[Dogmatrix]

SCOOP

Introducing the Burson Conductor 3X Reference.
Burson Conductor 3X: Balanced DAC/Headamp/Preamp
Fully balanced with one DAC chip per channel. Top-quality components throughout including Neutrik XLR connectors, the C3X is the perfect command centre for any XLR audio systems.

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/conductor-3x/

• Retail price $2,200 USD inc shipping.
• Exclusive Pre-Order Offer: $1,649 inc shipping.
• Discount never to be repeated. ie It will be more expensive on Black Friday.
• Delivery of all pre-order units before the 20th Dec. 2019
• Offer ends 15th, Nov. 2019.
  Shipping in chronological order

 

[up late]

didn't you see the previous post? it contains a link to the thread that has already been created for the conductor 3x.

 

[Chik0240]

I am curious about the volume control, is it an alps pot or a chip based one?

 

[raoultrifan]

It's digital volume control built-into the DAC chip. Internally works on 32-bit volume adjust, so there will be no additional noise injected into the analogue stages: http://www.esstech.com/files/3014/4095/4308/digital-vs-analog-volume-control.pdf.
Channel imbalance will be about perfect across the entire adjustable volume range/steps.

 

[taiyoyuden]

I noticed that it's no longer a 5 year warranty but a 2 year warranty :/

 

[flea22]

How does the dac fair by itself? Looking at buying the balanced version of this amp and running the dac into my wa22. Currently using a chord qutest, but I want to swap to a xlr dac. Also having a good solid state head amp is a massive bonus.

 

[atmfrank]

A nice feature of the V3, you can feed downstream directly from the DAC without volume control (second output). I don't know enough about the circuitry, so I am not sure if the "signature" I/V and LP stages (equipped with Burson opamps - vivid/classic) are in the path in this mode.

I am on the budget side of audiophiles, but I can say the V3 blows away my Chord Mojo by a long-shot. The combination of a V3 + wa22 sounds intriguing. The implementation of the ES9038, coupled with extremely low-noise power and well-documented head-amp performance is amazing for the price...in my mind.

I'd love to see some serious reviews and comparative analysis of the V3.

 

[raoultrifan]

A nice feature of the V3, you can feed downstream directly from the DAC without volume control (second output). I don't know enough about the circuitry, so I am not sure if the "signature" I/V and LP stages (equipped with Burson opamps - vivid/classic) are in the path in this mode.

I am on the budget side of audiophiles, but I can say the V3 blows away my Chord Mojo by a long-shot. [...]

I guess you are referring to the DAC-out feature; if so, then this output should provide the cleanest audio.

As for the Mojo compare, I think the beefy amp from the C3Ref does the difference here.

 

[buson160man]

I was on the burson audio website a few days ago and saw that burson is now offering a balanced version of the conductor 3. I am not a happy camper because I had just bought the single ended version and received it about three weeks ago.
If burson was going to offer a balanced version of the new conductor they should have mentioned it on their website before you buy the single ended version. Burson has never offered a balanced version of anything before if I had known I would have waited for the balanced version and bought it. I think this is pretty shabby of burson not mentioning it on their website before you buy the single ended version. Needless to say I am not happy. It is 400 dollars more but they are offering the same 400 discount for a like period on pre orders. But that does nothing for me.

 

[raoultrifan]

@buson160man, there's already a thread about it here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-fully-balanced-burson-conductor-3x-dual-ess9038-7-5wpc-xlr-3-75wpc-se-headamp-changeable-opamps.918232/.

C3Ref has 7.5W @ 16Ohms on the single-ended output jack, while C3X has 3.75W @ 16Ohms, so who needs a single ended powerful combo probably C3Ref might be a better choice.

 

[Marutks]

I agree. I would have bought balanced version of C3.

 

[up late]

i was expecting this reaction. i suspect that burson audio may have shot itself in the foot by releasing both of these conductor models and shortening the warranty period for them from five to two years.

 

[Chik0240]

i was expecting this reaction. i suspect that burson audio may have shot itself in the foot by releasing both of these conductor models and shortening the warranty period for them from five to two years.

Actually I feel like they are shooting their foot by the conductor virtuoso already. Let me clear myself, my first ever amp was the Soloist SL and by those days Burson sticks firmly to the all discrete path where even the volume control in the top end Soloist was using stepped attenuator, to make sure no opamp or IC stage volume control was in the whole system path, that was heavily marketed as their signature, after than in the virtuoso they just changed to use a digital IC based volume control and I was a bit skeptical, not that I truely believe that IC is always inferior, but the company design philosophy, it feels kind of like they suddenly moves from their stance, while it is still very capable product I am looking more on various brands for that alone

 

[buson160man]

thanks for the reply but why did burson not show it on their website? I saw no mention of it when I purchased the conductor 3.The thread you listed is dated November 3rd.I have had my conductor for probably a month. The burson website had no mention of the burson conductor x back when I preordered mine which was probably in September.

 

[raoultrifan]

Actually I feel like they are shooting their foot by the conductor virtuoso already. Let me clear myself, my first ever amp was the Soloist SL and by those days Burson sticks firmly to the all discrete path where even the volume control in the top end Soloist was using stepped attenuator, to make sure no opamp or IC stage volume control was in the whole system path, that was heavily marketed as their signature, after than in the virtuoso they just changed to use a digital IC based volume control and I was a bit skeptical, not that I truely believe that IC is always inferior, but the company design philosophy, it feels kind of like they suddenly moves from their stance, while it is still very capable product I am looking more on various brands for that alone

I do have CV2+ and I'm using the DAC-OUT when I feed my speakers amplifier or the internal CV2 amplifier for headphones. There is no opamp in the signal-path when using these two configurations! The PGA2310 digital volume control only works as pre-amplifier with the two analogue inputs, so when using CV2+ with the internal ES9018S DAC the volume is adjusted from the built-in DAC chip (it works at 32-bits inside), like most other ES9018/9028/9038 implementations. Feel free to read my CV2+ review here: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/burson-audio-conductor-v2.21385/reviews#review-21099.