Radek’s Burson Conductor 3X Reference with Focal Radiance and ZMF Verite C

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Sales Burson
November 17, 2021

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Feedbacks - Conductor 3R | 3XR
Burson Conductor 3X Reference, Focal Radiance, No, ZMF Verite C

I had sc808 + opamps Burson, then Burson Playmate, then Burson C3xp, now Burson c3xr :)

The System

Listening with

Focal Radiance · Headphones: closed-back, dynamic (40 mm Al/Mg M-shape dome), circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 35 Ω
Sensitivity: 105 dB SPL / 1 mW @ 1 kHz ≈ 119.6 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 5 Hz – 23 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: 1.2 m OFC cable, 3.5 mm TRS plug + 6.35 mm adapter; 3.5 mm mono sockets on cups
Other: THD 0.1% @ 1 kHz / 100 dB SPL; 435 g

Matching notes: At 35 Ω and 105 dB/mW, the Focal Radiance is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.33 V (3.2 mW, 9.5 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 35 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 1/70 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

ZMF Verite Closed · Headphones: closed-back, dynamic (vapor-deposited beryllium), circumaural

Impedance: 300 Ω
Sensitivity: ~99 dB/mW (approx., “~” as published)
Frequency response: not published
Plugs / cables supplied: not published (ZMF lists no connector type)

^[6]

Burson

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

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

^{[3] [4] [5]}

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.