![]() Whether the Conductor Virtuoso uses a different volume control altogether or they simply resolved that issue, it does appear the volume control on this unit operated smoothly and quietly. On an earlier version of their lower cost Soloist Headphone amp I had tried a while ago, there were issues with a very noisy, clicking from the otherwise high quality volume control. Plugging headphones into the front mounted ¼ inch headphone jack automatically mutes the preamp output. There is a nice looking easy to read display for volume. The Button is for scrolling between the various inputs. The knob is obviously for volume, but pressing it also operates the mute. There's only one knob and one button on the front panel. The Conductor Virtuoso is also very easy to use and understand. It's not eye candy, but it is very cool looking. It has a sparse, yet serious look about it that just evokes a sense a quality. Yet, the relatively small (10 ½ x 10 x 3 inches) but robust (just over 13 pounds) unit overall is very impressive both visually and from a construction standpoint. It also allowed for two line level inputs just what I needed to plug in my phono stage and the output from the Marantz SA8001 SCD player, or my iFi iDAC for comparison.Īs referenced in my opening statements, the design does not make you feel as though money was sunk into unnecessary visual cues or expensive ways of making it more expensive. ![]() With USB, coax, and TOSLINK optical inputs, it offered all the expected PCM capabilities (up to 24-bit/192KHz), but no DSD. Of the two DACs available, my review unit came with the more expensive, ESS9018 upgrade (a $500 premium over the standard PCM1793 DAC). ![]() The Conductor Virtuoso is a proper, modern solid-state preamp, which includes your choice of DACs and the aforementioned headphone amp. Then there is the issue of what do I want a preamp to do? Do I want a built in phono stage? Should it include the DAC? Is line level only okay? Is what I want really important to whoever is reading this? Do I stick with the simplicity, transparency and neutrality of a good passive, or seek the better dynamics, control and often more expansive soundstage offered by the better active preamps? Whichever I have in my system (passive or active) I tend to think about what the other one might do better. I've used passive line stages for years (currently using a simple DIY unit) but hear the benefits of properly done active preamplification and miss them when I don't hear them. I am always torn when it comes to preamps. That is, it was designed to be thought of as a real preamp in a real, speaker based audio system, not just a desktop system. I became more interested in it when I discovered that the preamp function was not an afterthought, or something limited and primarily designed as useful for a small desktop system. I first heard about the Conductor Virtuoso as principally a headphone amp/DAC combination through my friends from. To put the summary up front, I have been extremely impressed with both units, and would rank them among the better products I have reviewed over the past sixteen years. I looked at them both from an individual standpoint, as well as the more likely combination of the two. I have spent the past several months using both the Burson Audio Conductor Virtuoso (original version) preamp/DAC/Headphone amp and their Timekeeper Virtuoso power amp in my system. I tend not to focus on the technology behind various products, but Burson's reasoning behind their designs seems very sold. They have a lengthy section about their philosophy on their web site, explaining both why they prefer discrete circuits, and what they feel is wrong with ICs (and Class D, too). From what I have seen over the past several months of use, Australia's Burson Audio is one such company.īurson Audio has been around for over twenty years, and focuses on high quality solid state components using, discrete circuitry instead of ICs or OpAmps. Just look at the proliferation of products with six figure price tags these days, and ask yourself, what's the real reason behind those prices?įortunately there are still some companies that work towards putting out very high quality products without focusing on the crowd that buys Ferraris or Rolls Royces or A. When you see a product where the outer case seems to be as expensive as, or more elaborate than the parts inside, you know what I'm talking about. ![]() It is the moving of high end audio from an endeavor based on making gear whose principle raison d'être is to sound really good and to honor the music we listen to, into the luxury lifestyle High End audio where expense, pride of ownership, and exclusivity seems as important, if not more so, as ultimate sound quality. There's been a long, and I think unfortunate trend in the upper reaches of high-end audio over the last fifteen years or so. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |