I received these as a loaner to try out in the Burson Swing, so thanks Burson, really really nice to have to opportunity to try these out. I had a set of various other op-amps and will compare these as good as I can, in no particular order:

NE5534 (stock): had to mention these first. I honestly think the Swing sounds stellar in its stock configuration. Bass is tight, sound is very controlled and balanced. Noise levels are good until the highest of volumes. So really, not too bad.

LME49720: I had the 'HA' metal can version of these to try out. They are very low noise with very impressive specs, but honestly did not feel there was a big improvement over stock, perhaps actually slightly less musical. I'm sure these can be quite good sounding, but not really my jam in this particular amp. I'd say pass on these, I expected more.

AD797: the venerable BB 797 opamp is definitely in my favorite opamp list. They are basically the 5534 but better. Not super cheap for an opamp and perhaps really not 'worth' spending a lot of money on for a pre-soldered set on DIP switches, but if you like the stock sound and want that tiny improvement, I would recommend trying these.

And finally, Burson V6 Classic Duals: these... if you want that maximum feel of musicality, these are the opamps to get. They are very punchy sounding and just a breath of fresh air next to the typical discrete opamps. I'm really wondering if the Vivids sounds markedly different, because the Classics already made the biggest difference to me. They just match well with the Burson sound. From what I've seen they measure well too and are pretty noise free, and they definitely sound great. They are pricy, but worth saving up for if you want to max out your Burson amp.

I received the Burson Swing in the context of the head-fi loaner that was going on. Burson contacted me if I wanted to try it in return for a review to which I happily obliged!

First, confusion. Upon looking up the Swing on Burson's site, it mentions Pre-out Output impedance as well as Head Amp Output impedance. This is a typo: the second must mean DAC out output impedance, there IS NO headphone output, out of the box.

(Considering the pre-out is a cool 15 Ohm, I did use the Swing as a DAC/AMP with my HiFiman Ananda planar headphones in pre-amp mode by using an RCA-to-headphone adapter with great success; besides headphones I used it with my M-Audio powered monitors as a pre-amp. Most planar headphones have a flat impedance curve, meaning they don't actually show any frequency response changes with increasing output impedance, with the pre-out being 15Ω the FR change would be <0.1dB. So not a problem for most (if not all) planar headphones. Note that when connecting headphones this way, headphone impedance is ideally 8:1 of your output's impedance, making this only really optimal for ~120ohm traditional dynamic headphones, or the frequency will start to get boomy with lower or lacking in bass with higher impedance traditional headphones. If you want to have a wider compatibility, look into the Playmate instead with its headphone-optimized outputs).



About the Swing. It has a whopping six of Burson's proprietary Max current supplies. Playmate has 5 of those, but does come with 3.5mm/6.3mm headphone outputs. Swing might have a tad cleaner power, making it the ideal companion for dac/pre-amp duties for your favorite powered speakers. Or for headphone amp duties if you do like I do



Package

That being said. On to the review! Burson's packaging feels a little like a high-end video card's box:



Driver install is a breeze on Windows 8 or older using Burson's installation file, while up-to-date OSX, Linux and Windows 10 installations should come with general use UAC drivers which will work with the Swing out of the box.

The Swing has one piece of ESS Sabre 9038Q2M for its digital to analogue conversion specced at 0.0018% THD or total harmonic distortion. This means that its amp section at an impressive <0.002% THD is a perfect match and will not add distortion or otherwise bottleneck the DAC stage of the amp! Note also that this is one of Burson's best specced amp in the product range, closely matching the Playmate but with its slightly cleaner power it will be slightly less noisy.

Impressions:



The Swing boasts some ridiculous power even in the low-gain mode, yet manages this with a whisper quiet background until going real high in volume with more sensitive headphones. With traditional audiophile headphones like Sennheiser or Hifiman you're looking at zero hiss or noise problems whatsoever. Really impressive and a testament to Burson's Max Current supplies.

Sound-wise right off the bat the Swing sounds wider than I'm used to. The L/R panning going on is incredible, I can see why people call it "holographic" sounding. One of the better stage experiences I've ever had, and this coming from a 100% solid state amp. Who needs tubes in the output stage when it gets this good w/ solid state?

The Sabre DAC sound on the Burson is truly silky smooth. I hear no, really absolutely zero "Sabre" veil or glare or any other mythical Sabre nasties that people mention in older generations of these DAC chips. However, I wish I could compare another DAC in this same output stage though. We could really use a Swing-like performer with analog inputs, Burson that would really be a nice-to-have for the tweakers among us. That being said, the 9038 chip inside sounds good. Few DACs could improve on it, take it from me! Comparisons at the bottom of this review!

