Burson Super Charger 3A

General Information

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/super-charger-3a/

Burson Audio is challenging the conventional and pushing the boundaries of audio excellence through innovation. A decade ago, we argued against using IC opamps on the audio signal path. Today, our discrete audio opamps are industry benchmarks.

In 2017, we had a breakthrough in power supply research. It led to the development of our proprietary Max Current Power Supply (MCPS). Superior to both transformer-based and conventional switching power supply designs, the MCPS is featured in all Burson products, winning awards and leaving competitors in the dust.

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Licence to thrill.​

There are no gimmicks here. We did not invent new elements nor space-tech. And submarines certainly do not use it to lower their noise floor. Instead, it is based on nearly two decades of experience building power supplies for audio, then assembled with the best parts we can find. The resulting improvement is instantly audible and across the entire audio spectrum.

Lower Noise = More Details.​

Off-the-shelf power units have an operating frequency that’s just above the human hearing threshold. In contrast, the Burson Super Charger works at an even higher frequency, resulting in a much lower DC noise—instantly improving the final noise to signal ratio.
The lowering of DC noise allows a deeper dive into the micro-details. It reveals more texture and decay around each note and more acoustic information in the air between instruments and vocalists.

Higher Frequency = More Dynamics.​

The Burson Super Charger doubles the charging frequency to power capacitors inside the audio amplifier. The resulting sound is more impactful with a bigger and deeper soundstage.

Work in teams or go solo.​

The Super Charger further enhances the Max Current Power Supply (MCPS) stages inside Burson products. When the two work together, the result is self-evident. But it is also the perfect upgrade for other audio equipment using the same input voltage.

Compatibility with Other Products:​


To find out its compatibility with other products, please follow the steps below:
  • Is your current PSU 24Volt with the same amp or less? (eg 3A or less)
  • Does it have a 2.5mm DC barrel plug?
  • Does it have a centre positive polarity?
If the answer is YES to all three, then our Super Charger is compatible.

Latest reviews

rev92

Reviewer at Ear Fidelity
Burson Audio Super Charger 3A
Pros: Well-built
Easy to use
Significant sonic upgrade
Works with many Burson devices
Works with all outlet types
Good technology
Adds even more depth to the current Burson lineup
Cons: Pricey

Introduction​

Today’s review is going to be quite different. We’re taking a look at Burson’s Super Charger 3A, a low-noise power supply built for their devices. Here’s the list of compatible devices:

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As you can see, it can be used with most of their current lineup. This is a good thing because even if you’re going to upgrade your current Burson device, it’s very probable that you’ll keep the Super Charger and use it with your next purchase.
We have reviewed Burson’s Playmate 2 and V6 Vivid Opamps recently (here and here), and we’re going to test the Super Charger in this specific configuration.
Burson yet again proves that their devices are meant to last you a very long time. On top of fantastic build quality and sound, you’ve got options for upgrading your current model without hurting your wallet too much. You can either go for better Opamps, the Super Charger…or both. I now have a fully upgraded Playmate 2 on my hand, so let me tell you how much better it got.
This review will be a rather short one. It’s a power supply, I’m not going to write a book about it and give you 5000 words about the sound, because that would have been outrageous. I’ll try to focus on the most important stuff, and most importantly, give you my opinion on whether it’s worth it.

Packaging​

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The packaging of the Super Charger 3A is very basic, as you would have expected. It comes in a nice-looking black box, which contains the power supply itself, together with different types of connectors, for you people living around the world. It’s a great thing, as you don’t have to choose a specific plug version when ordering or changing your Super Charger if you’ll decide to move to a different country.
This is literally all you need and Burson Audio focused on the most important aspect – for the Super Charger to arrive safely at your door.

Build Quality​

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The Super Charger is built well. It’s not huge, which is a plus in my book, as it won’t take up too much space, which is always desirable. Having in mind, that you’ll probably put it in your hand for literally a minute, plug it into your power strip, and don’t touch it again for like a year, the actual build quality is not that important.
You’re not going to toss it in your backpack and take it with you on a trip, are you? Well, if you will…then it’s built well enough to easily take a beating. At the end of the day though, it’s a power supply, it’s meant to be plugged in and for you to forget that it’s there.

Tech​

I really appreciate the honesty of the folks at Burson Audio. Here’s the first thing that you’re going to read when looking at the Super Charger at their official website:

“There are no gimmicks here. We did not invent new elements nor space-tech. And submarines certainly do not use it to lower their noise floor. Instead, it is based on nearly two decades of experience building power supplies for audio, then assembled with the best parts we can find. The resulting improvement is instantly audible and across the entire audio spectrum.”

Audio manufacturers often get lost in story-telling, when you’re getting so many promises that it feels like you’re dealing with alien technology. It’s different this time. Burson Audio is just a group of highly knowledgeable engineers that has one goal and one goal only – to provide high-quality audio for the people.
So, what’s so special about the Super Charger? Lower noise, and Higher Frequency.

