bhanja_trinanjan
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2006
- Posts
- 530
- Likes
- 14
Introduction:
Burson Audio (http://bursonaudio.com/) is an emerging Australian company, which designs and manufactures high end audio gear. In a thoroughly competitive market, where there is no dearth of choices when it comes to audio components, Burson designers claim to build their offerings using innovative technologies.
A classic example is their Headphone Amp 160. (HA-160)
Fig: Burson HA-160 – Makes your albums ‘visible’!
Built upon a fully ‘discrete’ design, the HA-160 is entirely devoid of integrated circuits (IC chips).
Burson says that IC chips are poor building blocks for audio amplifiers. However, most headphone amplifiers contain IC op-amps. (Operational amplifiers)
So, does this discrete design translate to any added sonic goodness?
I shall investigate, by pairing the HA-160 with my AKG K702 headphones.
Listening setup:
Source: Cambridge Audio Azur 640C ver. 2.0 CD player
Interconnect: DiMarzio High Definition RCA interconnects
Headphone Amplifier: Burson HA-160
Headphones: AKG K702
Burn-in:
The Burson is fairly fresh in my stable.
A lot of audiophiles suggest that one should ‘cook’ or ‘burn-in’ components to improve their performance.
However, the Indian summer is one hell of a cooker and running a Class A amplifier 24X7 is sure to trigger thermal meltdown.
So, I prefer to burn the Burson and AKG duo on my head, as I listen to music, a few hours at a time.
About the AKG K702:
I am not new to my K702 phones. Previously, I used to drive them with a Headroom Ultra Micro headphone amplifier. That was a supposedly ‘evil’ design, based on IC chips.
But, the Headroom was far from bad. It was certainly a very good amplifier in its own right and powered the K702 fairly well. However, I observed a few shortcomings in the AKG and Ultra Micro pairing. The Burson fails to obliterate those flaws entirely. But it does lessen them; which makes the overall sound more enjoyable than before.
This brings me to certain sonic traits of the AKG headphones.
The K702 is a nice headphone, having a fairly large soundstage, excellent bass control, spot on timing and bags of resolution.
However, it also has a slight emphasis on the upper midrange, relative to the midrange.
This means that female vocals sound very nice on the AKG, but woodwinds can at times, sound less stellar. The Burson helps the K702 in this area and makes the midrange a bit more prominent, but falls short of eliminating the problem in its entirety. I shall discuss this at length later. Let us focus on the positive aspects of the HA-160 first and highlight the areas where it trounces the Ultra Micro.
Dynamics… The Burson advantage:
The first thing you notice is that the Burson has more effortless dynamics than the Headroom.
Fig: Mendelssohn Bruch Violin Concertos, showcasing Burson’s dynamic prowess
In Kyung Wha Chung’s rendition of Max Bruch’s violin concerto no. 1, things get really loud in the interval from 05:10 to 06:30 in the first movement (Allegro) and during 06:00 to 06:20 in the second movement (Adagio). My Ultra Micro had always sounded a bit strained and congested during these passages. The little Headroom seemed to be overloaded with information and struggled to organize and render all the instruments distinctly and coherently. During those frenzied orchestral peaks, the various instrumental layers would run into each other and the louder bits would yell with harrowed voices. I would turn it up in an attempt to enhance the clarity. But it would simply get louder and not any clearer. Luckily, the Burson sounds relatively ‘effortless’. Dynamic peaks sound unstrained and musical. And, there is no sign of the amplifier being overloaded with musical information. The rendition is simply more organized and has a better stereo image. The instruments have greater separation and it is easier to hear everything at a lower volume. My ears are blessed. Thank you Burson!
Dynamics (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 6.5
Burson: 8.5
Timing:
Another forte of the Australian and Austrian pairing is timing. Music just abounds with spirited rhythm and drive.
Fig: Beethoven – Spring and Kreutzer sonatas, perfectly timed!
