Burson Audio Cable+ Pro

Disclaimer: This sample was provided by Bhav from Burson Audio. I'm not affiliated with Burson Audio in any way. It was provided only to get an honest review.

I’m fairly new to the world of headphones and this is my first official review of any component. The version of the Burson Cable I be reviewing is the Cable+ Pro R2R (RCA to RCA). I’m using the Chord Hugo 2 as my DAC feeding my iFi Pro iCan headphone amp. The headphones I’m using for this review is the Hifiman HE1000 V2’s due to their ultra-transparency and detail retrieval. My hopes in using this combo is to discern any change in my audio chain that I haven’t heard before. My normal interconnect cable is the Kimber Kable GQ-Mini AG. I also have my laptop going into the iFi Audio Micro USB 3.0 which eliminates any noise. My music source is TIDAL.


Packaging…..

The Cable+ Pro comes in a basic plastic locking case. It’s sealed and very secure. On the cover you get where the cable is made and type of cable you’re getting. You also get where to register your cable for warranty coverage and the length of the warranty.



On the inside you get the Cable+ Pro, a USB-A to Micro USB-B, and a charger. It’s everything you need to get the cable working. This is not how the cable comes packaged. I had removed the contents in order to review it and placed them back in so that everyone can get an idea of what's included.



About the Cable…..

Burson has designed this cable to eliminate impedance mismatching. To make it as simple as possible that is taking the output impedance of any source and making it equal to the input impedance of any amplifier. It sounds simple but Burson has put a lot of engineering into this cable. Here’s a look at the internals from Burson’s site:



The Cable+ Pro acts as an audio buffer in your music chain and I couldn’t detect any signal or sound delay while using the cable. The Cable+ Pro is an active cable meaning you need to power the cable in order to reap its stated benefits. Quoting Burson those benefits are:

Once the Cable+ is in place, sonic details once lost, will be fully reproduced to create a complete experience. Play familiar – very familiar – material, and you will hear the finest details fully resolved, while the fundamentals take on a new level of life and solidity. That “harsh digital sound” replaced by a wider and more three-dimensional soundstage.

After some listening I can hear a difference.

Sound…..



I have to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect with the Cable+ Pro. What I was hearing was more detail and a more open, clearer, detailed sound than I ever heard out of my system. Listening with my HE1K V2’s with the Cable+ Pro in my system I’ve never heard them sound so open, airy, and transparent. The bass was detailed, layered, and had a little more impact. The background was completely silent and my HE1K V2’s sounded more 3D like. It was amazing to hear. These improvements in my system alone makes the Cable+ Pro a worthy addition.

Another thing I wanted to note was the increase in perceived gain. Having an active cable in my system really push the sound forward. When I went back to using my Kimber Kable GQ-Mini AG the difference the Cable+ Pro was making in my system became even more obvious. The Kimber Kable GQ-Mini AG sounded a little thin. I was missing the weighty sound the Cable+ Pro added. The fullness, the added body, and the rich picture the Cable+ Pro was painting seem to go away when I switched back to my Kimber Kable GQ-Mini AG. I didn't wan to believe my Kimber Kable GQ-Mini AG could be outdone or bested but I had to give the Cable+ Pro credit. It really did perform outstanding in my system.

Conclusion…..

For $199, the Cable+ Pro does offer the discerning audio enthusiast a system tweak for the better. Once you here what the Cable+ Pro can do I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I'm giving the Cable+ Pro a 5 out of 5. Great job Burson!

First let me point out, I have no vested financial investment in Burson in any way. These are my personal views and opinions on this cable.. The cable is on loan to me by Bhavneet of Burson Audio.

Pros: build quality, improves system matching, adds little to no coloration to the sound.

Cons: to some it may be the price, but I feel they are fairly priced.

Build: These are very well made cables. Not a skimpy hair thin cable like most portable gear cables are. The RCA end are solid, and fit nice, no wobble, and not so tight that you have to force them in. The 1/8" jack is also solid, and in no way feels weak or loose. In the middle, the Burson cable has it's proprietary junction that houses V5 audio module. The module is fit tight and secure, and has an outlet to plug in the USB power supply. It has a very elegant blue LED lamp to indicate it is powered on. All in all, a very nice quality build.

Use: The cable itself is simple, plug the /8" jack into the source, and the 2 RCA cables in the amp (headphone, preamp, receiver etc). Other than plugging the USB power supply into a wall socket on one end, and the other into the Burson cable module.

Sound: I was not expecting any huge difference in sound at first, but I was wrong. The first initial listening session was when it came in, new out of the box. Nice clear sound with no glitches of any kind. The first setup I tried it in was with my Korg DS-DAC100m to my Koss ESP-950 headphones. If any fault is to be found, it would be with this setup. The Korg plays files from my computer, and is capable of almost all formats, 44-192 16 or 24 bit, and DSD 2.8 and 5.6. The Koss headphones are electrostatic, and will reveal a ton of detail, and can really shine on good recordings. When connected with a standard cable, I have always thought that this was the best headphone setup I have. I listened to Pink Floyd DSD of Dark Side of the Moon, copied from my SACD disc onto the computer. What the Burson Cable Plus added was, nothing bad! In other words, it was adding no distortion or frequency coloration when compared to a nice pair of silver 1/8" to 1/8" plugs. What it did add was a nice micro detail and micro dynamics to the listening experience. The Macro dynamics were excellent through both cables, with a slight edge going to the Burson cables. Mismatched impedance can cause some loss of detail and dynamics, and the Burson helps restore them between components. When I used the Burson on my modified Creek OB-11 amp, along with Monoprice M1060 planar headphones a big improvement over my 1/8" to RCA standard cable, I was beginning to believe that the M1060 was a bad match to the Creek, I was wrong. Now if I used my Sony SACD player straight into the Creek, I felt the M1060's had a very rich and big sound, but so much with a portable source. Even my vintage Adcom GD-600 multi bit DAC sounded big into the Creek and planars.
So now, with the Burson Cable Plus in the mixture, I can enjoy bigger headphones like Koss and M1060's from a portable source. With IEM phones into my Fiio M3 II, I really enjoyed the rich sound from the Fiio. The Fiio can drive the M1060's but they sound lackluster that way, not enough juice for the dynamic swings that the Fiio can do. When using my Xduoo X10, I like how they sound with IEM phones, and again not so good at driving the M1060's to their full potential. The Burson is as close to a cable with gain as there is. I should note that the Burson does slightly amplify the signal, so I had to be careful to match volumes to get a fair judgment.

Recommendation: A very worth while gain for portable devices that need to go into headphone amps or preamps. If your amp and device do not get along, sound anemic , or lack details and dynamics, the Burson Cable Plus may well be your best solution. With the 30 day money back guarantee and 2 year warranty, the only way you will loose is to not try and see if they can improve the sound of your system

Next: I like these so much that I am going to save up enough to get the RCA to RCA cables, and the 1/8" to 1/8" cables.

First things first. I was contacted by Burson here on Head-Fi out of the blue to review their Cable+ Pro. Therefore, this cable was sent to me for free by Burson Audio, with the following request:
"All we ask in return is your honest feedback and few photos with rest of the community. "

That's a steep request if you ask me. Like my first review, the Schiit Fulla 2, I'll tell you if something sounds good to my ears or not, if it's built well or not, or if there's anything you need to know about it. I'll be straightforward, honest, and try to push aside any inherent bias. Now without further ado, let's get started with my second review on Head-Fi.

STN's Burson Audio Cable+ Pro Review

Unboxing. I'll admit, I was a bit underwhelmed with the packaging when I got the package. Which was packed in a padded envelope straight from Hong Kong, I might add. Nothing against Hong Kong, I've been there myself.



Shrink wrap off. The plastic box is nice, but it also feels like a container that I could pick up at Daiso(for the uninitiated, basically a better dollar store).


A quick aside - there are 2 versions of the Cable+ Pro. A2R and R2R. Don't be too confused like I was at first. R2R here does not have anything to do with a NFB R2R-11. A2R/R2R simply denotes the connector terminations. A2R is a TRS 3.5mm to dual RCA. R2R is dual RCA to dual RCA. That's it as far as I can tell.

