Burson Audio Playmate 2 Headphone Amp / Pre-amp / DAC

Introduction

The Burson Playmate 2 is a compact sized, all-in-one DAC and headphone amplifier, representing a significant evolution from its predecessor, merging aesthetics with high-end functionality.

The Playmate 2 is equipped with a single ES9038Q2M DAC chip and Xmos USB input, supporting high-resolution audio formats up to 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512. The unit is compatible with Android, Windows and Mac operating systems.

The discrete headphone amplifier of the Playmate 2 is operating in pure class-A and offers 3W/16Ω with two gain levels for perfect headphone matching.

A novelty feature of the Playmate 2 (and all other Burson Audio devices) is that it allows for sound tuning through op-amp rolling thanks to the four detachable DIP sockets. The only thing that the user has to do is to unscrew and take the lid off in order to access the DIP sockets. The Playmate 2 comes with 2 x NE5532 and 2 x NE5534 op-amps pre-installed that can be rolled with compatible op-amps, like the Burson Audio, Vivid discrete op-amps.

Another feature that Burson Audio has implemented in the Playmate 2 is their proprietary Max Current Power Supply that greatly enhances audio quality.

Non Audio stuff

The Burson Playmate 2 is a compact sized device with a chassis that is made from precision-machined aluminum alloy with a special design in order to function as a unified heat-sink. This is a solid and well made device with an industrial look and a compact size that can fit virtually anywhere. There is also the option to buy a stand for vertical positioning to save even more space. The only thing of consideration is that the deeply engraved lines of the chassis are dust magnets and need regular cleaning.

The Playmate 2 is a headphone DAC/amp that also has a variable RCA line output that can be used as a preamplifier for active monitors or a power amplifier. The device doesn't have a line input and the digital inputs are limited to USB type-C and optical, missing a coaxial one. All these are located at the back together with a 24V/3A DC input where you connect the external power adapter.

The front face has a tiny OLED screen located at the center, a multifunction knob, a 6.35mm headphone jack and a 3.5mm jack that also doubles as an HD microphone input for gaming. The package includes a mic splitter so you can have a microphone and a headphone simultaneously plugged.

The screen displays information like volume level and input sampling rate while it is used to navigate through the configuration menu where you can set various parameters, like amplifier gain and digital filters. You must have eagle vision though because the digits are so small that are almost impossible to read. Another thing of consideration is that the multifunction knob doesn't respond to every step, sometimes you need two or three continuous clicks to register an action and this also applies to volume setting. I do think that the remote control should have been included as a standard accessory.

The package includes a USB type-C cable, a mic splitter, the external power adapter and a hex key for removing the lid in order to access the op-amps.



Audio stuff

The power output of the Playmate 2 is 3.5W/16Ω or 2.5W/32Ω with a 2Ω of output impedance and plenty of instantaneous current supply thanks to the innovative power supply. The Playmate 2 can drive both low and high Z headphones no matter their sensitivity minus some really difficult loads like the HIFIMAN Susvara. The Playmate 2 didn't break a sweat with headphones as diverse as the Focal Clear Mg, the HIFIMAN Arya Organic, the iBasso SR3 or the Sennheiser HD660S2 but it gets loud too fast with sensitive loads even at low gain.

The Playmate 2 is silent enough for use with regular headphones but it produces some noise and hiss with sensitive earphones. You can use the Burson Audio Super Charger, low noise power supply, which considerably lowers noise floor but still the Playmate 2 is not an ideal match with sensitive earphones. Another thing of criticism is that the amplifier makes a loud “pop” noise when switching on and off, there is no “pop” elimination circuit.



The ES9038Q2M is a widely used DAC chip that can sound from ultra linear and too technical to quite natural and organic depending on the implementation and whether the designer chooses to highlight its technicalities or add some extra musicality. Usually everything has to do with the design of the output stage and the headphone amplifier, and the Playmate 2 has some aces under its sleeve.

Burson Audio has opted for a tuning that is vastly different from the current trend of THX or current feedback amplifiers that aim for the best possible technicalities and measurements but usually end sounding sterile, clinical and lifeless without any significant ambient reverb.

The Burson Playmate 2 has a smooth, musical and rather laid back sound signature where timbre realism and texture shaping are prioritized over strict technicalities. Don't take this wrong though, the Playmate 2 is quite competitive when it comes to transparency, definition and clarity, it can offer good detail retrieval and satisfying layering but in a relaxed manner without letting technicalities become dominant and suppressive.

The Playmate's 2 sound is about harmony and melody, the presentation is rich and harmonious, weighty and full bodied with colorful overtones and realistic timbre. The treble has minimum artificiality and digital glare, it is smooth and rather forgiving without any roughness or harshness. Still, it is not dark or muted and it doesn't lack in extension, energy and clarity. The mid-range is present and transparent with nice articulation and satisfying resolution. Voices and instruments are reproduced full bodied and lush, they sound lifelike, euphonic and organic. The bass is weighty yet tight and controlled. Layering, definition and dynamics are good but not class leading, competition can fare better in these departments but what you get in exchange is a warmer and considerably more visceral low-end which can be used to fill lean and dry sounding headphones.

The soundstage of the Playmate 2 is wide and spacious with good depth layering and height. Positioning accuracy and imaging are good but they can be bettered by some more technical sounding amplifiers, however they will have a really hard time to match the holography and the grandness of the Playmate 2. Additionally, most THX implementations are not that great in reproducing the ambience atmosphere of a recording, they sound flat and lifeless when the Playmate 2 really excels by adding extra fluidity to the music.

Against the competition

The main section of review describes how different is the sound signature of the Playmate 2 when compared to amplifiers that employ op-amp designs in their output states. So the question is how it fares against similarly priced DAC/amps that also have discrete output stages, like the $520 Yulong Aurora or the $320 Aune X1s GT.

Well, the answer is that the sonic performance of the Playmate 2 is very competitive and such audio devices share a similar kind of sound shaping, each one with its own advantages and disadvantages. The main differences have more to do with functionality and interface rather than sound. So in the case of the above mentioned devices you can get balanced headphone or line outputs, more digital inputs, Bluetooth connectivity or even a line input in the case of the Aurora, but none of them offers the ability to exchange op-amps and roll the sound of your preference. Additionally the Playmate 2 is focused on single-ended performance when the other two are fully enjoyed from their balanced outputs so the Playmate 2 is more recommended if you have single-ended headphones.

Conclusion

Thankfully not all audio devices sound the same and not all audio engineers follow the same path when designing. If you are tired of the measurements war and the lack of inspiration that many current audio devices have, then you should put the Playmate 2 in your short list. Musical and engaging with a lush and organic sound signature, this is a DAC/amp that will make your music sound like real music again. It is not without quirks but they can be overlooked in favor of the good sound and the unique ability to easily roll op-amps.

The review sample was kindly provided free of charge.

The price of the Burson Playmate 2 is $544 for the basic version and $744 for the deluxe. The basic version comes with 2 x NE5532 and 2 x NE5534 op-amps installed while the deluxe includes an extra 2 x V6 Vivid dual, 2 x V6 Vivid single op-amps and a remote control. Both can be ordered from the Burson Audio online shop.

A More comprehensive version of the review is available in my website.

Introduction

The Burson Audio Playmate was one of the first products I reviewed, back in early 2019. During all this time I have been growing as a reviewer, but Burson has increased its catalogue very significantly. Above all, it has added high-end and very high-end products, with the Playmate II being one of its most affordable complete products, along with the Funk amplifier. Next in the price range are the Composer 3XP DAC and the Soloist 3XP amplifier, priced at over $1000 each. At the top of the price range is the Conductor 3GT / 3XGT, which goes up to $3000. But, going back to the Playmate II, you can feel that the aesthetics have changed, but not the philosophy. It shares similarities with the first version, such as the layout of the elements. But its colour has gone from black to shiny silver. The display has improved in contrast and its lettering is larger. The volume control has a better grip, the power switch in front is subtly smaller. The construction remains exemplary, both inside and out. But the exterior has been designed as a radiator in order to dissipate heat better. Playmates have a tendency to heat up as the hours go by. Their power has been increased to 3W, while maintaining the same ESS9038 DAC and the ability to swap OpAmps. Let's see what other changes have been introduced in this new product and, above all, how they influence its final sound.



Specifications

• Input impedance: 38 kΩ.
• Frequency response: 0 – 35kHz ± 1 dB.
• THD: <0.002%.
• Output impedance (Head Amp) < 2 Ω.
• Output impedance (Pre Out) < 15 Ω.
• Inputs: USB, Toslink.
• Outputs: Headphone output SE 6.35mm / RCA Pre-Amp.
• Weight: approx. 3kg.
• Dimensions: 190x150x60mm.
• Power/SNR/Separación:
  • 16Ω: 3.5W/96dB/99%.
  • 32Ω: 2.5W/97dB/99%.
  • 100Ω: 600mW/98dB/99%.
  • 150Ω: 600mW/96dB/99%.
  • 300Ω: 150W/95dB/99.5%.
• Channel separation: 128dB @1kHz, 121 dB @ 20kHz.
• THD+N: 0.0018% @ 1kHz, 0dBFS.
• Supported operating systems: Win XP, 7, 8, 8, 10, Mac OSX.
• Supported mobile platforms: iOS* & Android (OTG support).
• PCM & DXD: PCM ≤ 768kHz up to 32 bits.
• Native DSD: Native DSD 64 / 128 / 256 / 512 support.
• DSD over PCM: DoP64 / DoP128 / DoP256

Packaging

The Burson Audio Playmate II came in a large raw cardboard box, inside of which was a white box and a power cable. Inside that white box and underneath a thick protective layer, on which there is a sticker incorporating instructions for connection to the mains, is the Playmate II, in a mould of its shape. Behind it is another elongated white box, containing the rest of the accessories. In a nutshell:

• The Burson Audio Playmate II.
• A power cable.
• The power supply unit.
• One RCA to RCA cable.
• One USB Type C to Type C cable.
• One Allen key.
• A Y-connector to join headphone and microphone input into a single connector.
• Two fuses.

The box is not decorated and only carries another sticker with the brand's logo as well as its slogan. You can see a front and rear view of the product, some specifications, the ESS logo and the XMOS logo. Also the Australian seal and the address from where manuals and other files related to the product can be downloaded.
The presentation is quite sober and simple, with quality accessories, the highlight being the power supply.



Construction and Design

It's not that the change has been radical between version I and II. I think the philosophy of the product is the same, just that a few small things have changed. It is clear that the exterior is a real eye-catcher, with the radiator shape covering the entire body of the Playmate II. Yes, it's obvious, the colour is metallic, silver, shinier and more eye-catching. Its faceplate is thicker and its edge has a slight slope, no longer at right angles. The volume knob now has a wider grip area, as well as a deep roughness that makes it easier to operate. The button for entering the volume menu has been decoupled. The headphone input is now shared with the 3.5mm headphone output, so that headphones with microphone can be connected without the need for a converter. However, if you want to connect only the microphone, you will need to use the built-in converter. One option I liked compared to the first version is the power button, it is as small as the menu button and is on the front. On the back side the connections have been minimised. On the left is the USB Type C connector, followed by the Toslink optical input. Next are the RCA pre-outs. Last is the coaxial power connector. You can see that the whole body is a radiator. Underneath there are 4 black rubber half-spheres. Finally, there is a small blue LED under the power button.
The front side has 4 Allen screws, one in each corner. The same is true for the rear face. This indicates how easy it is to change the OpAmps inside the device. In this sense, the Playmate II mounts two single OpAmps (NE5534D) for the LP stage and two dual OpAmps (NE5532D) for the I/V stage.
As usual, both the interior and exterior of Burson Audio products are spectacular. The interior construction is photo-worthy, both in terms of cleanliness, layout and the quality of the components used. The exterior has improved over version I, being more attractive, robust and functional, especially with its heatsink body, improved volume grip and power button. The display is clearer, with larger, all-white numerals and greater visibility and contrast. The remote receiver has been moved below the menu button. More questionable would be the mic input, but only in my case. I use the Playmate I as source and mic input and find it easier not to have to use an adapter, just plug the cable from the EC60318-4 01 into its input.



Connectivity

Connectivity is simple. It has a USB Type C input which can also be used to connect to a mobile device. It is compatible with Win XP, 7, 8, 10, Mac OSX, also iOS* & Android (OTG support). With this type of connection it is possible to reach up to PCM 768kHz up to 32 bits. It has a Toslink optical input and with this it is possible to play 24bit 192kHz PCM.
There is an RCA pre-out as well as a 6.35mm SE headphone output. It also has a shared microphone input with 3.5mm TRRS audio output.



Operativity

The operation has been improved compared to version I. From the small power button on the front, to its specific button to access the menu, to the blue LED that indicates that the device is ready to be switched on. Now, the remote receiver is off the screen. A press of the volume button will stop playback. At this point, the volume value will flash. A further press will resume playback.
The display clearly indicates the volume value, the connection, the output used and the format played.
Pressing the menu button gives access to the other functions, such as filter selection, input selection, output selection, gain selection, De-Emphasis selection, DPLL (DSD) selection, DPLL (PCM) selection and default restore.
To access the functions you have to move the volume, to change any option you have to press the volume. In case you are allowed to choose between several options, you have to move the volume to select any of them. Press the volume button to save the options and return to the main screen.
The operation is still very similar to the previous version. But the volume control is not very precise. If you move it quickly, it responds well, but if you move it slowly, it sometimes doesn't follow the order, going down and up even if you move in the same direction. This is perhaps the most negative point of this device. Although it seems to improve over time.



Measures

No load 1kHz low gain


No load 1kHz high gain


The output voltage above 94 would saturate. But 12V is an impressive figure.

15Ω 1kHz low gain


At maximum volume at low gain, 6.5V is obtained over the entire frequency range. That’s 2.83W of power and 430mA of current. Simply brutal. I have not been able to measure with high gain because the resistors I have are 3W.



33Ω 1kHz high gain


Something similar has happened to me with the 33Ω. The calculated power at volume 90 is 3.03W. Going higher would have damaged the resistors used, which are 3W. I never thought I would have to measure 3W, so I didn’t buy them bigger. 300mA of current. This is the most powerful audio device I have ever measured for SE.



100Ω

Nothing to say for this impedance, only that the measurements have been taken at volume 93. 1.25W and 110mA.



Output Impedance

According to the specs, Burson says the output impedance is less than 2Ω. According to my measurements, it is clearly less than 1Ω, both at low and high gain.



Frequency Response. Volume 20 to volume 80, low gain

Measurements have been taken from volume 20 to volume 80, at low gain.
Although the line input of my card is not calibrated, it can be clearly seen that every 10 volume steps, the Playmate gains 5dB. Furthermore, the frequency range, from 5Hz to 40kHz, is completely flat in all volume ranges. It can also be seen that there is no difference between channels.