In Anne Sophie Mutter’s rendition of Beethoven’s spring sonata, the ‘Sherzo’ (third movement) is portrayed with cheerful rhythm, my toes tapping in approval. The start and stop of every piano note is delivered with precision and their inner detail and timbre is carefully preserved. The AKG is simply a master at rendering piano! I have listened to several high end systems, but seldom have I heard the variable damping of Piano notes portrayed so convincingly.
Timing (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 9.0
Burson: 9.0
Burson… The master of bass:
The Burson also excels at bass and mid-bass. During the Rondo of Spring sonata, the piano chords at positions 01:23 and 01:27 startle me with their depth and tautness. This is bass done right, with excellent tone, sans overhang or boom; something that plagues lesser systems.
Equally satisfying is the generous mid-bass texture evident in the beautiful Larghetto of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op. 61.
Fig: Beethoven Violin Concerto, proving the bass and mid-bass prowess of the HA160
During the interval from 00:32 to 01:00, the layering of the orchestra is just mind-blowing; the AKG sounding like a grown up system, several times its worth.
Bass Quantity (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 6.5
Burson: 8.5
Mid-Bass Quantity (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 6.0
Burson: 9.0
Bass Quality (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 9.0
Burson: 9.0
Mid-Bass Quality (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 7.5
Burson: 8.5
The AKG midrange:
Sadly however, it is not a fairy tale all the way.
In spite of the awesome bass, mid-bass texture, resolution and timing, the AKG loses some ground in the midrange. I had spoken about this earlier. Now I shall elaborate.
Put simply, the upper midrange of the AKG is a touch too prominent or ‘forward’, relative to the midrange.
It has a slight emphasis in the upper midrange along with unevenness in the lower treble. Thus, violins seem to lack a bit of wooden body resonance. This also causes the string section of an orchestra to dominate the woodwind section, more than it ideally should.
Listening to the Andante of Wieniawski’s romantic violin concerto (No. 2 Op. 22) confirms this.
Fig: Wieniawski Violin Concerto… is the midrange good enough?
The clarinet that plays along with the violin from 00:35 to 00:38 lacks the sweet prominence and presence that it has on my Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 stand-mounts. At 00:38, the clarinet just disappears meekly on the K702, whereas it bows out with ear-filling lushness on the Wharfedale.
The Oboe that follows the clarinet from 00:43 to 00:48 is vaguely present on the AKG, when it is heard with resounding assurance on the Diamond. Woodwinds sometimes sound distant on the AKG, as if somebody sucked the wind out of them. This detracts from the overall musicality and emotion of the music. The tonal contrast of the string and woodwind sections is missing here.
Fig: Tchaikovsky – Seasons… AKG lacks tonal beauty and contrast
This is further evident in Tchaikovsky’s ‘Seasons’, where the beauty of ‘May – White Nights’ is lost as the clarinet lacks the much needed presence that it has on most stand mount speakers, including my humble Wharfedales. The clarinet also plays hide and seek with the rest of the ensemble during the period from 00:28 to 00:40 of ‘Var V: Adagio’ of Mozart’s Serenade K. 361(370a) – Gran Partita.
Fig: Mozart’s Grand Partita… sounds a bit sterile on the K702
However, the AKG has excellent resolution and generous helpings of low level detail… which reminds me of a flower I shot during my last vacation.
Fig: I want a colorful midrange!
Seen that?
The lovely and saturated colors on the above shot are akin to the vividness of the Wharfedale’s midrange. Moving on to the next picture, we can almost visualize the ‘AKG’ sound.
Fig: The AKG midrange – can we have a more lush and saturated tone, please?
Here, the attention of the ‘viewer’ is drawn away from the now slightly washed out colors to the dust and pollen grains on the petals. (Read ‘low level’ details!)