Opening up, we see the goods. Cable+ Pro, microUSB cable, and a USB AC adapter.


Specs of the AC Adapter if you're interested. Pretty basic 5V1A brick. Not familiar with this particular brand. Micro USB is of the older Samsung type and feels a bit on the cheaper side. Maybe I'm too used to my Monoprice ones. Nevertheless, I'm testing the cable with both the included USB cable and power supply.


The cable itself.

Let's take a look at the connectors. The RCAs came in the package unscrewed. That's just inviting me to inspect the solder and build quality. And everything looks solid enough for my standards.


Here's a comparison to the cable I was using before. It's from Monoprice's Premium line. Burson's selection of connectors are much nicer than the serviceable ones from Monorpice.


Comparing the 3.5mm ends here. Burson wins again here for sure. It better have, considering the price difference. Both cables have absolutely enormous housings. Thankfully that didn't cause any issues for me.


Let's take a look at the star of the show. This aluminum black box. It's supposed to solve impedance mismatching problems. It also boosts the voltage/loudness in my experience. It's one-way as you can see on the casing. The input on the microUSB is on the side.


Here's the bottom. Some reminders that this is a directional cable and to wire up both ends before plugging in the connector.


Alright, let's finally hook it up. I did the majority of testing with my Fulla 2 and Magni 2.


It looks rather nice if you ask me. The black box is far enough down the cable to easily hide somewhere, but the cable's short enough to be manageable.

Here's the stack. I'll note that the 3.5mm connector on the Fulla 2 fits FULLY into the port despite the size of the connector housing, which is great to see.

After setting everything up for real and wiring it up, it appears there's a small but bright blue LED in the middle of the "+". I like light indicators, but I ended up covering up this one with tape since it disturbed me at night. The cable doesn't work without power either, so keep that in mind.


Also, the microUSB cable makes this cable a lot less sleek and elegant. Perhaps find a new location for it?

Actual Usage.

Everything's setup. I put on my HD-6XX and plug it into the Fulla 2/Magni 2 combo, expecting nothing to change.

I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a revolutionary new audio experience as Burson Audio might have you believe, but I like whatever they've done. The most notable change was in the bass region. I always thought the HD 6XX had a passable amount of bass, but it sounded quite different when using the Cable+ Pro. The subbass rumble I thought couldn't be produced by the HD 6XX came out on many songs. The bass digs a lot deeper and rumbles. Whether this is due to the impedance matching as advertised or simply a coloring of the sound, I have no idea. But it's made my HD 6XX a lot more fun to listen to, and I'll give it credit for that.

M1060Cs were a similar albeit less significant story. This set of planars already has decent bass response, and having the Burson Audio Cable+ Pro turned up the subbass just a notch.

I'll also note that there's no noticeable delay on the Cable+ Pro when compared to a regular cable, so if you also use your DAC/AMP while gaming like me, you should be good to go.

Conclusion.

4/5 stars on a cable? STN, you're a Burson shill.

But honestly, there isn't much to dislike about this product. The cable itself is solid no matter where you inspect it. Sure, packaging's a bit on the cheaper side and the price is pretty painful at $200. Actual negatives regarding the product though? I can't really find any besides the fact that the microUSB sticks out the side. And if that's all I have to complain about, I can't bring myself to reduce the rating any further. It's built extremely well and makes my sound more preferable over my other normal cables.

Now, am I telling you to ditch your DAC/AMP and purchase a $200 cable? Of course not. Prioritize your headphones, then your amp, then your dac. When it comes to cables, anything that isn't too cheaply made is fine with me. This cable's active component makes it an exception in my list. If you already have solid setup of headphones and source(s) and are looking for something to tweak, then take a look at the Cable+ Pro.

Got thoughts? Leave a comment, as usual. As for me, this cable will stay plugged in. I'll be back to read over this again for grammar and spelling mistakes, but until then, thanks for reading!

Burson!

What are you doing?

Pushing your V5 Opamp into everything you can find? Hell yeah.

Disclaimer: I own a Burson Conductor for a few years and a Cable + from Burson. While I purchased my Burson Conductor, this cable here was NOT purchased, it was sent to me by Burson so I could write down my experience with it. At no time did Burson ask me for a positive review. In fact, I let Burson wait for nearly a year until I finally managed to write this review. Ouch. Work commitments got the better of me.

I am reviewing here a A2R - a cable I can put into my DAPs as sources and let the Burson magic improve the signal to proper amplifiers.

Theory:
There is a unwritten law that interconnects should have a specific voltage and output resistance and whatnot. However in times of battery operated equipment this is not the case with many line-outs, especially not the ones from little digital audio players etc. This is where the Cable + Pro comes in the A2R configuration. Input is a 3.5mm TRS jack to plug into your DAP or any other source with 3.5mm connectors. It ends in a RCA connection to attach to your headphone amp or normal audio amplifier. Burson also sells a R2R version of the cable.

What's in the box:

- Canare connectors and cable
- magic sauce box in the middle
- USB power supply
- micro USB cable



Once connected and supplied with power, the internal parts of this active cable modulate the signal, or boost if you want, to the proper strength that should be supplied to an amplifier. Impedance mismatch is a thing of the past.

The result:
As expected. Haha, yes you read that right. Since I already have the Burson Cable + in R2R version, I expected the same improvements from this cable too. And yes, it delivers. To my ears the results are:

- improved dynamic range
- more powerful low end
- increased clarity / air



Burson did in fact use their V5 OPamps in this little black box and wow, they work well. I don't know what other trickery is going on in this box - for the technical inclined Burson does explain the process to an extend on their website - so check it out there if you are interested.



It makes such a difference having this cable in the chain. I lend it to a few friends to try it themselves and they confirmed what I heard too. Needless to say, they have their own Cable + Pro now, haha.



Conclusion:
Is it worth it? Let's summarize: you need another power socket, the cable is expensive, it's something to install once and forget. It's expensive - if you are not into expensive interconnects.

My advice = get it!!

5 Years warranty - that's a plus. The effects of this cable are very much noticeable and they are very pleasant to my ears. If you are like me - you never knew you were missing something.

4.5 stars from me. I would give it 5 stars if it would be a tad more affordable.

Burson Audio+ Pro A2R Cable

Equipment Used:

• Burson Audio+ A2R cable
• Amps: Geek Pulse X Infinity + LPS4 and ALO Audio Pan Am + Gateway + Passport
• Dac: Chord Mojo
• Source: AK 120 Titan and iPhone SE Tidal Hi-Res streaming
• Headphones: Massdrop X Sennheiser 6xx and Audio Technica ATH-M50x

Initial Reaction:

Let me start off by saying I am by no means a believer that cables can have much impact/improvement on the sound quality when used as interconnects.

I was approached by Burson Audio about the possibility of reviewing this cable, as they said it had impedance matching capabilities; this I wanted to try! Too often in our audiophile world, one company makes only a few high quality and cost-effective products that you would want to use, let alone buy together.

I have yet to find one company that I would buy ALL of their products for one set-up (dap, DAC, amp, headphones, and cables).

For this reason, I was interested in testing out the Burson solution to the inconsistency of impedances between the hodgepodge collection of my set-up. So, when the cable arrived I was excited to see if this could match impedances of my set-up and have a large enough impact for me to actually hear consistently.

Here are my impressions about using the Burson Audio Cable+ Pro A2R with my set-up...

Impressions:

Here are my impressions of the aspects that were the most impacted/improved by the Burson Audio Cable+ Pro.

1. Bass: clear, clean and tight. The bass heard while using the Burson cable seemed to unwrap and release to a point I had not heard before on my Audio Technica ATH-M50x. The clarity and tightness of the bass had been improved as the deep impact remained consistent.
2. Soundstage: presence. I know everyone's ears hear soundstage and openness differently, but wow. This cable just seems to open things up just a bit more than my normal interconnect cables. It seems like the soundstage opens up to a level of presence that puts a smile on your face.
3. Gain: Wow. The added gain and power that the Burson cable provided was a nice addition. It seemed to be added a bit to the internal buffer and seemed to lessen the push/effort the amps I used had to push. This allowed a seamless path of impedance balance to effortlessly drive my headphones.

