[Swisshead]

Many thanks for your interesting field report. I like it very much.

I can only support all this. Processing extremely good. Visually beautiful. Fits on any desk. Not such a big binge. With the aluminum it fits perfectly to Apple computers.

I've heard it for two days and already a lot. The first day I was rather disappointed. My brain is fully adjusted to the iFi. It sounds completely different than the iFi. Be it the iCan or the micro iDSD BL. Completely different sound. In the first moment you lack the power, the feeling of power without end.

In a headphone theme I described it as follows. The iFi is the American muscle car. The Burson is the discreet luxury limousine. Totally relaxed, no showmanship, nothing. But the longer you listen the more you like it. Think love only at second or third glance.

Where I had to get extremely used to it is the volume control. In the iFi you turn from 0-40 degrees and maximum tolerable volume. With the Burson, you have to turn the crank. It takes a lot more than that. The volume display also doesn't show dB, but simply goes from 0 to 99. With low impedance I'm between 20 and 35, with high impedance between 30-50, at most a bit more.

With high impedance I miss a little bit the power that the iCan brings. With the Burson it feels as if it is simply underpowered, you have to accelerate more. Just iFi the muscle car. You can feel the power already in the accelerator. A racehorse that always has to jump off. The Burson is more of a relaxed riding horse. It's hard to describe.

What harmonizes extremely well is the Burson and the LCDi4. I was extremely surprised. A dream combination. With the i4 I like the Burson better than the iCan. But with the ZMF the iCan. The Burson feels more like a big caravan attached to a rather small car.

But it takes time to listen to it. Every day you think that today it sounds much better. No, I don't think it has anything to do with burn-in, I don't believe in that with amplifiers. But just get used to it.

Right now I'm listening to Burson on Clear. That works great too!

But what you can clearly say is that for the price you ask, you get an absolutely outstanding amplifier. It is clearly better, as the price range suggests. When I think what other manufacturers write on their price tags!

 

[escalibur]

Thanks! It is indeed worth testing if you prefer neutral and relaxed sound. Due to this it puts the headphones in lead role regarding the sound characteristics. I personally prefer neutral amps because my goal is to hear the artist instead of amp.

Clears are on my secret wishlist, but currently they are way out of my budget.

 

[Swisshead]

The Clear is like the Burson. Absolutely no love at first sight, even at second or third sight.

When I first heard him, I thought, "This is a dumbass! That's horrible. But the longer you listen to it, the better it gets. No, not the headphones, but you adjust to it and with time you like it better and better.

Like tonight, Clear plugged into the Burson, and the first few minutes were ghastly. Thought it was missing a lot. Where did the sound go? Now after one hour it sounds great! Not only great, but sensational! It takes getting used to. No, the Clear suits the Burson because it is also very clear and rather neutral. The music comes through fully as it is and not as it should be. I absolutely like it. At the moment I'm listening to a live album by Mylène Farmer. Absolutely outstanding! Could not be better.

No, like I said, they're an excellent couple.

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

Spent almost 5 hours last night listening,experimenting with the gain & filters.I liken Hi Gain-Low Gain to a Triode/Ultralinear switch on a tube amp.True to my findings in the main system,I prefer Hi Gain..Can't say I've noticed any difference with the filters...As for the sound,or lack of sound,it is without a doubt the finest implementation of a SABRE DAC I've ever listened to & is exactly why I prefer the SABRE to AKM...Waiting on a 15' USB A cable so I can get it in the main system...

 

[Cat Music]

How much difference will there be in sound quality between the XLR input and 6.5? did someone test?

 

[Swisshead]

So, after a few days listening, the next small update.

I have now also tried out various headphones with the Burson. What does not fit is ZMF. ZMF are much better on the Pro iCan. Somehow the Burson gives you the feeling that it simply lacks performance, although it certainly doesn't, it has enough. But somehow I don't like it. Dull, listless, a bit overcast, I don't feel any joy.

But Audeze... I never thought I'd see the day. It fits like the proverbial fist in the eye. Be it the LCDi4 or the LCD-X. Last week I was thinking about selling the LCD-X. It was always too aggressive in the upper mids and highs, sometimes it really hurt and was no fun to listen to music. The only thing that worked was Trance, which has extreme bass, very good mids and the highs are usually not present or very subtle in Trance. But I could never hear pop songs with aggressive highs with the LCD-X.

On the Burson the absolute opposite. Thought I heard a completely new headphone! Sounds sensational! Beautiful soft bass, high-precision voices with beautiful vocals and trebles a dream! Everything extremely coherent, never annoying, no peaks, nothing. Never heard the LCD-X like this before! Yes, it will definitely stay with me and will get much more playing time with the Burson! A dream combination! Also the i4. It will also blossom again. Especially a beautiful opera or a classical concert on the Burson is hard to beat! Wonderful, you could listen to it for days.

As I wrote before, the Burson is the luxury limousine for me. Always discreet, neat, clean and comfortable. The iCan is, in contrast, the US muscle car. Loud, bursting with power, always ready. But that doesn't necessarily go with every headphone.

No, I'm very happy with the Burson. Definitely love at second sight. It's also very nice that the sound is different from the iCan. So I have variety and now a suitable amplifier for every headphone.