Playing the AKG loud cures some of its leanness in the midrange. How loud? Well… too loud for long-term comfort. Whereas most of my listening is done at 7 – 8 clicks on Burson’s excellent stepped attenuator, I much prefer the immediacy of the midrange at 10 – 11 clicks. (12 – 12:30 o’ clock) And that is a perfect recipe for tinnitus.
However, I emphasize that I do not fault the Burson for the distant midrange of the K702. In fact, the Aussie breathes a fair bit of life in the middle. My older Ultra Micro was leaner still. Coming to the paradox, this very weakness in the midrange is also one of the biggest strengths of the K702. A side effect of that forward upper mid and high resolution is that female vocals sound exceptionally good!
Enough midrange talk!
Midrange (Head to head, on a scale of 10):
Headroom: 7.0
Burson: 7.5
Treble matters… and the Burson is no slouch:
Moving on to the treble, the Burson extends further than the Headroom. However, I feel that the K702 and almost all headphones roll off the upper treble a touch. Most speakers, especially the ones with exotic ribbon tweeters and all electrostats tend to add a bit more sparkle to violins and triangles. A possible side-effect of Burson’s excellent treble reach is that the rare vocal track exhibits more sibilance than on the Headroom. However, this could easily be a fault in the recording and I am not very sure.
Treble (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 7.0
Burson: 8.0
Transient response:
Transients shine on the HA-160 and cymbal crashes in Nutcracker are delivered with a real sense of conviction. I have seen many a fancied loudspeaker stumble upon the cymbal. Thankfully, the AKG-Burson duo does not disappoint in this regard.
Transients (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 8.0
Burson: 8.5
Resolution (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 7.0
Burson: 8.5
Conclusion:
Fig: HA-160 + AKG K702: A delightful duo!
Its key strengths are its awesome dynamics and its head-shaking bass. Timing, imaging, resolution and transients are also first rate.
The stepped attenuator volume control is well designed and the volume increments are smooth all the way to 12 o’ clock.
It mates well with the AKG K702… It does really good things to the AKG sound with zero side effects.
Burson Audio (http://bursonaudio.com/) is an emerging Australian company, which designs and manufactures high end audio gear. In a thoroughly competitive market, where there is no dearth of choices when it comes to audio components, Burson designers claim to build their offerings using innovative technologies.
A classic example is their Headphone Amp 160. (HA-160)
Fig: Burson HA-160 – Makes your albums ‘visible’!
Built upon a fully ‘discrete’ design, the HA-160 is entirely devoid of integrated circuits (IC chips).
Burson says that IC chips are poor building blocks for audio amplifiers. However, most headphone amplifiers contain IC op-amps. (Operational amplifiers)
So, does this discrete design translate to any added sonic goodness?
I shall investigate, by pairing the HA-160 with my AKG K702 headphones.
Listening setup:
Source: Cambridge Audio Azur 640C ver. 2.0 CD player
Interconnect: DiMarzio High Definition RCA interconnects
Headphone Amplifier: Burson HA-160
Headphones: AKG K702
Burn-in:
The Burson is fairly fresh in my stable.
A lot of audiophiles suggest that one should ‘cook’ or ‘burn-in’ components to improve their performance.
However, the Indian summer is one hell of a cooker and running a Class A amplifier 24X7 is sure to trigger thermal meltdown.
So, I prefer to burn the Burson and AKG duo on my head, as I listen to music, a few hours at a time.
About the AKG K702:
I am not new to my K702 phones. Previously, I used to drive them with a Headroom Ultra Micro headphone amplifier. That was a supposedly ‘evil’ design, based on IC chips.
But, the Headroom was far from bad. It was certainly a very good amplifier in its own right and powered the K702 fairly well. However, I observed a few shortcomings in the AKG and Ultra Micro pairing. The Burson fails to obliterate those flaws entirely. But it does lessen them; which makes the overall sound more enjoyable than before.
This brings me to certain sonic traits of the AKG headphones.
The K702 is a nice headphone, having a fairly large soundstage, excellent bass control, spot on timing and bags of resolution.