Sound

The Burson Audio Playmate II comes standard with the basic OpAmps NE5532 (Dual) and NE5534 (Single) from Texas Instruments. Use two for each stage. It is true that these OpAmps are the most basic and cheapest. But the Playmate II already sounds very good with this basic set, so any improvement will always be a sensible upgrade. The sound with these OpAmps is a bit harsher. The roughness in the bass feels accentuated and the edges are not as precise, nor melodious. That's the roughness I'm referring to. However, this kind of sound gives it a rawer aspect that also has its appeal, especially in the midrange. The high end has good sparkle, punchy and energetic, but lacks a certain level of resolution and refinement to deliver the detail in a more natural and musical way. However, after testing Burson Audio's OpAmps V6 set, the sound takes on a higher value in refinement, musicality, resolution and definition. Another highlight is the sense of dynamics, the impression is that the sound decompresses and expands, something that also makes the scene better. The background becomes cleaner, the separation is more evident and the sense of transparency is improved. All this makes the sound more musical, but also more accurate. It's like adding a few extra bits to the sound. The set of OpAmps installed is a hybrid. For the LP stage I have installed the Burson V6 Classic Single, while for the I/V stage, the OpAmps chosen are the Burson V6 Vivid Dual. From here on, the sound impressions have been made with these OpAmps installed.
The Playmate II continues the philosophy of the first version. The sound is organic, natural, dense, full, unctuous and musical. It does not have an analytical profile, but it is not completely warm either, although it is true that its harmony and euphony add that touch of warmth that makes it veer towards an almost romantic mood. In this second version, the sound has become bigger, the sense of dynamics is greater and so is the height. The soundstage is looser, wider, there is no hint of darkness or congestion and the level of transparency and definition has been enhanced. The level of resolution feels improved and, although the edges are not sharp, it is easier to notice micro details. There is also a refinement in the high end, the treble is cleaner and freer, the sound is more linear, the warmth and darker feel that trapped the high notes in the first version has been removed. Yes, the upper range is more vivid, realistic and natural, freed from the previous corset. Overall, the sound flows with a lusher, wider and more defined staging, adding a higher and improved descriptiveness than its predecessor.
If we go back to the classic range descriptions, the Playmate II's low end has gained in maturity, density and body. Admittedly, Burson's V6 OpAmps have helped to bring about this sensation over the standard OpAmps. But, there is no doubt that there is an amount of light in this area, which helps define the bass, gaining in resolution, increasing the corporeal feel of the bass, giving a more exalted impression of depth and volume. The layering capabilities and exposure of bass lines are clean and clear, with no hint of congestion or smearing. The Playmate I feels darker and somewhat slower. The bass is a little heavier, more full-bodied, less agile, though it also has more poise. All this makes the sound feel more congested, busy and oppressed. Version II has gained in speed and agility, offering a looser, tighter, more concise and dynamic lower range, capable of offering a superior, less oppressive rhythm, with a more realistic texture and not so marked by its roughness.
If there is one thing that suits this new Playmate, it is the increase in power. I clearly feel that this new model has been designed to offer more power and this is something that has been made clear in the previous section. However, it is also true that this increased power does benefit the sound quality. I think the Playmate II appreciates the sound being turned up, being able to offer an extra amount of body, volume and lushness as the decibels advance. This is noticeable in the lows, but also in the mids, thanks to an expansive feel to the soundstage due to the increased power. Thus, the midrange is perceived as very juicy, more elastic, descriptive, musical and brimming. There is that romantic feel, but I feel that it has given way to a superior efficiency, bringing more clarity, sharper edges, with a point of analytical ability that is more natural and in keeping with the reality of a high-performance system, even though the Playmate II is still Burson Audio's entry-level device. Under these premises, the density of the midrange is obvious, but its level of transparency and separation allows the amount of air and space to be ample enough for the mids to flow freely enough to expose detail in an explicit, yet suggestive and evocative way. Male voices appreciate this sense of corporeal fullness, while female voices are showcased due to the greater level of illumination and precision provided in this second version. The naturalness and cleanness of sound are the characteristics that make the instruments sound with a more accurate tone and timbre than their older sibling. Overall, the mids are more mature, expressive and emancipated, gaining also in dynamic feel and distance between elements.
The high end has also taken a step forward in the Playmate II. I find the new version technically more refined, capable of recreating the treble with a more elegant, spaced, precise and higher-resolution sound. Comparatively speaking, the treble of version I is more energetic, but also tighter, less defined. The treble of version II has gained in expressiveness, improving also its musicality, as it is offered in a more natural, separated and airy way. I find that the Playmate II's treble pattern is tamer and calmer, but, at the same time, it offers a superior performance in definition and detail rendering. It is not as energetic, but its extension feels elongated, offering a more volatile, expansive, but less cutting and compressed sparkle than the I version.
As soon as you move up a rung aurally, you feel it in the size of the scene, the expressiveness of the details, the sense of compression of the sound, the level of resolution and the dynamics of the whole. Well, it is easy to see that the Playmate II is on that higher rung compared to its big brother. The space occupied by the music in this new version is clearly larger. The detail does not look forced, nor does the scene look compressed, comparatively speaking. The fast transition from one to the other shows that the limitations of the first version have been overcome. The sound was more congested and tight. Whereas now it flows more simply, effortlessly, naturally, spaciously and musically. Such a comparison shows that the corset of the first version has been destroyed. The scene has been stretched in all directions, it is now more three-dimensional. Distance and separation are also superior, while details are less critical, not feeling forced as in version I, but drawn with a more appropriate and musical realism, which makes them more realistic and accurate. The overall feel makes the sound of Playmate II more enjoyable, even at higher volume levels than Playmate I, because it always sounds more relaxed, bigger and more expansive. Whereas the first version is less refined, even more strident at those critical points in the high end. This is not the case with the new version, hence its sound is more elegant, cleaner, tuned, distinguished and pure.



Conclusion

There comes a point, a price range, where it is always difficult to choose: a complete system or a separate system with a DAC and AMP? Well, it will never be easy to get it right and there will always be good options. Burson Audio knows that and that's why it is still determined to offer the best combo at the best price. The Burson Audio Playmate II has been improved in every aspect, compared to its previous companion. The philosophy is the same and there are hardly any changes in functionality, only minor details. But in the obvious and necessary, the changes have been clear. First, there is the design, aesthetics and build level. I own both models and it must be stated for the record that every one of these aspects has been improved. The Playmate II is sleeker, more robust and more efficient. Second, there is the power level. With Burson Audio's V6 OpAmps, the power level soars, leaving its predecessor far behind. The Playmate II is one of the most powerful audio devices per SE output on the market in this price range. Third, there's the sound, of course. Burson Audio has improved every point over version I, every range is superior, the scene is bigger, the image more accurate and both the level of resolution and the detail have also improved. There is even more light, clarity, transparency and separation. And it's not just a subtle difference, it's easy to distinguish. The Playmate I was already a very good device. But time allows evolution and the Burson Audio Playmate II is a superior version.



Earphones and Sources Used During Analysis

• Letshuoer DZ4
• Hidizs MS3
• Kiwi Ears Quartet
• KiiBOOM Evoke
• KiiBOOM Allure
• NiceHCK F1
• Letshuoer S12 PRO
• Rose QT9 MK2s
• Yanyin Aladdin
• ISN H40
• Penon Globe
• OurArt QJ21
• Rose Martini
• Sunrise Dragon 2 Limited Edition (SWD2LE) 10th Anniversary
• Takstar Pro 80
• SoundMagic HP150

Purchase Link



You can read the full review in Spanish here

TLDR version on YouTube: TDLR - Burson Audio Playmate 2

The Playmate 2 has been sent to me directly by Burson for me to try it out and to share my opinions in this review. Burson have not made any requests or comments and, as always, I will do my very best to be as unbiased and sincere as humanly possible.

You can find the official page for the Playmate 2 here: https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/playmate-2/

As usual, this link is non-affiliate and I do not benefit from clicks or purchases in any way.

To avoid being repetetive in my reviews, you can find all the info about how I create the reviews, equipment used, how I receive the products and how to interpret my reviews by visiting: About my reviews



Intro…

While Burson products have always drawn my attention, I have never had a chance to try any of them. Therefore, when Burson unexpectedly reached out and offered to send the Playmate 2 for review, I was obviously very happy to accept.

For those who haven’t come across Burson audio, or haven’t really paid any attention to them, they are an Australian company, based in Melbourne, who were established in 2001. This means that they are by no means a newcomer into the audio world and, while they do have quite a selection of DACs and Amplifiers, they are also very well known and respected for their OP Amps.

This is something that they are happy to use in their favour, as they build their products to make it easy to swap Op Amps, allowing users to tailor their products to their own tastes.

In the case of the Playmate 2 which I am reviewing today, it is again built to allow users to swap out OP Amps (with Burson offering different options) but I am focusing on this device in its stock form.



Presentation…

Burson are happy to let you know on their web that they do not advertise, buy reviews or attend trade-shows in order to not increase the price of their products. In the case of the packaging, it seems that a similar “no-frills” approach is maintained.

A simple white box with basic information on the outside opens to reveal the device sitting in simple packing foam and a smaller white box containing the accessories.

Inside the accessories box we get the power supply, an adapter to split the mic input/headphone output (more on that in a second), a spare fuse, an allen key for disassembling the device (to swap OP amps), a fabric covered USB A to USB C cable and an RCA to RCA cable.

In general it is a very simple presentation but everything is well packed and protected and I applaud the saving on packaging where possible, especially if those savings go into the product itself.



Build and aesthetics…

The Playmate 2 is completely made of metal, aluminium to be more specific, which tends towards a slightly industrial look while still maintaining elegance. I had seen plenty of photos of the device and while I liked the look, I have to say that it looks much better in person than it does in photos.

With a brushed aluminium faceplate and back plate, the rest of the device is ridged, sort of like a heat sink, and while very simple, I must say I like the design. It has spent the past few weeks sitting on my desk at the side of a Mac Mini and while the Playmate 2 is of a darker finish, they look at home together.



Functionality…

Starting off with the rear panel, there is not a huge amount of connectivity but enough from my personal use. From left to right we have the USB-C connection followed by a optical input, an RCA unbalanced output and finally the connection for the power supply (which is a 3A 24VDC).

Moving around to the front, again from left to right, we have the power button, a 6.35mm unbalanced headphone output, a 3.5mm TRRS output (for use with headsets that have microphones), a small screen with white digits, a large (and very nice) knurled digital potentiometer (which is also a push button) and finally the menu button.

On the screen we get the volume displayed in large digits to the left and just to the right we get smaller text that shows the selected input, the selected output and the current file rate. Turning the control obviously raises and decreases volume and pressing the same control mutes the device (with the volume display flashing to show it is muted).

When I first received the unit, I found that the volume wheel had a tendency to skip when turning it, it would do things like 20,21,22,23,19,20,21 etc. As I have used the device, this skipping became less frequent and is now something that only occurs very rarely. I think that maybe it is that the digital control needed some use to settle in (who says burn in doesn’t exist? ).

By pressing the menu button we access the menu of the device, then we can use the wheel to scroll and press to access the parameter we want to change (with the device reverting back to the main screen after 30 seconds of no interaction or by pressing the menu button again).

The options in the menu are:

INPUT: USB/Toslink

OUTPUT: Headphone/Pre Out

PRE LV: Low/High

FIRFILTER: Brickwall/CMFR/Reserved/AP Fast/MP Slow/MP Fast/LP Slow/ LP Fast/

DPLL(DSD): DPLL Off/Low/Mid/High

DPLL(PCM): DPLL Off/Low/Mid/High

EMPHASIS: On/Off

RESET SET: No/Yes

AUTO OFF: No/Yes

The first two options are pretty straight forwards, the PRE LV is the gain and the FIRFILTER are the typical filter options you find on most DACs. The DPLL options are something that I haven’t come across before and searching the internet led me to discovering it stands for Digital Phase-Locked Loop filters but I didn’t investigate much further. You have the option to change them for DSD or for PCM independently but, in my subjective testing, I didn’t really notice a difference and opted for leaving them both on High (which is how they come out of the box).

EMPHASIS is a bit of a strange one as it basically reduces most of the high end of the sound. According to the manual, which actually lists it as “DE-EMPHASIS”, you should only turn this on if your source is a cassette player, which makes sense for reducing the hiss of cassettes but… the Playmate 2 only has digital inputs, so I can’t see how (or why) anyone would attempt to connect a cassette player to it.

The last two settings are RESET SET, which is to restore the factory defaults, and AUTO OFF which allows the unit to turn off automatically after not receiving a signal for a while.

Something that deserves mentioning again is the fact that the 3.5mm output is also an input for a microphone, allowing you to use either the typical 4 pole TRRS (such as those used on smartphones) or the included splitter and use a separate set of headphones/IEMs and microphone. This is something that is not found often on devices that focus on audio quality and should make it a very interesting unit for those who either game or do a lot of conference calls (like in my case) and don’t want to compromise on power or audio quality.

As far as power goes, the Playmate 2 is specified as having 3W per channel and I have to say that I had absolutely no issue with it powering anything that I plugged into it, be it high impedance DD or current hungry planars. IEMs are a bit more of a problem. The biggest issue with IEMs is that 1/100 on the dial is already at what I would consider an acceptable listening level for some, so there will be no really quiet listening sessions with IEMs on the Playmate 2. There is a hint of background noise with sensitive IEMs but at the same time it is less apparent than on some other devices that have been specifically designed with IEMs in mind.



Sound…

I don’t know why but I expected the Playmate 2 to be a bit of a harsh DAC/Amp. I guess that preconceived opinions were at play but I was surprised to find that it is actually quite a relaxed amplifier. It doesn’t portray the warmth of some other alternatives but it is certainly a long way from being harsh and analytical.

I have plugged in many sets of headphones and IEMs into the Playmate 2 over the weeks that I have been using it and I have to say, I found myself using it more and more, without swapping over to other options even when I found time to have a dedicated listening session.

As always, my subjective opinions of a DAC/Amp are a mixture of things that I really hear and things that my brain tells me I am hearing, but in the case of the Burson, I really enjoy the result.

For quite some time, my main set up was the SMSL SU-8 paired with the Schiit Asgard and the Playmate 2 is, to my ears, like a refined version of that set up. I tried going back and forth between the SU-8 and the Playmate 2 while feeding the Asgard 3 and I found that the outcome was very similar but, again, seeming just a little more refined on the Burson unit. Moving back to the Playmate 2, I have to say that I prefer the pairing with its own internal amp over feeding the Asgard.

With my planars, the result is very good, although I did find that on some occasions, the higher mids of the planar options could come across as slightly more harsh than usual, but that could also be due to the fact that I am used to the EF400 which is more of a warmer and smoother option.

With the HD6XX, the Playmate 2 does a very good job and I would be very happy to have it be my source for them if it wasn’t for having a tube amp on my desk. While talking about tubes, I also used the Burson to feed the Echo Mk2 and have absolutely no complaints there either. The result is slightly more focused than when fed by the EF400 which makes for a very enjoyable listen.

With IEMs I actually really like the presentation of the Playmate 2, the only issue being the fact that the amp is already loud enough at 1/100, so not really much room for adjustment. In fact, with some of the more sensitive options, they were already above my usual listening levels before I even got above 1.



Conclusion…

I feel that the Burson Playmate 2 is a very competent and well thought out device that is simple enough for those that just want plug and play but at the same time has enough options for those who want to tinker, both with the onboard filters and the option to swap out OP amps.

As far as performance, I have no complaints. I wouldn’t suggest that you pick this device up if you are mainly an IEM user, but for headphones it is a great option, no matter how much power they need. It is not an overly analytical amp and manages to have a slightly relaxed presentation but without getting to the warmer side like some other alternatives. I honestly do find it to be like having a more refined version of the SU-8 + Asgard 3.

