I really don’t have the technical background to make an informed review of any Hifi/Audio component, but I know when I’m blown away. I’ve only been in the headphone game for about 4 years, but I clearly remember the first time I experienced “audiophile” gear, that feeling where your jaw drops and you know you won’t look at things the same way from that point forward. Much of the search over that time has been about recreating that first magical experience. And the Burson Soloist 3XP, more so than any other gear I’ve tried, recreated so much of that first time experience. I was giddy and laughing, getting goosebumps, brought to tears, and unable to stop, to the point where I started negotiating trade-offs with myself, like “I can work on 6.5 hours sleep, right? Actually, 6 hours is probably fine, I’ll just listen for another half an hour.” Paired up with my Denafrips Ares ii DAC and my Hifiman Arya headphones, it’s the sort of system that makes you want to re-listen to years and years of music. And I love to see the looks on the faces of family and friends who get the opportunity to try it out, who had no idea it was possible to hear into music that way. The other thing that stands out about this unit is how much I notice it in the chain vs the other components. Once I got the Soloist, there was such an obvious jump up in quality. I tried using 3 or 4 other amps in the same chain with the Ares ii and Arya, and while none were bad, none stood out as much or were anywhere near as noticeable as the Soloist (and in the best way possible). I had read quite a few times that the most important component after the headphones is the amp, but until that point I wasn’t sure I believed how much difference an amp could make in the chain. Now I totally get it. I was on the fence about moving up to the Soloist for months, because of the price relative to my previous amp. But without question it was worth it!