Burson Conductor - DAC/amp successor to the HA-160D - Page 3

What does balanced outputs mean, if you don't mind my asking?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenpmd 

What does balanced outputs mean, if you don't mind my asking?

Like this:

for these:

I still don't get it!

We're itching to get our first demonstrators, but I have high hopes for the new DAC section, which (on paper) looks like a big step up from the HA160D and DA160 - just as the Soloist is (actually) a big step up from the HA160.

We've always said: “If Antelope could get together with Burson, we'd have something special”. By next week, when stock lands around the world, I suspect we'll see reviews filtering online all over the place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenpmd 

I still don't get it!

OK - what is it exactly you need to understand?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenpmd 

I still don't get it!

Good article on the subject: http://www.headphone.com/learning-center/balanced-drive.php

Any first impressions yet?

They've had the Conductor at our local shop for a couple of weeks now. I've only had a brief couple of listens, but no a/b comparisons.

I liked it with the LCD3. Very lit up, good bass slam and nicely separated.

The USB connection is adequate, but a little sharp and stark sounding. The Audiophileo 2/pure power converter quite obviously removed the sharp edges, giving a more natural sounding tone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hubsand 

 

We've always said: “If Antelope could get together with Burson, we'd have something special”. 

It would be a nice fusion, both companies are highly regarded. 

Btw, i haven't been able to demo the conductor here but the orders are already shipping from what i know. Where are the folks who bought a conductor? been impatient with this one. 

@thanks for the quick impressions Duckman. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabio-fi 

 

It would be a nice fusion, both companies are highly regarded. 

 

Btw, i haven't been able to demo the conductor here but the orders are already shipping from what i know. Where are the folks who bought a conductor? been impatient with this one. 

 

@thanks for the quick impressions Duckman. 

You're going to like the HE-5LEs win you get them..

I just got mine in the mail earlier today and I've been listening to it all day.  In a word, phenomenal.  It takes everything that makes the sound purely Burson and improves upon it 100% from the HA-160D Amp/DAC/Preamp (which I also own).  It sounds a tad tight but not exactly harsh right now, but I expect it to loosen up a bit as it burns in just like the 160D.  I've used both my HD 800's and Hifiman HE-6 cans with it and I really don't have anything to complain about--very neutral and clean without being analytical.  It makes the HD 800's actually fun.

One word of advice--mine shipped without accessories or a manual for some reason so I didn't know this in advance, but if you plan on hooking it up to a Mac, it requires a driver from Burson's website.  Without the driver, it warbled crazily and hissed and popped.  With it, pure bliss.

I'm sure I would've been happy getting the latest gear from Schiit, which I also considered, but I'm glad I held out all the same.

Mine arrived towards the end of last week.  It's all that Srajan indicated in his review on 6moons and more.  It's detailed and resolving.  Instruments are more clearly separated and placed on the stage.  It has transient quickness and decay is more delineated.  It's all that I was hoping for and then some.  It's almost as if you're at the venue, studio, hall or whatever that may be.  To me, it's very realistic and conveys what the artist and recording engineer intended.  To paraphrase what other reviewers sometimes use as an analogy, it's like removing the haze from a window where you can see what's in front of you more clearly, colors are more vibrant, come into sharp focus and have dimension.  Everything is more realistic as if the glass wasn't there.  You definitely get a LOT of bang for your money with this product.

I primarily use JPLAY and am having some difficulty with it and the Conductor's USB driver.  I've been chatting with with Josef of JPLAY and he's offered some suggestions but they have not solved the issue.  I will be contacting Burson shortly to see what their perspective and possible solution is.  On my setup, 16bit/44.1kHz through 24bit/96kHz work well enough but 24bit/192kHz don't always play consistently.  The JPLAY/Conductor issue seems to be related to latency that appears to get more pronounced over time on my setup.  JPLAY has VERY low latency and it does not "see" the USB interface as ASIO, which the USB driver control panel indicates it is.  J.River Media Center does "see" the ASIO interface and does not have the problem at any bit stream / resolution combination. 

I'll have to go through more thorough troubleshooting process and will report back later but it may take some time because of the time differences involved between Europe (JPLAY) , Australia (Burson) and myself (USA).  I have every confidence that this issue will be resolved and do not hesitate to recommend the Conductor to anyone.

What headphones are you running?

BowlOfPetunias and germay0653 thanks a lot for your impressions :)

I will be receiving mine today (as fedex tracking number tells me) and will post later some comparisons with 160D and M2Tech Young + Palmer.