Burson Audio

Although I purchased the C3XP to serve in my secondary system, I was surprised and delighted to find that this outperformed my fully-balanced headphone DAC/amp in my primary system. That prompted me to also buy the Conductor 3X Reference to take over that spot in the primary system.

With the C3XP, the sound was much more vibrant than the outgoing amp. What I found most surprising was in some cases I could hear instruments on stage with the C3XP that I couldn’t hear at all with the old amp. The C3XP provided a bigger soundstage, far superior imaging, resolution, and detail retrieval. It also gave me a greater sense of being at the live performance. It was like I received an upgrade for my imagination. I could see the performers, their movements and expressions, all in a visual high resolution, versus just having a sense of where the instruments were on stage. It was a complete improvement in every sense of the listening experience.

Everything from a wide range of genres and various formats (16/44, decoded MQA, 24/192, and DSD256) sounds wonderful and neutral. The C3XP provides a very low noise floor across the board. It also capitalizes on higher resolutions by offering more vocal clarity, deeper and wider soundstage, and incredible detail retrieval, imaging, and layering between the instruments.

Even with this device connected directly to the iMac in my secondary system vs being in the more optimized signal path in the home system, it still maintains all these fantastic qualities to a very high degree. This is a wonderful DAC/amp and is a joy to use. The beautiful build is a great bonus, and the remote is surprisingly convenient even in a desktop setup.

Furthermore the purchase process, communication, and lightning fast shipping from Bloom Audio is nothing short of exceptional. This has been a wonderful purchase in every aspect.

Couldn't be happier. Inspired by the impressive output of my Conductor 3X Performance that I use in my secondary system, I bought the Reference to replace the DAC/amp in my primary system. In an A/B test compared to the already stellar C3XP, I was thrilled to verify that the Reference showed itself as certainly a worthwhile upgrade over the C3XP. All the qualities that I love about the C3XP - the incredible detail retrieval, fantastic imaging and layering, vocal clarity, neutral sound, the great soundstage, the low noise floor, everything was just...more: more expansive, more vibrant, more realistic with the Reference in every sense. Also all of these qualities were presented more effortlessly on a much bigger soundstage. The ease with which it produces such a stunning musical reproduction was remarkable. It is an incredible experience and a lovely way to escape.

Also similar to the C3XP, the build is beautiful and highly functional. The stock USB cable with both devices has been reliable. I may try upgrading the cables in the future just to see if I can retrieve a little more detail, but I don’t feel like I am missing anything at this point. It’s just so good.

This was my second purchase with Bloom Audio, and they continue to surprise and delight with astonishingly high levels of customer service. It is a joy to work with this company.