Burson Conductor Virtuoso gone bad

[Chu Gai]

Here's a review done recently: http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/headphone-amplifier/burson-conductor-virtuoso-usb-dac-preamplifier-and-headphone-amplifier-review/

I think it's your model but with a different DAC. The reviewer hypothesizes the harmonic distortion spectrum is responsible for its musical, tube like sound. Whether that's the case, I can't say. You could spend less and likely more. Burson needs to make a buck and they need to find an appropriate niche to do so. There's salaries, travel, discounts to stores, the cost of shows, a web presence and more to consider. They've chosen to not play at the low end of the price spectrum and that's fine.

Please don't think I was picking on you or Burson. I mean for a while Emotiva was buying their amps from a Chinese company called ToneWinner. They also played the we design it game. Consider it more as just providing some perspective and not falling into the trap of audiophile smoke and mirrors.

 

[Good4it]

Nice through review. I agree with the conclusion

 

[Chu Gai]

A more thorough reading of the review on my part and just poking around the web like at head-fi indicates that was Burson is selling are NOS (non over sampled DACS). Technically speaking, they're broken because they eschew the proper implementation of a reconstruction filter. This allows the false images which occur above the Nyquist frequency to be aliased (folded) back into the audible spectrum. This adds musical signals that were never present in the original to become commingled. So, if some say they hear stuff they never heard before, they're right because it was never there in the first place. It's like taking an Instagram of a Van Gogh through one of their filters.

 

[Good4it]

Do others do this? Who does/doesn't ?

 

[Chu Gai]

Yes, it's not an uncommon practice. Just google up 'NOS DACS'.

 

[Good4it]

2012 list, there are lots more now.

NOS DACs

47 Laboratory Model 4733 Midnight Blue Headphone/Pre-Amplifier ($2,000) [see review], Model 4705 Progression DAC ($3,400), Model 4705-G Progression/Gemini ($4,500), Shigaraki Series Model 4715 DAC ($2,000)
Acoustic Plan DigiMaster ($4,995)

Audial Model S USB ($?)

Audio Note DAC Kit 2.1 ($1,550), DAC Kit 3.1 ($1,975), L4.1 DAC Kit ($3,275), DAC 0.1x, DAC 1.1x, DAC 2.1x, DAC 3.1x, DAC 4.1x, DAC 5 (current pricing information not available)

dB Audio Labs Tranquility DAC ($1,495), Tranquility DAC SE ($2,395)

Junilabs Jundac Two (€2,990)

Light Harmonic Da Vinci 384k USB DAC ($20,000)

Metrum Acoustics NOS Mini DAC "Octave" (€668), Hex DAC (€2,185)

MHDT Laboratory Havana ($854)

Mojo Audio AD1865 Non-Oversampling DAC ($1,499.95)

Promitheus Audio Promitheus Solid State DAC ($490), Tube DAC ($800)

Red Wine Audio Isabellina ($1,500)

TeraDak Audio Electric Company TDA1543 NOS DAC -V3.1D ($399)

Wavelength Audio Brick v2 ($1,750)

Zanden Audio Model 5000 Mk IV/Signature (current price not available)


Read more at http://www.audiostream.com/content/non-oversampling-nos-dacs-list#isGPO0MvAt2gIC0c.99

 

[Good4it]

Does the 02DAC use NOS DACS?

 

[Chu Gai]

I don't think it is. Depending how you hook up your headphones, IMO, asynchronous capability is a good thing. Also you might want to check if it has enough power to drive your particular set of headphones. An NOS system will be able to reproduce a square wave essentially perfectly. That's because the presence of high order products are not filtered out. By the same token, as you examine a sine wave carefully, it'll have little steps for the same reasons. Now, maybe there's a product out there that's NOS that permits you to dial in the amount of filtering so you could decide what suits you with a particular song.

 

[Good4it]

The article you reference says Burson AMPS/DACS can drive ALL headphones up to and including 600 ohm ones. I use Senn. HD800s and Audeze SL-8. Works great on either.

Sounds like NOS or OS DACS are technical not something you could tell or hear. None of the reviewers say they are good or bad, just different. The Van Gogh example you use is a bit dramatic.

I use the USB input to use my headphones.