Some people will complain about the lack of balanced connectivity on the Playmate 2 but that is not something I find an issue for me personally. I do opt for balanced connectivity over longer runs to my DSP and speakers etc. but my headphone set up is mostly unbalanced and it is something I have no complaints with.

However, there is one thing that sets this apart from almost all other options (at least from other brands) and that is the fact that it has a microphone input. Both for the gamers and for those who spend their days in an office with multiple calls, this is something that makes it stand out above the competition, allowing you to use headphones of your choice, with a mic of your choice, and not compromise on audio quality.

I guess the next step is to play around with some OP amp swaps and see what that brings to the table with this, very competent, DAC/Amp.

__________
As always, this review is also available in Spanish both on my blog (www.achoreviews.com) and on YouTube (www.youtube.com/achoreviews)

Introduction​

Founded in 1996, Burson Audio is one of those companies that has been here basically forever. I remember having their Conductor Virtuoso in 2016 for quite some time, and I really liked this little thing. I still remember the volume indicator in the form of little holes punched in the front panel, gently lighten up with led lights. This thing was crafted to perfection.
Some years have passed, and since then I barely tried any new Burson devices, so this was hugely exciting when Burson Audio reached out to me if I’d be interested to review some of their gear. We’re starting with their base model, the Playmate 2. Back in time, their lineup was pretty straightforward, with devices like the original Conductor, Soloist, and others. Nowadays, you can easily get lost in their broad model selection. However, this is a good thing – the bigger the offering, the better for the customer.
Their current lineup consists of their legendary opamps, DACs, headphone amps, power amplifiers, and AIO devices, ranging from $544, all the way up to thousands of dollars. They’ve been introducing new flagship devices within their Grand Tourer series lately, with sweet red touches to the design. I’ve tried one of those in Munich last month with the Dan Clark Audio Stealth and I was blown away.
Burson has always been a very nice brand offering a soulful, rich sound signature and a state-of-the-art build quality with minimalistic design. Let’s see how things have changed throughout these past few years.

Packaging​

The unboxing experience of the Playmate 2 is rather simple, in a good way. The device comes in a basic package with basically no accessories.
Apart from the device itself, you’re only getting a power supply, and a USB-C cable, and that’s basically it. If you’d like that sweet, metal remote, you’re going to have to order a V6 version that includes the remote, as well as two sets of V6 Vivid Opamps. This set comes at $200 extra at $744, which is a good deal, having in mind the additional stuff you’re getting. It’s cool that Burson lets you choose whether you want the full package, or you’re okay with just the basic staff to lower the cost.

Additionally, you can order a set of Cool Stands to keep your Playmate 2 standing vertically. This will ensure an even better temperature of the chassis, and you’ll save some space on your desk. Take note that you’ll need the “regular” version for your Playmate 2, but Burson also offers Large and GT Red, to cover their entire lineup. Nice touch.

Design and Build Quality​

Burson has always been known for its fantastic build quality and great, industrial design, and it’s no different this time. The Playmate 2, despite being quite tiny, is quite heavy and dense feeling, and you won’t find any plastic on it.

The headphone amplifier section operates in Class-A, so you have to have a decent cooling solution. Because of that, Burson has created a ribbed enclosure of aluminum serving as a huge heat sink. The entire device is machined to perfection and it’s great to the touch. It’s good to see that Burson continues its legacy of producing one of the best-crafted devices in the audio industry, even at such a competitive price point.



On the front of the Playmate 2, you’ll find a 6.3mm jack output, a 3,5mm microphone input (great addition for gaming), and a great volume knob. Lastly, there’s a little OLED display in the middle that gives you all the necessary info you need.

Overall, the Playmate 2 is definitely built like a much more expensive DAC/Amp than it really is. No photos will actually show how well-made this device really is, but I tried my best.

Tech and I/O​

The Playmate 2 is an all-in-one, meaning it’s a DAC and a headphone amp in one device. In most case scenarios, you only need to put it on your desk, power it on and you’ll have everything you’ll need to have quality audio.

The DAC section is built around an ESS9038 chip, and it supports up to 32bit/768k and DSD512. What’s definitely worth noting, is that it is plug-and-play with most devices on the market, and it uses a USB-C input – yay, welcome to 2022! Oh, there’s also an optical-in for your TV or gaming console, so you’re pretty much set with most audio sources you’ll want to use.

As far as the headphone amp section is going, the Playmate offers up to 3W of power. The headphone amplifier operates in Class-A, which is known to offer an incredibly natural, rich, and smooth sound while having authority and grip over most headphones on the market. Because of that, the Playmate 2 has enough power to drive most headphones, including planars. It won’t properly drive the Susvara or the 1266, but it was never meant to.

Sound​

Now let’s dive into what’s most important – the sound. Burson has always been known for its thick, romantic, and rich sound signature that is currently vastly different from what’s most popular on the market, mainly because of Topping and SMSL. I’m more than happy to report that this sound signature is still valid in 2022, making Playmate 2 a highly musical and enjoyable device to listen to.

Additionally, its sound is very impressive when you know that this is basically their least expensive model…if this sounds so good, what do their flagship-tier devices sound like? Hopefully, we’ll find out soon.

The bass is bold, big, and rich, with great control and texture. The Playmate 2 has a vivid punch to the low-end, making it a great companion to Hifiman planar-magnetic headphones, which tend to lack a little bit of energy in the bass department. Just like I said in the review of the Yulong Aurora, the entire sound signature of the Playmate 2 is typical of a good Class-A amplifier. Forget about a superbly fast, neutral, and thin-sounding bass, this little guy packs a lot of punch to your music, resulting in a sound that you’ll just really want to experience every time you’ll listen to it. The extension is very good, reaching the lowest parts of the sub-bass while being highly textured throughout the whole bass response. The Playmate 2 has the ability to recreate bass notes in a bold and rich way, which is ideal for this kind of device. Luckily, it’s not a type of experience that’s tiring or unnatural sounding, as the Playmate sounds very effortless and easy. This is a mature type of sound reproduction that has been reserved for TOTL devices for years. Now, you can get that at around 500 bucks, and it’s really cool.



The midrange continues what the bass has started. It’s rich, warm, and addictive, yet offers a fantastic detail retrieval and resolution. I’m very happy to see more and more not-neutral sounding AIO devices lately (just like the Aurora and EF400), as flat, neutral-sounding devices are not the only way into a high-fidelity sound with headphones. Actually, I prefer this kind of sound, because it gives a more emotional, welcoming type of experience that is great for long-term listening sessions. The Playmate 2 is incredible with vocals, as it represents them in a natural, mature, and very pleasing way that is great with most of the headphones that are currently available and popular among audiophiles. My vocal benchmark, Mariusz Duda with his solo project called Lunatic Soul sounds marvelously natural and pleasing. The Playmate 2 is highly mature tuned, something that is rather rare with devices in this price range. Once again, the detail retrieval and resolution are both top-notch when we’ll get the price under consideration.

The treble is very smooth and pleasant sounding, but it doesn’t hide micro details or isn’t smoothing the sound too much. High frequencies are highly technical sounding, but they are never harsh or unpleasant sounding, something that is present in the entire frequency response of the Playmate 2. The amount of body is really good, giving drum cymbals the proper weight and thickness that is necessary to achieve a natural-sounding drum kit. It’s not splashy, peaky, or bright sounding whatsoever, which is important if you want to have many headphones in your collection. Pairing the Playmate 2 with rather bright-sounding headphones won’t result in a sound that’s going to be tiring or aggressive, but I’ll elaborate on this in the “pairing” section. Overall, the treble is yet again mature and well-controlled, so this is definitely a great device for your “one and only DAC/Amp on your desk”, as it’ll handle basically everything.

The soundstage is very impressive, but I somewhat feel that this aspect of the sound got really, really good in the past couple of years. It’s really hard to find a poorly staging device nowadays, and the Playmate surely isn’t one. Remember that the Playmate has a microphone input, so it’s definitely meant for gamers as well, and competitive players are going to really appreciate good staging to their sound. To summarise, the Playmate 2 offers a deep, wide, and very accurate soundstage that is capable of creating a very impressive 3D-like experience when you’re listening to music or gaming.

Pairings​

Hifiman Edition XS



The Edition XS is one of the, if not the best open-back headphones in the $500 market. It offers an incredible amount of details and resolution, being a highly technical pair of headphones that easily punches above its asking price.

However, the XS is a very neutral headphone that will basically sound like the device you’ll be plugging it into. Here the Playmate 2 comes into play with its sophisticated, rich, and romantic tuning that transforms the Edition XS into a much more pleasing, and exciting sounding headphone. The Playmate 2 has a firm grip over the bass section of this huge driver, and it makes the Edition XS strike hard and sound quite big and energetic. At the same time, the amount of body and that great timbre to the midrange result in a sound that is incredibly natural and universal sounding, especially for a +/- $1000 setup. You’d easily be spending 2 times more for a sound like this 5 years ago.

Hifiman HE-R9

Let’s pair the Playmate 2 with a pair of headphones that are both incredibly dynamic and romantic sounding at the same time. The R9 is a dynamic, closed-back headphone from Hifiman that we have reviewed very recently, and it instantly became one of our favorites.

So, pairing the R9 with the Playmate 2 shouldn’t be the best idea, as both products have similar sound characteristics, right? Well, not at all. The Playmate 2 definitely has its own sound signature, but it’s not extreme nor pushing it hard, so it pairs with similarly tuned headphones just as well. This pairing by no means will satisfy you if you’re into a highly neutral, technical type of sound, but if you like a sound that has soul and it’s just very pleasant to listen to, this pairing is just absolutely fantastic.
The R9 is not a power-hungry pair, and the Playmate 2 has more than enough power to make them fly off your head. This is important, as it has so much authority over the drivers that it just makes them kick very hard. The dynamics and the overall energy of the sound are both top-notch.

Audeze LCX-X 2021



Again, we’re pairing the Playmate 2 with a rather warm-sounding headphone, and once again this pairing sounds exceptional. The LCD-X 2021 is a very capable pair of headphones when it comes to technical performance, and the Playmate 2 easily gives it all the information it needs to shine.
Vocals sound very thick on this pair, probably a touch too thick for some, but I definitely enjoy it. The body of the sound is absolutely huge and there’s not even a slight sign of dryness or sharpness. It just sits perfectly in the middle between a technical and highly-colored sound that will satisfy all of you, craving for the sound that is just easygoing but highly detailed at the same time.
While the Playmate 2 is by no means the best pairing I’ve heard with the LCD-X 2021, it just shows how capable it is with different types of headphones and sound signatures. This is very important as it makes this device very competitive, due to its universality and flexibility when pairing with different sound signatures and different technical levels. You probably won’t find a single (good) pair of headphones that will sound wrong with the Playmate, and it’s a very important aspect of an AIO in this price bracket.

Final Audio D8000 Pro



Let’s pair the Playmate 2 with a Final Audio flagship, the D8000 Pro. This headphone is rather hard to drive, but the Playmate 2 has enough juice to get it running.

The D8000 Pro has a very neutral and reference-like tuning, with fantastic detail retrieval and very good soundstage capabilities. When paired with the Playmate 2, it becomes smoother and less fatiguing, with a boosted note weight. This is what I call a great pairing since the D8000 Pro can get pretty technical and uninvolving sounding with many DACs and amps on the market. It’s completely different with the Playmate 2, as it provides that needed thickness and richness to the timbre, resulting in a more pleasing and forgiving sounding experience.

The D8000 Pro is incredible when it comes to the technical performance, and the Playmate 2 definitely keeps up with the pace. This combo sounds very detailed, airy, and highly textured, but it also has some smoothness and warmth to counter the rather analytical character of the D8000 Pro.

Drop + Sennheiser HD8XX



Another dynamic headphone to pair with the Playmate 2. First of all, the 8XX is rated at 300Ω and it isn’t exactly an easy task for a headphone amplifier to get it running properly. However, the Playmate 2 handles the 8xx like a champ with its 3W Class-A headphone output.
Additionally, the 8XX has a weirdly recessed midrange that the Playmate 2 brings back to life a bit, due to its romantic and thick tuning throughout the entire mid-frequency range. The bass strikes hard, the treble gets tamed by a slight bit, resulting in the 8XX getting more pleasant to the ear. I remember the time when you’ll have to spend a thousand bucks for a headphone alone if you’ll want the HD800 to sound decent. Nowadays, $500 bucks is all you need, and it has a built-in DAC. This is bonkers.

Unique Melody MEXT



The Playmate 2 is also capable of driving IEMs. While it’s not the best option (I’d rather choose something a bit cleaner and better measuring), it’s nice to see that if you’ll pull the trigger, you’ll be able to listen to IEMs as well.

The MEXT sound absolutely huge and very punchy with the Playmate 2, as it gets a lot of power to handle that beautiful bass driver. This setup sounds rich, bold, and very dynamic, great for fun and involving listening sessions. While not the perfect device to use with the IEMs, mainly due to its high power output, it is more than capable of giving you an option to go IEMs whenever you’d like to.

Comparisons​

SMSL DO100 + HO100



These two are vastly different. While the SMSL stack offers an incredibly neutral and clean sound performance, it’s not even close to the level of refinement and involvement that the Playmate 2 offers.
The Playmate 2 feels like it has significantly more power than the HO100, mainly because of its Class-A amplification. While the SMSL stacks is great for people that are looking for a highly neutral and “does it all” type of sound, the Playmate 2 feels more mature and a lot more engaging, resulting in a type of experience that is much more enjoyable and “magical” These are two vastly different approaches to the sound reproduction, and I’m not here to tell you which is better, as it’s all highly subjective. Nonetheless, the Playmate 2 feels like a more considered and just a more pleasant-sounding product for me.

When it comes to the technical performance, I would say that the SMSL stack has a slight edge over the Playmate 2, but it’s definitely nothing to write a book about. The difference is rather slim and it should not make or break a deal if you’re considering one of these devices. Choose the one that fits your preferences more, simple as that.

Yulong Aurora



These two sound pretty similar. Both offer a Class-A headphone amplifier that is more than capable of running most headphones on the market. While the Aurora has better functionality, the Playmate 2 has a slightly better technical performance.

On top of that, the Aurora is calmer and more intimate sounding, while the Playmate 2 is more dynamic and it packs a bigger punch. Both of these devices are an exceptional deal in this price bracket, and it’s actually very hard for me to decide which one is better. I tend to use them just as often and I enjoy them both. What makes it even harder is that they do sound similar with some slight differences that I pointed out above.

The choice between these two might actually come down to the design, and in this aspect, I feel like the Playmate 2 offers a more impressive build quality with a sublime yet clean design. Also, it gives you an option to change Opamps in the future, so you’ll be able to upgrade it when you’ll have some spare money lying around. On the other hand, the Aurora gives you a balanced output, COAX input and it supports MQA.

Summary​

I’m very happy to see Burson still going strong after all these years. The Playmate 2 doesn’t feel or sound anything near its price range, especially when we’ll consider that the company is not China-based.

The build quality and design of the Playmate 2 are both spectacular, and it’s definitely going to be a stand-out piece on your desk or a conversation starter. Lastly, it offers a beautifully tuned, warm, and rich sound that is technically capable enough to use with much more expensive headphones. It pairs well with just about everything, and it also does IEMs. If you’re looking for a single device that you’d like to put on your desk and forget about the need to constantly upgrade, the Playmate 2 might be your endgame for years.


