Burson Audio Soloist Voyager

INTRODUCTION


My acquaintance with Burson Audio products began not so long ago, but it was quite intensive.

In 2020 I was looking for a replacement for my home headphone amplifier and quite nice and compact Soloist 3XP caught my eye.

I’ve changed several Burson devices through some years and as a result Soloist 3X GT has taken the main place of my desktop headphone amplifiers (the company’s previous flagship).

The amplifier completely fulfills the task to drive all existing headphones.

I think it would be difficult to find an appropriate alternative for the GT at that price.

When the Voyager was announced, it was clear that the company intended to go even further in the TOTL league.

The most significant design difference between the Voyager and the GT is a different type of cooling system. The Voyager lacks active cooling (big and quiet fan by Noctua). Due to this the amplifier gained ~2 kg in weight, and features a large heatsink in the lower part of the device.

The overall dimensions of the new amplifier do not differ much from the GT.

The Voyager is 0.5 cm wider and 1.7 cm taller.


In fact, the manufacturer managed to maintain compact dimensions for an amplifier of this class.


By the way, I have not yet seen any announcement of any vertical stand (Cool Stand) that comes with the GT, but its display allows to switch to a vertical orientation. Maybe such a stand is going to appear later. The existing one from GT will not fit due to the extra almost 2 cm of thickness of the Voyager case.

The active cooling method on the GT in 2021, on the one hand, was a solution to maintain compact dimensions of the amplifier, on the other hand, it raised a certain amount of criticism from “perfectionists" due to extra fan noise.

I personally didn't find the fan noise to be a problem, but I knew it would be better if there was no additional noise at all.

So, the Voyager solved this problem. At least there are no visible fans under the case cover.

Instead of the Active Cooling system we get a new Silent Cooling system.

We'll come back to it later.



SPECIFICATION





WHAT IS INSIDE

It is impossible to talk about the internal structure of the amplifier apart from the previous flagship.

At first glance, there aren't many changes (the Voyager is based on the GT), but they are quite significant.

They are especially noticeable in comparison with GT 2021, which is my home amplifier.

As far as I know GT 2023 being on the market today has replaceable Silent Power Modules too.


So, the first difference: changes in the internal power supply circuit.



The Voyager has five SP modules: four SP02 and one SP01.

According to the manufacturer, the modules can reduce noise levels to 0.8 nVrms.
I think that the numbers of the RMS voltage will not tell us anything, so we will evaluate the changes by the sound quality.

The use of these power modules should have a positive effect on micro-detail retrieval by obtaining a “blacker” background.


The second difference: new 7th generation discrete operational amplifiers - V7V-DUAL.



As many people know, Burson Audio in addition to amplifiers, DACs, has been producing operational amplifiers (opamps) for the last 15 years, and these opamps are in great demand among audio enthusiasts around the world and have a wide range of applications, not only in Burson Audio products.

What do we know about them?

• Top-quality audio-grade components
• 1%-matched metal-film resistors and silver mica capacitors
• Extremely temperature stable
• Each transistor is chemically optimized for its application: NPN or PNP
• Each transistor tested and matched before hand-soldering onto the PCB

There is no detailed information yet about improvements compared to the 6th generation. Later I will try to compare Vivid 6 with Vivid 7 using the Soloist GT.



"The Voyager has greater upgradability. It comes with the top of the line Silent Power Modules. But Burson may introduce SP03, 04 in future...who knows. And combining that with opamps and power supply upgrade options, the Voyage never ends..."


The third difference: finer sound volume control.



1 turn of the Voyager volume knob = 10 digits of the volume scale on the display,
1 turn of the volume knob on the GT 2021 = 15 digits of the volume scale on the display.

So, you can fine tune your volume more precisely with the Voyager.



WHAT'S OUTSIDE

As for inputs and outputs, there are no differences from the GT: the same connectors on the rear panel (two XLR and RCA inputs, XLR and RCA outputs, plus a subwoofer output).



Everything is the same on the front panel: XLR and 6.3 mm headphone outputs, microphone output, volume knob, display and four control buttons.

The only difference due to case design changes is that microphone jack is now closer sitting to the 6.3 mm jack.

The display color changed from white to blue, the dimensions remained the same. Perhaps white color went better with pure silver body of the GT, but the Voyager also added a copper color to silver.

I think there will be supporters of both color schemes.

The sensitivity of menu navigation has been improved. Now you won’t be able to accidentally jump to the next field or select the wrong item in the menu.

As far as I know, this problem has already been fixed in GT 2023.

The remote control has been changed significantly. Now it is not just a silver stick with rounded edges, but a more complex Voyager-shaped device with copper buttons. This remote control looks just great.