Lower noise gives you a blacker background and better overall cleanliness of the sound. This can definitely improve detail retrieval, separation, and resolution. This aspect is pretty self-explanatory, you don’t want any noise in your audio, at all costs.

“Off-the-shelf power units have an operating frequency that’s just above the human hearing threshold. In contrast, the Burson Super Charger works at an even higher frequency, resulting in a much lower DC noise—instantly improving the final noise to signal ratio.
The lowering of DC noise allows a deeper dive into the micro-details. It reveals more texture and decay around each note and more acoustic information in the air between instruments and vocalists.”

Higher Frequency on the other hand is meant to give you better dynamics, bigger sound, and a more expanded soundstage. Here are two cents from Burson on this topic:

“The Burson Super Charger doubles the charging frequency to power capacitors inside the audio amplifier. The resulting sound is more impactful with a bigger and deeper soundstage.”

As you can see, there’s no Rocket-Science in this little guy, but rather simple yet refined technology. At the end of the day, sound quality improvement is essential to evaluate whether the Super Charger is worth your money, so let’s not waste any more time and get right into it.

Sound​

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I’m not going to say that the Super Charger changed my Playmate 2 into a Summit-Fi AIO, because it hasn’t. Also, I don’t want to try to convince you that you have to get one, because you don’t.

What I can certainly do though is try to give you an idea of an improvement it gives and whether the (not too low) price is worth paying if you have the Playmate 2.
So, the quick answer is – I don’t know. See, there’s always an aspect of diminishing returns. You’ve just spent around $500 on your Playmate 2, then you paid around $150 for these fancy Opamps, and now you’re wondering if you should spend $284 on a dedicated power supply. This comes very close to a $1000 total price, which you could spend to get a Conductor 3P ($1044), a higher, beefier model from Burson Audio.

Is the fully upgraded Playmate 2 going to sound as good or better than the Conductor 3P? Sadly, I don’t know, as I never tried the latter. But you should definitely have this thing in mind before pulling the trigger.

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But, I’m here to tell you if the Super Charger 3A actually improves the sound quality of the Playmate 2. Yes, it does, by quite a lot actually. You can immediately hear that it sounds cleaner and more refined with better detail retrieval. It’s like removing a very thin blanket from the sound, giving you a more accurate and more controlled sound throughout the whole frequency range.

Another thing that you can easily hear is the dynamics and overall size of the sound. The Super Charger makes the sound grander, more epic, and just more natural to your ear. The most important aspect of these changes is that they happen in the entire frequency range, giving you an instant and very straightforward upgrade. This is not witchcraft, nor it is subtle, and this makes it a very easy recommendation if you’re wondering whether the Super Charger is worth getting.

Summary​

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The name Super Charger is just perfect. This power supply literally supercharges your Burson Audio device, providing a substantial upgrade to the entire sound quality throughout the whole frequency range.

If you own the Playmate 2 and really like it, this is a no-brainer when it comes to upgrading your audio experience. Together with V6 Vivid Opamps it enhances the sound quality by a lot. This is what audio upgrade products should always be about. No audiophile-grade routers, LAN cables, or magical audio stickers, but rather well-engineered and actually meaningful devices that deliver on their promise with no doubts.

Recommended.


Gear used during this review for the sake of comparison and as an accompanying equipment:
  • Headphones – Audeze MM-500, Audeze LCD-X 2021, Final D8000 Pro, Fir Kr5, Fir XE6, Unique Melody MEST, HEDDphone
  • Sources– Burson Playmate 2 + Vivid Opamps
Big thanks to Burson for providing the Super Charger 3A for this review. I wasn’t paid or asked to say anything good or bad about this product, all of the above is just my personal, unbiased opinion. Burson hasn’t seen this review before publishing it.
If you’re in Europe, you can order your Super Charger 3A here, or here via the official Burson Audio website.

hitchhiker

New Head-Fier
A clean power brick for your audio devices
Pros: Clean power
Multiple power plug adapters
Cons: Slightly heavy/bulky
Burson - Supercharger - A quick review

Thanks to Burson audio and Bhavneet Matharoo for the review unit of the Supercharger.

The Supercharger is a power adapter that provides clean power from noisy power sources.

Build and package : The supercharger comes in a nice box, with the super charger, and 3 adapters for the various power plug configurations across the world (australia, europe, US). Functionaly and securing the items in the box, as can be seen from the image.
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The build quality is good quality ABS plastic and weighs in slightly more than most laptop chargers.
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How does it perform
My office power supply comes from a power backup that is extremely noisy. When I connect any audio device (dac or amp), or even charge the laptop. noise creeps into the iems/ headphones. This is the normal state of affairs.
In the Supercharger world, the noise is near completely eliminated, almost like someone closed a very well padded door. The current delivered to the amp is very clean, and the device performs very well, thanks to the super charger.