Wildly Recommended.
Gear used during this review for the sake of comparison and as an accompanying equipment:

• Headphones – Hifiman Edition XS, Audeze LCD-X 2021, Final D8000 Pro, Hifiman HE-R9, Drop + Sennheiser HD8XX, Unique Melody MEXT, Final A8000, Fir Audio XE6
• Sources– MacBook Pro 2021, Yulong Aurora, LittleDot MK III SE, SMSL DO100 + HO100, XI Audio Broadway S, Hifiman EF400

Big thanks to Burson for providing the Playmate 2 for this review. I wasn’t paid or asked to say anything good or bad about this product, all of the above is just my personal, unbiased opinion. Burson hasn’t seen this review before publishing it.

If you’re in Europe, you can order your Playmate 2 here, or here via the official Burson Audio website.

Intro
First off, thanks to Bhavneet and Kim for trusting and being a part of the Playmate 2 Tour locally. Really excited to experience a taste somewhat of that Australian-flavored gear and that Burson sound that it was known for. For those unfamiliar (in which I was initially am), Burson Audio has been around for some quite sometime as one of the few audio specialist brands hailing from the country down under and was really looking forward to listen to any of their products. Grateful as that the time has come.



Build and packaging
For their entry-level product, this certainly is built really well and sturdy. The overall metal housing seem that it would withstand quite some abuse and scratches on your desktop while the sides serve as heatsink though I did not experience any noticeable heat during operation even for the whole afternoon that would make it hot to touch, just warm. Comes with the powerbrick, a USB-C to USB-C cable for connecting to your devices, a headphone/mic splitter, a very small replacement fuse (in the case of internal burnout I guess), and a small hex tool for opening up the unit in order to change to opamps, which is a joy that such option gives it the feeling like rolling with tubes to tune your sound preference (of course, it can be possibly costly as well). It has a optical and USB-C port in the back for your input options while the headphone jacks in the front and RCA at the back serve as your outputs/preouts. Sadly, it does not have line-in/analog-in so you're restricted with the onboard DAC which seems to be a Sabre ESS9038Q2M. Only the two digital inputs here and though it doesn't always work on your first try with my mobile phone and laptop, the USB-C at times is iffy and you have to disconnect-reconnect your source to be recognized.



Sound
Out of my HD650, the sound is really powerful and meaty though I did notice that there was a touch of roughness and graininess to the sound despite the energy it's bringing. It is also not that detailed in its stock configuration. I could only imagine that this would be emphasized with Beyers and high-treble centered headphones. But after replacing the stock opamps with the V6 Vivid Dual on the I/V stage which is pictured below (I was not able to change the inner middle two opamps for LP stage), the sound definitely opened up. Details and resolution was taken to the next level, soundstage and presentation seem to be more correct instead of being too much stereo ( from left-right sound to a more front arc), then it gave much needed smoothness and musicality to the overall sound. I could only wish for more resources to play around with more opamps and experiment how the unit will react espeically with the V6 Classic or others. With the Burson V6 Vivid Dual, this should have been the default configuration as I guess how the manufacturers meant to but it seems it would bring the price too high. But for those who are planning to get this to experience the Burson house sound, I recommend getting the Burson opamps as well as this is how it is meant to be listened.



Overall
All I can say is that the Burson Playmate 2 is worth your attention and cash if you want a premium all-in-one desktop DAC/amplifier with its powerful output which is enough for most headphones I believe unless its an electrostat. The unit though is too powerful for IEMs even at the low gain setting so be careful when handling the volume knob and always start low on the level. Also, the unit gives a sudden 'pop' to your headphones when turned off so I suggest removing your cans first before turning off. Adding the V6 opamps to the set enhances the experience greatly which makes this seem like a no-regret purchase with its grand musical presentation that does not skimp on the details without being harsh.

INTRO:-

Not all of us are aware of Burson audio. They don't push their products through fancy sellers and barely do much promotion on their own. But this is supposed to change as I have got a review unit from them. Hailing from Australia since 1996 their inception and they started their sales from 2005. Critically acclaimed by all the reviewers I personally hadn't heard a lot of buzz about their products before I got a message from them Through Bhav. They make a lot of DACs and Amps and DAC/Amps but what I have here with me is the Playmate 2, the sequel to the Playmate.

Burson is an interesting brand, they have their own ways.

In their words:-

"Burson Audio is an Australian audio manufacturer making products with no op-amps and all discrete circuitry for a lavish musical experience."

Head over here to know about their circuit design:-

https://www.bursonaudio.com/about-us/discrete-circuits/

The Playmate 2 I am reviewing here is a very versatile thing on its own. It is a 3w Class A desktop headphone amp and can be used as pre amp if you pair it with some other DAC. You can connect your mobile phone through an OTG data cable.

The Playmate uses the flagship ES9038 DAC chip and you can opt for two types of op-amps. The Basic NE5532 and NE5534 op-amps set costs $544 and comes in only one color, Black. The V6 Vivid set costs $744 and has two color options, Black and silver. (You can always choose yours from their sets available separately).

I would like to thank Bhav from Burson audio for the unit.

Check the Playmate out:-

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/playmate-2/

I do not have a lot of DAC in the arsenal but I do have a two to compare the playmate with.



PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:-

The package of the Burson Playmate 2 is very good. It is nicely packed with proper padding to protect the DAC/Amp from any damages. All the cables are places inside a card board box.

The playmate 2 is nicely placed in the foam and inside the cardboard box one can find a Type-C to C USB cable and a power adapter, no RCA cable this time around.



BUILD QUALITY:-

With a dimension of 190mm x 150mm x 60mm the Playmate 2 is smaller than the original. Build quality of the Playmate is very solid, it feel dense and solid to the hand. It is kind of heavy at around 3kg but the weight is nicely distributed across the board. There are no loose parts on the body, all the bolts are tight and the Playmate feels very sturdy. The rubber shoes on the base of the playmate have very good traction and don't let it slide easily. The new unified heat-sink outer design helps the Playmate 2 breathe better, even if it gets hot, it has better heat dissipation now.

The digital display on the playmate 2 is okay but could have been bigger. It is hard to see the letters clearly from a distance of around 4ft.

Another complain I have with the playmate 2 is that the volume knob doesn't respond to every step, it doesn't feel accurate as it needs extra steps to specially when moving the dial very fast, it doesn't register every time. It nit picking but yes, it's a small flaw but wasn't rectified from the original which is kind of disappointing.







SPEC TALK:-

I like to take my music where ever I go so these heavy stuff seldom manage to seduce me but when on the PC these are the best things one can ask for. The playmate in fact is a complete setup with a flagship grade DAC chip and swappable opamps. The good thing is these desktop things have plenty of power to handle heavy stuff like Planar and full size power hungry headphones. I have had a hard time finding a very demanding earphone as they are mostly designed to be power efficient and carried around.

I know most of us don't use their AMPs for speakers but if you have a nice set of multi driver speakers, you should invest on a DAC amp to get the best out of them. The Playmate 2 has an impedance of 15ohm and it is on the easier side for a preamp, it preps the signal to be processed well by next stage while cutting out the noise and distortion. Smaller speakers have a lower impedance of just 4ohm and 8ohm but good quality speakers with multiple drivers will definitely respond better with refined source and more power.

Let's move on to the output most of us are going to use, the 6.5mm headphone one. And the output impedance is just 2ohm which means it can drive nearly everything to without much problem except a few very efficient IEMs. (Just to be clear, please don't but a desktop stuff for IEMs) I have tried a handful of headphones with the Playmate 2 and they respond with more agility and precision.

Moving to the power output the Playmate does 3.5w at 16ohm, 2.5w at 32 ohm, 600mw at 100ohm, 400mw at 150ohm and 150mw at 300ohm.

Burson Playmate 2 can virtually drive anything with a headphone jack that can be inserted in to its port, let be your LCD XC or HD800 the playmate can drive them with ease.

The decoding power of the SABRE ESS9038 is top class. It can do 768kHz up to 32bits and can play Native DSD 64 / 128 / 256 / 512 without any problem.

Variations:-

The Playmate 2 was available with more variations but as of now you can chose between basic NE5532/34 op-amps set, which I am reviewing the Playmate 2 with, and the more expensive V6 vivid. The V6 Vivid is fairly more expensive with a premium of $200 and it delivers better clarity that the basic one. I have the V6 Vivid with me and I will swap them to check the difference in sound. If you opt for the V6 vivid you will get a remote.



OPERATIONS AND I/O OPTIONS:-

As I said earlier the Playmate 2 is very versatile. To use it with a win 7 PC it needs the driver which can be downloaded from here. You don't need anything if you have win 10 or Apple system (I haven't tried it with MAC OS).

Let me get the portable part out here, not really portable at all but somehow portable in the sense that you can use this with your mobile phone or audio source.

Connecting with USB:-

So.. How to do that? You set your mobile device's USB output to audio out from developer options in some of the Android devices, if needed. (IOS doesn't need anything but a simple lightening to type-c adapter) Get yourself a USB type-C to C cable, connect it and you are good. Now press the little button on the on the left side of the 6.5mm headphone jack to turn the device on. Now press the small button aside the volume knob. The first option is input, press the volume knob and dial it anticlockwise which is come down to USB and you are ready to go!! Yippee!! It's not transportable but you can use your portable device with it.

PC Use:-

PC use is similar, use a Type-C to A cable, connect any if you PC and Windows 10+ or IOS it doesn't need any driver. The other input method is toslink, use it for a more Organic sound.

Other options:-

The only other connectivity option is the back RCA out to connect it as a pre-AMP. No RCA in this time aroud.

Operations:-

This time around the power button is a small round button placed at the bottom left corner. The operation is pretty basic. Press the small button aside the volume knob and you have the whole menu at your disposal. Rotate the knob clock wise to browse through the menu and press it to enter the menu, rotate it again to see the options and press in the option you feel you would like to choose. I have made a video to show you guys the menu.





SOUND QUALITY:-

The ESS9038 chip inside the playmate is the top of the line DAC chip from Esstech, one of the most renowned audio chip makers. It has 32-bit mobile audio DAC with unprecedented dynamic range and ultra-low distortion with both synchronous and asynchronous sample rate converters. With support for up to 768 kHz PCM and DSD256 the Playmate can handle anything you throw at it.

There are a handful of options with the P2 when it comes to op-amps. If you feel that you need to change the chip to extract even more out of it, all you have to do is to head over here and get yourself their upgrade op-amp chips.

The Playmate 2 with its flagship grade components delivers fantastic clarity and details with immaculate notes presentation which are clean and clear with excellent precision. It is just right on the money. The tuning is nicely balanced with no particular emphasis on anything but compared to the P1 the P2 has a bit more emphasis to the lower end and more evenly spread stage. The tonality and timber are a bit more on the musical side with better weight and body, the dry feeling is gone now. Of you find the notes to be on the forgiving side turn the emphasis off. Thanks to its versatile output capabilities P2 pairs well with a whole lot of headphones and IEMs with little tweaking.





BASS:-

P1 used to be dry and lifeless but the P2 is very much satisfying with the lower end delivery. It now has more punchy and weighty notes with fantastic rumble to them. Its capabilities can be told by the fact that, BQEYZ Autumn with its treble module delivers satisfying level of sub-bass rumble and extension with the P2, which is not the case with any other source. With sources like Micro sig it has the extension but the rumble wasn't this good. P2 doesn't tinker with the mid bass much, letting the IEMs maintains their natural body and weight but does help it tighten it up if it's unnaturally loose. I do still find the decay not to be immediate with emphasis on, with its turned off the P2 gets more analytical with tighter and less voluminous lower end.

MID RANGE:-

While the P1 was drier and mid focused with a bit of aggression in the finishing region, the P2 is fairly relaxed in this regard. It isn't mid focused and notes have more appropriate body and formation. Unlike the P1 the P2 doesn't take a large share of the stage but doesn't miss out on details, precision, accuracy and clarity. While using the P2 I realized that I don't need to use top end IEMs or headphones to perceive the resolution and definition of individual notes. The way it distinguishes each note and the texture on the body of vocal notes is special. Male vocals have accurate, throaty and fuller feel while the females have required amount of sharpness and aggression to them. Instruments around the vocals are slightly more energetic that the vocals but vocals have more body with a spacious feeling. The way the P2 defines the edges and bodies, especially with two notes of the same instruments is something special. There is no extra attack or energy, not even in the upper treble region. That's how a DAC should operate.

HIGHS:-

I was expecting improvements from P1 and its here. This time around the treble region isn't dull or lacking air. It has very good amount of emphasis and doesn't lack with energy or extension. Instruments here are nicely in line with the mid range with even better depth and height. P2's directional cues are as vivid as it gets but doesn't have the dry and cold feel to them. Notes have accurate sharpness and definition. The contrast between back and foreground instruments are very good. It doesn't put the background notes on the face, giving them a subtle feeling helps with its musical and technical department. Love the way the P2 defines the notes, its very accurate with the body as the base are as thick as they are supposed to be while the mid body isn't thin while the finishing region has better sharpness and edge definition with excellent separation. Layering needless to mention is of the highest quality. I used a $7 IEM, TCL Elit200 and the resolution and definition I was able to extract out of it was exceptionally good. It patched the slightly laggy and frames dropping of this IEM in the treble region while bringing better extension. When paired with the BQEYZ Summer Its a pure pleasure. It brings out the best of it with excellent clarity and details.



STAGE:-

Unlike the original the Playmate 2 has a much better distribution of instruments. The playmate had the mid range taking the majority share but here all the 3 parts of the spectrum give enough room and space to each other. The lower end is mostly placed inside ear while some the mids and highs do originate inside the ear but have most of the projection out of the head. Most of the treble notes are placed completely out of the head. I love the layered feeling here, if a note starts of move in an odd direction the notes around it make way for it, this is exceptionally cool, giving it one of the best imaging capabilities. Sonically too it has excelled. If you have a HP with big stage, this thing is seriously exciting.

Sound altering options:-

Not many reviewers will warn you about this but in the menu there is an option called "Emphasis". When it is off the notes are sharp and have more than average bite and attack. The transparency is super high. The finishing on notes is sharp and pin pointed. The whole sound quality is tuned to deliver accuracy and precision. Turn it on you will be treated with more subdued notes, losing some attack and bite but plenty to enjoy it.

In the FirFilter Menu there is another option to reduce a hint of sharpness and that is Brickwall, it will deliver the sharpest notes and CMFR will reduce some sharpness. Your choice, choose what you like.

For Gaming:-

Playmate 2 supports headphones with MICs too. The socket is placed just aside the 6.5mm socket. Use it with for gaming, my brother does gaming on it and its good, it supports all the headphones with 3.5mm jack, even the wired IEMs we use with our mobiles phones can be used for gaming.

COMPARISON:-

VS Micro Signature:-

The biggest difference here is the lack of balanced output with the Playmate 2. It has plenty of power nevertheless, so does the Micro Signature. Which one gets louder? I won't test that, I don't want to go deaf. Keep in mind that I do not have super demanding headphones..

