Thank you Charles and Burson for supplying me with a sample of DAC.
The Burson Swing that is being reviewed is the basic version but I also installed V6 Vivid and reviewed with them as well.
Intro:
I am an amateur audio guy and my knowledge with audiophile equipment in general is still novice at best. I was contacted by Charles from Burson about reviewing the Swing, I didn’t know what to really say at first. I had to research what is a DAC/Pre-amp. I am mainly a PC guy so having a Creative Labs Soundblaster ZXR with V6 Vivids were the best for me. Boy I was wrong with the Swing and how great it sounds and the versatility that Burson packed in this small package.
Packaging and External:
The outer packaging was clean and it shows the basic information. The Swing is snug fit in-between the accessories and the foam that surrounds it. As much as I am a PC enthusiast, I didn’t install this into my tower as I don’t have any drive bays on my case. Burson is really trying to cater to the PC community as they included a molex input for power. An RCA female to female adaptor that can be installed in the expansion slots of a PC case. This is one puzzling part in Burson’s decision to try to cater to the PC community. Most cases that are on the market for the past three years do not include any drive bays, they are mainly solid fronts with vents on the side for air to come in.
Internals:
Burson has fitted the Swing with their proprietary Max Current Power Supply technology just as the rest of their Party series. What MCPS does is gone with the traditional transformer power supply and in with transistors that has less than 1 ohm of resistance and virtually no noise. The Xmos chip can support up to 32bit/768khz PCM but that all depends on the output of usb that it is connected to. The DAC chip is an ESS Sabre ES9038 and it is a big difference in terms of sound quality and staging compared to the Soundblaster ZXR’s TI Burr-Brown PCM1794. More on the difference on the sound testing.
Equipment Setup:
· Custom Pc using Optical out on the motherboard – Burson Swing – Marantz PM5005 – Kef Q100
· I didn’t have any quality headphones to test. I will come back when I do get some.
· Sources of music are mainly through Spotify on Very High setting to get the best sound quality. Some ripped by Wu-Tang’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chamber), Scopions Gold, and The Scorpion King Soundtrack all ripped in WMA Lossless format
Sound:
Immediate thoughts after switching from the Sounblaster to the Swing was the sound staging and stereo separation. The separation was so pronounced that I was so surprised how Kenny G’s Songbird sounded like I haven’t heard of. Sure there something missing that the ZXR had but probably due to the fact that had V6 Vivid installed. Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon was mind-blowing. His voice sounded full and natural with his band having the great stereo separation that I haven’t heard of. I kept playing music with the stock op-amps for about a week. My review of the stock Swing is that stereo separation that I haven’t heard of, clean but restraint sound and can please an average PC guy that decided to change from a sound card to an external DAC. Inputs are there, with enough controls and switching between DAC out to preamp out is really convenient.
Being that the Swing has an option to op-amp roll, I couldn’t pass up on that opportunity and immediately replaced the stock op-amps with a 2x V6 Vivid Dual and 2x Vivid Single. The sound that came out of my speakers came out swinging hard and immersive. Scorpion’s Rock You Like a Hurricane really rocked. The two electric guitars playing their own beat on each speaker, the cymbals sounding bright but not harsh and the voice sounds so nice. I Stand Alone by Godsmack was another rocking sound. I am just surprised overall by the sound. Protect Ya Neck by Wu-Tang was a treat to listen to. The song and basically the whole album was recorded pretty bad but the Swing with V6 Vivid really bring everything out. The good rapping and the bad recording.
I didn’t really cover playing video games as I don’t think there was much of a difference that the Soundblaster already had. The explosions and gunshots from Battlefield V was all there. Movies was also in the same field in that there wasn’t a pronounced sound distinction between the Soundblaster and the Swing.
Conclusion:
I could keep going on and on about how great the Swing really changed my perspective on how music is supposed to sound.There hasn’t been something this small that can make music that much more elegant in the ears. I cannot compare this device to anything that I have so far. Even my car with Alpine headunit and Focal Speakers don’t come close to the Swing with the Kefs. With the V6 Vivid upgrade, I hear impressive frequency response and tonal balance. With very natural sounding, wide soundstage that is unheard of. The Burson Swing really swings and it swings hard left and right. At the basic setup costing $400, it is worth every penny. This is a recommended buy for anyone dabbling with digital audio and more so with the PC community.
