[EternalChampion]

I find this headamp about perfect and I'll finish my personal review soon.

Got tired of the Essence One and decided to put your hands on this shiny beast? Good choice. Upgraditis is one dangerous epidemic that's for sure

CON:
- No EMI/RFI filter inside (never happened to me, but some people might hear electrical buzz/noise); however, an external EMI/RFI and/or isolation transformer could get added later.

I'm a proud victim of its buzzing noise This goes away with digital connection though. I think you must be the first to mention the absence of interference filter...

 

[raoultrifan]

I will not be selling my E1, sorry.

Internal DAC and Transport cards can be upgraded with ease, like it was happening in the former Conductor V1. Not sure Burson will build any upgrades soon, after all the ES9018S is a champ DAC for sure (I am looking the upgrade my V2 to V2+).

I was unable to see any EMI/RFI filter on the mainboard, hence my above conlusion. However, I don’t have any noise on outputs, tested in 2 different homes (seller’s and mine).

 

[Bastianpp]

I really like my burson, but i hope in the future see an upgrade dac section

 

[devilboy]

I received my new headphone cable a few weeks ago..... Wywires Red.
I burned it in using the headphone output of a cd player for 5 days.

I think the Red with the Focal Clears is a magical combo with Burson.
It's amazing how resolving this trio is. I'm extremely pleased.

 

[EternalChampion]

Not sure Burson will build any upgrades soon, after all the ES9018S is a champ DAC for sure (I am looking the upgrade my V2 to V2+).

Soundstage and layer definition on this DAC is really top notch no doubt. My headphones definitely acknowledge this. Bass crystal clear too and very full at its lowest frequencies, but unfortunately it lacks that nice edge and the thump at the very bottom which would make things a bit more enjoyable as it feels a bit shallow, but that's me and my musical taste. Also, in case you are into energetic/vibrant and transparent vocals, I would not recommend this DAC. For some reason it fails to deliver on center/lead vocals as they appear somehow cloudy/compressed and put a slight unnatural pressure into my ears whereas my STX II sound card with its Burson V5 opams produces more refined vocals.

 

[up late]

Hello all,

Purchased a "like new" 5-months old Conductor V2 myself recently and indeed there's that jumper inside the package. I was having a look on the mainboard and there's a connector that could accept that 3-pin jumper, but not sure what it is about. Hope you'll get the answer, just out of curiosity.

I find this headamp about perfect and I'll finish my personal review soon. Meanwhile, here're my thoughts and personal measurements:

Frequency response (20-200000 Hz): +0.09, -0.01 dB
THD: 0.007%
Noise (A-weighted): -100 dB
Dynamic range: 100 dB
IMD + noise (A-weighted): 0.006%
Crosstalk (left/right) @ 100 Hz: -85.3/-95.3 dB
Crosstalk (left/right) @ 1 KHz: -88.8/-88.1 dB
Crosstalk (left/right) @ 10 KHz: -69.0/-68.3 dB

Noise-floor is mostly kept below -130dB with few spikes getting to around -106dB
​

Linearity is virtually perfect (+/-0.1dB) up to 30.000 Hz​

Latest RMAA PRO version​

PRO:
- Huge output power, I was able to drive 8-Ohms speakers up to 9W/channel (please don't try this at home!).
- Perfectly flat between 10 Hz and 30 KHz.
- Virtually perfect output representation of common sine-waves and square-waves (20 Hz, 1 KHz, 20 KHz).
- Very low THD + noise with great dynamic of > 100dB.
- For a pure Class-A operation I was expecting it to be way much hotter (it's about 30C on top).
- DC-coupled with dedicated protection.
- No opamps & no caps in signal path.
- Separate shielded AC/AC transformers, for digital and analogue parts.
- Huge 8200uF/35V ELNA caps to lower AC ripple & noise.
- Five power rails, each one being regulated by a full-wave 4-diodes bridge rectifier (a total of 20 fast powerful diodes).


NEUTRAL:
- 3 Ohms output impedance could get improved, although doesn't affects any of my cans, not even my 16-Ohms IEM's.


CON:
- No EMI/RFI filter inside (never happened to me, but some people might hear electrical buzz/noise); however, an external EMI/RFI and/or isolation transformer could get added later.

Bottom of line, this is a true REFERENCE headphone amplifier that could represent an "end-game" for audiophiles and musicians.

thanks for posting this. i look forward to your v2 review. i've been reading your posts in the burson play thread and you know your stuff.

 

[raoultrifan]

thanks for posting this. i look forward to your v2 review. i've been reading your posts in the burson play thread and you know your stuff.

Thank you!