However, it also has a slight emphasis on the upper midrange, relative to the midrange.
This means that female vocals sound very nice on the AKG, but woodwinds can at times, sound less stellar. The Burson helps the K702 in this area and makes the midrange a bit more prominent, but falls short of eliminating the problem in its entirety. I shall discuss this at length later. Let us focus on the positive aspects of the HA-160 first and highlight the areas where it trounces the Ultra Micro.
Dynamics… The Burson advantage:
The first thing you notice is that the Burson has more effortless dynamics than the Headroom.
Fig: Mendelssohn Bruch Violin Concertos, showcasing Burson’s dynamic prowess
In Kyung Wha Chung’s rendition of Max Bruch’s violin concerto no. 1, things get really loud in the interval from 05:10 to 06:30 in the first movement (Allegro) and during 06:00 to 06:20 in the second movement (Adagio). My Ultra Micro had always sounded a bit strained and congested during these passages. The little Headroom seemed to be overloaded with information and struggled to organize and render all the instruments distinctly and coherently. During those frenzied orchestral peaks, the various instrumental layers would run into each other and the louder bits would yell with harrowed voices. I would turn it up in an attempt to enhance the clarity. But it would simply get louder and not any clearer. Luckily, the Burson sounds relatively ‘effortless’. Dynamic peaks sound unstrained and musical. And, there is no sign of the amplifier being overloaded with musical information. The rendition is simply more organized and has a better stereo image. The instruments have greater separation and it is easier to hear everything at a lower volume. My ears are blessed. Thank you Burson!
Dynamics (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 6.5
Burson: 8.5
Timing:
Another forte of the Australian and Austrian pairing is timing. Music just abounds with spirited rhythm and drive.
Fig: Beethoven – Spring and Kreutzer sonatas, perfectly timed!
In Anne Sophie Mutter’s rendition of Beethoven’s spring sonata, the ‘Sherzo’ (third movement) is portrayed with cheerful rhythm, my toes tapping in approval. The start and stop of every piano note is delivered with precision and their inner detail and timbre is carefully preserved. The AKG is simply a master at rendering piano! I have listened to several high end systems, but seldom have I heard the variable damping of Piano notes portrayed so convincingly.
Timing (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 9.0
Burson: 9.0
Burson… The master of bass:
The Burson also excels at bass and mid-bass. During the Rondo of Spring sonata, the piano chords at positions 01:23 and 01:27 startle me with their depth and tautness. This is bass done right, with excellent tone, sans overhang or boom; something that plagues lesser systems.
Equally satisfying is the generous mid-bass texture evident in the beautiful Larghetto of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op. 61.
Fig: Beethoven Violin Concerto, proving the bass and mid-bass prowess of the HA160
During the interval from 00:32 to 01:00, the layering of the orchestra is just mind-blowing; the AKG sounding like a grown up system, several times its worth.
Bass Quantity (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 6.5
Burson: 8.5
Mid-Bass Quantity (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 6.0
Burson: 9.0
Bass Quality (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 9.0
Burson: 9.0
Mid-Bass Quality (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 7.5
Burson: 8.5
The AKG midrange:
Sadly however, it is not a fairy tale all the way.
In spite of the awesome bass, mid-bass texture, resolution and timing, the AKG loses some ground in the midrange. I had spoken about this earlier. Now I shall elaborate.
Put simply, the upper midrange of the AKG is a touch too prominent or ‘forward’, relative to the midrange.
It has a slight emphasis in the upper midrange along with unevenness in the lower treble. Thus, violins seem to lack a bit of wooden body resonance. This also causes the string section of an orchestra to dominate the woodwind section, more than it ideally should.
Listening to the Andante of Wieniawski’s romantic violin concerto (No. 2 Op. 22) confirms this.
Fig: Wieniawski Violin Concerto… is the midrange good enough?