Whom will I recommend it to - Anyone with poor grounding, noisy power supply and those willing to upgrade the power source of their dac/amp (24V 3A VDC), they are in for a treat with the Burson Supercharger!

Otto Motor

Headphoneus Supremus
Burson Super Charger 3/5A Review
Pros: Improves sound substantially
Cons: Costs extra...user should have the choice between regular power supply and Super Charger

Introduction

This review was original published at www.audioreviews.org.

Burson are a company out of Melbourne, Australia, which are well known and liked for their innovative opamps, DACs, amps, DAC/amps combos. I have analyzed the Burson Funk and the V6 Vivid & V6 Classic opamps.

Their DACs and amps come with their proprietary Maximum Current Power Supply “MCPS” , an ultrafast switching power supply that minimizes noise riding on the signal – and it lowers resistance and speeds up performance.

With the Super Charger, Burson are going a step further in reducing DC noise which and therefore increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. This should improve (micro-)dynamics and sonic detail. The company claims that the Super Charger doubles the the charging frequency to power capacitors inside the audio amplifier, which results in a more impactful sound with a bigger and deeper soundstage.

I tested this, but before I report my results, let’s first talk about the power-supply technology and common issues with mains power.


Power Supplies and Noise

Power supplies are highly underrated components and frequently put in the snake oil corner. That’s partly because they are external somewhere on the floor or optically unspectacular as “wall warts”…but mainly as they – strictly speaking – do not contribute anything to the sound of a device.

What? Surprised? On the contrary, good power supplies serve the purpose of preserving the signal from deterioration through…NOISE. Therefore, sound is “passively” improved by preservation and not by addition.

Three kinds of noise exist that can contaminate and deteriorate the audio signal: electromagnetic interference (RMI), radio-frequency (RFI) interference, and switching noise (which is usually just above the human hearing threshold). RMI and RFI may be transmitted by both USB ports and external power supplies.

What we call noise are not discrete sounds but impurities superimposed on the signal, like dirt mixed in our bathwater. Dirty bathwater does not clean well, and an impure signal compromises sound quality. I speculate that lack of understanding of “noise” in this context contributes to the snake-oil dogma with some listeners.

The electricity that comes out of our mains contains RMI and RFI, the amount of which depends on our living environment. It will be worse in a dense city environment than in the sparsely populated countryside.

All electronic circuits work at low voltage/direct current whereas the grid provides high voltage/alternative current.

A power supply is a transformer that connects the AC grid with the low voltage circuit of a device, let’s say a DAC or amp. There are two kinds of power supplies, switching mode power supplies (SMPS) and linear power supplies (LPS). Both kinds principally work with our audio devices.

A good-quality LPS contains a big transformer which makes them bulky, but it has a great price to performance ratio. The power supplies that come with our phones or notebook computers are SMPS. These are generally more compact and cheaper than LPS but noisier – unless sophisticated filtering is used. Basic SMPS will deteriorate the audio signal but a high-quality SMPS is superior to an LPS.

In an SMPS, the incoming AC is first converted to DC by a rectifier, followed by a filter, and then sent to a transformer. An integrated circuit switches voltage on and off at a very high frequency. An SMPS only needs a small transformer as the flow-through currents are generally small. The resulting DC is not very clean as the voltage is not as stable as with a good LPS. But the small devices travels well to hotel rooms (think Apple’s 5V iPhone charger).

In their Super Charger, Burson tackle specifically the switching noise by raising the switching frequency higher above the human hearing threshold. Simple but clever? But, will it work?


USB Noise

I described USB noise in my analyses of the Allo Nirvana and Allo Shanti 5V power supplies review:

“Another cause of noise/signal deterioration is our streamer/computer/phone source. The various computer internals are inherently noisy. If our DAC is powered through the USB port, the computer delivers both noisy power and a poorly timed data stream (“jitter”) caused by RMI and FMI, through VBUS and data line, respectively, to the DAC.

Both jitter and noisy power contribute to the deterioration of the audio signal. And if both are transferred into the DAC via an inferior USB cable, there is additional interference between power and data lines…which exacerbates the problem. That’s why you need a well-made, well-shielded, well-isolating USB cable, too.

Using an external PS or a battery eliminates the VBUS problem. When testing the “purity” of the Super Charger (as well as for everyday use), I eliminated the USB noise altogether by using a quasi noise-less source.”

OK, let’s have a look at the Super Charger.


Compatiblity

The Super Charger 3/5A is compatible with almost all current Burson DACs and amps…but also with third-party devices, if they fulfill the specs below.


