Jeffrey’s Burson Conductor 3X Reference with Sennheiser HD 820

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Sales Burson
September 14, 2022

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beyerdynamic T51, Burson Conductor 3X Reference, Drop Sennheiser HD66x, Sennheiser HD 820

I recently ordered a demonstration Burson Audio Conductor 3X Reference product via the Burson Audio website. The purchase was a relatively simple process given the excellent layout of the Burson Audio website. The unit was dispatched from their Hong Kong warehouse and arrived in Australia within one week.

I look forward to many enjoyable hours of listening to my digital music collection.

The System

Listening with

Sennheiser HD 820 · Headphones: closed-back, dynamic (ring radiator), circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 300 Ω
Sensitivity: 103 dB SPL @ 1 kHz, 1 V (as published) ≈ 97.8 dB/mW (calc.)
Frequency response: 6 Hz – 48 kHz (-10 dB)
Plugs / cables supplied: not published on product page
Other: THD 0.02% (1 kHz, 1 Vrms)

Matching notes: At 300 Ω and 103 dB/V, the HD 820 is a high-impedance load that needs voltage more than current: about 2.2 V (17 mW, 7.5 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson rates the Conductor 3X Reference at 0.58 W (XLR) / 0.3 W (SE) into 300 Ω, which is about 13.2 V / 9.5 V RMS (calc.), roughly 15 dB / 13 dB more than that. The Conductor 3X Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/600 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Drop Sennheiser HD66x

beyerdynamic T51p · Headphones: closed-back, dynamic, on-ear (portable) · discontinued

Impedance: 32 Ω
Sensitivity: 111 dB (reference not stated)
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 23 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: 3.5 mm mini-jack cable with 6.35 mm adapter

^[5]

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

^{[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.