Andrew’s Burson Conductor 3X Reference with Focal Clear and Audeze LCD-2C

• Impedance: 55 Ω
• Sensitivity: 104 dB SPL / 1 mW @ 1 kHz ≈ 116.6 dB/V (calc.)
• Frequency response: 5 Hz – 28 kHz
• Plugs / cables supplied: 4-pin XLR; 6.35 mm; 3.5 mm cables supplied

Matching notes: At 55 Ω and 104 dB/mW, the Focal Clear is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.47 V (4 mW, 8.5 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 55 Ω rating for the Conductor 3X Reference. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (5 W XLR / 2.5 W SE; 1.75 W XLR / 0.88 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3X Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/110 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

• Impedance: 70 Ω
• Sensitivity: 101 dB/1mW (at Drum Reference Point) ≈ 112.5 dB/V (calc.)
• Frequency response: 10 Hz – 50 kHz
• Plugs / cables supplied: 4-pin XLR cable; 4-pin XLR to 6.35 mm adapter cable; 6.35 to 3.5 mm adapter
• Other: recommended power >250 mW;

Matching notes: At 70 Ω and 101 dB/mW, the LCD-2 Classic is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.75 V (7.9 mW, 11 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 70 Ω rating for the Conductor 3X Reference. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (5 W XLR / 2.5 W SE; 1.75 W XLR / 0.88 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3X Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/140 of the load. ^{[7] [4] [5] [6]}

• Impedance: 32 Ω
• Sensitivity: 100 dB SPL (1 mW) ≈ 114.9 dB/V (calc.)
• Frequency response: 5 Hz – 50 kHz
• Plugs / cables supplied: 1.4 m double-sided OCC cable, 3.5 mm plug with 6.35 mm adapter

Matching notes: At 32 Ω and 100 dB/mW, the T5 (3rd Generation) is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.57 V (10 mW, 18 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson rates the Conductor 3X Reference at 5 W (XLR) / 2.5 W (SE) into 32 Ω, which is about 12.6 V / 8.9 V RMS (calc.), roughly 27 dB / 24 dB more than that. The Conductor 3X Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/64 of the load. ^{[8] [4] [5] [6]}

• Output power (XLR / SE): 16 Ω 7.5 W / 3.75 W · 32 Ω 5 W / 2.5 W · 100 Ω 1.75 W / 0.88 W · 150 Ω 1.16 W / 0.58 W · 300 Ω 0.58 W / 0.3 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; USB (XMOS; PCM to 768 kHz/32-bit, native DSD512); Toslink; coaxial; Bluetooth 5.0 aptX HD; microphone
• Input impedance: 40 kΩ
• Input sensitivity: line level
• Outputs: XLR pre out; line-level DAC out; 6.35 mm + 4-pin XLR headphone
• DAC / chipset: 2x ESS ES9038Q2M
• Other: Model R180X (3XR); THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-58 kHz

^{[4] [5] [6]}

• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz (±0.15 dB)
• Output voltage: RCA 2.5 V · XLR 5 V
• Inputs: Wi-Fi / Ethernet; USB 3.0 x2; M.2 SSD; optical; coaxial; USB-C audio in; Bluetooth
• Outputs: XLR; RCA (pre out); optical; coaxial; HDMI (DSD multichannel); USB audio
• DAC / chipset: 2x ESS ES9038Q2M; XMOS XU316
• Other: THD+N <0.000092% XLR / <0.00011% RCA (A); SNR / DR >128 dB XLR, >124 dB RCA; 13 W

Matching notes: Burson lists the Conductor 3X Reference’s analogue inputs as line level (40 kΩ input impedance). The DMP-A6 is rated at 2.5 V (RCA) / 5 V (XLR) output. ^{[9] [10] [4] [5] [6]}

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.

1. Focal Clear: PDF (dam.focal-naim.com) (FP_Clear_GB-pdf page)
2. Focal Clear: PDF (dam.focal-naim.com) (UserManual_Clear_85x220_Web-pdf page)
3. Focal Clear: focal.com
4. Burson Conductor 3X Reference product page (conductor-3x page, archived 2019)
5. Burson Conductor 3X Reference product page (conductor-3-performance page, archived 2020)
6. Burson Conductor 3X References User Manual V1.6 (Burson downloads)
7. Audeze LCD-2 Classic: audeze.com
8. beyerdynamic T5 (3rd Generation): north-america.beyerdynamic.com
9. Eversolo DMP-A6: PDF (music.eversolo.com)
10. Eversolo DMP-A6: apos.audio