Its functionality has not changed: adjusting the volume, muting the sound and switching the sound source.



SILENT COOLING SYSTEM

The new silent system has its pros and cons, in my opinion: it is really silent but makes the amplifier hotter during operation in comparison with Active Colling of the GT.



While burning-up, the Voyager has been working constantly for 6-8 hours with the same temperature level all the time without any problems.

If you put your ear to the back of the device near the heatsink, you can hear a slight background noise, which does not go outside the body of the amplifier. What could be its cause?

There is a small fan under the main board. It's super quiet and slow turning. It is completely hidden. It is impossible to see it.

This Silent Colling does its job:

When the amplifier is turned on, not a single extra decibel is added to the surrounding space.

I measured the sound level with a dB application for Android. It made no difference whether the Voyager was running or not; the ambient noise remained around 33 dB – my “normal silence”.





SOUND. COMPARISON WITH SOLOIST GT 2021.


TEST SYSTEM

Roon ROCK (Intel NUC Akasa fanless case) > Felix Audio Nothing 2.1 > Felix Audio mod.3 optoswitch > Sonnet Digital Audio Hermes > Sonnet Digital Audio Morpheus > Burson Audio Soloist GT > Snorry Trion

Both amplifiers were used with a standard 5A, 24V Supercharger power supply.
Both power supplies were connected to the mains via a Felix Audio Nothing 2.1 power conditioner.

For those who are not familiar with Snorry headphones, Trion is a flagship with a current RRP of 4200 USD with unique technology inside (planar electrodynamic electroacoustic transducer with matrix structure).



Before evaluating the sound, I tried to get the Voyager up to 50-60 hours of burn-in. Although it is difficult to call it a "full burn-in", nevertheless, this is no longer a sound “out of the box” in any case.

In my opinion, the main feature of the Voyager is its Natural sound signature.

It doesn’t matter what’s playing at the moment, when you put on the headphones, you want to keep them on your head longer…
For comparison I mainly used high-resolution files of instrumental jazz performers from the ECM studio, such as Tord Gustavsen Trio, Jakob Bro and other names of the label.

The differences from GT 2021 are immediately heard, even with a short listen.
Maybe GT 2023 will be closer to the sound character of the Voyager taking into account the modification of the power supply circuit inside the device, but I cannot answer this question.

The Voyager builds a soundstage better. It is deeper, more three-dimensional; instruments are better positioned in space. In comparison with the Voyager the GT sounds flatter and more forward. The Voyager has a blacker background; hence you can pick up the quietest micro details easier. The midrange sounds "richer and fuller".

It would be better to describe some of the differences using specific tracks as examples:


FLAC 96/24

Album Gefion by Danish instrumentalist Jakob Bro and the title track of the album. Starting from the first minute of the track, percussion flows into the musical canvas, gradually increasing both in terms of sound pressure and the complexity of the composition.
The GT makes cymbals sound more energetic, but also slightly simpler and more homogeneous at the same time.
The Voyager does it smoother, with a longer “trail” following the cymbal strike, with a more complex picture in general. My ears find it easier to pick up small and quiet details in the track.


FLAC 48/24

Next is the album of the Norwegian trio Ayumi Tanaka Trio.

The Ruins 2 track also does a good job of showing the differences between the amps in terms of overall musical presentation.
The GT plays more forward, with a little more emphasis on highs and lows. The cymbal hit in the center is more emphasized and sometimes draws attention away from the piano.
While the Voyager plays smoother, not that forward, more balanced sounding with fuller midrange. The piano sounds more vivid.


FLAC 96/24

The Tord Guvstens trio with the track Findings from the album "Opening" plunges into "The most beautiful sound next silence" of the ECM label. As far as I know, this album was recorded in the Auditorio Stelio Molo concert hall with an amazing acoustics. This track, like the rest of the album, is led by Tord's piano, which neatly complements the picture, allowing silence to fill the pauses between touches of the keys. The sounds differ in strength, location and duration.

And the Voyager, it seems to me, better conveys this atmosphere: smoother, thinner, more precise.

I won’t say that the GT is not that great but it sounds more “rough” and more simplified.




CONCLUSION

In my opinion, Burson Audio with the Soloist Voyager takes another confident step towards the top of the Olympus of “amplifier engineering”, taking the best from the previous flagship and adding a number of significant improvements that lead to a higher level device.

The Voyager produces a very balanced and rich sound with excellent technicalities.

The Voyager has great upgradability (opamps and SP modules).

Probably not everyone will like the new “space shuttle” design and color. Some may find it too hot. Some people may prefer a different sound signature…But the Voyager is no doubt a significant upgrade of GT 2021.

I can only wish Burson Audio further development and implementation of new ideas and solutions.