Conclusion:

The Burson Cable+ Pro does what it says. Period. It does it well too. This is an interconnect cable for all of you audiophiles who want a cable that will allow your variety of impedance equipment to sound as if they were made by the same company for the expressed use together. I will be using this exclusively with my set-up for the foreseeable future as it allows the true sound of my music to shine.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Burson Audio and received the Cable+ Pro for free directly from them, in exchange for an honest review.

About me: I am a 50+ years-old music lover, with several thousands of CDs collecting dust. My listening nowadays is mostly through MacbookPro / Tidal / Audirvana 3+ / Chord Mojo. Previously owned some heavy stuff like mono blocks and Infinity Kappas 9ii, in recent years I am trying to declutter my home and enjoying miniaturized audio. I have owned some expensive passive cables in the past, but mostly got read of them being very skeptical about the improvement.

About the cable: In order not to clutter the review and repeat what was already stated in previous reviews, I suggest to follow the Burson link, providing all relevant technical information about the cable: https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/cable-plus-pro/

Equipment used:
I have used the cable both in my desktop system, with Dali Zensor 3 speakers powered by a Marantz amp and also with Senns HD650, AKG K702 and Beyers T90 connected to several headphone amps. As a source I have used SMSL M8A dac, using Sabre's ES9028Q2M chip, which is a real chameleon. Connected to the LD MKII tube amp, it sounds smooth and detailed, with wide soundstage - a match made in heaven. Connected to solid state headphone amps it sounds harsh, bright and aggressive, and connected to the Marantz amp powering speakers it sounds dull, veiled and boring. There must be some mismatch in the output level. Basically a perfect candidate for the test.






Testing: I have done testing for 3 subsequent days, using a wide variety of hi-rez pcm and dsd recordings, including jazz, rock, pop, ethno and world music, and most of all classical music. The cable rises the voltage level and make the sound louder. In order not to fall into the trap louder-is-better, I've spent some time until I matched the output level of normal vs. Burson cable.
It comes in a transparent plastic box, mine r2r cable, which is RCA to RCA was exactly 1.2 meter long.



Unpacking: The first criticism comes to marking the left/right channel with the usual red/white markings found on most of the cables. Here, the connectors are equal, there is only one tiny, narrow plastic white and red strip on it, which unfortunately in my case was very loose and easily fell of the connector.



The cable is directional and has to be carefully directed and all connections have to be done before being powered. It came with a small power charger of oval shape, which at first made me suspicious if it will fit. The power outlets here have different shape, as you can see in the photo, but luckily it fell rightly into place. Once powered it gives a blue dot light.



Now back to most important thing, the listening impressions.
Listening:
Once carefully volume matched, I have listened to many familiar tracks comparing them with the speakers and headphones.

Connected to the power amp:
Burson sounded fuller, more engaging and foot tapping than the passive cable. The soundstage opened up, it got some air on the top, and the sub-bass got more edge. Listening to Mahler's 5th Symphony with Bernstein/VPO gave double-basses more character through Burson, they sounded somehow more "grown-up". Moving to Britten Simple Symphony with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Britten, it revealed in the second pizzicato (plucking strings) movement, more air around the plucked notes and more sub-bas contour. You could follow the bass line going down more easily. Also listening to some vocal music incl. Nora Jones, Diana Krall, Leonard Cohen and Cassandra Wilson, it gave the sound of the vocals more relaxed and natural feeling, smooth and connected. The whole soundstage seemed more holistic and rounded compared to normal cable. It was actually switching back from Burson to normal cable when I felt that something was missing. So, this one was a real, non-placebo, absolute win for the system.

Connected to the Little Dot MK2 tube amp:
I was listening with Senns HD650 and Beyers T 90 which shine with a high voltage amps. The difference in sound stage was now less obvious, because as previously stated, this system was already a good match. Listening to Miles Davies, John Coltrane, Arvo Pärt Tabula Rasa and Vlatko Stefanovski's album Treta Majka, gave the same smooth feeling which was already there before, but added some sub-bass. The bass was fuller, punchier and easier to follow. Switching to Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan didn't make immediate difference, but after listening it through Burson with a feeling being live at the venue, switching back to normal cable sounded like coming back to dry studio. The differences were however smaller than with the power amp and speakers.

Connected to couple of solid state headphone amps:
I was using AKG K702 for this testing. They have somewhat elevated treble, and are unpleasantly quick in detecting any hissing. With the SMSL sap ii pro amp fed by linear power supply, the sound was somewhat smoothed and not so aggressive as previously. SMSL is very sensitive amp with very high gain, so I could detect some added hissing. The rised voltage level was in this case not a benefit, allowing very little playground with the volume knob. Going to Sense V1 class a mosfet amp which has somewhat rolled off treble, masked a bit the hissing but overall the performance gain was not so beneficial and immediately recognizable.

Summary:
Burson Cable + Pro is high end piece of equipment which could literary transform your system to completely another level. In my case it's an absolute keeper, and it will permanently stay connecting M8A dac to the power amp where the improvement is more than obvious. That's why it gets clear 5 stars from me.
Not all systems might benefit equally from the cable, it is high dependable on the combinations of brands and gears you are using. The only way to determine how much improvement it brings into your own setup is a trial. For folks who like their desktop tidy and clean according to the Feng Shui - well it adds some additional clutter, with the buffer opamp needed to be powered.

Pros:
It adds soundstage width, improves instruments placement and separation and make music more lively. Live concerts have definitely more of live atmosphere. It smoothes some digital treble glare, especially if you have Sabre powered dac.

Cons:
It needs power supply (yet another one) and might not react with all setups equally.

Cable + Pro Review

Gear used for review:

Steinberg MR816x > Schiit Gungnir Multibit > Eddie Current Aficionado > Focal Utopia / ZMF Auteur

The packaging on the Cable + Pro is tastefully minimalistic. You can tell that Burson's focus is on audio and not wowing you with fancy cases and expensive materials. I was provided the R2R version, which is RCA to RCA. They also include a power adapter and micro USB cable to power the active module.

The first thing I noted when listening to the Burson Audio Cable + Pro was the increase in gain compared to my other cables. The Cable + Pro has a an active buffer discrete op amp that is powered by a micro USB connector, common on a many electronics. This added 6dB of gain in my system. It wasn't easy to do quick A/B testing and I've found that that is usually a poor way to hear the differences between two components. Instead, I spent one day with the Burson Cable + Pro cables and then another day with cables I wished to compare. I ended up comparing 3 cables. The Cable + Pro, BlueJeansCables LC-1, and Pangea Audio Premier RCA cables.

I found the Cable + Pro to have a slight mid and lower treble focus compared to other cables. I don't want to say that the extension on either ends was less, just that there was a slight emphasis to the mid range and vocal region. This made music very easy to listen to and any harshness was eliminated. In my system, I prefer the Blue Jeans LC-1 as it's a little more balanced. Pangea Audio Premier is noticeably tighter in the bass and has more high frequency extension.

In terms of sound staging, the Cable + Pro seemed to have the best layering so sounds were well separated from front to back. LC-1 was the second best, a little more balanced between width and depth. Pangea cables push the whole stage away from you, which is useful when wearing headphones but they can also add a touch too much air and treble.

Differences in cables are small and are much more subtle compared to amps or even potentially tubes depending on the amp's design. Don't take these statements as absolutes, instead use them as reference points to tweak your system if it's too bright, dark, or doesn't have the extension you want.

Here is a comparison of the Cable + Pro vs the Pangea/LC-1 cables volume difference at the same potentiometer setting:


You can see the ~6dB difference between the two cables. I didn't have a problem with the volume increase but you could have problems with amps that have high gain settings if you listen at low volumes as you might get pot imbalance.

I also wanted to see if the higher gain would affect distortion at high listening levels. Both of these measurements were taken at 100dB SPL which is very loud. Normal distortion levels are excellent.

