Introduction
Burson has always been known in the audio world for their revolutionary op-amps and robust solid-state amps. My first experience with Burson dates back to the time when I was just started out in the audiophile world. I had a modest soundcard back then and after some op-amp rolling, I settled on their V5 series. In my opinion, they are some of the best performing op-amps in the world. When they announced the Cable+, it piqued my interest and now finally I am able to review one.
The Burson Cable+ is an active wire which serves as a pre-amp utilizing one of their esteemed V5i op-amp. I have had a very good experience with this particular op-amp in the past. The Cable+ is meant to be used with low quality sources to make them better.
Equipment
For critical reviewing, an iBasso DX200 was used as the DAC, Cavalli Liquid Carbon was used as the amp and a pair of LCD 3 headphones were used.
PC->well shielded USB 3.1 cable->iBasso DX200->Burson Cable+/Moon Audio Silver Dragon->Cavalli Liquid Carbon->Moon Audio Silver Dragon->Audeze LCD 3F
For additional testing, my PC and a HTC One M9 cell phone were used as sources.
PC/HTC One M9->Burson Cable+/ Moon Audio Silver Dragon ->Cavalli Liquid Carbon->Moon Audio Silver Dragon->Audeze LCD 3F
Volume Matching between Cable+ and Moon Audio Silver Dragon was done using a cellphone microphone.
A Note about Noise
I noticed quite a bit of noise induced when I first tried the Cable+ powered out of a USB port using the stock micro USB cable. However, after switching to a clean wall source using a much better micro USB cable, the background was completely black.
Sound Impressions
Without much further ado, let’s talk about what the Burson Cable+ does.
The sub-bass quantity rumbling is increased by a small amount. The mid-bass is better controlled and the impact is tightened. What this does is change the bass texture a bit. This allows the listener to better separate the sub-bass from the mid-bass. In a way, you can say that the bass separation is made better. However, in higher end sources, this takes away the evenness of the bass. In lower end sources, since there wasn’t much texture to begin with, this allows the listener to have a much better experience with the bass texture.
The mids are by far the most affected by the Cable+. The note placement of the mids are changed entirely. The mids are now placed much closer than before. The mids are now what is commonly referred to as “In your face”. Vocals are now just thrown at you. What this creates is better retrieval of details and micro-details. Since the mids are closer to you than any time before, you can now make out subtle nuances with any source. With higher end sources, it was already possible to distinguish the subtle nuances in sound so you just get the feeling of everything being closer to you. However, with lower end sources, you will almost universally hear details and micro-details better even at lower volumes.
Next up is the soundstage. The cable+, to compensate for bringing the notes closer to you decreases the soundstage by a small amount. What it also does is create a wall at the end of the soundstage. Lingering notes no longer decay but stop abruptly. With higher end equipment, this is a clear disadvantage. However, with lower end sources you get a more well-defined soundstage and the loss in soundstage is not that noticeable.
Tonally, the Cable+ makes the sound quite a bit warmer.
Conclusion
The Cable+ is great tool for making lower end sources bearable for the general audiophile. While travelling, you might not always have the means to bring along heavy high end desktop sources with you. In this scenario, the Cable+ is a great tool that can help you make music out of your phone or laptop bearable.
The Facilitator delivers. It might make a few compromises along the way but it always delivers.
Burson has always been known in the audio world for their revolutionary op-amps and robust solid-state amps. My first experience with Burson dates back to the time when I was just started out in the audiophile world. I had a modest soundcard back then and after some op-amp rolling, I settled on their V5 series. In my opinion, they are some of the best performing op-amps in the world. When they announced the Cable+, it piqued my interest and now finally I am able to review one.
The Burson Cable+ is an active wire which serves as a pre-amp utilizing one of their esteemed V5i op-amp. I have had a very good experience with this particular op-amp in the past. The Cable+ is meant to be used with low quality sources to make them better.
Equipment
For critical reviewing, an iBasso DX200 was used as the DAC, Cavalli Liquid Carbon was used as the amp and a pair of LCD 3 headphones were used.
PC->well shielded USB 3.1 cable->iBasso DX200->Burson Cable+/Moon Audio Silver Dragon->Cavalli Liquid Carbon->Moon Audio Silver Dragon->Audeze LCD 3F
For additional testing, my PC and a HTC One M9 cell phone were used as sources.
PC/HTC One M9->Burson Cable+/ Moon Audio Silver Dragon ->Cavalli Liquid Carbon->Moon Audio Silver Dragon->Audeze LCD 3F
Volume Matching between Cable+ and Moon Audio Silver Dragon was done using a cellphone microphone.
A Note about Noise
I noticed quite a bit of noise induced when I first tried the Cable+ powered out of a USB port using the stock micro USB cable. However, after switching to a clean wall source using a much better micro USB cable, the background was completely black.
Sound Impressions
Without much further ado, let’s talk about what the Burson Cable+ does.
The sub-bass quantity rumbling is increased by a small amount. The mid-bass is better controlled and the impact is tightened. What this does is change the bass texture a bit. This allows the listener to better separate the sub-bass from the mid-bass. In a way, you can say that the bass separation is made better. However, in higher end sources, this takes away the evenness of the bass. In lower end sources, since there wasn’t much texture to begin with, this allows the listener to have a much better experience with the bass texture.
The mids are by far the most affected by the Cable+. The note placement of the mids are changed entirely. The mids are now placed much closer than before. The mids are now what is commonly referred to as “In your face”. Vocals are now just thrown at you. What this creates is better retrieval of details and micro-details. Since the mids are closer to you than any time before, you can now make out subtle nuances with any source. With higher end sources, it was already possible to distinguish the subtle nuances in sound so you just get the feeling of everything being closer to you. However, with lower end sources, you will almost universally hear details and micro-details better even at lower volumes.
Next up is the soundstage. The cable+, to compensate for bringing the notes closer to you decreases the soundstage by a small amount. What it also does is create a wall at the end of the soundstage. Lingering notes no longer decay but stop abruptly. With higher end equipment, this is a clear disadvantage. However, with lower end sources you get a more well-defined soundstage and the loss in soundstage is not that noticeable.
Tonally, the Cable+ makes the sound quite a bit warmer.
Conclusion
The Cable+ is great tool for making lower end sources bearable for the general audiophile. While travelling, you might not always have the means to bring along heavy high end desktop sources with you. In this scenario, the Cable+ is a great tool that can help you make music out of your phone or laptop bearable.
The Facilitator delivers. It might make a few compromises along the way but it always delivers.