The DD-1812 was remarkable. It had both an 18" and a 12" sub driver. Pretty good bass response. And yet it was not an ULD-18. That, you could at least use as a coffee table, pretty much. If not for red wine, then for blessing. God bless 'em.
What is an item to you, when you are not using it? That is a remarkable question. +
Some items eventually serve their purpose as art.
JP 2015/05/04
www.hifiart.ca
+ Would you call this a review? Many would not. What does it mean to be a Virtuoso, and a Virtuoso Conductor at that? :)
We have known one such chap. A trombonist who toured with CYOT (Canadian Youth on Tour) in Summer, and later became a conductor of repute. While the conductor is often put down as being a non-essential poseur, whose only role and goal is to give the audience something to look at being a conductor is more than swapping inputs and adjusting volume.
Yes, you can say the conductor of an ensemble often serves as a General Manager, of sorts, choosing not only pieces, for the repertoire, for each staged performance, but also players, for the orchestra.
Does the Burson Audio Conductor Virtuoso turn you into such a chap? You get to choose which songs to play with your laptop or desktop or other source. Now with the Burson as a pre-amp, you may choose other sources to play, but not hear, simultaneously. DJ hopefuls will be disappointed, then. Oh my. Still you may adjust the volume.
In an orchestra, the conductor adjusts the volume by raising and lowering his hand. Dr. Tod Machover later added the genesis of the Nintendo Power Glove to achieve this same effect with MIDI synthesis and banks of effectual equipment.
Does connecting the Conductor, and giving you a knob to twiddle turn you into a Virtuoso Conductor then?
The Burson offers you five inputs (3 analogue and two digital). Although we don't like the front panel (orchestras have panels too - for adjudication and selection), the casework is superb. The interior is fine as well.
Visually, near par with a hobby bias with Rotel. Beyond FM Acoustics towards Goldmund in terms of the chassis and case. Those that don't know, FM Acoustics is the upper echelon of hi-fi. Ubber fi. Conrad Johnson for the masses. No.
Well the Burson Audio Conductor Virtuoso DAC / Preamp / Headphone Amplifier is one fine piece of gear. *
* With the casework, is lulls you into thinking that it is something, but, if you look at it, it is nothing.
Let's look at the specification.
Frequency response: ± 1 dB 0 – 50 Khz.
This is one-half (1/2) what you would wish for a loudspeaker. A frequency response of 0 - 100 kHz would be near-ideal in terms of frequency response, we'd say.
The Marten Coletrane 3, for example, has frequency response of 24Hz–100kHz ±2dB.
[The TRW-17 by Eminent Technology will go to 1 Hz. This is a sub-woofer. While the Magico Q5 Loudspeaker tops out at 50 kHz (18 Hz - 50kHz +/-3dB) - 18 Hz is a traditional theatre-file sub-woofer roll-point - the Reference 3A Episode Loudspeaker ($5,500.00 USD) rolls to 100 kHz - due to Murata's Super Tweet, thankfully.]
These are the conventional (today's) limits of the speaker world (in terms of realistic frequency response and technologies).
The Steinheim Reference Statement System (like the MBL 101 eXtreme) has a nice frequency response of 10Hz to 100kHz. This is tidy.
By comparison, the SPL Phonitor 2 Headphone Amplifier, a mature professional product, offers a frequency response of 4 Hz - 480 kHz (+/- 1.5 dB), which is far more encompassing of "high resolution" (actually high sampling rate > 96 kHz) material. Material bordering on 1 MHz sampling. DSD+
Signal to noise ratio: >96dB
This is the minimum sensitivity (103 dB+) you would wish in a home loudspeaker. What does this mean for 1W?
We don't mind seeing 96 dB SNR in the Burson, but it would be preferable to see 120 dB+ in a product employing a 24 bit+ DAC (ESS 9018) today.
By comparison, the SPL Phonitor 2 offers a SNR of >= 103.98 dB and a dynamic range of 133.62 dB, the later of which is nice, and the former more sufficient (though not fantastic).
By comparison, the LavryGold AD122-96 Mk III AD Converter for Mastering (only 24/96) offers a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of -130 dB for 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz sampling, and -127 dB for 96 kHz.
This is what you would want to see (like Mola Mola) on your audiophile gear.
Channel separation: >73dB
The LavryGold offers channel separation of > 120 dB, while Moola Mola's DAC, while not specified, is likely amazing (SNR: 140 dB by comparsion).
By comparison, the SPL Phonitor 2 Headphone Amplifier, a product with a cross-feed circuit inside, offers cross-talk of -106 dB. Much more reasonable, we'd say than the Pathetic Burson.
A telephone dial tone (for those that remember land-lines) is 80 dB, while a conversation at 3 ft is 65 dB. 73 dB. So one may imagine the Burson as a headphone amplifier may poorly have decided to always leave the cross-feed circuit in an on-position.
Being clever, we'd wish to see > 100 dB numbers, minimum, for the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and the channel separation (CS), to drone-home a point, in the Burson.
The ESS DAC, however, which the Burson uses: Channel Separation: 140 dB @ 1KHz, 130 dB @ 20KHz. That's a much more contemporary specification and in Mola Mola's Putzeys territory!
Let's look at the circuit board. What are all those legs for? Receiving radio transmissions? What about a four-layer circuit board? Guys? We do see nice thick traces, however. One resembles a dialog box (bubble). Figures.
Much more situation ally respectable.
THD: <0.03%
Getting there. < 0.05% THD is common in < $1000 CDN priced amplifiers.
On the LavryGold AD122-96 AD Converter (which is what your material may be recorded), the THD is 0.00005% for quiet passages (signals lower than -40 dBf) and 0.0012% for full-bodied, peak-maxing material. This is the nature of digital material.
By comparison, the SPL Phonitor 2 Headphone Amplifier offers THD+N of 0.00091%. The Moola Moola - 150 dB (not measurable estimate).
Even including noise, this is an order of magnitude difference.
Audiophiles often ignore the numbers for a blessed experience. Drinking just the right whisky, listening to just the right songs, our experience with the Trends PA-10.1D Headphone Amplifier, another rough performing / high-distortion product was transcendental. You may feel this same way about your Burson Audio Conductor Virtuoso and your Sennheiser HD-800 Headphones, a good aesthetic match.
Output power: 4W
Much better. This (along with the case) is why people choose the Burson over other gear.
Should you be a specifications guy, you might wish to consider the Moon Neo 430 HA Headphone Amplifier ($4,300.00 USD) by Sim Audio. At 5x the price, it will deliver 8 watts (8W) at 50 ohms. Not many amps have as much power as Burson.
You may choose the Burson should you wish to be obsoleted (obsolete) upon purchase.
That's a rough thing to say, but their digital technology is rather lacking. Consider a Chinese brand, or a Korean brand, such as the Auralic Gemeni 2000 at 2x the price for 1/2 the power.
Alternatively, buy the Burson for an elegant case for your DIY product, and place Auralic technology inside.
Now, you can't call that a review.
Had the Burson existed in the day of the Sony, (1984 - 1992) would it be a good product, worthy of your purchase (along with the Sennheiser HD 800)? Likely, yes.
Also check out Gd Audio.
What do we like?
We like the possibility of a Devialet D-Premiere ($16,550.00 USD) with a Stax headphone output. That would be a DA converter with a headphone amplifier.
JP 2015/05/05
www.hifiart.ca
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