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The Problem
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. It is mainly concerned with the various types of output stage designs. What makes it worse, is that the same manufacturer can have different output / input (I/O) impedance standards across their range of products due to design change / updates. (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 most likely that impedance mismatching will exist.
Most audiophiles are paying 100% for their systems but are only hearing 70% of its
full potential.
PC Audio & Ipods
Impedance mismatch frequently occurs in PC and Ipod based audio systems. Due to
their obviously different operation environments, IPOD or PC sound card use different
output stage designs compared to home based audio amplifiers. That is why connecting
an IPOD or PC sound card output to a Hi Fi system will certainly result in impedance
mismatch.
The results are lost of dynamics and textures. The obvious symptoms include a lack of attack in the music (not just bass, but every single note played), a lifeless and thin “digital sound” and a need to turn up the volume to achieve the same sound level.
The Solution
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, PC sound card or even IPod) and downstream amplification (preamp, intergraded amp, etc). Burson Audio Buffer is designed to Increase signal transmission efficiency between all components and unlocks the potential of any system.
Making of Buffer
Developed on our original Burson HD Audio 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.
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 : 0.025MV(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: 4.5 kg
Dimensions (180mm X 250mm X 80mm)
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
Application
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
Official Reviews
Burson Audio Buffer reivew by Enjoy the Music (Clive Meakins)
Burson Audio Buffer review by 6Moons (Edgar Kramer)
Burson Audio Buffer review by TNT Audio (Nick Whetstone)(English version)
Burson Audio Buffer review by TNT Audio (Nick Whetstone) (Italian Version)
Burson Audio Buffer review by Possitive Feedback (Max Dudious)
Related Material
User Feedbacks
What setup used by our customer? How do they make audio buffer work for them?