Burson Conductor - DAC/amp successor to the HA-160D - Page 6

The USB input on the Conductor may look like an M2Tech HiFace but it uses the Tenor TE8802 chipset which is the same company that they used for the 160D.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duckman 

I thought the Conductor/Soloist was 4w into 8 ohms, which makes it less than 1w into 50 ohms???

Output power: 4W at 16 Ohms

At 50 ohms it outputs more than 1W.

And I can confirm it, it controls LCD-2 like no other headphone amp does (for me, at least)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarKu 

Output power: 4W at 16 Ohms

At 50 ohms it outputs more than 1W.

 

And I can confirm it, it controls LCD-2 like no other headphone amp does (for me, at least)

The Schiit Lyr would still likely impart a smoother sound on orthodynamics with less harshness especially at higher listening volumes, as that one outputs 6W at 32 Ohms. Just saying. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan 

The Schiit Lyr would still likely impart a smoother sound on orthodynamics with less harshness especially at higher listening volumes, as that one outputs 6W at 32 Ohms. Just saying. 

It is not just about the power. It is more about the quality of the power, how clean it is.

I can buy a 200 W in 8 ohms intergrated amp at 150 Euro here, and I also can buy a 1500 Euro integrated amp having the same specs and I can assure you, they will sound very different from each other.

Power is not everything, how clean it is, is more important.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan 


It's also about headroom, especially on orthodynamics cans, they like a lot. That said, the Lyr is definitely cleaner than the Burson.

Did you audition the Soloist or the Conductor ?

Because they are both very different than HA-160 or HA-160D

Which is better, pairing with LCD2,LCD3 or HD800?

Quote:

Originally Posted by phototristan 


It's also about headroom, especially on orthodynamics cans, they like a lot. That said, the Lyr is definitely cleaner than the Burson.

Stop comparing the Burson to that Schiit! (sorry i could not help it :)) )

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyde27 

Which is better, pairing with LCD2,LCD3 or HD800?

If you are asking between ha-160ds, ha-160d and Conductor, I have listened to LCD2 and HD800 on all of them and I can say easily that Conductor is much  better with both. Even with hd800. It gave musicality to it. It took out the brightness.

The soundstage was a lot wider, the bass impact was more powerfull, etc

I liked listening to rock on hd800 for the first time.

On LCD2 i remained with the impression that I head it for the first time to its maximum potential.

So it was a huge improvement with both LCD2 and HD800 with the Conductor, in my opinion of course.

Burson really did it again. They managed to add a lot more details, more control, a bigger soundstage and still keep the musicality and warmness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan.gheorghe 

Stop comparing the Burson to that Schiit! 

Only did so because DarKu above stated:

Which is totally not true as there is the Schiit Lyr

Great review on the Conductor DarKu.

There is one thing I'm wondering about, and you might or might not be able to address this.

In the 6 moons review they said that the Conductor was a bit meatier and the Eximus had more silvery highs.  Now, what I was wondering was how a Stello U3 made the conductor sound?  Burson went with the Tenor chip, again, and that might help preserve the special Burson sound.  But it seems to me that the XMOS chip used by the Eximus and the Stello gives April music their own special sound.  So, I was just wondering what a Conductor + Stello U3 combo sound like compared to an Eximus.

Anyone try the Conductor with a pair of Grados?  Specifically the PS1000s?

Well, I've had the demo Conductor here for a few weeks now, so I suppose I should post impressions...

It's exceptional.

...what, you want me to wax lyrical? Oh very well then.

The Conductor takes the Soloist + HA160D combo and subtly improves on it. This is no mean feat. The Soloist was perhaps the finest amp I've heard the LCD-2's with, and the DAC section of the HA160D was quite analog sounding and resolving.

The only difference between that setup and the Conductor is the DAC upgrade to an ESS Sabre. Now, I've usually found differences in DACs very subtle and difficult to detect once you're past the $500 threshold or so. But there is a notable improvement from the Sabre, particularly in how it renders vocals. There's a kind of liquid smoothness to them now that was not present before; a smoothness that comes not from glossing over details or "air-brushing" the presentation, but rather of extreme refinement and ease of reproduction. It's as if the DAC is cruising along at one umpteenth of its potential, negligently throwing out sound whilst sipping on a martini under a shade umbrella on the beach.

All that being said, I won't be keeping my Conductor (nor my beloved LCD-2's). My lifestyle has changed to the point that I get very little time for listening to my home rig anymore, thus it is being liquidated to fund an improved portable system (I've already bought a Sennheiser Momentum).

So alas this will probably be the last item from Team Burson that I'll audition. It was a fun journey though, and I'm glad to see how the little Melbourne company has grown into a audio giant.

Hello guys,

I have done some tests regarding Conductor and my PS Audio Duet power conditioner.

I also have the Wireworld Aurora and PS Audio Jewel power cables.

I have noticed something weird in the Conductor with the power conditioner. The sound lacked dynamics, some depth and it was brighter. (i was using a stock power cable to power the PS Audio Duet power conditioner, and PS Audio Jewel from the power conditioner to Conductor)

Tests:

• I have then tried the Aurora cable plugged directly in the power socket with no power conditioner. The depth came back, the soundstage was a little wider, the dynamics were back, the bass was deeper.

• Then, I also tried PS Audio Jewel vs Aurora with no power conditioner and Aurora won easily. On Aurora the bass was tighter and the sound more clear.

• Aurora combined with the Power Conditioner on every end (from the socket to the conditioner or from the conditioner to conductor) was the worst choice. No dynamics, less bass less depth etc This happened with my ha-160ds also, so it might be a general thing not only with conductor.

My power conditioner worked just fine with the HA-160DS ( Just ps audio jewel power cable from the power conditioner into the ha-160 ds, and no aurora).

Putting more power conditioners in series is not a good idea and considering my findings I asked Burson if the Conductor already has a power conditioning or filtering and if they recommend using a power conditioner with it.

The answer was:

Quote:

Yes, the conductor features a 5 stage filtering power supply. Therefore, we don't recommend the use of external power conditioners. Thanks for your interest and your honest feedback :)
- Charlie

So they confirmed my findings :D