Expanding on the sound characteristics, the sound is a generally transparent one. There is no mid-bass bleedage or no bass bloat with the stock op-amps. It is not romantic sounding, but juist detailed, very solid statey, and REALLY to my liking. Possible the most pleasing solid state sound I have heard. CLEAN, but with a touch of warmth, for sure. That is the kind of sound Burson is know for

About the volume control: there's a digital volume control with a satisfying digital wheel/knob. If I'm being critical, not the most premium feeling but with its perfect channel matching it does the job just fine. No complaints for the compact PC-slot sized package that the Swing offers.

DAC Input-wise I prefer using the Swing via USB. I leave the PLL on High since that seemed to sound best. Over the time of the review I tried optical/coaxical from a modded SU-1 source but felt that the stock USB implementation is at least as good, and far more convenient.

Perceived response:

Lows: Perhaps a little in the background, never overbearing but perhaps a tiny bit muted? Blends in perfectly with overall representation though. Impact/heft is again not overdone but I’ve had gear that sounds bassier that ends up much more flabby sounding. Burson = tight and just right.

Mids: There is no NOS or resistor ladder magic to them, but rather reference sounding. This might be the best trait of the Swing: voices sound detailed. Not distorted or euphonic, yet very pleasing and real-sounding.

Highs: Using the MP Slow filter treble never felt harsh. I’m not a treblehead so won’t delve too far into this, the fact that I don’t mind the Burson treble in any way is to me a testament to its capabilities (for example, compared to D50: sold mine off right away, either it was defect or it was meant to sound so harsh...).

Overall a very well layered sound, absurd positioning and dead accurate rendering of spatial cues, with a naturally wide sound stage. Excellent for jazz, live, roomy music. EXCELLENT for EDM, video games, movies. VERY immersive sound with a life-like, accurate representation.

From Burson: The Burson MCPS also converts the original sine-wave energy into a more efficient square wave. In combined with the 170khz frequency, the MCPS charges capacitors much faster. This is the reason why a big capacitor bank is not necessary for our designs. The resulting sound is holophonic with dynamic, accuracy and details even during the most demanding of music reproduction. Furthermore, the resulting sound has a much higher perceived driving power which means a 2Wpc Burson Fun feels even more powerful than a conventional 4Wpc headphone amplifier.

And well, it sure sounds holographic, clean and powerful. Bravo Burson. I will miss the loaner!

Comparisons:



Compared to MacBook Pro 2019 output: Burson boasts a much better sense of space and dynamics, music feels like MUSIC rather than the flat and somewhat compressed laptop output.

Swing DAC out to THX AAA: there's little weight and body to it now. They call the THX AAA a "wire with gain" but honestly, it offers little immersion: the sound is almost clinical. The THX is excellent but I will sell mine: it is ideal for background listening but to me is less resolving or engaging. I can't tell you why that is.

Swing DAC out to JDS Atom: I found the Atom fatiguing. The Swing is less strident, less fatiguing, has better L/R panning and perhaps better feeling of sound stage (maybe placebo, the atom did well here too).

Compared to Burson Audio HA-160: this is entirely from memory but Burson’s newer amps like Swing and Playmate sound much better to me, clearer and wider. I suppose things have only gotten better these past years.

Compared to Aune S16: the Aune sounds just as silky to me, but Swing amp stage offers much blacker sound stage with no noise whatsoever, and far more power where the Aune runs out of steam very quickly.

Compared to Audial TDA1541A DAC: the Sabre has a more detailed sound, but ends up perhaps a tad less analogue sounding because of it. You can't compare a bygone era 16-bit DAC to todays 32-bit delta sigma ones. Hence the reason why a line-in would be cool to switch DAC signatures as your mood swings (mood swings, get it?).

RECOMMENDED FOR:

GAMERS and movie-watching for the Swing's great immersion, ideal with active speakers or other pre-amp duties. Possible to use with planars or others that play well with the ~15ohm pre-out via an RCA-to-3.5mm adapter like the Ghent Audio B06 (custom 6.3mm ver.) which I used during the review.

Finally, absolutely recommended to those that wish their dac/(pre)amp adds a dash of colour to the music. The Burson offers a big, colorful sound that sounds warm and never piercing. This is the kind of device that actually makes a difference to your sound. If that's what you desire, get the Swing. It's the bomb!