Nevertheless the Micro signature is very similar to have the Playmate has to offer. Playmate 2 though has a bit better cleanliness, instruments have exceptionally good edge definition and the overall resolution is much superior. Overall P2 has better details, resolution and transparency. Stage size though is nearly 30% bigger on the Playmate 2. I do find the Micro Sig to have better control over power with its IE-Match and 3 step power output options to handle various head gears better.

When used with balanced out the Micro Sig delivers slightly better definition and space between instruments but still is not on par with the Playmate.



V6 Vivid vs NE5532/34:

There isn't a lot of difference here, the biggest one being the tonality and timber. While the NE set gets slightly more energetic notes and a bit more finishing definition with a bit of dry and cold feeling notes the V6 set provides a more musical and fuller notes. The stage is bigger by around 15% on the V6 SET and the energy is more even across the spectrum. NE set can feel a bit less forward in the vocals region, while the V6 has better uniformity.

Is it worth the upgrade? Yes, if you want the extra bit of musical feeling and stage. Or else if you can pair the NE version with a warmish headphone or IEM it delivers desired output.

CONCLUSION:-

If you are more of a purist and love to enjoy the technical bits you will love the Playmate to the core. It has the delicacies that you might not have experienced with this much of distinction. This time around the whole spectrum is marvelous. The transparency and clarity is exceptional and the level of details is outstanding.

The Playmate 2 is not for the casual user. If you like to be on the move, not much into headphones, you think you are an audiophile but don't think you need a desktop setup, please stay away. The playmate 2 is heavier, immobile and even if it has friendlier connectivity options it's hard to power it on the go, so if you are not into power hungry stuff, please don't make yourself sweat unnecessarily.

If you love your desktop setup, you love headphones over IEMs, you love precision over fun, the Playmate 2 is one of the best options for you.

Burson playmate 2 : Headphone dac/amp,Pre amp
I got Burson playmate 2 as part of Asia Review tour organised by Burson and Head-fi, I am not affiliated or tied up with brand, all impressions are based on my own experience.
Burson is well Well known brand in personal audio industry. Burson soloist and conductor series are most popular amongst audiophiles.Playmate 2 is successor of Burson playmate.
Box , Packaging and Accessories
Playmate 2 come packed in white sturdy very secure cardboard box. Box containing
1) burson playmate 2
2) Power brick
3) Usb C to Usb C cable
4) 3.5 mm trrs splitter
5) hex L type key
6) Extra fuse
Build Quality and design
Burson Playmate 2 made with machined Aluminium enclosure with is not only enclosure but plays role of heatsink also,Cool isn't it? Looks stunning like piece of an art. P2 looks solid but not heavy neither bulky nor big,can place vertically also (with help of stand which is not included as standerd accesories pack I guess)for space saving on desk. Also it comes with very cool looking informative display.
Connections:- input , output
Burson playmate 2 boast of USB Type C and Toslink Inputs. And 6.3mm headphone out ,3.5mm trrs headphone out for hps with mic ,RCA Pre out .
Specifications and usage
Playmate 2 has sabre ESS 9038Q2M dac chip Which is capable of PCM 32bit /786K / DSD512 decoding via USB C input and 24bit/192K via Toslink Input.And Class A amp with 3w/ch power, it has 1/4" headphone out as well as 3.5mm trrs out for hps/iem with mic , also can be use for standalone mic input. Very useful for gamers.P2 comes with thier Proprietary MCPS(max current power supply) Power brick.Free rotating Volume Nob gives primium feel but I felt it is not accurate while changing volume level ,it sometimes jumps between volume level, also not very good at browsing menu, accidentally jumps to next option while selecting some particular menu options. And yeah No mqa and no analogue input is surprising , can't use as standalone amp. But that's ok.
Sound impressions
I used HD650 ,akg k361 , Creative aurvana Live ,7z Timeless planar iem ,final vr3000 and few other iems and buds with playmate 2. Playmate 2 can easily drive HD650 at 60 position with high gain/ 80 position in low gain when feed by usb type c from fiio M11 pro/cayin n n6ii/smartphone usb out.so from amp section there is plenty of power.soundstage is wide enough but not very expanded in both width and depth , height is ok and somewhat similar to ifi micro idsd black label.detail retrieval is good.high frequencies are slightly leaned towards bright side , typical sabre dac type though not overly bright or harsh. Good air in treble,string instruments felt natural. Playmate 2's overall presentation is can say mid focused , vocals are well pronounced , forward,upper mids are slightly shouty ,hair more harsher then ifi black label and far more if compared to cayin e01.low frequencies had good impact and punch but slightly lack when subbass rumble hits , slightly lacking in extention aswell ,I m talking about LP fast filter (all impression are based on this particular filter and emphasis off ) when I switched on emphasis filter bass become muddy , less clean ,and some what dirty ,I didn't liked emphasis filter or what ever it is . Other then that I tried brickwall filter ,which I liked.if we compare to other ess based dac/dap , cayin e01 felt more musical and more smoother more rounded and warmer ,non fatiguing implementation of ess9038 pro , e01 is my personal favourite ess dac chip I came across till date but that's different category. Though playmate 2 isn't far behind .while if we talk about playmate 2 against ifi black label , black label is slightly more musical sounding and more powerful thn P2 , Resolution wise cayin T01 is far more impressive but non forgiving at same time ,while P2 is resolving yet more forgiving then cayin T01 and black label. But that's again it's different categories and different price segment. In last I would like to compare it's amp section with Headamp Gilmore lite mk2 (1.5W single end standalone Class A amp). With feed by ifi black label dac Gilmore felt hair more cleaner, more controlled , impressive low noise floor, neutral thn Playmate 2. I seriously wish Playmate must have dac input so we can use its class A amp without using inbuilt dac chip.
Conclusion
All over ,Burson playmate 2 is great entry level dac/amp combo in compact minimalistic desktop solution with mic input and versatile usb type c and Toslink Inputs , it's great for gamers and movie lovers like Me . feed from tv via Toslink and you are good to go. Same with Pc or consoles. Plus it is good for power hungry low impedance low sensitivity planars like hifiman sundara ,Ananda and some planar iems like Tin P1,P2 ,7z timeless etc

Burson Audio's Playmate 2 is an all-in-one entry-level Class A headphone amplifier, DAC, and pre-amp. It's the perfect package for people who are fairly new to the hobby and wants a plug and play solution - it pairs well for users with desktop/laptop setups.



The Playmate 2's build quality is top notch. Housed in a brushed aluminum finish, the case feels very premium. The volume dial feels very solid as well. I experienced a bit of inaccuracy when turning the dial slowly to fine tune my volume level, but this is tolerable. What I love most is its connectivity - it has USB Type-C so you can connect it to your PC, Mac, or even your smartphones. aside from the standard RCA output and , it also has a headphone jack with mic input which is perfect for gamers and streamers.

Personally I prefer a warm signature when listening because I have a high sensitivity to high frequencies - but somehow, the Playmate 2's slightly brighter sound does not feel harsh to my ears. I've tried going on a 3-hour listening session and there is no sign of fatigue at all.

I auditioned the Playmate 2 with a few peculiar IEMs, headphones and speakers. Here are my impressions:





1. IEM: Soundmagic E11

music: Bigger Than My Body - John Mayer

The Soundmagic e11 is still one of the best sounding IEM in the market considering its very affordable price. Its as close as neutral as it can get, so you get to hear what the source wants you to hear. And yes, the E11 pairs very well with the Playmate 2.

I set the gain level to low for the E11. The experience feels very immersive, but balanced - leaning toward a brighter sound. Bass is very clean, rumble is just right, paired with a nice decay. John Mayer's rhythm guitar strums have a nice crunch to it. Vocals are rich and full, and the highs have a certain clarity to it - clear but not harsh at all - even at high volume levels.





2. Monitors: Edifier R1000T4

music: Space Cowboy - Jamiroquai


Yes, the Edifier R1000T4 is an active pair of bookshelf speakers - but when driven by an external DAC/Amp, you'll be surprised of how good it can sound for its price.

And again, the Playmate 2 performed very well. Jamiroquai is very well know for their complex, very funky, but very pleasant music arrangement - and the Playmate 2 did not disappoint to showcase just about every detail in Space Cowboy. The bass guitar showing off its solo prowess, Jay Kay's vocals sound very rich, leaning to a thicker sound but it sounds just right for me. It also does well in terms of separation of instruments.





3. Headphones: Sennheiser HD 599

music: Godsent - Ben & Ben

The HD 599 has a laid-back output with its open-back design which is perfect for casual listening. Pairing this with the Playmate 2 gave it a lively but very pleasing sound. Godsent is a very intimate song - and the Playmate 2's bright sounding output gave the song a pleasant and vibrant feel. The Benjamin brother's vocals are the main highlight in this song - their voices sound very rich and clear, a bit thick - but still pleasant to listen to.





4. Headphones: AKG K361

music: Monarchy of Roses - Red Hot Chili Peppers

These headphones aren't really my type, but I gave it a try again with the Playmate 2. Somehow the Playmate 2 drives the K361 well - to the point that I'm starting to like this pair again. Again, it outputs a bright overall sound - but there is no harshness from the highs. Monarchy of Roses demonstrates the synergy of the members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in terms of musicality. Flea's super funky bass post along with Josh Klinghoffer's rythm guitars and Chad Smith's drums bringing the funky progressive sound all together with Anthony Kiedis' unique vocals - the Playmate 2 surprised me by driving the K361 and making this my go-to pair when listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers or other funk rock genres.


SUMMARY:

Burson Audio's all-in-one solution is perfect for the fairly new hobbyists making the entry into the DAC/Amp world. Its output is fairly bright - which tends to be a bit harsh for some treble sensitive ears - but the Playmate 2 perfectly balances the high frequencies, which makes the overall listening experience very pleasant and immersive. It's also versatile in terms of connectivity, and its interface is very easy to use.

Burson Audio is long known company in audiophile world. Loved, respected & known for designing excellent audio products. Their Burson Soloist series was a hit & still ongoing, currently ongoing Conductor also took market by storm. Their build quality, reliability & 5 years warranty to all their products are just worth mentioning.

I was able to get hands on their mid-tier production - Burson Playmate 2.0, thanks to ongoing Asia tour of Playmate 2 via Head-fi of which I can be a part be. I would like to thanks Burson Team for sending the unit in review. I would like to inform that this is not sponsored nor has been paid by Burson or anyone else. All impressions mentioned below reflects my personal experience with Burson PlayMate 2.



Playmate 2 is a class A power Amplifier having SABRE32/ESS9038Q2M DAC which can do DSD512 and PCM 32/768khz & having XMOS USB-Inputs as well as Optical input. Via USB, the Playmate 2 can decode PCM up to 32-bit/786 kHz and DSD natively up to DSD512. With 3.5mm TRRS splitter in addition to a microphone/headphone splitter cable, it not only allows you to transmit via a microphone but also receive audio through headphones simultaneously. Playmate 2 uses Burson's proprietary MCPS (Max Current Power Supply) to keep the unit fairly cool. Having multiple rollable OP-AMP options, along with a sleek design, and a ton of driving power, Burson Playmate2 is all-in-one DAC/AMP/Pre-Amp. I used the Playmate with stock Opamps & the package contained power-supply, USB-C cable, mic-splitter & the unit came in a tough white card packaged box with foam framework inside.

Playmate 2 is sleek in design, aluminum body with cool silvery finish, form-factor not so big having both 3.5mm(mic/audio) & 6.3mm ports in front & at back has USB-C & Toslink Inputs along with RCA ports to act as a pre-amp. The volume pot was though highly sensitive but I believe that could be because of excessive use or since it is used by different users as the unit has been a part of the review tour.



Headphones used : Audio Technica : AD700,900x , Hifiman HE-400 , Beyerdynamic T1 Gen1 & T5P Gen 2.

Sound :

First impression that you will get is that it’s a bold sound i.e. upfront focused mids with vocals taking the center-stage & all instruments around it. It’s catchy, it’s catchy the first time you listen to it, it immediately attracts attention. It’s a clean & intimate sound where you will be able to hear most of the detail. Mids are the area where it shines the most. As said above vocals taking the center-piece of attraction with all instruments popping in & out around it beautifully. Mids are neither thin nor neutral but having a very slight touch of meat gives a nice touch to vocals. Bass is accurate, well portrayed along with mids. It’s not affecting the mids in any manner but its quite on the fuller side, gives an impression sometimes that it is kinda omnipresent like you are surrounded by a body of mass and then the mids are playing within it. Mid Bass also feels accurate, not a very earth-shattering or rumbling of punches but enough for one's musical needs. Not for bass-heads though. Sub-bass is lacking for most of the part may be updated opamps can help it in bringing out. But that’s just a speculation for now. Treble is more on the drier side. It gives enough details but this is the area where it can be improved. But that doesn't mean that Burson lacks detail, you are still going to get enough of it, thanks to its excellent imaging. The thing with treble is that you are not going to find any sparkle here. It’s plain. That sparkly Treble, if you are a fan of that, you are definitely going to miss out.




Soundstage & Imaging: Soundstage is neither too big nor too small. Width/Height/Depth all are average, it’s a little towards that intimate & localized sound than big airy or otherwise expansive stage. Most of the songs are presented in a defined area. Playmate actually makes good use of its depth which also has a little forward characteristics, not much as compared to High end Dac/amps but still they have little of that characteristics. You will be able to hear all kind nuisance ongoing within a song, thanks to its great Imaging. That’s a trait of Playmate2 that it will be able to keep up with the busy tracks or complex passages within them. One of the tracks K2 – Hiroyuki Sawano Playmate was able to easily dissect the track and present in a faithful manner letting you hear all the details and different instruments within it which was really great.


Burson Playmate 2 has lots of power. There wasn’t any issue while driving any of the headphones be it planar or 600 ohm dynamics which is a really selling point. Another is that it also supports TOSLINK support which is great for some & esp. gamers who are using last gen consoles. Not only that its ability to accept a microphone input is cherry on the top. One feature which seems to be missing is that External DAC can-not be used with it. Another could be for some is the lack of support for MQA. It also comes with a remote control but that wasn't present in the review unit so I can't comment anything on it.



I believe Burson has given a sharp competition to other DAC/AMPs in the Mid-tier price range. With the range of features & flexibility to use it with a range of earphones or headphones , Burson has targeted not only the audiophile audience but also Gamers. Starting at $544 USD, the Playmate 2 can further be upgraded with Burson’s well known ‘Vivid’ Op-amps which can also help you experiment with the sound to your liking. Burson has provided a compelling offering in this price segment & will be on the radar of anyone who is looking for a great value and capable all-in-one unit in the new Playmate 2.

Burson Audio is a premium audio gear brand based out of Australia. They revolutionized the portable and desktop audio scene with their premium OPAMP chips that are available as aftermarket upgrades for our portable and desktop audio gear. They created some of the best OPAMPs that one can buy in the market today including their latest V5 and V6 series. I actually got a chance to audition their V5i-D OPAMP with my xDuoo XD05 Bal recently too. Burson Audio also has a wide range of Desktop audio gears including all-in-one Headphone DAC/AMPs, award-winning power supply systems(known as MCPS), and more. What I have today with me is their latest all-in-one headphone DAC/AMP, the Burson Playmate 2.