Cable + Pro distortion at 100dB SPL:


Pangea distortion at 100dB SPL:


I think the biggest benefit besides the impedance matching the active buffer provides is the gain increase for a low powered source like an ipod or phone aux output.

Thanks again to Burson Audio for letting me use the Cable + Pro in my system. I think it offers a practical advantage if you feel your system just doesn't have enough output. I didn't hear a distinct difference in detail or imaging in my system compared to the other cables I use but there were small differences noted above. The Cable + Pro could potentially offer an improvement in other systems. Burson offers a 30 day trial minus 5% and return shipping cost.

First, I was sent a free Cable+ Pro, full disclosure.

This was my setup for testing:

DAC: Audio GD Master 7 (2015 with DSP7 upgrade)
AMP: Apex Sangaku
Headphones: Focal Utopia

I also had a the regular Cable+ to compare with the Cable+ Pro.

Let me start with how this product helps regardless of sound technicalities.
If you have a weak source, or an amp that needs a hot input source, either the Cable+ or the Cable+ Pro is the perfect cheap solution to fix this type of issue. It gives just a hair over double the voltage of the original input.
That means if you source is only pushing out 1v max, the Cable+ series will make it about 2.1v output. This is ideal in many mismatched systems.

For technicalities, the biggest difference this can make is microdynamics and macrodynamics. This means when a sound goes from really quiet to really loud, really fast (eli5 explanation) the output needs to be able to swing that voltage. In essence, upping the voltage output from the source gives more voltage overhead for swings.

As far as what the V5 opamp does to the sound, apart from boosting voltage?
The Cable+ (V5i) was more V shaped FR, meaning boosted bass, and boosted treble. The Cable+ pro (V5) is much more refined in this specific area. The FR is much more even over the entire range. The Cable+ is a more fun preamp, good for edm, rock, pop. the Cable+ Pro is good for all genres, because it doesn't necessarily add or take away anything in terms of FR. It's not perfect FR, but it's close enough to not effect the overall sound of the system you putting it into.

What do they both do apart from those aspects?
They both add air and space, which translated to a bigger sound stage and eartheal sound.
The Cable+ Pro does have better air and space than the Cable+ as well. One big aspect I like about the Cable+ Pro too, is that it does not affect the overall resolution (AKA detail) of the music as much as the Cable+. In an extremely hifi system, almost any additional components added will slightly reduce details. Which makes sense, you're just adding more components to potentially add more distortion. With that said, the Cable+ Pro does a fantastic job of keeping this aspect at bay, and under direct comparison to regular output, it's extremely hard to tell if auditory information was lost. While for the Cable+ it was a noticeable difference.

To chalk it up, the Cable+ is a more "fun" AKA not natural FR, cheaper, still good to add dynamics and boost voltage. Cable+ Pro is more expensive, but more refined, more detail, air, space, and flat FR.

Cable+ 4/5
Cable+ pro 4.5/5

As far as cheap active preamps go. There isn't much out there, if at all, for the same price, that can do the same things, or fix the same problems. I tried to stay unbiased as well. Neither are 5/5, neither are perfect, but really solid products from a relatively unknown audio company trying to pave their own way.

Firstly I would like to thank Burson for this sample; I recently reviewed their V5i op-amps and was approached to review their new Cable+ Pro. Many out there are not believers in cables, but this is not just an analogue interconnect, it is an active buffer too. The cable has had more than 100hrs of burn-in, I couldn’t detect any real differences.

Gear Used: Chord Hugo > Burson Cable+ Pro > Feliks Audio Espressivo > HD800s (for A/B testing between another cable).
Now I use it in my home system and use it between my JDS Labs OL DAC and my Marantz PM-5005 which has the tape-out connected to my headphone amp.



Tech Specs:
Can be found on their website: https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/cable-plus-pro/
MSRP: $199

Packaging and Build quality:
The Cable+ Pro comes in a thin plastic box with the model on the front and some info on the back, the box really is nothing luxurious but then again once you have plugged the cables in you won’t need it. It protects the cable during shipping and holds the contents securely; inside you have the cable, micro USB cable and power supply.

The cable is superbly built with Canare cable and connectors, the active buffer is fully discrete and housed in a brushed aluminium shell with a simple micro USB input on the side. There is an LED that will let you know it is on. The cable is very well made and I see no issues with the build quality.

Just make sure you connect it the right way around as it is directional, and also to connect it to the mains power before powering on your equipment.



What it does:
Now Burson claim this cable is good for preventing impedance mismatching between components, now I personally did not know this was much of an issue.

Now there will be plenty of purists who will argue that putting extra circuitry in the signal path is going to degrade SQ, but I would let them hear this cable and tell me otherwise.

Here is what Burson have to say on the matter:

“Does this problem exist in audiophile systems?
Absolutely! Audiophile components come in much greater varieties when compared to those in pro-audio. Battery vs linear vs switching power supply designs, tube vs solid-state designs, discrete vs IC designs. Each has very different output impedance. This variety results in widespread impedance mismatch and it often exists between the source component and the preamp or integrated amplifier.
Many audiophiles are not aware that the performance gap between what they hear in the dealership demo and what they hear at home after the purchase is a direct result of impedance mismatching between the new machine and the rest of their system.

So why is it hardly ever mentioned?
Because no one in the HiFi industry, from manufacturers to dealers to established magazines want to talk about this problem. Imagine how many people (consumers) will be discouraged from this hobby if they knew how difficult it is to find two pieces of perfectly matched equipment? Furthermore, no manufacturer wants to publish a list of what matches and what doesn’t with each of their products. This industry, like any other, must simplify its message to keep its valued customers.”



Sound:
Now I did some A/B tests with this cable and a nice pair of Chord cables interconnects, it was impossible to volume match due to the slightly louder signal of the Cable+ Pro due to the buffer. The Cable+ Pro does not try to change the sound really, which in my opinion is a good thing. What I did notice was slightly better soundstage and imaging, and also the sound had better separation. The bass, midrange and treble didn’t exactly gain any added presence, however I felt like the presentation was more effortless, dynamic and with a hint of fullness to the sound.

Now these differences are not night and day, but are more easily audible than swapping out regular analogue interconnects. I found when switching back to the Chord cables that the music sounded a little lifeless and not as vivid, as if the dynamic range was reduced.

Conclusion: For the $199 price, this cable offers more improvement than upgrading to a pair of $199 analogue interconnects, and solves the issue of impedance mismatching, so what’s not to like. The build quality is top notch and there really are audible differences which I found to be beneficial.

Sound Perfection Rating: 10/10 (brings audible change with no snake oil)

An audiophile confession – “I often use my iPhone as a source in my audiophile setup.” I know, I know, not ideal, but my wife often leads the DJ responsibilities and her music is on her iPhone or iPod. The Spotify application on her iPhone is our go to source for all day streaming music throughout the house. What can I say, I like to please my wife – and if I don’t, the music often gets turned off or is ruined by loud complaints.

Yes, there are ways to extract digital signals from the apple products but that comes with issues too such as not being able to use the iPhone UI that makes it so good and/or making it very confusing for my wife such as with “intermittent” Airplay which my Marantz receiver does support. In the end, the iPhone dock has become the gold standard which allows her to simply use the phone to play her music by setting it into the dock and turning the stereo on. But this means that it is not digital out and we are using the iPhone DAC.

While the iPhone DAC has come a long way, the sound is very two dimensional and on a good system, the noise if very apparent. I have learned to ignore the lowered SQ and just enjoy listening to new music selections as my wife finds them. However, I have always felt that I should do something to up the game. All digital options have met with disaster or intermittent results such as AirPlay constantly losing its WiFi signal and requiring trouble shooting. This is why the Burson Audio Cable+ Pro A2R was such an interesting option for me to try to raise the bar on my iPhone source log jam.

The quick note is that it worked – the Burson Audio Cable+ Pro A2R made me forget that the iPhone was the source taking my listening to a new level.