Burons Audio Super Charger


To find out its compatibility with other products, please follow the steps below:

  • Is your current PSU 24Volt with the same amp or less? (eg 3A or less)
  • Does it have a 2.5mm DC barrel plug?
  • Does it have a centre positive polarity?
If the answer is YES to all three, then the Super Charger is compatible.


Physicals

In the box is the device and three slide-in adapters to fit all power outlets around the world. The design is a simple wall wart without button of switches. Its case is made of some kind of polyethylene (“hard plastic”) like most other such devices. A white LED indicates it is connected to the mains.

The Super Charger is slim (leaves space for adjacent power supplies) but sticks out quite a bit – which should not matter too much as it is likely hidden somewhere behind your desk (the stock power supply is on your desk). The chord – against claims in the blogosphere – is NOT detachable (I asked Burson), although the connector rotates.


Burson Super Charger
Burson Super Charger
Burson Super Charger
Burson Super Charger
Burson Super Charger



What Changes are expected?

Improvements depend on the noise contamination. No noise, no improvement. Noise is not only introduced by the ac grid but also by the other electrical components in the chain such as computers and phones. In the worst-case scenario, the benefits of the power supply to the amplifier may be levelled by the other components so that the net improvement is…zero. I experience such as case during the ifi Audio iPower X testing when using a computer as source. We also have to consider permanent fluctuations of the ac grid according to usage and location.

Testimonies of the benefits of power supplies by audioreviews.org writers range from a “cleaner signal, better details, better transients” to improved stereo image and bass, better vocals quality” on the blogosphere. Co-blogger Biodegraded, reports better textured and more extended bass and a quieter background throughout in his headphone amp with the ifi Audio iPower. KopiOkaya owns and tested several LPS and also reports differences in dynamics. Some cheap PS sound “uninspired” in his analyses. Co-Blogger Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir tested the ifi Audio Zen Can and had to purchase an iPower X to get the sonic results he expected from it.


Test Setup

For my listening test, I used a low-noise source, one that does not suffer from contamination from non-audio components (computer of phone), and one that does not rely on a power supply connected to the mains. I therefore deployed the Questyle QP1R dap, that runs on constant power/current supplied by its built-in battery. It also has a dedicated line-out. This source obviously avoids USB noise and mains noise. The Super Charger was attached to the Burson Funk via an AudioQuest Golden Gate 3.5 mm to 2 RCA interconnect.


My complete test setup was:

  • Source: Questyle QP1R dap
  • AudioQuest Golden Gate 3.5 mm to 2 RCA Interconnect
  • Super Charger 3/5A connected to Burson Funk amp.

Test Results

Wowsa! I was stunned! The sonic difference between the stock power supply and the Super Charger is substantial (in my setup). We are not talking nuances, the whole sonic character changes quite a bit…and to the better. Burson claims better detail and better dynamics…which is true. My impressions – from the first minute – have been: much better transparency, much better note definition, better accentuation. Imaging is improved, there was much better control and organization, which I first recorded in the bass.. In summary, the signal is much cleaner and crisper, and more true to a Class A amp than with the stock power supply.

The stock power supply delivers a less orderly, much less controlled sound that I first detected on the more loose low end.

I am actually really surprised that the difference is so big. Quite frankly, I enjoy the sound with the Super Charger so much more that I don’t want to go back to the stock supply.


Value: should I…?

The question is: is it worth purchasing the Super Charger as it is not quite cheap? Answer: it depends! First, how much is its acquisition relative to the amp you use it with? The more expensive the amp, the more worth is it to invest in a good power supply. At $2500, the Super Charger is only a 10% cost addition (how much did you pay for your rubber phone case?).

Second, how “clean” is your chain of electronic devices? If you have a noisy computer or phone and a DAC with a cheap power supply in front of your amp, the Super Charger may not make much or any difference. After all, the golden rule is: garbage in, garbage out.

Some experts are of the opinion that an amplifier benefits more from clean power than a DAC. And they further claim that clean power contributes 70% to an amp’s sound quality. And when you compare the price of the Super Charger against a good linear power supply ($500 plus), it does not look that bad.

In the end, the pleasure you will get out of your power supply will define its value.

Concluding Remarks

To say it in simple terms: when used “properly”, the Super Sharper changes the sound of your amplifier notably, to a point that surprised me. It upgrades my Burson Funk to a real Class A amp. I am just confused why Burson includes a – probably also pricey – stock power supply, which you then abandon for the Super Charger.

Wouldn’t it save cost and be better for the environment to give the buyer the choice of picking a power supply upon checkout? Which would bring the total buying price down.

In summary, the Burson Super Charger is for listener who don’t want to make compromises and who are smart enough to implement it properly into their electronic chain.

Until next time…keep on listening!

Jürgen Kraus signature


Disclaimer

The Burson Super Charger was supplied by Burson Audio for my review and I thank them for that. You can get it directly from the manufacturer.

Our generic standard disclaimer.
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