[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.

Hope you'll like it, but it's a really-really long review, sorry for that: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/burson-audio-conductor-v2.21385/reviews#review-21099. I tried to cover a bit more testing part and technical things, just to be sure everyone will understand this is quite a good piece of equipment without opamps and capacitors in audio path that really measures perfectly.

L.E.: I was personally impressed by how well it represents the square-waves at 20Hz and 20KHz, virtually perfect.

 

[up late]

enjoyed reading your review and poring over the pics. definitely one for the geeks! i find the minimalist design, build quality and solidity of the v2/+ impressive. the internals are neatly laid out and cleanly executed. good to see that its measured performance doesn't disappoint. thanks for posting.

 

[raoultrifan]

Might worth comparing V2's measurements from my review with the below Matrix M-Stage HPA-3B, which is a great headamp by the way, but it's not so revealing like V2 and it's a bit more soft on trebles and somehow warm).


20Hz square (it shows that there's a capacitor on the input, although bass sounds powerful and gets quite low)


20KHz sine (little bit of trebles roll-off and some phase-shift that "might" change the way I perceive the very-high trebles)


20KHz square (probably the low-pass filter causes trebles to sound somehow..."soft" to my ears)

I am confident that what I hear can be backed-up by measurements, but can't actually prove this 110%, but I'm still trying to use my ears + my scope + common sense and see what's happening. However, Conductor V2 sounds definitely more revealing and detailed that M-stage HPA-3B, at least this is what my ears and my scope are both saying.

 

[omniweltall]

Might worth comparing V2's measurements from my review with the below Matrix M-Stage HPA-3B, which is a great headamp by the way, but it's not so revealing like V2 and it's a bit more soft on trebles and somehow warm).


20Hz square (it shows that there's a capacitor on the input, although bass sounds powerful and gets quite low)


20KHz sine (little bit of trebles roll-off and some phase-shift that "might" change the way I perceive the very-high trebles)


20KHz square (probably the low-pass filter causes trebles to sound somehow..."soft" to my ears)

I am confident that what I hear can be backed-up by measurements, but can't actually prove this 110%, but I'm still trying to use my ears + my scope + common sense and see what's happening. However, Conductor V2 sounds definitely more revealing and detailed that M-stage HPA-3B, at least this is what my ears and my scope are both saying.

Thanks for the review, mate. Enjoyed reading it.

 

[raoultrifan]

Hi all,

Just taken delivery of a used V2+ today. Looks to be in great shape but unfortunately I won't be able to have a listen for a day or so as I need to pick up a USB cable.

In the meantime I wonder if I could ask a question?

Inside the accessory box that came with the V2+ I spotted the following jumper(?), approx. 1cm tall, contained in an SD card style blister pack. I don't have a clue what it is for and the manual doesn't make any reference to it - any ideas? Did anyone else get one bundled with theirs?

Update: asked the seller to see if he could fill in the blanks. He tells me he's the first owner and the jumper was in the box when he received it. Hasn't opened it up or done any modifications. He just assumed it might be some kind of tool for op amp swapping but from reading through the thread I don't think the V2+ supports this....the plot thickens! Have also e-mailed Burson in the hope they can hopefully shed some light on things.

Thanks & best wishes!

(Edit: sorry, having probs attaching pic so have added a link below)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5...bjefcPxiP2N0QgL4XhfcUhbOIQgMMfggug35q7A=w2400

I got the below pic from Alex from BURSON:

Seems that it's for the PRE-OUT to get operational. I'll probably give it a try.

 

[up late]

neat looking layout

 

[raoultrifan]

Hi all,

Just taken delivery of a used V2+ today. Looks to be in great shape but unfortunately I won't be able to have a listen for a day or so as I need to pick up a USB cable.

In the meantime I wonder if I could ask a question?

Inside the accessory box that came with the V2+ I spotted the following jumper(?), approx. 1cm tall, contained in an SD card style blister pack. I don't have a clue what it is for and the manual doesn't make any reference to it - any ideas? Did anyone else get one bundled with theirs?

Update: asked the seller to see if he could fill in the blanks. He tells me he's the first owner and the jumper was in the box when he received it. Hasn't opened it up or done any modifications. He just assumed it might be some kind of tool for op amp swapping but from reading through the thread I don't think the V2+ supports this....the plot thickens! Have also e-mailed Burson in the hope they can hopefully shed some light on things.

Thanks & best wishes!

(Edit: sorry, having probs attaching pic so have added a link below)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5...bjefcPxiP2N0QgL4XhfcUhbOIQgMMfggug35q7A=w2400

Per Alex wrote: "Ok, please refer to this photo below. Just plug the 3 pin connector into where I am indicating and the pre-out should work."

That means this 3-pin connector is only to be used with V2 and not with V2+, as V2+ already has the internal DAC connected to that pin.

 

[raoultrifan]

Just received my internal transport & DAC (ES9018S), this is sort of a Christmas gift, though I'm also thinking to a Fostex T60RP too.
I got it for about half the price (around 250 USD) and I think it sounds quite right, neutral, very detailed and with a very good soundstage (only tested on HE560 for today).



The internals of this DAC/amplifier combo are just...impressive and beautiful as well. Or is it probably just me that I totally love discrete components instead of op-amps, metallic resistors, lot of power regulators nearby DAC a.s.o.

 

[up late]

it's not just you. i find the cv2+'s internals rather pretty. is that weird?

 

[omniweltall]

No it isn't, mate. Not only the internals, the external looks real sweet too. I find myself staring at it all the time. Like a succubus.

 

[devilboy]

Lol. Me too.

 

[up late]

No it isn't, mate. Not only the internals, the external looks real sweet too. I find myself staring at it all the time. Like a succubus.

yep. i'm also a fan of its clean, minimalist design. the fit and finish is flawless and it feels rock solid.

 

[omniweltall]

For me personally, no other amp maker can nail build quality like Burson.

 

[Zojokkeli]

Does anybody have experience upgrading V2 to V2+? Is the DAC chip easy to install by yourself? I'm not super tech savvy, but I've put together my PC on my own, so is that level of experience enough or does it require soldering etc.?

The looks and feel of the Burson amp are very solid. I bought mine used and it is simply stunning. Sounds the part too, of course.

 

[raoultrifan]

I already posted about this few posts above. I've upgraded from CV2 to CV2+ last night, process was smooth and easy, all you need is few M3mm screws (10-16mm long).
- power off the device
- open up the top case (4 star screws)
- gently remove the backside USB sticker that covers the USB hole
- insert the small transport card (take care to the long pins to perfectly fit with the pin-holes from the mainboard!)
- insert the DAC card (take care to the long pins to perfectly fit with the pin-holes from the mainboard!)
- power on device and check for the blue lights from the DAC card
- insert USB cable and give it a try (choose Toslink, Optical or Usb input from the front panel)

Use a lantern and very good eyes when inserting the 2 cards into the mainboard, because the long pins need to perfectly fit into the mainboard! It took me 5 minutes top to do the upgrade, but YMMV.

However, this a very good upgrade indeed, I totally recommend it. One notice: CV2+ is not for sensitive IEM's (like 8-16 Ohms, >100dB sensitivity), it's more for sensitive or regular 32 Ohms (or higher impedance). This is outputting 8...9W per channel after all...

Good luck!