Review Of Burson Play
Reviewed by Mike Brunner – Lead Guitarist of RĪvul
Purpose of this review
I’m a gigging musician (lead guitar/backup vocals), a forensic audio analyst, a wireless communications technician, a novice sound engineer, and an avid music lover with a wide taste in music. Being a forensic audio analyst is a plus when reviewing audio products simply because I know what bad audio sounds like and usually know how to correct it. My experience allows me to be familiar with the limitations of my own ears and the equipment I’m using.
My perspective for all my reviews is based on these things. I don’t try to sugar coat things or bloat things to be better than they are. I’m just like everyone else and I want good value for the money in any product.
I’m fair to the manufacturers as well. I always give them an option to respond to any concerns such as quality that I have during my review. I contact them directly and do so before my review is published to allow them to address any issues. I want to provide an honest and tangible review for prospective customers without being unfair.
The Burson Play was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of this review by @Barra and Burson and will be returned upon completing my review.
Now on to the good stuff.
Build/Design
The Burson Play is a very sturdy build, with a metal casing. The versatility of the design is that it can be mounted either on the desktop or mounted in the case in any PC computer case with front mount openings. This versatility allows for a wide range of usage scenarios. The LED level indicator is bright and fully visible on the front of the unit. The digital volume knob large and very responsive.
The overall build and design of the unit is well above average. Simple and effective.
Sound
The real good stuff! This is what all of us audio geeks/audiophiles want to hear about. So when I first started this I decided to give myself a baseline using my pro audio gear. I first listened to my desktop DAW interface (Sapphire 2i4) and Midas M32. Both are designed to give pristine audio with no coloration at all. My monitors of choice this time were my 64Audio A18t and InEarz Euphoria. The 64Audio pairing is for technical listening with musicality, whereas the InEarz is for ease of listening.
After setting up the baseline through listening to each interface for an hour the break down was the Burson Play is a very clean DAC/Amp. There was little to no noticeable difference to my ears. After listening to the Burson Play the transition back to my pro audio sources were nearly transparent.
Across the entire audio spectrum the Burson Play seemed very flat. I actually hooked both the headphone out and the RCA outputs to my DAW to analyze the frequency response. In the lowest frequencies, the Burson Play showed a slight dip below 20Hz, and a slight dip above 20KHz. This simply put, in the audio range, the Burson Play showed a perfectly flat frequency response. Whatever you put in you get out. Near perfection for $299? Wow! Comparable to the output of a $4000 pro audio mixer? I was very surprised at this. Even though on the frequency analyzer I saw no issues, I did notice that the soundstage didn't seem quite as wide as my pro audio interfaces. There was no cross talk between the channels and after about 10 minutes of switching to the Burson it wasn't noticeable, after a quick switch, the staging was just slightly narrower.
Real world application/Features
I used the Burson Play for approximately 2 weeks as a DAC using the RCA output into my Midas mixer for playing music, practicing guitar and for playback. It never once had any issues and the audio remained crystal clear. Although for my usage I would like to have seen an input for my guitar, I see no issues for the average audio enthusiast.
Value
When trying to gauge value in any product I look at many areas, build quality, performance in real world situations and any shortcomings. As for shortcomings I saw no issues other than I would have liked the sound stage stereo width to be a little wider and an analog input for my usage would've been nice.
All together the Burson Play was great DAC/Amp. It had no problems powering and I noticed no coloration to my IEM's. Outstanding product and value, a definite upgrade to normal computer audio and near perfect audio frequency reproduction.
Good job Burson.
Reviewed by Mike Brunner – Lead Guitarist of RĪvul
Purpose of this review
I’m a gigging musician (lead guitar/backup vocals), a forensic audio analyst, a wireless communications technician, a novice sound engineer, and an avid music lover with a wide taste in music. Being a forensic audio analyst is a plus when reviewing audio products simply because I know what bad audio sounds like and usually know how to correct it. My experience allows me to be familiar with the limitations of my own ears and the equipment I’m using.
My perspective for all my reviews is based on these things. I don’t try to sugar coat things or bloat things to be better than they are. I’m just like everyone else and I want good value for the money in any product.
I’m fair to the manufacturers as well. I always give them an option to respond to any concerns such as quality that I have during my review. I contact them directly and do so before my review is published to allow them to address any issues. I want to provide an honest and tangible review for prospective customers without being unfair.
The Burson Play was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of this review by @Barra and Burson and will be returned upon completing my review.
Now on to the good stuff.
Build/Design
The Burson Play is a very sturdy build, with a metal casing. The versatility of the design is that it can be mounted either on the desktop or mounted in the case in any PC computer case with front mount openings. This versatility allows for a wide range of usage scenarios. The LED level indicator is bright and fully visible on the front of the unit. The digital volume knob large and very responsive.
The overall build and design of the unit is well above average. Simple and effective.
Sound
The real good stuff! This is what all of us audio geeks/audiophiles want to hear about. So when I first started this I decided to give myself a baseline using my pro audio gear. I first listened to my desktop DAW interface (Sapphire 2i4) and Midas M32. Both are designed to give pristine audio with no coloration at all. My monitors of choice this time were my 64Audio A18t and InEarz Euphoria. The 64Audio pairing is for technical listening with musicality, whereas the InEarz is for ease of listening.
After setting up the baseline through listening to each interface for an hour the break down was the Burson Play is a very clean DAC/Amp. There was little to no noticeable difference to my ears. After listening to the Burson Play the transition back to my pro audio sources were nearly transparent.
Across the entire audio spectrum the Burson Play seemed very flat. I actually hooked both the headphone out and the RCA outputs to my DAW to analyze the frequency response. In the lowest frequencies, the Burson Play showed a slight dip below 20Hz, and a slight dip above 20KHz. This simply put, in the audio range, the Burson Play showed a perfectly flat frequency response. Whatever you put in you get out. Near perfection for $299? Wow! Comparable to the output of a $4000 pro audio mixer? I was very surprised at this. Even though on the frequency analyzer I saw no issues, I did notice that the soundstage didn't seem quite as wide as my pro audio interfaces. There was no cross talk between the channels and after about 10 minutes of switching to the Burson it wasn't noticeable, after a quick switch, the staging was just slightly narrower.
Real world application/Features
I used the Burson Play for approximately 2 weeks as a DAC using the RCA output into my Midas mixer for playing music, practicing guitar and for playback. It never once had any issues and the audio remained crystal clear. Although for my usage I would like to have seen an input for my guitar, I see no issues for the average audio enthusiast.
Value
When trying to gauge value in any product I look at many areas, build quality, performance in real world situations and any shortcomings. As for shortcomings I saw no issues other than I would have liked the sound stage stereo width to be a little wider and an analog input for my usage would've been nice.
All together the Burson Play was great DAC/Amp. It had no problems powering and I noticed no coloration to my IEM's. Outstanding product and value, a definite upgrade to normal computer audio and near perfect audio frequency reproduction.
Good job Burson.