The Burson Swing that is being reviewed is the basic version but I also installed V6 Vivid and reviewed with them as well.
Intro:
I am an amateur audio guy and my knowledge with audiophile equipment in general is still novice at best. I was contacted by Charles from Burson about reviewing the Swing, I didn’t know what to really say at first. I had to research what is a DAC/Pre-amp. I am mainly a PC guy so having a Creative Labs Soundblaster ZXR with V6 Vivids were the best for me. Boy I was wrong with the Swing and how great it sounds and the versatility that Burson packed in this small package.
Packaging and External:
The outer packaging was clean and it shows the basic information. The Swing is snug fit in-between the accessories and the foam that surrounds it. As much as I am a PC enthusiast, I didn’t install this into my tower as I don’t have any drive bays on my case. Burson is really trying to cater to the PC community as they included a molex input for power. An RCA female to female adaptor that can be installed in the expansion slots of a PC case. This is one puzzling part in Burson’s decision to try to cater to the PC community. Most cases that are on the market for the past three years do not include any drive bays, they are mainly solid fronts with vents on the side for air to come in.
Internals:
Burson has fitted the Swing with their proprietary Max Current Power Supply technology just as the rest of their Party series. What MCPS does is gone with the traditional transformer power supply and in with transistors that has less than 1 ohm of resistance and virtually no noise. The Xmos chip can support up to 32bit/768khz PCM but that all depends on the output of usb that it is connected to. The DAC chip is an ESS Sabre ES9038 and it is a big difference in terms of sound quality and staging compared to the Soundblaster ZXR’s TI Burr-Brown PCM1794. More on the difference on the sound testing.
Equipment Setup:
· Custom Pc using Optical out on the motherboard – Burson Swing – Marantz PM5005 – Kef Q100
· I didn’t have any quality headphones to test. I will come back when I do get some.
· Sources of music are mainly through Spotify on Very High setting to get the best sound quality. Some ripped by Wu-Tang’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chamber), Scopions Gold, and The Scorpion King Soundtrack all ripped in WMA Lossless format
Sound:
Immediate thoughts after switching from the Sounblaster to the Swing was the sound staging and stereo separation. The separation was so pronounced that I was so surprised how Kenny G’s Songbird sounded like I haven’t heard of. Sure there something missing that the ZXR had but probably due to the fact that had V6 Vivid installed. Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon was mind-blowing. His voice sounded full and natural with his band having the great stereo separation that I haven’t heard of. I kept playing music with the stock op-amps for about a week. My review of the stock Swing is that stereo separation that I haven’t heard of, clean but restraint sound and can please an average PC guy that decided to change from a sound card to an external DAC. Inputs are there, with enough controls and switching between DAC out to preamp out is really convenient.
Being that the Swing has an option to op-amp roll, I couldn’t pass up on that opportunity and immediately replaced the stock op-amps with a 2x V6 Vivid Dual and 2x Vivid Single. The sound that came out of my speakers came out swinging hard and immersive. Scorpion’s Rock You Like a Hurricane really rocked. The two electric guitars playing their own beat on each speaker, the cymbals sounding bright but not harsh and the voice sounds so nice. I Stand Alone by Godsmack was another rocking sound. I am just surprised overall by the sound. Protect Ya Neck by Wu-Tang was a treat to listen to. The song and basically the whole album was recorded pretty bad but the Swing with V6 Vivid really bring everything out. The good rapping and the bad recording.
I didn’t really cover playing video games as I don’t think there was much of a difference that the Soundblaster already had. The explosions and gunshots from Battlefield V was all there. Movies was also in the same field in that there wasn’t a pronounced sound distinction between the Soundblaster and the Swing.
Conclusion:
I could keep going on and on about how great the Swing really changed my perspective on how music is supposed to sound.There hasn’t been something this small that can make music that much more elegant in the ears. I cannot compare this device to anything that I have so far. Even my car with Alpine headunit and Focal Speakers don’t come close to the Swing with the Kefs. With the V6 Vivid upgrade, I hear impressive frequency response and tonal balance. With very natural sounding, wide soundstage that is unheard of. The Burson Swing really swings and it swings hard left and right. At the basic setup costing $400, it is worth every penny. This is a recommended buy for anyone dabbling with digital audio and more so with the PC community.
I would put that as a paid advert as you got something for it. Should this not be in the vendors forum?
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