The System
Listening with
HiFiMAN Susvara · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural
- Impedance: 60 Ω
- Sensitivity: 83 dB (reference not stated by HiFiMAN)
- Frequency response: 6 Hz – 75 kHz
- Plugs / cables supplied: not published (HiFiMAN spec page lists no connector)
- Other: weight 450 g
[1]
HiFiMAN Arya · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural · discontinued
- Impedance: 35 Ω
- Sensitivity: 90 dB (reference not stated by HiFiMAN)
- Frequency response: 8 Hz – 65 kHz
- Plugs / cables supplied: not published (HiFiMAN spec page lists no connector)
- Other: weight 404 g
[2]
Audeze LCD-X · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural
- Impedance: 20 Ω
- Sensitivity: 103 dB/1mW (at Drum Reference Point) ≈ 120.0 dB/V (calc.)
- Frequency response: 10 Hz – 50 kHz
- Plugs / cables supplied: braided 4-pin XLR combo cable with 6.35 mm single-ended adapter
- Other: recommended power >250 mW (min >100 mW; max 5 W RMS); 106 mm driver; max SPL >130 dB
Matching notes: At 20 Ω and 103 dB/mW, the Audeze LCD-X is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.32 V (5 mW, 16 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 20 Ω rating for the Soloist 3X GT. Its 16 Ω and 32 Ω ratings (10 W XLR / 5 W SE; 8 W XLR / 4 W SE) fall either side of it. The Soloist 3X GT’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/40 of the load. [3] [4] [5]
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 Soloist 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 Soloist 3X GT’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/110 of the load. [6] [7] [8] [4] [5]
Burson
- Output power (XLR / SE): 16 Ω 10 W / 5 W · 32 Ω 8 W / 4 W · 100 Ω 3.8 W / 1.9 W · 300 Ω 1.3 W / 0.65 W · 600 Ω 0.64 W / 0.32 W
- Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 25 Ω (pre out)
- Gain: High / Medium / Low; dB not published
- Inputs: 2x XLR; 2x RCA; mic bypass
- Input impedance: 35 kΩ
- Input sensitivity: line level
- Outputs: XLR + RCA pre out; RCA subwoofer out; 4-pin XLR + SE headphone
- Other: Model R-120X (“GT3”); THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-48 kHz
[4] [5]
Also in the system
Topping D90SE · DAC: balanced desktop DAC (ES9038PRO, MQA, Bluetooth 5.0) · discontinued
- Frequency response: 20 Hz – 40 kHz (±0.3 dB)
- Output impedance: 100 Ω (RCA and XLR)
- Output voltage: RCA 2.1 V (4 V mode) / 2.6 V (5 V mode) · XLR 4.2 V (4 V mode) / 5.2 V (5 V mode)
- Inputs: USB (PCM 768 kHz/32-bit, DSD512); AES; optical; coaxial; Bluetooth (LDAC, aptX HD)
- Outputs: XLR; RCA
- DAC / chipset: ESS ES9038PRO; XMOS XU216; Qualcomm CSR8675
- Other: XLR: THD+N <0.00005% @ 1 kHz, SNR / DR 134 dB; RCA: THD+N <0.00007%, SNR / DR 127 dB
Matching notes: Burson lists the Soloist 3X GT’s analogue inputs as line level (35 kΩ input impedance). The D90SE is rated at 2.1 V (4 V mode) / 2.6 V (5 V mode) (RCA) / 4.2 V (4 V mode) / 5.2 V (5 V mode) (XLR) output. [9] [10] [4] [5]
Schiit Yggdrasil · DAC: multibit DAC (original 2015 version, AD5791 x4, SHARC DSP closed-form filter) · discontinued
- Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz (±0.1 dB); 0.5 Hz – 200 kHz (-1 dB)
- Output impedance: 75 Ω
- Output voltage: RCA 2.0 V · XLR 4.0 V
- Inputs: AES/EBU; coaxial; optical; BNC; USB (all up to 24/192)
- Outputs: 1x XLR pair; 2x RCA pairs
- DAC / chipset: 4x Analog Devices AD5791BRUZ (balanced); ADI SHARC DSP; AKM AK4113 S/PDIF; C-Media CM6632 USB
- Other: THD 0.006%; IMD 0.007% CCIF; S/N >117 dB ref 2 V; 35 W; 11.4 kg
Matching notes: Burson lists the Soloist 3X GT’s analogue inputs as line level (35 kΩ input impedance). The Schiit Yggdrasil is rated at 2.0 V (RCA) / 4.0 V (XLR) output. [11] [12] [4] [5]