Playmate 2 is an entry-level All-in-One headphone DAC+AMP+Pre-AMP that is powered by an ES9038 DAC chip. It supports high-resolution 32-Bit/768kHz PCM decoding as well as native DSD512 decoding. It provides multiple connection options including USB & Optical. For output, we have an RCA pre-out, a 6.35mm headphone jack, and also a 3.5mm aux out. The 3.5mm Aux out also supports mic input that makes it suitable for use while gaming or streaming. Burson Playmate 2 is available in multiple variants starting at 544$ for the stock and 744$ for the upgraded Burson V6 OPAMP variant. I received the stock OPAMP variant for review.

Disclaimer:-

Burson Audio organized an Asia tour for Playmate 2 via Headfi. I got the unit as a part of this review tour for about a week. I would like to thank the Burson Audio team for sending the unit in for this review, would like to assure you this doesn’t affect my review. All impressions in this review are completely my own based on my own usage of the device. It will be shipped to the next reviewer after my turn(supposedly tomorrow). If interested, you can buy the Burson Playmate 2 from their official website from the link below(Not affiliated).
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/playmate-2/

Package & Accessories:-

Burson packs the playmate 2 in a simple white cardboard box. The device holds its own space under the box in foam cutouts keeping it safe from any transit damage. There’s also a small cardboard box inside that has the power supply, USB Type-C to Type-C connector cable, an L-shaped screw opening tool, and a 3.5mm headphone and mic adapter. The package is quite simple yet elegant with all the necessary accessories included.

Contents:-

>Burson Playmate 2.

>USB Type-C to Type-C connector cable.

>Power brick.

>Screw driver.

>3.5mm-headphone and mic adapter.

Build Quality, Design, Aesthetics:-

Classy & elegant are the words that instantly come into my mind at first glance on the Playmate 2. It has a fully metallic build with aluminum chassis. It has just the required stuff placed neatly, a volume wheel along with a small display and headphone output ports on the front, RCA out, and USB+Optical IN on the back along with the power socket. There’s also a power on/off switch as well as a menu switch on the front. In terms of design and build quality, the Burson Playmate 2 is simply excellent. The volume wheel here is free to move, I am guessing it has digital volume control. Though the adjustment is precise for volume.

User Interface & Features:-

The small display offers a short user interface for the users. It displays volume level(out of 100), Active input type, Active output, and active file type and bitrate. We have to access the menu using the menu switch placed near the volume wheel. It allows us to choose between different Input options, gain modes, output options, DPLL(DSD), DPLL(PCM), Emphasis, active filter, and Reset settings options. Playmate 2 has two levels of gain, low gain suitable for IEMs/Earphones/low-power demanding headphones, and high-gain mode suitable primarily for headphones. Playmate 2 has multiple digital filters such as LP Slow, LP Fast, MP Fast, MP Slow, AP Fast, Reserved, CMFR, and Brickwall. I tried A/B’ing these filters but they sound identical to me.

Driving Power:-

Burson is a very capable device with enough power to feed the IEMs and HPs I have with me. I paired Tanchjim Tanya, Kinera Norn, KBEar Aurora, and Sennheiser HD58x with the Burson all of them powered quite easily. The 150Ω HD58x is at adequate volume at around 25-30 level on high-gain mode. So I would say the Playmate 2 can power most HPs out there with ease.

Sound Quality:-

Playmate 2 has a bright touch to its tone with a slightly elevated bass response. It maintains good clarity throughout the frequency range with no noticeable bloat or fatigue. Playmate 2 provides enough juice to produce a wide sound field presentation with excellent instrument separation. Though I noticed a slight bit of background noise with sensitive sets like Kinera Norn when connected on High-gain mode. I would suggest sticking with Low gain mode for IEMs at least on stock OPAMPs. Well, that’s all about the sound signature. But I would love to discuss how the Playmate 2 pairs with my IEMs/HPs to describe its sound better.

Burson Playmate 2 With Tanchjim Tanya:-

Don’t go on the 20$ price tag of Tanchjim Tanya, this little beauty packs a punch. But it needs some extra juice to sound its best. And The Burson Playmate provides it exactly that. The Tanchjim Tanya is loud enough for me at just 30/100 volume level on low gain mode. There is no noticeable background noise, no noticeable distortion even at loud volume. It’s like a match made in heaven delivering powerful performance with beautiful lush vocals and extended treble.

Burson Playmate 2 With Kinera Norn:-

Norn is a sensitive hybrid set capable of delivering an immersive experience with powerful sound. Playmate 2 powers it well at around 20/100 volume(low gain) producing a powerful bass response with a good mid-bass slam. Sub-bass rumble could be slightly better here though. Vocals have a rich, thick tone here with the Playmate 2. Treble maintains good clarity and extension with this pairing. I enjoyed this combination too!! Even while playing Video games on my PC(Valorant and stuff), the Norn and Playmate 2 made an amazing stack.

Burson Playmate 2 With KBEar Aurora:-

I just received the KBEar Aurora yesterday, I instantly tried it with the Burson Playmate 2. Aurora isn’t a demanding set at all, it is being powered amazingly well at around 20/100 volume level on low gain mode. The punch in the lower end is delivered well, sub-bass extension again could be a bit better here. Aurora, as on my initial impressions has a recessed midrange presentation, though the Playmate 2 presents it well with great clarity and rich vocals. Aurora also benefits with a slight bit of bright touch in the treble section by Playmate 2. Again an amazing combo.

Burson Playmate 2 With Sennheiser HD58X:-

HD58x has a warm and dark tone to itself which benefits from the bright and detailed sound of Playmate 2. It is adequately loud at 30-35/100 volume level in high-gain mode. There is no noticeable background hiss here. While I personally love the HD6x0 or HD58x HPs with Tube AMPs, the solid-state Playmate 2 pairs well with the HD58X. The output is immersive with a rich midrange & extended treble response. Though I would say, the lower end here is not the best with this pairing. The sub-bass went missing here with the HD58x.

Dynamics such as Layering, Instrument Separation, and Imaging are spot on with each of the pairings.

Final Words For Burson Playmate 2:-

In simple words, Burson Playmate 2 is a fantastically built device that offers hi-res audio signal decoding with clean & powerful output. It pairs well with most of my sources providing a deeply immersive experience. The neat aluminum build is simply elegant and classy. It serves as a one-point solution as an all-in-one DAC/AMP connected to a PC for media and gaming. Another point in the favour of Playmate 2 for their replaceable OPAMP design. Users can switch the OPAMPs as per their listening preferences. Nitpicking of Cons, I would say the Playmate 2 lacks sub-bass extension on the stock OPAMPs. Also a bit of background noise with sensitive IEMs on high-gain mode. But then again I don’t think the high-gain mode is made for sensitive IEMs so that’s again nitpicking. I would like to thank Burson again for arranging this tour for this brilliant device in my region. If interested, you can buy it from their store here. (Not affiliated).

Introduction:
Burson is an Australian brand which took the world by storm with its revolutionary flagship 'Conductor' line up DAC/AMP products back in 2019. They revolutionized the power supply technology with their proprietary Max Current Power Supply (MCPS). This was a game changer for audio equipment.

Playmate2 is the latest entry in their product catalog, this is an all-in-one entry-level desktop DAC/AMP. Housed in a stylish white box, I received the Playmate2 without it’s OpAmp upgrade. The package arrived with the basic components including the unit, power supply , USB-C cable, mic splitter etc. immaculately kept in a thick styro-foam framework for safekeeping.

I personally liked the looks and aesthetics of the product. The entire chassis is metal and build to act as a heat sink as a result of which the unit runs at minimal temperatures even after a long listening session. The volume knob is placed at the front side of the equipment along with a small screen, 6.3mm port for headphone, 3.5mm TRRS port for mic/audio and a menu button. There is nice little 3.5mm adapter provided to separate the mic in and audio out. The backside has power input(24V-DC-3A), USB-C port input port and a toshlink digital port. RCA port has been provided to use the playmate2 as a pre-amp which works the way it has been advertise. It also has a IR sensor to use the remote control with it I believe.

The device feels sturdy and solid. The build quality is spot on and suits the stature of the brand. The complimentary components are also of premium quality giving the entire setup an X-factor in style. It can also act a pre-amplifier.

The playmate2 comes with embedded ESS ES9038Q2M DAC and has a capability of DSD512 and 32/768khz decoding with some digital phase loop customizations/filters. It has a full Class A operation with two levels of power control, each with 100 volume steps. One can also upgrade Playmate2 easily with OpAmps for further tuning of sounds.



Pairing:
For this review the unit has been paired to :
Sources: Laptop, Samsung S6 lite
Headphones: Focal Clear, Beyerdynamic T1 2nd generation, Hifiman He400i_2020, Sennheiser HD600
IEMs: Fiio FD5, Tin Audio P2
Earbuds: VE Zen2.0

Disclaimer:
I have received as part of review circle sent from Brand itself in exchange of honest reviews. All impressions of sound are subjective to my own listening and my sources and is based on my experience with DAC/AMPs of similar hardware configurations and price range. The unit has been reviewed with stock OpAmps



*Note : Below impressions are based on stock settings and operational amplifiers

Highs:
The high frequency range in Burson Playmate2 are very well defined and have good control over them. The highs sounds crisp but it's very well designed that it does not go harsh at any moment. A job well done Burson I would say in taming the sabre I must say. I have used it for more than 3-4 hours straight while working from home these days, and not at any point of time I felt treble fatigue, or I could complain loss of details or any kind of heating issues. The highs have very good texture and resolution to them, but at times the cymbals and other similar instruments sounds bit crunchy. Overall I would say I enjoyed the complete treble response on this. The highs of “Rehna Tu from Delhi-6” were very well defined and I have tested this song specifically on my different headphones/IEMs and Burson Playmate2 has performed very well on each of them.

Mids:
Mids are the region where Burson Playmate2 has focus typically due to the heart of the device i.e. the sabre DAC. It has the very well-known typical sabre glare in the mids. The mid-range is very well defined and has all the characteristics of sabre signature. The upper mids sound a little harsh and has very much emphasis as a result of which the instruments in this section shine out amazingly with very nice micro dynamics. A perfect example of it I would say would be listening to “Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms” track, the vocals were so crisp and lively, with all the instruments easily distinguishable. This harshness I believe can be molded using the different OpAmp such as V5/V6 discrete.

Lows:
The lower frequency range is what I believe has been the area where it does not shine well with stock OpAmps. I tested the "KVSH - Tokyo Drift" track on it majorly, the Bass response is fuller no doubt and has a good impact with an authority all of the plane but it lacks a certain extension. The sub bass felt missing in lot of testing scenarios and the overall bass response rolls off bit early as well. I guess this is the area that certainly needs improvement and one should definitely to look forward in changing of OpAmps (V5/V6 discrete I would say will drastically improve this as per my earlier experience with OpAmp rolling)

Technicalities:
The instrument separation is just fantastic on Burson playmate2. The soundstage on the other hand is mostly stereo, but has very good left and right transactions. The soundstage is also very wide but somehow lacks the depth and height also is average. There is no holographic feel to it but the transitions were very smooth. But I do believe that this can be improved by the use of different operational amplifier as I am using the ES9038Pro in my A&K S100 DAP.



Final Verdict:
In a nutshell, I would say that the Burson Playmate2 has a very typical Sabre Sound, sounds bit glaring straight out of the box with stock settings, the highs are crisp, upper-mids bit emphasized but that can be changed using different LP/Digital filters and OpAmp rolling. The instrument separation is very good. I just loved the chassis design, it not only look good aesthetically but work the purpose of heatsink efficiently keeping the overall temperature controlled even after long listening sessions. The optical and mic inputs make it very convenient to use for gaming. It’s a beast when it comes to output power both at headphone out or as a pre-amp. USB-C connection is very convenient as most of gadgets out there, be it laptops or android tablets/phones, all come with a USB-C. So if your priority is to have a sleek and stylish looking all-in-one desktop DAC/AMP setup to use with gaming and music then definitely Burson Playmate2 is a good choice.

OpAmp Rolling:



LP Operational amplifiers (the two chips in the middle) are basically for the low pass stage of the amplifier, these are directly connected to the power capacitors for bit harshness removal of sabre DAC and bit of bass emphasis. The other two chips are for IV stage that is current and voltage amplification. So the output of the DAC is first fed to IV OpAmps and then after a little filtration it sent to the headphone jack. Also, the most important part, the circuit supports dual supply rail OpAmp for IV OpAmp (outer ones) whereas the OpAmp used for LP filtration (center ones) are of single supply rail, so be careful on that part before swapping the OpAmps. I was not able to perform any OpAmp rolling but I do believe that it will have drastic impact on the sound. In my previous experience with OpAmp rolling, the V5/V6 discrete OpAmps had have a very good impact in terms of low frequency response and overall dynamics improvement.

Glad to be part of the Playmate 2 tour here in the PH, thanks in part to @SS-Audio and @d m41n man for letting me experience this gear as I have been hearing of the Burson name. Most of the in-depth details have already been mentioned in the reviews below so here is from a newbie's point of view of Burson's all-in-one DAC/amp:

Build and Package
The Burson Playmate 2 comes in a white box with the unit housed in thick foam and its accessories in another white box inside. This is just basic package (without the V6 vivid opamps and remote) so it is just the unit, power supply, USB-C cable, tool, headset w/ mic splitter and fuse. The housing also serve like a heatsink hence it is only warm even during my hours of listening.



Sound Quality and Connectivity
Upon connecting via an android phone (Huawei Mate 20), I find it a bit iffy to connect since the USB Audio Player Pro often indicates Android instead of USB DAC so it means it's using the onboard Android to pass through sound. I have to disconnect then connect again, close and restart UAPP to sync it to use USB DAC mode. On a PC though, it has no trouble connecting so this is a good unit to be a mainstay on soemone's workstation due to its headset and mic capable port, which is very useful without switching headphones much even when gaming.



Listening with my trusty HD6xx and Grado SR225e with their contrasting signatures, I put the Playmate 2 to the test. What I like about this unit is I can listen with it for hours and both multitask or just enjoy the pleasure. It does not make me nitpick the music itself and has enough volume and power with enough room on the volume pot. It is at most times smooth but also a bit grainy on some, but not as grainy compared to a Schiit Magni/Modi stack on higher volumes. It is never sibilant or harsh but I can't help noticing there were details that I've heard on my headphones but somewhat subtle or not as standing out with this unit. Not sure if it's the DAC (which is a ESS Sabre) but it sure can't be helped to be compared to stacks I've heard with Topping stack and Chord Mojo bringing out more details that I somehow missed here, considering the former two are lower in price. Hence, here's wishing there's a line input so we can use a different DAC or preamp with the amp section since it is a very capable one.



Therefore, this is a unit I would not hesitate having its own space on my desk with its function and connection to a worktation or media PC. It may be pricey compared to some stacks in the market or some all-in-one units but it still has that Australian-made premium feel and plays well with all genres I've listened. It is quite a performer and I am left wishing it has the V6 vivid opamps and wanting more what it can offer at its optimised setup.

Disclaimer : I am reviewing the Burson Playmate 2 as part of the Burson review tour. The opinions expressed are completely mine, and there was no gift/cash in exchange for the review.

Packaging and Build
The amp arrived in a corrugated box, with the retail box inside. It was in immaculate condition, so full marks for the packing and shipping straight from Burson.
The kit consisted of amp, the power brick and a 2 pin power cable, a USB-c to USB-c cable and a Mic / speaker splitter adapter.

