Markus’s Burson Conductor 3X GT with Audeze LCD-GX

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Sales Burson
August 4, 2022

Post Info

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Audeze LCD-GX, Burson Conductor 3X GT

I needed an AMP/DAC combo for my newly purchased Audeze LCD-GX and was recommended Burson Audio’s Playmate 2, which I purchased along with the headphones. The Playmate 2 worked excellent with the GX, so much so that I realized higher end audio is for me and that I will be interested in more headphones in the future.

After additional research, I decided to go straight to the Conductor 3X GT, particularly after repeatedly reading that the device would not only be able to drive much more power-hungry headphones but also that it would add more “slam” and “unlocks the bass of planar drivers”.

I’ve had the device for less than a day, but I would definitely agree with those last 2 statements. I’m very happy with the device, which also added a lot of functionality to my use cases.

The System

Listening with

Audeze LCD-GX · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural

Impedance: 20 Ω
Sensitivity: 100 dB/1mW (at Drum Reference Point) ≈ 117.0 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 50 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: cable with mic (3.5 mm TRRS); braided cable without mic (6.35 mm TRS)
Other: recommended power >250 mW;

Matching notes: At 20 Ω and 100 dB/mW, the Audeze LCD-GX is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.45 V (10 mW, 22 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 20 Ω rating for the Conductor 3X GT. Its 16 Ω and 32 Ω ratings (10 W XLR / 5 W SE; 8 W XLR / 4 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3X GT’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/40 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Burson

Burson Conductor 3X GT · DAC / headphone amplifier / preamp · discontinued

Output power (XLR / SE): 16 Ω 10 W / 5 W · 32 Ω 8 W / 4 W · 100 Ω 3.8 W / 1.9 W · 150 Ω 1.3 W / 0.65 W · 300 Ω 0.64 W / 0.32 W
Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 1 Ω (pre out); 25 Ω (DAC out)
Output voltage: RCA 2 V (DAC out)
Gain: High / Low; dB not published
Inputs: 2x XLR; 2x RCA; USB (XMOS; PCM to 768 kHz/32-bit, native DSD512); Toslink; coaxial (24/192); Bluetooth 5.0 aptX HD; microphone
Input impedance: 40 kΩ
Input sensitivity: line level
Outputs: XLR/RCA pre / DAC out; subwoofer pre out; 6.35 mm + 4-pin XLR headphone
DAC / chipset: 2x ESS ES9038 (suffix not stated)
Other: Model R-181X (“GT3”); THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-58 kHz; 24V/5A PSU

^{[2] [3] [4]}

Specs from manufacturer data unless a source below says otherwise. “calc.” values are worked out from those figures (V = √(P × R); 110 dB SPL used as a loud reference level). Gear listed without specs is not in our spec library yet.