Burson Conductor - DAC/amp successor to the HA-160D - Page 4

Zenpmd,

I'm using Denon AH-D7000 cans re-cabled with Stefan Audio Art Endorphin cables.  Previous setup used the JKDAC32 DAC (very sweet and musical) and a Burson HA-160 headamp and that combination has a lot of synergy.  I could have lived comfortably with that combo but Burson had to up the ante with the Conductor which is just more detailed with better soundstaging.

FYI - the staff at Burson are great to work with.  They provide excellent customer service along with excellent products.  You get a lot of product and know how for your hard earned money.  

I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Ok guys, so I've compared yesterday my 160D with a fresh unburned Conductor.

So far my observations:

1.  Conductor have better details retrieval, more air between instruments, I'm hearing new microdetails from tunes that I know for years

2. It have also a wider soundstage compared with 160D - which now sounds a little bit closed in.

3. The sound is tighter and bass seems a little bit faster and deeper.

4. Right now the top end is a little bit hot and focused, if it will be tamed with burn-in, then it will be a fantastic piece of gear.

5. with my LCD-2 the sound is more controlled and more...relaxed, like the amplifier has more air to breathe, it's more liquid and sound is effortless.

6. Burson recommends using their proprietary USB Async driver found on their website, after installing it use "ASIO Burson Async" from your media player (foobar2000 in my case)

7. USB connection is vastly superior to 160D, I hear less noise with Conductor.

8. Stepped volume pot is now a lot smoother to turn and doesn't "click" at each step.

9. The feet are now made completely from metal with a semi-sphere rubber for vibration absorbing, better looking feet and more professional.

More to come.... :)

I'm actually working on a full blown review for the Conductor, will do comparisons with 160D and with M2tech Young + Palmer also.

Your wallet may shiver in fear but your ears will shiver with delight.   Actually, you're getting A LOT of performance for the price of admission.  You won't be disappointed. 

My God, I want one..

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolguyalex 

My God, I want one..

X 2

Yes, technically talking the Conductor is by far superior in most aspects. I'd like to see it paired with some planars. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatsntomake 

My Conductor just arrived. I can't wait to see how it stacks up against the 160D.

I can't wait to hear your impressions. Please do share...and soon!

My review sample Conductor will apparently arrive tomorrow. I no longer have my HA-160D to compare it against (except via audial memory), but I'll post overall impressions of the Conductor > LCD-2 combo.
 

Hey guys, my review is almost done, will post it most probably tomorrow. Fantastic DAC/Amp/Preamp, but I recommend at least 100 hours of burn-in. It is quite harsh at first, abrasive and a little bit closed in, but as time goes by it becomes more fluid, extended, open and lush.  Now it even pairs well with HD800 too !

for LCD-2 I didn't hear nothing better to this time :-)

Conductor is here to stay for me.

LE: I even compared it to M2Tech Young + Palmer battery supply and it sounds as good and even better on some aspects (spacious soundstage, more extended freq. response in both directions), Conductor is really a nice piece of gear, just not forget about burn-in.

Thanks for the heads up on burn-in, I'll make sure to run mine in for a while before forming opinions.

I appreciate hearing the feedback on the Conductor.  I'm not a current headphone listener, but there is always so much great information on this site.  I owned the HA-160D briefly as a DAC/pre-amp but had three problems with it:  1) load hum with my favorite (unshielded) Q-Audio interconnects, 2) muddy DAC resolution and 3) recessed soundstage behind the plane of the speakers that I couldn't get used to.  If anyone tries the Conductor with speakers, please let me know if the issues I experienced with #1 and 3 above are remedied.  From feedback, it sounds like the Sabre chip is much more detailed (and I've heard quite a few Sabre-based DACs, so I'd expect that).  However, with the Sabre chip, do you find it produces a "natural" non-digital sound?  Thanks in advance, and yes, some LCD-2's are possibly on the horizon if this unit lives up to expectations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan 

Does the DAC in the Conductor click at all when switching bitrates? 

 

Is the Conductor better for planar magnetic headphones like the LCD2s?  I understand the 160D was not very good for those. I'd be interested in hearing some sound quality/impact impressions on the Conductor with various cans. 

Where did you hear that? The HA160D is one of the recommended amps/dacs for the LCD-2.