Stephane’s Burson Conductor 3X GT with Focal Clear and HiFiMAN Ananda

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Post Info

Tried out the Conductor 3 at my local dealer and compared against ifi idsd Pro and others paired with Focal Clear & Hifiman Ananda, and decided to buy the Conductor 3XGT for better resolution, versatility of connections, and also reserve of power for additional harder to drive headphones.
So far really impressed by clarity/precision & yet punch / energy. Very enjoyable !

The System

Listening with

Focal Clear · Headphones: open-back, dynamic (40 mm Al/Mg M-dome), circumaural · discontinued
  • 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 GT. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (8 W XLR / 4 W SE; 3.8 W XLR / 1.9 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3X GT’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/110 of the load. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

HiFiMAN Ananda · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural · discontinued
  • Impedance: 26 Ω
  • Sensitivity: 93 dB (reference not stated)
  • Frequency response: 8 Hz – 55 kHz
  • Plugs / cables supplied: 3.5 mm sockets on cups; 1.5 m cable with 3.5 mm plug
  • Other: 399 g (original guide)

[7] [8]

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

[4] [5] [6]

Also in the system

iFi iDSD Diablo