Jonathan’s Burson Conductor 3 Reference with Focal Clear Professional

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Just tested my C3R against my ifi xcan and you can hear the difference! The xcan has a litlle more bass slam but is wooly. The Burson has way more detail, width and clean head room. Listening to TOOLs tempest through the Clear Pros is amazing!

The System

Listening with

Focal Clear Professional · Headphones: open-back, dynamic (40 mm Al/Mg M-shape 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: 3.5 mm locking sockets on cups; 5 m coiled cable (6.35 mm) + 1.2 m cable (3.5 mm)
  • Other: THD 0.25% @ 1 kHz / 100 dB SPL; 450 g

Matching notes: At 55 Ω and 104 dB/mW, the Focal Clear Professional 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 3 Reference. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (5 W SE; 1.75 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3 Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/110 of the load. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Sony MDR-Z1R · Headphones: closed-back, dynamic (70 mm), circumaural · discontinued
  • Impedance: 64 Ω
  • Sensitivity: not published (archived Sony US spec page lists none)
  • Frequency response: 4 Hz – 120 kHz
  • Plugs / cables supplied: detachable Y-type; 3 m 3.5 mm cable; 1.2 m 4.4 mm balanced cable
  • Other: impedance 64 Ω at 1 kHz; 385 g without cable; CCAW voice coil, neodymium

[6]

Audeze LCD-2 Closed · Headphones: closed-back, planar magnetic, circumaural
  • 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: not published
  • Other: recommended power >250 mW

Matching notes: At 70 Ω and 101 dB/mW, the LCD-2 Closed 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 3 Reference. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (5 W SE; 1.75 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3 Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/140 of the load. [7] [3] [4] [5]

Burson

Burson Conductor 3 Reference · DAC / headphone amplifier / preamp · discontinued
  • Output power (headphone): 16 Ω 7.5 W · 32 Ω 5 W · 100 Ω 1.75 W · 150 Ω 1.16 W · 300 Ω 0.58 W
  • Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 1 Ω (pre out); 25 Ω (DAC out)
  • Output voltage: RCA 2 V (DAC out)
  • Gain: High / Medium / Low; dB not published
  • Inputs: 2x RCA; 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: RCA pre out; RCA DAC out; 2x 6.35 mm headphone
  • DAC / chipset: 2x ESS ES9038Q2M
  • Other: Model R180 (3R); SE only; THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-58 kHz

[3] [4] [5]