Christian’s Burson Soloist 3X GT with Meze Empyrean and HiFiMAN HE1000se

Published on

Sales Burson
March 11, 2024

Post Info

Soloist GT3 | GT4
AURALiC Aries, Burson Conductor 3 Reference, Burson Soloist 3X GT, Fischer & Fischer, HiFiMAN HE1000se, McIntosh, Meze Empyrean, Silent Angel Roon Server

One of the best sounding DAC I have ever heard. Excellent Headphone Amp. Many thanks for your support and service in my case of warranty.

The System

Listening with

Meze Empyrean · Headphones: open-back, isodynamic hybrid array (planar), circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 31.6 Ω
Sensitivity: 100 dB SPL (1 mW / 1 kHz) ≈ 115.0 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 4 Hz – 110 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: 4-pin mini-XLR cable; 3 m OFC XLR cable
Other: max SPL >130 dB; THD <0.1%; ~430 g; Rinaro driver

Matching notes: At 31.6 Ω and 100 dB/mW, the Meze Empyrean is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.56 V (10 mW, 18 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 31.6 Ω rating for the Soloist 3X GT. Its 16 Ω and 32 Ω ratings (10 W XLR / 5 W SE; 8 W XLR / 4 W SE) fall either side of it. The Soloist 3X GT’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/63 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

HiFiMAN HE1000se · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural

Impedance: 35 Ω
Sensitivity: 96 dB (reference not stated by HiFiMAN)
Frequency response: 8 Hz – 65 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: not published (HiFiMAN spec page lists no connector)
Other: weight 440 g

^[4]

Burson

Burson Soloist 3X GT · Headphone amplifier / preamp (Class-A) · discontinued

Output power (XLR / SE): 16 Ω 10 W / 5 W · 32 Ω 8 W / 4 W · 100 Ω 3.8 W / 1.9 W · 300 Ω 1.3 W / 0.65 W · 600 Ω 0.64 W / 0.32 W
Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 25 Ω (pre out)
Gain: High / Medium / Low; dB not published
Inputs: 2x XLR; 2x RCA; mic bypass
Input impedance: 35 kΩ
Input sensitivity: line level
Outputs: XLR + RCA pre out; RCA subwoofer out; 4-pin XLR + SE headphone
Other: Model R-120X (“GT3”); THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-48 kHz

^{[2] [3]}

Burson Conductor 3 Reference · DAC / headphone amplifier / preamp · discontinued

Output power (headphone): 16 Ω 7.5 W · 32 Ω 5 W · 100 Ω 1.75 W · 150 Ω 1.16 W · 300 Ω 0.58 W
Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 1 Ω (pre out); 25 Ω (DAC out)
Output voltage: RCA 2 V (DAC out)
Gain: High / Medium / Low; dB not published
Inputs: 2x RCA; USB (XMOS; PCM to 768 kHz/32-bit, native DSD512); Toslink; coaxial; Bluetooth 5.0 aptX HD; microphone
Input impedance: 40 kΩ
Input sensitivity: line level
Outputs: RCA pre out; RCA DAC out; 2x 6.35 mm headphone
DAC / chipset: 2x ESS ES9038Q2M
Other: Model R180 (3R); SE only; THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-58 kHz

^{[5] [6] [3]}

Also in the system

AURALiC Aries

Fischer & Fischer

McIntosh

Silent Angel Roon Server

Specs from manufacturer data unless a source below says otherwise. “calc.” values are worked out from those figures (V = √(P × R); 110 dB SPL used as a loud reference level). Gear listed without specs is not in our spec library yet.