been seeing/reading that the GSX and the Bryston are a slight step above the Soloist in performance. But with the Super Charger I wonder how close it now gets. If you think about it, the Soloist with the Super Charger still undercuts all those amps in terms of price (assuming you’re not buying used). And you can probably fit in a pair of additional op-amps for a different flavor. Pretty cool…
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That’s inline with what I’ve found from power improvements.
Increased blackness, more perceptible detail, probably because of the blackness improvement.
And usually some improvement in the stage.
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Staccato op-amp roll…
**Holo Spring 3 > Soloist > ZMF VC / IE 900 (all balanced)
**Link: Offer - Staccato Audio
So I’ve 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), I’ll 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 let’s 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 紅蓮華 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 Vivids’ lack of control and grip in the bass region–a 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, it’s 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 “let go” 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. It’s 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 weren’t 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. I’m talking super slightly here, like 0.5% harsher. I’m 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 “staccato” 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 Vivids’ 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 didn’t 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 didn’t think I’d 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 quality–who wouldn’t 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. It’s a bit difficult to convey–you 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 don’t 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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You’re doing your darnedest to sell me on the Burson Supercharger!
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Only one way to find out! 
It has been a nice addition. It would be interesting to know how it fairs with similar offerings.
Just ordered it. How long of a wait was it for you to get it?
I pre-ordered it so hard to say. I doubt it’s selling like hot cakes so hopefully yours doesn’t take too long.
So I was really excited to give the Sonic Imagery Labs 994 op-amp a go. They looked like some beastly op-amps and the company itself has some pedigree in the space (expensive too). Unfortunately, something went wrong and I was hearing loud pops and ticks coming out of my headphone. I knew.
🪦RIP Audioquest Nightowl (right side)
Fortunately, I made a habit of testing unfamiliar equipment with equipment I don’t mind losing. A tear was shed 
. I can’t do anything about it so I shall move on…
I honestly have no idea what happened. I didn’t orient them incorrectly so my best guess is it might have unseated from the right-angle adapter I was using. I don’t think it was a faulty op-amp considering the company it came from, but it can still happen. No clue, so I’m sending everything back and hopefully I’ll be refunded as much as I can get back.
Too bad I couldn’t get some impressions. Btw, the Soloist amp itself is working normally once stock op-amps were back so at least there’s some reliability there.
That’s really unfortunate. Given their pedigree, I wonder if they’d stand by their stuff enough to compensate you for the dead Nightowl (not that they’re easy to replace these days). I guess the wrench could be having used them with adapters, which may not be an ‘approved’ implementation.
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They’ll probably see it as user-error so I doubt it. And yeah, Nightowls are discontinued anyway. The adapters came from them. lol
There are a lot of war story casualties in the OP amp rolling world. At least the Soloist and your original Burson OP amps are good still.
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So the Supercharger does something even on the Conductor 3XR. I don’t know if it’s $300 dollars worth of something because the difference wasn’t as dramatic as the first time I put a LPS on a DAC and heard my first example of a “blacker background”. But this definitely makes details more apparent and I think it’s because of the lower noise floor not because there’s additional detail. This is using my Eikons which aren’t the most defining cans in the world.
I’m comparing the Supercharger to a Mean Well RS-150-24 AC-DC Power Supply 24VDC which has the lowest ripple and noise numbers of any Meanwell 24V switched PS. Maybe that has something to do with it, or maybe it’s just that the power supply section of the Conductor does a lot of what the Supercharger is claimed to do. One additional item to note is that I have to have the volume up about 5 higher to get the same volume level. With the Meanwell I typically listened on low gain at between 30~35. On the Supercharger I’m pushing it to 40.
Anyway, I’m glad I got it because it does push this thing further. I wonder what the ifi Power Elite would do but at only 2.5 amp output, I don’t think it would have had enough juice when demand kicked it so alas, I’ll never know.
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