The clarinet that plays along with the violin from 00:35 to 00:38 lacks the sweet prominence and presence that it has on my Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 stand-mounts. At 00:38, the clarinet just disappears meekly on the K702, whereas it bows out with ear-filling lushness on the Wharfedale.
The Oboe that follows the clarinet from 00:43 to 00:48 is vaguely present on the AKG, when it is heard with resounding assurance on the Diamond. Woodwinds sometimes sound distant on the AKG, as if somebody sucked the wind out of them. This detracts from the overall musicality and emotion of the music. The tonal contrast of the string and woodwind sections is missing here.
Fig: Tchaikovsky – Seasons… AKG lacks tonal beauty and contrast
This is further evident in Tchaikovsky’s ‘Seasons’, where the beauty of ‘May – White Nights’ is lost as the clarinet lacks the much needed presence that it has on most stand mount speakers, including my humble Wharfedales. The clarinet also plays hide and seek with the rest of the ensemble during the period from 00:28 to 00:40 of ‘Var V: Adagio’ of Mozart’s Serenade K. 361(370a) – Gran Partita.
Fig: Mozart’s Grand Partita… sounds a bit sterile on the K702
However, the AKG has excellent resolution and generous helpings of low level detail… which reminds me of a flower I shot during my last vacation.
Fig: I want a colorful midrange!
Seen that?
The lovely and saturated colors on the above shot are akin to the vividness of the Wharfedale’s midrange. Moving on to the next picture, we can almost visualize the ‘AKG’ sound.
Fig: The AKG midrange – can we have a more lush and saturated tone, please?
Here, the attention of the ‘viewer’ is drawn away from the now slightly washed out colors to the dust and pollen grains on the petals. (Read ‘low level’ details!)
Playing the AKG loud cures some of its leanness in the midrange. How loud? Well… too loud for long-term comfort. Whereas most of my listening is done at 7 – 8 clicks on Burson’s excellent stepped attenuator, I much prefer the immediacy of the midrange at 10 – 11 clicks. (12 – 12:30 o’ clock) And that is a perfect recipe for tinnitus.
However, I emphasize that I do not fault the Burson for the distant midrange of the K702. In fact, the Aussie breathes a fair bit of life in the middle. My older Ultra Micro was leaner still. Coming to the paradox, this very weakness in the midrange is also one of the biggest strengths of the K702. A side effect of that forward upper mid and high resolution is that female vocals sound exceptionally good!
Enough midrange talk!
Midrange (Head to head, on a scale of 10):
Headroom: 7.0
Burson: 7.5
Treble matters… and the Burson is no slouch:
Moving on to the treble, the Burson extends further than the Headroom. However, I feel that the K702 and almost all headphones roll off the upper treble a touch. Most speakers, especially the ones with exotic ribbon tweeters and all electrostats tend to add a bit more sparkle to violins and triangles. A possible side-effect of Burson’s excellent treble reach is that the rare vocal track exhibits more sibilance than on the Headroom. However, this could easily be a fault in the recording and I am not very sure.
Treble (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 7.0
Burson: 8.0
Transient response:
Transients shine on the HA-160 and cymbal crashes in Nutcracker are delivered with a real sense of conviction. I have seen many a fancied loudspeaker stumble upon the cymbal. Thankfully, the AKG-Burson duo does not disappoint in this regard.
Transients (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 8.0
Burson: 8.5
Resolution (Head to head, on a scale of 10)
Headroom: 7.0
Burson: 8.5
Conclusion:
Fig: HA-160 + AKG K702: A delightful duo!
Its key strengths are its awesome dynamics and its head-shaking bass. Timing, imaging, resolution and transients are also first rate.
The stepped attenuator volume control is well designed and the volume increments are smooth all the way to 12 o’ clock.
It mates well with the AKG K702… It does really good things to the AKG sound with zero side effects.
it's one of the most detailed reviews I have ever seen, thank you! 