I was comparing today the V2 with the Objective2 (totally different price & market, I know) for an input voltage of 1V RMS and an output voltage of 5V RMS, so...speaking only about the results:
- O2 is having a lower noise than V2 (-110dB vs. -102.8dB)
- O2 has lower 3rd harmonic (-98dB vs. -85dB)
- 2nd harmonic is the same on both headamps (around -95dB)

On the subjective tests, the O2 was having some channel imbalance when volume pot was at 9 o'clock or lower, which is kinda normal. V2 with it's digital volume had no such issue.
Planars were sounding more powerful, with a fuller bass and bigger soundstage. It was not a night & day difference, but it was there.
Dynamic cans, even the 600 Ohms Beyers, were sounding about the same. Well, I still like the V2's soundstage more and I fell like the resolution might be better.
External DAC used: Burson PLAY.

However, will I be listening to Objective2 with my planars? Nope.
Why? Even if Objective2 can push up to 7.3V RMS on its outputs vs. V2 that can push up to 12V, there's a power limitation: 0.7W on Objective2 vs. 9W on V2, so on long term planars might destroy O2's output buffers (NJM4556).

For very sensitive cans or IEMs the Objective2 might be a better option here, especially if using the gain of 1X or 1.5X, because O2 is dead silent. Not saying the V2 is noisy, but there's a bit of background there, when using my IEMs (16-Ohms 103dB sensitivity), which is quite normal for such a powerful amplifier without a gain switch. I was listening to my IEMs for several hours and the background noise was not interfering with the music...it was there, but I could only feel it between the track and only if I was looking after. However, with an ieMatch everything settles down, of course.

I got the Objective2 as reference because it's the quietest headamp I have and I'm not aware of another headamp having a lower background noise or even better measurements (well, maybe if the price will get above 1000 USD will find something).

 

[Matias]

Try an iFi AC iPurifier on the receptacle next to the one you plugged your CV2 and it should get rid of most mains noises very decently for 100usd.
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AC-iPurifier-Tech-Note-FINAL.pdf

 

[raoultrifan]

I don't have any mains noise, but thanks.

The only background noise of my CV2 is very low and is related to its internal high gain and high power, which is normal when using sensitive IEMs. With normal 32 Ohms (or higher) cans there's no audible noise, of course. CV2 is not intended to drive 16 Ohms IEMs with more than100db sensitivity anyway, so I find this a normal behavior. After all, IEM's manufacturers are building them to be driven @>90dB levels out of 2x25mW mobile devices, not from 2x8200mW amplifier.

 

[up late]

i don't hear any background noise coming from the cv2+ with my headphones, including the th900, which is 25 ohms and has a sensitivity of 100db/mw. the cv2+ headphone amp's output impedance of 3 ohms shouldn't affect the frequency response of headphones with an impedance as low as 24 ohms.

 

[peter123]

i don't hear any background noise coming from the cv2+ with any of my headphones, including the th900 which is 25 ohms and has a sensitivity of 100db/mw

I don't hear it with any headphones either but it's clearly audible with many IEM's. This is not an issue for me as I see no point in using it with IEM's anyway but it does exist (at least on my unit).

 

[up late]

i haven't tried iems with the cv2+ for the same reason

 

[raoultrifan]

i don't hear any background noise coming from the cv2+ with my headphones, including the th900, which is 25 ohms and has a sensitivity of 100db/mw. the cv2+ headphone amp's output impedance of 3 ohms shouldn't affect the frequency response of headphones with an impedance as low as 24 ohms.

Change the input to external RCA (I or II) and check, please...see if there's any noise coming (repeat the test at 1 AM in the morning with no external noises around you). Also, try using some more sensitive IEMs, perhaps the FH5 from Fiio (112dB). Withg sensitive dynamic cans you won't get any noise out of CV2CV2+.
I measured the output impedance as is indeed around 3 Ohms. However, sound is perfect with all my cans from 16 to 600 Ohms, so not an issue here.

 

[raoultrifan]

I don't hear it with any headphones either but it's clearly audible with many IEM's. This is not an issue for me as I see no point in using it with IEM's anyway but it does exist (at least on my unit).

Not an issues for me either, it's just a slight noise with >100dB IEM's only. CV2 is a 2x8.2W/16Ohms and 2x9W/8Ohms amplifiers, so running the internal components noiseless to 2x25mW for 8-16Ohms IEM's might be difficult because of the constant internal high-gain.

 

[up late]

Change the input to external RCA (I or II) and check, please...see if there's any noise coming (repeat the test at 1 AM in the morning with no external noises around you). Also, try using some more sensitive IEMs, perhaps the FH5 from Fiio (112dB).
I measured the output impedance as is indeed around 3 Ohms. However, sound is perfect with all my cans from 16 to 600 Ohms, so not an issue here.

like @peter123, i don't use iems with the cv2+. i bought it to drive my headphones, so i see little point in experimenting with iems. i do most of my headphone listening at night and often well into the early hours of the morning. it's quiet in my listening room and i am yet to hear any noise coming from the cv2+, and that's good enough for me. i'm glad you've found that the output impedance of the cv2's head amp as specified by burson audio accords with your own measurements.