The amp itself is a very sturdy metal enclosure with hex screws on the front and back panels. On removing the screws, the case opens from the top, allowing for access to the opamps. Very sensible design!

Source and pairings

In order to be consistent with the review, I usedmy trusty HP EliteBook with B&O tuning as the source with the USB-C port acting as the source of data. On windows, I could set the sampling rate to 32/384 Khz from the control panel, without the need for additional drivers.

I used the following headphones and iems to test the setup.

1. AKG K240M 600 ohms (I use this as one of my torture tests for gear as it is quite hard to drive)
2. Yamaha YH1 (Again a torture test)
3. HD600 / HD599
4. HE560 v1
5. Fiio FD5

The first 2 headphones allow for testing the driving capability of the amp for gain and distortion. The HD599 is a sensitive can and checks for hisses and noises due to its low impedance

The HD600 is used to test for the mids and the HE560 for stage and details. I tried the FD5 (great pairing) as a test of FD5's ability to scale more than a test of the Burson.

The Sound/Amping

With both the k240 and the yh1,I had to increase gain to about 90, in order to sound full. Which is about 10 less than the highest value. So this is a scrape through of the amp, with the stock NE 5532/34 opamps.

With the stock opamps though, the amp sounded a bit bright, with a slightly elevated bass. Vocals sounded thick as well as thick drum notes. The mids were slightly recessed, but with a warm tinge to both male and female voices.

On the other hps, the details were nicely retrieved, while being on the V curve quite a bit. The notes were decently fast and the stage wide.

On the Danish Orchestra's rendition of Good, Bad and Ugly, it was a warm ride through and through. There was good stage reproduction, but depth was a bit shallow. The instruments were spread out evenly and sounded alright.

Next on was a favorite bass test Kerala Dust- Untitled/Late Sun. The sound was warm and engaging. The subbass was quite light with the amp.

Bubbles by Horikawa was a bit brighter than usual. Some amount of sibilance was felt on the track right through.

Since the stock opamp was used, and I didnt have replacement options (V5 or V6), I finished the tests with the stock options only.

Nitpicks

• The dac and amp sections come together. There is no option to supply in analog input to the amp, and has to be in via toslink or usb.
• Gain is alright for headphone amping, but without rolling of opamps, it is not the best sounding dac amp out there. At this pricepoint, it is fair to expect a set of opamps to be accompanying the amp.

Summary
Overall, well built amp which can help reduce the number of devices on the desktop by combining the dac and amp in one device, with built in intent and support for opamp rolling.

Introduction

The Burson Playmate 2 is a loaned unit from Burson Audio and will be returned after the review. The select reviewers each have 2 weeks-time to do listening sessions and provide honest feedback and sound impressions. I would like to thank Bhavneet of Burson Audio and Kim from our local audio community for this opportunity.

Personal Preference and History

This is my first proper review of a dac/amp so I am going to give some information about my audiophile journey. (You can always skip this and head on to the Sound Impression section. Moving forward this will be removed )

It was back in 2010, when I first discovered my passion for audio, I am really into portables, that is, daps and iems. I used to be a one set-up only guy who keep only 1 pair of iems and dap back then.

I then found out that a colleague of mine happened to be an audiophile as well and he’s helped introduced me to a lot of other iems, daps and headphones in his collection. He’s also a major influence on some of the music I use to listen and test out audio gears. We’re still very good friends to this date.

I had the opportunity of owning the previous legends in iems (IE8, TF10, UM3X, SM3) before the era of new TOTL iems breaching $1000 price. That continue to be the case until 2019. During that time, I only had the LCD 2.2 and Massdrop LCX+Sdac. Fast-forward to 2020, when the pandemic strike, I became more and more fond of using headphones since we started working at home. I was also loaned a modded HD800 by a good friend of mine for a period of 5 months, we call him “King of the North” of Audio by a group of friends because of the various collections he has ranging from iems, ciems, dac, amps and headphones and because of his generosity in lending his friends with various gears at length. Then late 2020, I purchased the legendary HD650 mainly for casual listening and oh you know, for vocal-oriented tracks.

In 2021, I wanted to buy a headphone with the end in mind, I wanted something that would last me years with audio bliss and that is with the HD800. Thanks to my generous friend for giving me enough time with his HD800. I was able to buy a new one last March when our local Sennheiser dealer went on sale. However, as most of us in this hobby, I could not let go of the itch, I have also acquired LCD 2C and LCD3F shortly after that for use when I wanted something very fun.

I used to have a Massdrop LCX+Sdac but replaced that with Questyle, Ifi and Little Dot dac/amps all in 2021.

I used to love bassy and v-shaped signature but as I grew older with this hobby, I began to appreciate all the sound signatures and started buying gears that would have different use when my mood calls for it.

We used to have regular audio meets before the pandemic so it really has changed in a while but our online groups are still very alive.

Packaging

The unit arrived in a very neat white box. This was already opened for obvious reason that this was a review unit. Upon opening the box, you will be greeted with a white styro foam to cover the entire amp thick enough to guarantee the safety of it during transport and delivery. Then there is the manual(attached to the white foam), certificate of clearance, a usb c to usb c cable, a tool to pry open the screws of the unit, 24-volt wall wart adapter and the power cable.



Build and Design

What can I say, everything is made out of metal. It feels very compact in the hand with just the right weight. It looks and feels premium to the hands as well.

The front of the unit has the volume knob, small screen, menu button on the right most part, 6.3 mm for headphone out, 3.5 mm for mic input, and the power button on the left most part. It has no 4.4 mm or 4-pin XLR balanced in.

The back has the RCA inputs, USB C port and Power port.

Sad to say that at this price point, you only have very limited way to connect from different devices. The Playmate 2 could also not connect through wifi. But hey, since this is the entry level amp from Burson, it just makes sense that the features were trimmed down.

One thing I noticed though is that volume knob is sometimes finicky to use, there are times when Volume gets up when turning the knob to reduce it and vice versa but definitely not something that will take away the great things that this amp is capable of.

You will also notice that there is a portion of the screen that flickers but not something that bothered me.

Features:

Some of the notable features are:

• Class A amplifier
• ES9038Q2M Dac chip
• Sound Filters
• USB C input
• Microphone input
• Opamp rollable

Gears Used

Sources: iPad Pro 2018, Xiaomi Mi10T
Dac/Amps: Playmate 2, ifi Zen Blue to Little Dot MKII, Questyle CMA600i
Cans: HD800, HD650, LCD2C, LCD3F
IEM: ER4SR

Music files used

I used to have a dedicated dap for music but have completely went streaming (Apple Music) this year. Apple Music, to my ears, have better quality compared to Spotify where I used to have a subscription. I have no experience with other streaming apps like Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, etc. The upgrade to lossless made it more easy for me to switch to Apple Music this year.

Fleetwood Mac (Dreams, Gipsy, Everywhere)
Dire Straits (Money for Nothing, Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life)
Adele (Someone Like You, Chasing Pavement, Rolling in the Deep)
Billie Eilish (bad guy)
Bread (Welcome to the Music, Guitar Man, Aubrey)
Incubus (Are You In?, Megalomaniac, Nice to Know You)
Paramore (Careful, Turn it Off)
Rodrigo y Gabriela (Hanuman, Buster Voodoo)

Review Methodology

This is not going to be a review of measurements but more on how I perceived the sound through listening sessions. For measurements, you can find them elsewhere and I am by no means an expert in reading and interpreting what the measurements have to say. Though I do understood them a little. This would also not include any teardown of the internals of the amplifier. The previous reviews in headfi had that already.

Sound Impressions

I did most of my listening sessions in default configuration. Amp is on high gain, filter on MP FAST. All of the impressions are from the headphone out as well. I tried switching between the different sound filters available but heard very subtle difference with my own ears so I kept it at back at default.

Lows

The lows are clean with rounded notes to it. Sabre dacs are generally known to have clean bass notes that is not obtrusive and this is not an exception for the Playmate 2. It does have enough body and good speed and articulation of bass notes but felt like the sub-bass does not hit very deep. It’s more on the Neutral end of the horizon.

Mids

Vocals are forward and it’s very natural sounding and detailed enough from lower mids to mids transition but heard some graininess on the upper midrange particularly when listening to some female artists such as with Adele, where it sounded a bit distorted.

I’d say mids is very well represented here save for some occasion of graininess in the upper mids.

Highs

Moving on the High frequency, it has decent extension and has good details in it. Cymbals have natural crash in them. I used to own a dap with ESS9018 at the heart of it and it had this sabre glare. I had not noticed this very prominently with the Playmate 2. When using the HD800, it did not amplify the 6Khz peak that it’s known for and I’d say the Playmate 2 did better on this regard than the CMA600i. Overall, it’s very controlled and not sibilant.

Soundstage and Instrument Separation

Soundstaging is good. It has good enough depth and space in between the instruments. I am amazed how instruments are adeptly separated and could easily be pinpointed in your head. But I heard better.

Details

The Playmate 2 has good detail retrieval but only marginally better than my zen blue and littledot combo. It falls short compared to the older CMA600i.

Others

Sadly, I don’t have extra opamps to roll out with so all of this impressions were made based from the stock configuration.

Pairing

With HD800

The HD800 I have is un un-modded version since I got this new just this year and have no plans of modding them yet.

The chameleon of headphones in my collection. It sounded really differently plugged into different amps that I’ve tried. At first I was not a believer until I owned it personally. Listening volume is at 30-33 with the Burson amp.

The overall pairing is quite good. The one quirk with the HD800 being peaky at the 6Khz is a bit toned down by Playmate 2. It still on the thin sound of things. The bass has acceptable body to it, not something that will warm up the overall sound experience but you could hear that rounded bass notes. The HD800’s bass sounds thin when not properly amped. There is a bit of graininess in the upper mids to the highest frequency from what I heard. The soundstage is retained but not improved.

Overall, this pairing led me to my listening experience closely to how the tubes powered the HD800. It’s a good pairing but I would say that HD800 really benefits from tubes more.

With HD650

The HD650 is known to be very warm with rounded bass, very realistic vocal tonality and smoothed but extended high frequency response. It tends to be get crowded most of the time if I am listening with rock music. But for most of the genres, it sounded fine.

With the Playmate 2, my listening volume is between 33-42 at high gain. Anything above that is already beyond my tolerable listening loudness before I get dizzy or experience headache and fatigue.

The pairing is very good with the Burson. The HD650 retains its magical mids, the bass is still rounded but no major improvement in the sub bass so at times, it struggles to catch up with more complex songs. Highs are still very smooth, the veil is lifted a bit and still have what you would expect from these cans, inoffensive but well extended highs. On some rock songs with complex passages, the HD650 still struggles but I think this is more of the headphone limitation than the Burson amp. The soundstage is on the average side. Not as improved as when using them with tubes.

I would say not the best pairing if you really want to bring out the best out of the HD650 but will definitely suffice if you only want your HD650 driven properly and to produce good to decent sound.

With LCD2C

Pairing the Playmate 2 with the 2C presents a delicious bass presentation. Listening volume at 25-28 at high gain. I really love the 2C because of its bass character in that it sounds full but stops just before it bleeds to the mids, for the most part.

The vocals still sounds full particularly for the male vocals. I detect a bit of peak somewhere in the upper mids when listening to some female vocals though that at times, the vocals sounded wonky. This was not the case with LCD3F with the Playmate 2 pairing.

The bigger than average soundstage of the 2C is retained with this combo but will definitely not reach the HD800 territory.

The highs is just above the HD650 when it comes to openness and close to how the LCD3F sounds although the 3F has the upper advantage when it comes to refinement in presentation and during more complex passages which the 2C usually struggles.

Overall great pairing with LCD2C with some quirks but something that I can actually live with this pairing.

With LCD3F

Of all the headphones that I have in my collection, the LCD3F had the best synergy with it. The first time I plugged in the 3s to the Playmate 2, I heard what seemed to be the best synergy with this Burson amp in my collection. The sound is so much more alive and dynamic. Listening volume at 29-31 at high gain. The sub bass hits deeper, the mids opened up with the instruments having more definition than how I heard it from my other 2 set ups. The vocals, oh! They’re really sweeter with this combo. I’d say I like this better than my HD650’s vocals. The highs are pushed in a way that the sound is more livelier but still nowhere fatiguing. All the frequency is reproduced beautifully.

The LCD3F sounded flat and a little boring plugged into my Questyle amp which was not the case with the Playmate 2.

I really love this pairing and would definitely recommend this amp if you have the LCD3s.

With ER4SR

Plugging the ER4SR brought a very neutral presentation with just a bit of added bass elevation and definition and extension in the high frequencies.

I noticed that with ER4SR, the bass tone will depend mostly on where you pair it with and also how you insert it to your ears. It’s on the lighter side of things. Plug it shallow to your ears and the bass will take a hit and amplify the high frequency, at least from my experience with them.

The ER4SR continue to have its strengths with this pairing. I’d say still sounding sterile and a bit lifeless but if you want technicalities with IEMs, this is definitely very hard to beat.

Soundstage is still on the smaller side but you get improved instrumentation as it helps to extend both the end of the sound spectrums.

I heard no hissing from this combo as well. Overall this for me is a good pairing.

Comparison

At the time of this writing, I only have the Questyle CMA600i dac and amp and ifi Zen Blue DAC connected to Little Dot MKII tube amplifier.

Vs. Zen Blue DAC + Little Dot MK II (around $250 combined)

Both of my Sennheiser cans really love the tube amplification even if it’s just from an entry level tube amp. Although I should also mention that the LCD3F also loves them. The 2C on the other hand is the only can that did not sound so good with the Little dot combo I have.

The Playmate 2 just simply could not reproduce the bass fullness of Little Dot MKII when paired with the Senns. Both the HD650 and HD800’s bass response on the Burson are more than acceptable especially with HD800 as it’s known to sound thin on most solid state amps(from what I read and watch).

All I could say is that the Burson have the Littledot MKII bested when paired with My Planars cans. Even though the LCD3F also loves the tube pairing, I heard more fullness and dynamics pairing it with Burson. Same with the LCD 2C, although not as sublime with its pairing with CMA600i, it performed better with Burson than plugged on the Little Dots.

In summary, the tonal characters of both the LCDs that I have is more realistic paired with Burson than on the Little Dot but the Sennheiser undoubtedly sound more preferrable with the Little Dot tubes.

Vs. Questyle CMA600i (around $1000)

Let’s talk about the build, the Questyle has more heft to its body as it’s bigger but the feel is really more premium compared to the Playmate 2 amp. They’re both made of all metal housing but I’d give a nod to the Questyle here based on personal preference.

When it comes to sound, the Questyle is the more leaner and more technical of the 2. When using the HD800, there is a noticeable reduction in the upper mids when playing it with the Burson. The sound is never fatiguing unless you go beyond the average normal listening volume. The Questyle on the other hand will present you all the details of the music. It extract more details than what the Burson can but at the cost of sounding a little hotter up top. I could only listen at average to low volume levels with the Questyle amp but could do louder with the Playmate 2 as it’s more tamed up top.

I have to note that the Questyle dac/amp has this occasional popping up when changing songs and even sometimes during a song when connected via USB. It’s very audible that I used to be annoyed with it but eventually grew accustomed to it. None of that is present with the Playmate 2.