But if you're looking for a very neat, clean sound, the Burson is the right choice. But if you like hammer basses and like it more aggressive, you might not be happy with it. The iCan would then be absolutely suitable for them. But especially classical music, opera, nice pop songs or rock sounds great with the Burson.

 

[escalibur]

Has anyone been playing with filters? Can you hear any difference?

 

[maszynista1987]

I have now also tried out various headphones with the Burson. What does not fit is ZMF. ZMF are much better on the Pro iCan. Somehow the Burson gives you the feeling that it simply lacks performance, although it certainly doesn't, it has enough. But somehow I don't like it. Dull, listless, a bit overcast, I don't feel any joy.

I'm listening to Burson 3xp with Verite Closed and the connection is amazing for me - the scene is great, arranged, great detail.

Just out of pure curiosity I want to try to listen to the lamp.
Maybe someday it will be in Europe (Poland) to rent a Zmf Pendat , before buying it I would prefer to compare directly with Burson .

I think changing the opamp to 4 classic, would suit you better with Zmf .

Sorry about the translator.

 

[ahmedie]

Do changing opamp also effect pre-out sound?

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

2 Part Post1)Late last night I sat down with a well warmed up 3P & the very low hours Sundara.I was only going to listen to a few songs before bedtime.Next thing I know,my eyes are like lead weights,yawning is louder than the music & 3+ hours slipped by!
I'm no expert but I do have an ear for good,natural tone.As has already been stated the Burson Conductor 3 is a clean,open window on the recording,as a DAC/AMP it quite simply has no discernable sonic character that I can relate.I've always felt that AKM Dacs & relaxed tube amps didn't quite mesh,sounding like old school,syrupy Conrad Johnson tube gear.From SABRE's entry into the market I've always liked most of what they brought to a system,except for some slight upper midrange emphasis SABRE always seemed to be voiced to mate with everything a good tube amp brings..The Conductor 3P is absolute perfection when coupled to the KT88 driven Cayin amp currently powering my system..
(2)Which begs the question in my mind,just how far can this amp take me..This is my end game amp/dac.It is part of what for me is an end game A/V system & is control central,feeding Bluetooth LDAC/Toslink & USB signals to a tube integrated amp...I'ts PLENTY good enough for me,not being someone who must have the absolute pinnacle in gear simply because value for $ spent & the law of diminishing returns has strong root in my mind..But that does not mean I don't want to extract every ounce of performance my gear can generate..
So if you had this amp/dac & a budget of say $3500.00 what end game headphones would you be looking at?Would something like the $3500.00 HE1000SE or $4000.00 Audeze LCD4z shine with this amp or do I need to look a bit lower in the food chain for maximum performance?How about more,are there $5000.00 headphones that wouldn't make the 3P the weak link in my system?

 

[maszynista1987]

A very cool configuration with the zmf verite , it is more analogue, with a low cost of the scene in width,

 

[escalibur]

Has anyone tested C3Ps with Sparkos opamps? Is there any audible difference compared to V6 Vivids?

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

A very cool configuration with the zmf verite , it is more analogue, with a low cost of the scene in width,

Hi,would you say that the amplifier is bringing out everything the headphones are capable of?I'm torn between keeping the Conductor 3P & upgrading to the Conductor3 Reference,although the extra $700.00 to upgrade to the Reference could go towards MUCH better headphones,aghhhh decisions...

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

Pure Class A from in to out,Conductor 3P feeding a Sugden A21 driving little tiny A$$ KICKING Tablette Anniversary speakers..UNREAL combination,the 12'x15'x8' room does not exist,nothing exists except a solid wall of sound a mile wide & 2 miles deep.Tonal saturation is off the charts,a deeply bowed cello drips rosin,later Clapton,especially closely mic'd video reeks of Strat resonance...VERY impressive DAC here...

 

[Thorbee]

All I can say is I wholeheartedly agree with the findings here...especially the 2nd and 3rd time listening with it warmed up. I have the Rag 2, Audio-gd R-27 and the Woo WA5le and in many respects the Burson 3XR beats them all. Now, when I first got it I was not that impressed it was rather bland sounding with quirky volume control. It came with the Sparkos op-amps installed so I let them simmer for about 24-hrs and then Holy Moley the sound was right there with my other amps (I leave it on now unless I plan not to listen for days or weeks at a time) hard to believe the transformation so, I then installed the Vivid and left it on for about 10-hrs and I will have to go back to the Sparkos at sometime to compare more critically but man this amp is really really good. Now I still think the volume control is a little quirky but I am getting used/familiar with it. It is not as dynamic as the Rag 2 (certainly dynamic in it's own way) or as "powerful" sounding as the Rag or the R-27 but it is certainly more then powerful enough for my stable of phones (which includes LCD4 and Hifiman Arya and Kennerton Thekk) that are harder to drive. I do think that the ZMF Auteur sounds wonderful as well, the Empy not as good as the Rag makes them sing but still very musical. What I don't quite understand is that it has a more tube-like musicality then my Woo by quite a bit. Well anyway it is a keeper just as it stands after a somewhat rocky start...so I would say if getting one certainly give it some time to perform its magic and you might find it to be an end-game amp (if that even exists ) This of course, is just my take YMMV