Setup
I started out a speaker guy with a system built around my Magneplanars. The Maggies are wonderful speakers that hit way above their price point with a uniquely natural and compelling sound quality that is as full sized as it can get. Even at low volume, the singer is right in your lap in character, but the details come out to play with volume. Even fed with 800W@4ohm from my dedicated Rotel RB-1090, the Maggies eat it up and produce ever increasing amounts of detail – never sounding shouty. However, the Maggies biggest weakness is a rolloff in bass around 80htz. For this, I have dual subwoofers providing that down low and added dynamics which the Maggies already have in spades. This is my setup:

Marantz SR7007 (7.1) > Rotel RB-1090 (800W@4ohm) > Magneplanar 1.7 + Dual Subs (M&K MX-100 + B&W ASW610)

Not being a phono kind of guy, I have always reached for the CD player when I want to show off my system at its best with a few select options. However, digital has come a long way and I find myself going digital much more often than CD. My digital files are on my MacMini and sometimes I like to use my DAPs to change up the SQ or even add a my Havana 2 tube DAC into the system to drive that tubey sound. Last choice for source of course is my iPhone dock. There is a huge noticable difference downgrading from any of my preferred sources to the iPhone doc, most notably the noise and the 2D sound stage.

Burson Audio Cable+ Pro A2R
The story behind this product is impedance matching between audiophile equipment through the use of Burson’s audio buffers. According to Burson, impedance matching is pro-audio engineering 101 and esential for studio engineers to optimize their studio equipment. The interposed buffer amplifier prevents the second circuit from loading the first circuit unacceptably and interfering with its desired operation. If you don’t get what that means, don’t worry, I don’t either – but you can hear it when you A/B your system using this product.



Stating the Obvious
Sorry, but it has to be said – there is an order to improving an audiophile setup.

Mastering >>>>> HP/Speaker >>> DAC/AMP > Interconnects/Cables

A poorly mastered song or static will sound terrible on any system from $50 to $50K so yes, I am working with CD quality or better files almost exclusively with some ocassional exceptions for new music. My systems are built around my speakers and headphones to optimize the sound quality based on their signature. Now given my optimized and very familiar system, I am able to hear the differences that my cables and interconnects make. Most cable/interconnect upgrades are subtle at best, but in my use case with the impedance mismatched iPhone, the Cable+ Pro sound quality enhancements were far from subtle.

Testing
As always, when I get a new product, I simply hook it up and forget about it for a couple weeks to see who notices and to get used to the sound. I find that it is more noticable removing the improvements than it is to hear them initially. However, I did get an immediate sense of improvement that got me excited right away. While my wife didn’t come to me having noticed, when I inquired, she mentioned that things did sound better and that she thought I was just tuning the sound which I guess she was correct. Having just moved into a new house, we are dealing with 12 foot ceilings throughout and hardwoods/tile everywhere so there is excessive echoing like in a cave which is in seach of sound treatment. What she said she noticed was that the muddiness from the echoing was greatly reduced. More on that later.

To set up a test bed for more formal testing, I needed a way to quickly AB the product with my existing setup. Initially, I thought I could just unplug the mini-usb power plug to retain the same cable and just disable the active component. I quickly found out that cutting power cut off the signal. Plan B was to set up both iPhone’s and iPhone docks to different RCAs on my Marantz – one with the original wiring and one with the Cable + pro. This way, I could sink playlists and switch back and forth quickly with the input selector. The testing only confirmed what I already could hear from my informal testing over the last couple weeks.

Results
The two obvious results from testing were that the Cable + Pro amplifies the sound to a higher volume and more importantly, it removes the noise in the sound stage. Given the increase in volume, some informal volume matching was required to AB the two sources, but volume matched, the increased clarity is undeniable. I could describe it as coming into focus like putting glasses on, or like filtering all the excess between the instruments making their placement more exact and no longer blured. However I describe it, it is an obvious step up in sound quality. With the junk removed, the sound stage was no longer congested, the instruments seemed like they were better tuned, recording nuances became more noticable, and the dynamics were crisper. From the Burson site I found this diagram that illustrates very well what I am hearing.



In the case of my iPhone, the two dimentional sound stage received some depth and the instruments received some black space between. The added dynamics brought out more character/timbre to the music. The added clarity from the noise removed provided a clear window into the music where additional textures and detail could be found. This is not a miracle cure for a bad source such as an iPhone, but it removes most of my complaints. Moving up the chain to my DAPs - the AK100ii, Sony WM1A, and Caylx M, there was a noticable increase in sound quality from the iPhone as expected, but also a noticable improvement in their sound quality in my system when AB tested as well.

Conclusion

It should not go unnoticed that I am singing praises for this product, but the manufacturer themselves say that your milage may vary based on the degree of impedance missmatches or lack thereof in your system. For this reason, they offer a 30 day guarantee. In my case, I am plugging a low power iPhone into a high current audiophile system which is probably the best test case that they could ask for. If you are using a 3.5mm out from a hand held device such as the iPhone/dock or a DAP, this cable will likely show great improvements in your sound quality. While I don’t know why an impedance missmatch creates such chaos in an audiophile system, I can hear the difference when it is corrected.

Now I am intrigued. I am considering trying the R2R version to replace my interconnect in my headphone setup:

Havana 2 Tube DAC > Eddie Current Black Widow AMP > HEX / LCD2v2 / HD700









Eddie Current takes their power supplies very seriously even separating it from the amp chassis so it is likely that there is a mismatch between the Havana 2 and the BW. Can anyone tell me how to measure for impedance mismatches between audio components?

This unit was sent to me by Burson Audio, in exchange for an honest review.
In the box you will find the Cable+ Pro, aswell as a usb-cable and wall-adapter for power. The Cable+ Pro is available both as RCA-RCA and RCA-3.5mm, my unit has RCA-RCA connectors. The Cable+ Pro retails for 200$.



Equipment used:
Source - PC playing Tidal HiFi through Roon, usb out. Google Chromecast Audio streaming Tidal HiFi, optical out.
DAC - Chord Hugo
Amp - Marantz PM5005
Speakers - SVS Ultra Bookshelves
Headphones - Focal Elear



A 200$ interconnect cable that’s supposed to instantly enhance the sound quality of your system?
I was skeptical, to say the least. I’m not a big believer in cables, my main concern with cables are build quality and aesthetics. Honestly, if Burson hadn't reached out to me, I would just disregard it as snake oil and never think about it ever again. I’m glad I didn’t, though.

See, the Burson Cable+ Pro is more than just an interconnect cable. It has a small in-line amplifier, and acts as an audio buffer/buffer amplifier (not quite sure about the terms) that’s supposed to eliminate impedance mismatching between the dac and the amp. I'm not even going to attempt to explain the theory behind this, I would just make a fool of myself. If you want to read more, I’ve linked Burson’s site and a Wikipedia article on buffer amplifiers:
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/cable-plus-pro/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_amplifier

And so, with the theory out of the way, let’s get on with the review.


Build quality and aesthetics:
Build quality here is superb. The cable itself is of decent thickness and the Canare connectors are super sturdy. The amplifier housing is made of metal. The Cable+ Pro has a very high-quality feel to it, and is definitely made to last.


Testing:
I used the Cable+ Pro as an interconnect between the Hugo and Marantz PM5005, swtiching between using my SVS Ultra speakers and Focal Elears.
For testing I used the music I'm most familiar with, a mix between acoustic, blues/rock, and pop. Some of the albums I used were:
-Eric Clapton: Unplugged, Clapton Chronicles, Riding with the King
-Dire straits: Dire Straits, Communique
-Eagles: Hell Freezes Over
-Halsey: Hopeless Fountain Kingdom
-Linkin Park: One More Light
-Imagine Dragons: Evolve.


As previously stated, I'm not a believer in the benefits of expensive cables. My usual RCA-cable is a 20$ one with decent thickness and gold-plated connectors, and is what I used to A/B with the Cable+ Pro.
I did not have any RCA Y-splitters available, nor any way to volume-match the two cables (the Cable+ Pro adds some gain to the signal), which made it hard to quickly A/B-test. My impressions are mostly based on longer listening sessions with each cable.


