WHY AUDIO BUFFER?

If your various audio equipment, cables, speakers, listening room are not working with each other then you cannot expect to hear the full potential of your system.  Therefore, careful matching of audio components is critical in performance optimization of any audio system.

When audiophiles  listen to their newly purchased component at home, they often  find  the sound quality doesn’t match up to what they heard in the shops demo room.  The sonic characteristics that persuaded them into purchasing the machine in the first place have simply vanished.  This all too familiar situation, often leads to most audiophiles blaming the remainder of their system for “not being as good as the one in the shop”.  The end result is often more upgrades and further misinformed or ill-advised investments.    

 Many audiophiles are not aware that the performance gap between what they hear in the  shop and what they hear at home  is a direct  result of impedance mismatching between the new machine and the rest of their system.  Impedance matching is a complex technical issue in audio design.  What makes it  worse, is that  the same manufacturer can have different output / input (I/O) impedance standards across their range of products. (See table below).

 While some manufacturers are willing to disclose the I/O impedance figures, most  are not too keen.  The end result is an audio market full of confusion, myth and plenty of frustration. Unless the entire audio system is from the same manufacturer within the same product line it is highly likely that impedance mismatching  will exist. Most audiophiles are paying 100% for their systems but are only hearing 70% of its full potential.

  This problem can be resolved once and for all by a Burson Audio buffer.

 Burson Audio buffer removes any impedance mismatching by acting as an isolation platform between any source components (CD, DVD, SACD player, Phono preamp, radio, or even IPod) and downstream amplification (preamp, intergraded amp,  etc). Burson Audio Buffer is designed to Increase signal transmission efficiency between all component and unlock the potential of any system.

MAKING THE BUFFER

Developed on our successful Burson opamp and Burson low noise regulator technology we built our buffer entirely discrete by hand. We use only the best match component and closely matched transistors to ensure stable performance for years to come.

 The two mono audio buffer modules are housing in a compartment that is isolated from the custom build low noise transformer and power supply. This means the discrete output stages are completely free from any interference; the only things that ever flow through the Audio Buffer will be clean power and pure Hi Fidelity signals.

LISTENING IMPRESSION

Testing CDs:

Sara K’s Water Fall, Eva Cassidy’s Songbird, Jacqui Dankworth’s As the Sun Shines Down On Me and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera.

Musical Fidelity offers a range of tube base buffers. X10-D is one of their older models. X10-D is still an effective upgrade for most of today's CD players. The X10-D has a tendency of colouring the sound with a touch of "tube warmth" and "rounding" the edges. It is a desirable quality for certain types of music but it reduces the impact and dynamics of larger scale pieces. We did a direct comparison between our Audio Buffer and X10-D.

 Our Buffer outperformed the X10-D on all fronts. Compare to X10-D. The strengths of the Burson Audio Buffer covered all aspects from imaging to dynamics and from timing to transparency. But it is that last area which it stands proud. Play familiar – very familiar – material, and you will hear the finest details fully resolved while the fundamentals take on a life and solidity that brings a broad grin to the Team Bursons' wary visage.

 Instrumental tone is also well served. Saxophones, double bass, and electric guitar, you name it; the control will extract more character than most. It reproduces the good bits scale - dynamics, great acoustics and the bad bits compression, limited bandwidth and poor recording in general, not forgetting less than delightful characteristics in the source.

 It was not a surprise to find that the Burson Audio Buffer out-performed the X10-D by a large margin. What surprised us was the amount of improvement the Audio buffer brought to the Marantz DVD player. It completely removed that digital sound (thin and harsh) in the DVD player which we hated with a passion and transformed the DVD player into a music machine worthy of this brand name.

 With this buffer, Team Burson has once again proven our philosophy that Hi Fidelity music is an affordable right of most who earns a decent pay and loves music.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Output Noise Level : 0.015MV(nil input)

Maximum Output Voltage :12VRMS

Maximum Input Voltage: 6VRMS

SN:118DB

Frequency Response :0-220KHZ(-3DB)

Gain: 6db (great for passive preamp)

Net Weight: 2 kg

Dimensions (210mm X 145mm X 60mm)

 Other Features:

• Dual Mono design for maximum noise separation
• Extreme short signal path less than 6cm on Hi quality PCB
• High Quality components (Elna Audio graded caps, carefully matched high quality audio transistors, DALE military graded resistors...) with hand soldering
• Sophisticated power filtering and short circuit protection net work

WHERE CAN I APPLY MY AUDIO BUFFER?

Between digital source (CD / DVD / SACD player) and integrated Amp

Between digital source (CD / DVD / SACD player) and Passive / Active preamp

Between your Preamp and power amp