Sound quality:
I was not expecting this. Honestly, reading about the Cable+ Pro on Burson's site, I got the regular impression of snake-oil. But there's nothing snake-oil about the Cable+ Pro. Using the Cable+ Pro enhanced the sound in a way that was immediately noticeable. At first I thought maybe it was the added gain (louder tends to sound better), but my impressions were consistent no matter the volume I played at.

The first thing I noticed was increased instrument separation. Every single instrument is easier to pick out from the mix, and has more air around it. This was especially noticeable in the treble, with cymbals shimmering with more light without ever getting harsh.
Layering is also improved, and I feel like I can hear deeper down into the mix. This combined with more lively dynamics, makes the Cable+ Pro sound more 3D in comparison to the flat, dull-sounding regular RCA-cable.

The overall impression is a more lively, airy and fun sound with the Burson. My old RCA-cable sounds lifeless and dull by comparison, the instruments are smeared out over a 2D soundstage. The Cable+ Pro presents the music in a more 3D-way, where everything just POPS!

Conclusion:
The Burson Cable+ Pro is a superbly built cable that actually makes a difference. For 200$, I have no problem recommending this if you've already invested a bit in your setup.I wouldn't recommend using the Cable+ Pro with say, a Schiit Modi+Magni, then your money is probably better spent upgrading other components. But with the law of diminishing returns, the Cable+ Pro is a great bang for your buck when used in a mid- to high-end system.

lastly, a huge thanks to SS-Audio for reaching out and providing me with this unit.

ABOUT ME
Relatively new to the headphone scene, I'm not great at picking out detail or being able to discern between 320kbs, 256kbs, FLAC, etc. However, I am pretty sensitive to EQ and have developed a preferred sound signature over the months/years. I tend to gravitate toward audio gear that provides clean sub bass extension (little to no mid bass bump), relatively forward mids, and highs that aren't emphasized. On the other hand I also appreciate a large soundstage with great imaging capabilities. I do prefer depth (out of your head) over width when it comes to soundstage.

FYI, I listen for long hours while I work, which probably has an effect on the type of sound I prefer.


EQUIPMENT
Audeze LCD3
Sennheiser HD800 (SDR mod)
Audio-gd NFB28
Schiit Valhalla 2
Schiit Bifrost Multibit
Rusty late 2008 Mac Book Pro (Tidal HIFI)


DISCLAIMER
Burson sent me the Cable+ Pro for review a few weeks ago. That said, I'll try my best to provide an honest feedback.


SETUP
So, I received a somewhat underwhelming non sturdy plastic case with cables that just seemed to be thrown in as an after thought. However, the cable itself looks high quality. The connectors and the main body (polished aluminum or steel?) definitely feels high end. I have to admit, I'd sacrifice packaging quality to drive costs down and up the quality of the actual product like Burson did here.



All that setup required was connecting the Cable+ Pro between my DAC (Bimby) and Amps (Valhalla 2, NFB28). That said the lack of instructions can make the process confusing. Like a few others I had the cable in backwards. The direction ("output" with a triangle indicating direction) on the cable didn't make it clear if it was indicating the direction of signals being output or if it was pointing towards the output end of the DAC from which signals are being entered from. In hindsight, it seems fairly clear that its indicating the direction of signals. However, just in case, remember that the shorter end of the cables go to the amplifier.




HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Great! I'm absolutely loving what I hear through these cables. Like many others, I was extremely skeptical over cables making any noticeable sonic differences. However, the change was pretty clear instantly. Yes, I probably should have known that the opamp in the main body of the cable serves somewhat as a preamplifier. So its not honest to say that I am now a believer in cables that costs more than my headphones. But I do believe in whatever Burson has created here.

Again, referring back above to my listening capabilities and preferences, I perhaps won't be able to tell if it's effectively dealing with impedance mismatches between the audio gear, or if it's some change in EQ due to the V5 being in between my DAC and AMP. Regardless of all that, I definitely do enjoy the change in sound I am hearing. And that's what ultimately matters - how it sounds to your ears.

There is little to no harshness in the highs. The mids are more forward and perhaps there's an ever so slight bump in the bass. Overall, I'm hearing a much fuller/richer sound. Everything sounds effortless emanating from a clear dark space. Almost analogue I'd say. Although the perceived soundstage appear to have changed to something that is much more intimate, the actual physical size of the soundstage seem to be the same, which is amazing considering there's, what I believe, less treble/air (or is it the harshness that's been removed as claimed by Burson?).

LCD3
This cable was just what I need to make my LCD3 sound the way I expected them to be. The brighter 2016 drivers of the LCD3 was always bothering me, and almost felt like they took away the Audeze magical mids. Now I could hear the vocals breathing down my ears as if they're singing right next to me. The change in mids (more forward with body) can clearly be heard with the LCD3.

HD800
At this point, I am really excited about the changes/improvements I'd hear with the modded HD800. Again, the Cable+ Pro delivers. An HD800 with fuller mids and significantly less harshness on mid-fi gear? Yes, that is now a thing with something that just costs $199. The Valhalla already pumps out amazing soundstage, so the change in highs/air didn't effect that much. More importantly, I'm able to listen to the HD800 for much longer hours while I work.


SUMMARY
It is pretty obvious by now that I really appreciate the change/improvements? that the Cable+ Pro brought to my system. I was always of the camp that upgrading headphones makes the biggest improvement then the amp, DAC and so on with cables being at the end of the list. However, that changes with the Cable+ Pro. If you prefer intimate and fuller mids, and are sensitive to treble, then the $199 cable from Burson likely would be a wise investment over any other gear.

I'm pretty sure that in this audiophile world that has forever been ridden with absolutes and crazy spending, I'm one of the biggest skeptic about cables. Having stuck to my trusty Dell usb-b cable since forever, I have yet to see an expensive USB cable or reasonably-priced USB purifiers that can help make a change.

Of course that's digital, and analog is another matter. I have actually seen some custom cables greatly change the headphones' sound. But then other question pops up: is that an actual improvement, or just a change in sound? If it really improves the quality, then why shouldn't I just straight up upgrade to another pair? Buying new would be much more refreshing and make much more sense economically.


Then there're those RCA cables like the Cable+ Pro. How do I think about those. Well, you guessed correctly: I've stuck to 2 pair of no-name Canare cables since forever. I've tried some thick (make 2 meters of those and you've got yourself an indoor snake), rare metal-ridden RCA cables onto my hundreds dollar DACs and headphone/hi-fi amps. Zero improvement.

Sure you'd easily tell when it's a pair of Canare or Chinese no-names (that got shipped for free with cheap amps). Yet the rules remain: there're the sub-standard, then there're the standard ones. The standard ones, no matter how expensive, only give you that much.



So, to be honest, when Burson offered me a chance to review the Cable+ Pro, I wasn't quite as excited as when they sent the Burson V5. That was a perfect small part to maximize the potential of my beloved hybrid tube amp. This, this is just a pair of cables (I thought). It should just be the same as the snakes my friend lent me. Should be the same as my Canares.

Anyway Burson was really quick to send the Cable+ Pro to me, just 2 weeks after I got home from a trip to the US. I received it on a Tuesday, didn't bother to plug it in right away. Just another cable products in this audiophile world that's full of absolutes, after all.


Then I plugged it in on Friday's night. I was blown away, almost literally. MAKE SURE TO REDUCE THE VOLUME ON YOUR AMP AFTER CONNECTING THE CABLE+ PRO. Thankfully my Denon speaker amp wasn't playing at 11, so just a tiny bit of startle when I turn it on with the Cable+ Pro connected. Working in software services, I'm all too used to alarms and surprises.


Now the sound. Here's the context: I have a Denon 780D + Klipsch KG4 sets. I always felt that the configuration was too dry and stale. As the amp and the speakers were given to me by my father, they always stay. The DACs had to go: the m9xx, the Hugo, the iDSD... all of them served my headphones and my Little Dot I+ really well, but they didn't play well with Denon. No matter what purifiers/expensive cables they got souped up with.

Even my current DAC, the Aune S16 with Slow filter leaves something to be desired. It smooth out my speakers the most, but I was seriously considering adding a sub or a tube preamp.

On Friday's night, happened the magic that's called "Cable+ Pro". After almost got blown away literally, I was blown away psychologically. The sound on my Denon+Klipsch got much much clearer, fuller and transparent. Words are beyond me, as this is not what happens when you change your amp, your DAC or anything that you would normally categorize in "it matters". This is just the replacement of the RCA-RCA cables from something already OK into something that, well, matters.

It's like I had owned 80% of my Aune+Denon+Klipsch. Now I own a full 100% of them.

Let me try putting the change in our typical "deal in absolutes" audiophilespeak. Have you ever heard Wonderwall? Of course you have, Oasis on the radio, or your nerd friend trying to impress someone after learning the guitar for a few weeks. So I put Wonderwall from Tidal on and for the first time ever, it really sound like Noel Gallagher is in the room with me and me wife. He was here, playing the guitar for us. That guitar tone now has that natural bite that I'd been longing for.

Then something more classical. "Love is Blue" by Paul Mauriat. Whatever they're playing at the start of the song, it's got sparks now! That instrument sparks like my childhood Noel lights!

Something more radical. "Smoke" by Amorphis. Your distorted electric guitar now has layers.

Something more sensational. "Self-Control" by Laura Branigan, God rests her soul. Your 80s synth bass now has timbre while that bling-bling keyboards/guitar chops is sending you back to Vice City.

Moving onto another set, a pair of JBL XE5. These were the first proper hi-fi speakers that I bought for myself. Denon+JBL should have been more lively than what'd got previously, but that was just not the case. The JBLs were a bit underpowered and boring, even though the Denon had enough power to drive practically anything.

Now with the Cable+ Pro, it's got bass. JBL now sound like JBL. The boomy JBL attacks. "All about that bass" is on. I can now happily dance erratically looking at my wife's butt!

Before singing more praises about the Cable+ Pro, a few (minor) criticisms. After all it's just a mutant cable, but I think Burson should have included a very brief user manual to note that:

- It is directional. There's small marking on the impedance-matching unit, but I think not everyone would see it at first. Take my father, who doesn't speak English, for example: to him it's just a typical pair of cables.

- You really should turn down the volume on your speaker set before making any changes to it. This is like "audio 101", but once again, who would have thought that way about a pair of cables?

Another small thing is that the Cable+ Pro requires another power plug to function. Obviously this could be a problem for some people. Anyway what I did was plugging it into the same strip as the Aune S16 and Little Dot I+.

Lastly, be aware that it runs a tad hot. That said, I live in an over-populated arch-type tropical city, so nothing ever runs cool. Just make sure to 1, not put the impedance-matching unit too near to your overheating amps and 2, turn it off after your listening session.

Ok now more praises with the heavenly combo: Aune S16 -- Cable* Pro --> Little Dot I+ with Burson V5 installed. I actually wrote a review for the amp and almost thought that there was no room for (sensible) improvement in my S16 I+ V5 combo anymore. But after the mind-blowing experiences with the Denon, I had heaven-high expectation for the new combo.

Surely it had to go that way: I have never felt so drawn into music that much. IT WAS A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE, I crap you not! First it was about the soundstage: for me it was more or less a constant, though I can tell when it's a bit more open and a bit more intimate. Yet with the RS2e plugged into the very combo that I've used for the past few months, it feels like at one moment Barbara Streisand is in front of me, singing directly to me under the dim lights of a bar. Then suddenly the whole bar (let's say it's twice as big as Mos Eisley) lit up and I see the chorus people all around, standing next to the wall. They sang to me. Never had I been *that* into music. It felt surreal.



With my other headphones, the Alessandro MS2e and the Audio Technica ATH-AD2000, the improvement was not as impressive. Or maybe, I've set my expectations much higher and the "first time experience" effects have worn off. Nevertheless, I can still tell that it has made something already perfect much perfecter.

Well, I never knew it could be *this* good.

Which is my decisive conclusion about the Cable+ Pro: you'd never know that a pair of Canare cables with a charger can bring about this much enjoyment. As I had said many times to many people: I never seriously considered spending a lot on cables, purifiers, transports and other "peripheral stuffs" in audio. They rarely improved my beloved-for-life equipments, and when they did, the cost just doesn't justify the value. In my experiences, the only "peripheral stuffs" that could introduce the same amount of improvement have always costed too much: the Nordost power cable sold at around $350, the iFi iUSB3.0 Micro sold at $400... I like my music, but with a baby coming, I just can't keep buying $400 stuffs to improve a $600 DAC.

But at $200, I think the Cable+ Pro is a substantial improvement – the very value you'd expect from these Australian fellows. It is also the first cable product that turn me into a believer, that talking about cables it's not just 0 (you get very bad quality) or 1 (you get the normal, ok, standard experience no matter what the price). There's now a 10 for cables, one that truly changes what you hear - for the better, and without "rare metal" snake oil!

I’ve never been a big user of special audio cables. Whilst common sense suggests that a good solid connection with minimal electrical loss would always make sense I’ve generally always been happy with any connection which basically works and doesn’t distort.

Some time back I got the opportunity to try the Burson Audio Cable + on my Chromecast Audio/Sony micro system. Whilst my audio system is not particularly anything special or ‘audiophile’ in any real way, the improvements the cable made to the sound quality was nothing short of astonishing. Highs were clearly better, the signal was generally more solid and the additional boost in volume from a conventional cable was definitely most welcome.

The reason why these cables work so well is that active module which is actually powered from a standard Micro USB power supply. This isn’t just ‘snake oil’ - the signal is basically boosted and ‘ironed out’ in order to extract as much musical information from the source as possible. The cable comes with its own USB power supply so you don’t have to ‘borrow’ the adaptor from you phone or tablet - all you need is a spare power outlet. Whilst it’s possible to use pretty much any powered USB port to power the device, I can’t help thinking that ideally you should use the dedicated PSU in order to get the best possible sound quality out of it.



The cable combination I used has a standard small stereo jackplug one end and two phono plugs the other end and can be used, for example, to connect a portable stereo to an amplifier.

The first thing to notice is that the portable device can play a lot louder than it did when using a standard interconnect. It’s not just an increase in volume - there’s also a significant increase in overall clarity as well. Bass offers increased presence without being overly boosted and the top end is sweet - offering enhanced detail without adding any harshness to the sound. The easiest way of describing the improvement in sound quality is that it’s like upgrading a major component in your system - the difference isn’t subtle - it’s nothing short of ‘audio magic’.

Burson cables are made of the finest materials and this shows. This is no flimsy bit of wire - everything about it screams quality - you get the impression that these cables are most definitely built to last. Unfortunately these cables are not cheap. For many people I suspect they would be far more tempted to upgrade a component when it comes to spending this sort of money - all I can really say to that is that you really have to try the cable out and keep an open mind - I’m pretty confident you won’t be disappointed. Burson Audio offer a no quibble 30-day money back policy and also offer a 5-year warranty as long as you register your product.

In conclusion I have to say that this cable is nothing short of remarkable. Whilst for many people the thought of spending this kind of money on a cable is somewhat strange, the improvements it offers really does justify the cost in my opinion.

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/cable-plus-pro/

Intro

The diversity of audio products grows just as the market of portable audio sources like phones, tablets, portable hi-res audio players, DACs. We use them for music listening and every so often plug them into our home stereo systems or car audio, we plug our sources at our friends’ homes to boast our music collection and so on. Many of such portable devices have good DAC chips but unfortunately not so good output stage due to size and components constraints such as op-amps built to a lower price point resulting in less than ideal output impedance when you try and use them with mature stereo systems. The resulting intercomponent impedance imbalance can have varying degrees of influence on the sound you hear.

Initially I thought this mismatch was not something I should really care about and diverted attention elsewhere until I was offered to try and test Burson Audio Cable+ Pro and express my honest opinion about it. Being extremely curious, I could not resist the temptation so here is my review.

An Expensive Cable Sounds Better...

...just like a red car drives faster That's my position when you ask me what I think about hi-end audio cables. I'm a strong believer that there is no audible difference between a $5 oxygen free copper cable and a $500 oxygen free copper cable and I still am. Before even trying Burson Audio Cable+ Pro I had to prove my point on ordinary cables. So I bought the cheapest cable I could find for $5 to compare it with some expensive cables in my own inventory, won't call names though. I also ordered a handful of different adaptor cables and splitters for various connectivity options.

In the picture below is my inventory of cables and adaptors I used throughout the review:


I have my proven reference portable audio rig which I carefully assembled with many of trial and error and $$$$ spent in search of the most pleasing and quality sound to my ears. Let the image not fool you, it's total cost is over $2000.



High level list of main components:

• Headphones: Balanced Beyerdynamic DT150 (250Ohm) studio headphones
• Headphones Cable: Balanced OFC copper handmade cable
• Amplifier: iBasso PB2 with MUSES01 or Burson V5i Dual OpAmps + LT1028ACN8 buffers in balanced mode
• Power source: XP8000 external battery (16V power supply for the amp)
• Source/DAC: Fiio X5 (PCM1792 DAC)

My wife helped me with a series of blind tests. She swapped a pair of cables at random, played the track, then swapped again and so on until it was done 10 times while I was sitting with my back to her wearing headphones, listening and writing down the results. Then we would compare the results.

We repeated the test for each pair of cables:

• 5$ AUX-RCA cable + AUX adaptor <---> $100 AUX-to-AUX cable
• 5$ AUX-RCA cable + AUX adaptor <---> $50 AUX-RCA cable + AUX adaptor

TEST RESULTS. The average guess rate was between 40-50%, which is basically 50/50, meaning I could not hear the difference between a $5 cable (1.5m long) with an adaptor and $100 solid custom ordered cable (50cm long).

If you told me that you purchased a $5000 cable, I would simply reply that you overpaid $4995 for it. It's a joke but with a grain of salt I personally wouldn’t want to use the cheapest cable in my audio chain because it simply doesn’t feel right but rather buy a cable of appropriate cost to match average price of audio gear.

Burson Audio Cable+ Pro Sounds Better?

Does it? How is it different from a $5000 cable? Well, it is not just a cable. I'd rather suggest you think of it as an active audio component with integrated discrete circuit which plays as buffer to fix impedance mismatch between the source and the amplifier at the cost of higher gain with connectors attached from both sides, which must be powered from the mains or a USB port.

My domestic elephant convinced me to have a photo session with him and the cable:





Cable+ Pro comes in a plastic case of the size of a VHS. At least that’s what my wife noticed when she saw the box first time. ‘Is that a VHS?’ she asked This would give you the idea about the size.

All necessary accessories come with the cable:

• USB to micro-USB cable
• Mains adaptor

You need is to plug micro-USB into Cable+ Pro and the other end into the adaptor and into the wall socket or power board before using. A blue light will come on:


There is an alternative way to power the cable. You can use a USB power bank, which will also do just fine:



Now that we are done with the cable on its own, let us see how it performs in action, how it is compared to ordinary cables and how it plays with different sources/DACs from the list:

• iPhone 6s
• Chord Mojo
• Fiio X5

I used my home stereo system as guinea pig for testing. I made it from the following components:

• Yamaha NX-N500 powered studio monitor speakers
• Yamaha WXA-50 amplifier/receiver
• Yamaha NS-SW300 subwoofer
• IsoAcoustics Monitor Stands for speakers and subwoofer with patented "floating" architecture for audio image stabilising

I used RCA audio splitters to connect two cables simultaneously to the receiver for future blind testing:



I used Fiio X5 as the primary source/DAC component connected to the receiver for initial evaluation:



Below is my standard list of tracks, which I use for critical listening every time I need to compare or evaluate something. It consists of vinyl records converted to 192kHz/24bit FLAC format and some CDs in FLAC:


Dire Straits - You and Your Friend (Classic)
Pink Floyd - Mother (Classic)
Metallica - Fade to Black (Metal)
Год Змеи - Код доступа (Rock)
Владимир Высоцкий - Вариации на цыганские темы (Russian chanson)
Skip James - Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Blues)
Gareth Emery - Save Me (Trance)
Lindsay Sterling (Violin)
The Piano Guys (Piano, Cello Instrumental)
Woods of Desolation – Somehow… (Depressive Suicidal Black Metal)

First Impressions

Absolutely fantastic!

I could not believe my ears. I thought that my brain was playing a trick on me, so I swapped the cables back and forth a few times to only confirm what I hear. What I want to stress is the overall impression from the sound stage as a whole improved. It felt as if I have just converted my whole stereo system one level up, as if looking at the painting in the art gallery someone shed light on it making all the beauty of contents and details to stand out, become more prominent and that's what I call positive and quite substantial changes. Even my wife, who is not accustomed to critical listening and to listening to high quality music, found Cable+ Pro quite engaging compared to an ordinary cable.

I am very critical and very picky towards sound reproduction quality and I always evaluate whether a change is a positive or a negative one regardless of the price I paid for audio gear. Several expensive pieces of gear already played a trick or two on me so I had to return or sell them. With this piece of gear though, I can definitely say it improves the sound quality to an extent I could hardly believe in audio terms as normally most of the changes are subtle and more or less subjective. Nevertheless, I had to run blind tests to move odds to objective territory a bit.

Blind Testing

Blind testing is necessary to exclude your brain as variable from the chain of evaluation process because this part of you is a sly and cunning creature - it will tell you something that does not exist and you will believe it only to justify your newly purchased audio toy. We don't want that, so blind testing we do.

I mentioned earlier Burson Audio Cable+ Pro buffers the signal. It means that it adds a little gain so the volume increases as soon as you swap cables, hence, I asked my wife before swapping cables to turn the volume all the way down, then swap the cable and then increase the volume at variable rates every time the change is made and do so 10 times per session. As part of blind testing, it was the tester’s objective to fool the listener (me). That is why she could disconnect and then reconnect the same cable back again to make it more fun and challenging.

Test results showed 90% guess rate or 9 out of 10 guesses were correct, which is very impressive.

Since blind tests were done with Fiio X5 as source, which proved that it was not my brain that played a trick on me rather than the sound actually improved quite a lot, there was no point in doing more blind tests with other portable devices so I simply listened to them.

iPhone 6s:



Chord Mojo:



Same good results. Although with Chord Mojo you need to keep in mind increased gain of Cable+ Pro. Chord Mojo by its nature has a non-standard higher LineOut voltage so if you have one in you hi-fi setup you will have to decrease it from 3V to 2V to avoid clipping and distortion at heavy bass sections in music. It is only four clicks away anyway.

Cable+ Pro Gain

Speaking about Cable+ Pro gain. It does add gain to the initial signal. Let’s find out how much. I did not bother to get pink noise so I simply played a bass heavy track from Fiio X5 LineOut connection to use as reference and logged maximum voltage output at its peaks.

With a standard audio cable, it reached as high as 0.6V.



With Cable+ Pro it reached as high as 1.2V at peaks:



That’s how much gain we get using Burson Audio Cable+ Pro – twice as much. It does not mean though that your actual volume will be twice as loud. At the same volume setting the sound would be about 30% louder.

I’ve been wondering if I could consider this cable as some sort of a pre-amplifier in addition to its key function of correcting impedance mismatch so I asked this question to Burson representative and the answer was to treat the cable as buffered cable only.

Direction

Cable+ Pro is a directional cable. It clearly says so on its back:



It also warns about powering on the cable only AFTER all the outputs are connected.

Well, I am Russian and Russians don’t read instructions. Even if they do, they would still try to do everything their own way. I’m joking of course, but I personally did everything the wrong way and found out:

1. If you connect the cable the other way round, there won’t be any sound so it’s pointless to do so.
2. During testing, I did plenty of connecting and disconnecting with the cable being powered on and nothing happened.

I strongly suggest not to repeat those steps at home as you may eventually damage the cable or your equipment.

Summary

Go for it! The price of Burson Audio Cable+ Pro is pretty much justified for performance gain you would achieve. In other words you will get more performance for the price.

The elephant is happy!