In summary, I would pick the Questyle when I want to listen to technicalities and desire for more detail and extension on both ends. The Questyle will tend to sound sibilant at times than with the Burson paired with HD800 but is relatively ok with HD650 and LCD3F. LCD2C sounded based paired with CMA600i.

I would pick the Burson if I want something a bit fun to listen, decent sound quality, to save some desk space, and if I just want to relax and don’t want my music to get into my head that much.

Conclusion

At $550 to $700 pricing of the Playmate 2, this amp is really a good starting point if you have that budget. If you want great build and would not take that much of space on your desk, has very decent sound quality and would pair quite nicely and power most headphones out there, this is the amp to go.

Although I was not able to do opamp rolling, this Amp lets you tweak and experiment with the sound to your liking. The limited connections may be a deal breaker for some but the overall sound performance and good synergy with most headphones should give this amp a great value until you are ready to move on to more bigger things in this hobby. This experience got me curious to have a try to the Playmate 2’s bigger and more expensive siblings.

Thank you Burson for loaning the unit for review.

Upon handling the device, it is immediately clear that the Playmate 2 has good build quality. The large aluminum chassis acts as a heatsink allowing for a Class A experience that remains warm to the touch and not hot. In a world of black boxes, it is very refreshing to see a stately silver affair that calls back to the earlier days of hi-fi. Among the items included in the box are a spare fuse, headset mic/headphone out adapter for the 3.5mm headset jack, and a short USB C cable. The cable is very short. I opted to use my own USB C to C cable, while not much longer, allowed me to place the Playmate 2 where I needed it on my desk. The Playmate 2 that I received is in the stock configuration.

As someone who appreciates a smooth analog potentiometer and finds frustration with the volume stepping and feel of most digital volume control knobs, Burson’s implementation feels right. The knob is easy to turn with just the right amount of attack and release in a muted yet wide “clicky” feeling, not sound. However it does occasionally register a value in the opposite direction when turning the knob rapidly. This does not bother me as much as it might bother someone else. The volume is incapable of being adjusted rapidly as the max changing speed seems to be capped. [EDIT] Newer units implement a fully smooth rotation without the "clicks".

The soundstage and positioning are well presented with instruments living in their own respective spaces. The overall tonality of the device is fantastic. To me, it really affords the sense that the source I am listening to is, for the lack of a better word, “analog” in all the right ways (no pops, hiss, audible distortion) It does not have any “digital harshness” or grain with my headphones often associated with “neutral” sources. However, the AP Fast filter does bring out some glare to my ears. I would still call the PM2 fairly neutral, with a tad of mid range warmth without a hint of muddiness. I am given the sonic impression that the music is being supported by a strong (Class A) stream of power. Almost like a kite or bird being supported by an air stream. The wind supports the wings of the music. Supplying Burson’s Class A design is their ‘MCPS’ (Max Current) power supply. Many traditional power supplies implement a long stretch of wire referred to as a “power transformer”. This introduces impedance. This power supply “uses transistors and as such it has less than 1 ohm of resistance. It means delivering electric current instantly to meet any demand. The resulting music reproduction is detailed and dynamic”. It also takes the standard 60/50hz sine wave that comes in from your house mains and converts it to 170khz, far beyond the range of human hearing. This mitigates noise that may be introduced by the use of inferior power supplies. To my ears, the MCPS feeds the PM2 nicely.

The menu allows you to switch between the Optical and USB inputs, and Pre-Out/Headphone Outputs. The Playmate 2 does not have any analog inputs. The low gain mode was sufficient for my gear. The ESS DAC has several FIR filters available to select. In my subjective listening, I found myself going back to the LP (Linear Phase) Fast filter. To my ears, it presented the best transient response. I love the rising “snap” sound of percussive instruments and this filter presented them nicely. For a different presentation in soundstage, the MP (Minimum Phase) Fast provides a different flavor with slower transients and slower bass being the tradeoff. Music with layered vocal harmonies in focus sound nice with this filter. To me, the Apodizing (AP) Fast filter seemed to lower what I would call microdetails particularly in the decay of sounds. This gives a slight sense of glare. To my understanding, the AP Fast filter is a slightly tweaked version of the LP Fast filter. However, any difference between the filters is very subtle and the others did not grab my attention in the way the 3 above did. I would expect the largest differences to be between the Linear Phase filters and the Minimum Phase filters. The CMFR is a Hybrid Phase filter. If you cannot discern any differences between the filters or just want to set it and forget it, LP Fast is my recommendation.

Next in the menu are two sets of “DPLL” options. One for DSD and PCM audio respectively. This setting adjusts the amount of jitter correction and signal locking the DPLL algorithm uses. The 3 levels are Low, Med, and High. From the ESS9038Q2M datasheet PDF,
“By default, the DAC works in Jitter Eliminator mode allowing the audio interface timing to be asynchronous to MCLK. A DPLL
constantly updates the FSR/MCLK ratio to calculate the true 32-bit timing of the incoming audio samples allowing the ESS
patented Time Domain Jitter Eliminator to remove any distortion caused by jitter.”
“For best performance, the DPLL bandwidth should be set to the minimum setting that will keep the DPLL reliably in lock”.
As your sample rate increases you may find that the Low setting might be inadequate as your audio will drop out as the DAC loses the signal. Leaving them both on High would be fine. I would imagine a very long USB cable could introduce some signal loss. The next option “Emphasis” is described in Burson’s documentation as being for cassette tapes. This was a very confusing feature to me to have in a DAC. In the ESS9038Q2M datasheet PDF this setting is described as being used with specific older CDs that need a “de-emphasis” filter to correct their bias. Without it, the treble is very harsh. This technique is old, outdated, and hasn't been used for a long time. Most CD players and CD rippers worth their salt like EAC will have this filter built into them and automatically switch them on when needed. You could turn this on to roll off the treble for fun if you wanted. I left it off.


There are few things that keep the Playmate 2 from perfection. Being limited to digital inputs does constrain usability with other devices. If I wanted to use a turntable or external DAC with Playmate2 I would be out of luck. The on-screen digital-signal-type indicator icon flickers. To my understanding this is expected behavior as this icon indicates when the Burson checks to see if a digital signal is present. A small detail, but one that catches the eye in peripheral view. Additionally, I find the screen to be too bright. Also when the unit is off there is a blue “standby” LED that is also pretty bright. A dark sticker or two would mitigate the intensity. There are threads here on Head-Fi dedicated to mitigated bright lights on audio equipment. While the menu navigation is fine, I would love to have a dedicated button or an auto-detect feature for switching between outputs or even inputs. I would imagine that the remote would fill this need, however the fact that it is not included in the base model leaves a gap in the experience for me.


I do enjoy the sound, and after all isn't that what it is all about? If you are in the market for an all-in-one digital input only device in this price range, I recommend you try the Burson Playmate 2.

VIDEO REVIEW




DISCLAIMER
Thank you to Burson B for contacting me about getting this demo unit to listen to! After reviewing their Fun amp, I was excited to try out the Playmate 2 with the V6 Vivid op-amps.


NOTABLE FEATURES

• Class A amplifier with heat sink chassis
• User swapable I/V and LP-stage op-amps
• ES9038Q2M DAC chip with user-adjustable settings
• USB C input
• Max Current Power Supply (MCPS)
• Microphone input
• Code:

  16 Ω, 3500 mW, 7.5 V, 467.7 mA
  32 Ω, 2500mW, 8.9 V, 279.5 mA
  100 Ω, 600mW, 7.7 V, 77.5 mA
  300 Ω, 150, 6.7 V, 22.4 mA

SCORE SUMMARY
I gave this unit a 3.5/5 rating because although I think the unit sounds good, I found the unit too loud to listen to comfortably at the lower gain and lowest volume level, which is unfortunate. If you can get past the loudness of the unit, then I would give this a 4/5. If you don't mind the Sabre sound with the stock op-amps, then this would get a 4.5/5 simply for how good it sounds for its price.


DESIGN
Appearance
I really like the overall design of the unit. The outer chassis has ridges in it to make it a functional, and effective, heat sink. Even though the amp section runs on a Class A topology, the unit just gets a bit warm to the touch, never hot.

Digital Inputs
The USB input uses a USB type C connector, which I think is a smart move since the directional insertion of the other USB connectors is super annoying. This can also be a negative point for the unit though. Most audiophile USB cables use the type B connector, so that makes this unit incompatible with such cables. For 99% of people out there though, that won't matter.

The only other digital input for this device is Toslink, which is great to have for connectivity to gaming consoles or other sources. I don't have any S/PDIF devices, so I wasn't really bothered by the lack of that input, but some may find that missing input disappointing.

Analog Outputs
In terms of outputs, the RCA pre-amp is nice to have. However, the max output is a whopping 12 V and the impedance is only 15-ohms. That's a lot of voltage output, so be very careful when connecting the Playmate 2 to other devices.

User Interface
The volume knob looks and feels great, but its usefulness is limited by software. If you turn the knob fast, in software it only changes a small amount. If you want to go from volume level 1 to level 20 quickly, you'll end up having to spin the knob for a good 3 seconds to get there.

Speaking of software, apart from the volume knob, it's a very simple and easy-to-use graphical user interface. The only thing I don't like about the display is how bright it is, and it's not dimmable. When the unit is turned off, there's a bright blue LED that shines through a pinhole in the chassis too.

User Changeable Options
It's been a while since I've seen or heard an ESS DAC before. I remember when ESS kept things pretty tightly controlled and hush-hush about their data sheets. No longer does that seem to be the case these days as the ES9038Q2M has the full datasheet published, and the Playmate 2 is able to have digital filter selection, dPLL configuration, and de-emphasis control.

Interior
Just like the Fun, the Playmate 2 has user-replaceable op-amps for both the I/V (current/voltage) and LP (low-pass) stages of the post-DAC processing. Having the option to change out both op-amps gives the user flexibility for the tuning of the sound. I'm a big fan of seeing the components in electronic products, so having the op-amps be easily swappable by the user is a big plus in my book.

^ The circled op-amps are the single-amp design (ON Semiconductor 5534D)

The starred op-amps are the double-amp design (ON Semiconductor 5532D)


Listening Volume
That being said...the gain of the amplification is waaaay too high. I was mostly using the Focal Clear with this unit, and even with low-gain, volume 01/99, the unit was super loud for me. I dared not to use my more sensitive in-ears with this unit. As a reference, ASMR videos (which are usually really quiet), were normal volume levels to me at 01 volume. This is not acceptable, and it made the unit pretty much unusable for me. For when I decided to listen to music at concert-like levels, then the volume knob has some usability. As mentioned before though, it takes a lot of volume knob rotations to get from volume 01 to 20 (as an example). If you can use the volume knob, the actual volume change is pretty small from 01-10, so there is some leeway for the volume adjustment.


SOUND
I did most of my listening sessions with the Focal Clear, Audeze LCD-2F, and with the Burson Fun amp. dPLL settings were on high, gain low, and LP fast digital filter. I don't have a high-quality USB type C cable, but I was using the iFi iUSB 3.0, which should eliminate any potential noisy USB connection I would have otherwise.

Stock Unit
Bass
Decent extension, maybe lacking on the lowest notes, but good presence and texture overall. Nice and clean-sounding, which is typical of Sabre DACs in my experience: very neutral-sounding overall.

Midrange
The mids tend to take the center stage of the sound: they are a bit more forward to what I would say is neutral and there is a lot of detail here. As you go into the upper-midrange frequencies (2-~5kHz), they do sound kind of fatiguing and almost shouty. This is probably the defining characteristic of Sabre DACs and is infamously known as the "Sabre glare". I find this sound to be fatiguing to listen to and I cannot turn up the volume very loud before becoming tired of the sound, which is in contrast to other DACs such as AKM's "Velvet Sound" for example. I'm not entirely sure why this sound is present since ESS DACs, objectively, are very good. If anyone can provide some insight for this explanation, I'm all ears!

Treble
Moving up the frequency response from the "Sabre glare", the treble sounds excellent albeit a bit grainy and over-textured. Cymbals and hi-hats have good timbre and aren't metallic-sounding.

Instrument Separation
Most likely due in part to the excellent MCPS design, I think this unit's strongest point is the sense of instrument separation and the ability to pinpoint what each instrument in the mix is. This unit has among the blackest backgrounds I've heard in a DAC/amp.

Soundstage
Like a lot of ESS DACs I've heard before, the soundstage of the Playmate 2 is more "stereo-like" in that it presents things more to the left and right than to the center. Depending on your preference for music presentation, this might be good or bad. I personally don't mind the more flat-sounding soundstage as I know I'm listening to a headphone system, not a speaker system.


V6 Vivid Op-Amps


^ V6 Vivid discrete op-amps installed into in both the I/V and LP stages

As I swapped out the stock op-amps for the V6 Vivids, I noticed a few things that changed in terms of the sound:

• Swapping out the I/V stage op-amps made the soundstage more speaker-like, so having more depth and decreasing the "headphone stereo" sound. This decreased the sense of instrument separation though, so that's one negative point for these op-amps.
• Swapping out the LP stage op-amps made the sound much less fatiguing: the midrange took a step back from center-stage and was more in-line with what I would consider neutral. The "Sabre glare" was greatly diminished, so the upper-midrange wasn't as sharp-sounding. The bass also became warmer and had more presence in the lower-midrange. However, the treble seemed to lose a bit of definition for the trade-off of sounding smoother. That could be another negative point for the V6 Vivids in this case.

So overall with the V6 Vivids installed in both stages of the post-DAC section, many of the issues I had with the sound from stock are eliminated at the cost of having slightly worse performance for instrument separation and treble clarity. I much preferred the sound with these op-amps installed to the stock sound.


CONCLUSIONS
At $544 USD for the stock unit, I think the Playmate 2 is a great option for a desktop DAC/amp if you can bear with the loud output volume and Sabre glare. That being said, I prefer the sound with the V6 Vivid op-amps, which adds an additional $200 to the price and puts it in a different pricing tier. You don't have to get the V6 Vivid op-amps though, so at MSRP, you can have the potential to upgrade the op-amps to whatever ones you want. The Sparkos op-amps are another popular alternative.

When you've been reading alot about a brand but lack the accessibility to a name such as Burson, it was quite a thrill especially to be part of this Philippine Playmate 2 tour. Kudos to @SS-Audio for trusting me to kick this off for the PH to experience their entry-level product. It does, though, not look the part of a budget model nor it is priced so but with how it performs, it does fill its role of giving that awesome Burson sound in a basic all-in-one compact desktop package.

Introduction
You might have heard of a company from down under, who's made a name for themselves by making these excellent sounding gear and quite unique for themselves, these known opamps. I have been hearing about Burson Audio for quite some time already but didn't had a chance of owning any of their products, yet I was able to listen to some of their predecessors though. Now, they're back with a sequel of sorts to their all-in-one compact desktop solution and what better way to start dipping my toes onto their lineup than to start off with the Playmate 2.

Packaging
The Burson Playmate 2 comes in a brown box, then inside is a more premium, sleek white box that houses the unit and its accessories. The basic package (which is the version I received) comes with the unit itself, a powerbrick supply and cable that plugs onto standard 2-prong outlets, a USB-C to USB-C cable, a hex tool for opening the chassis, a heaset w/ mic Y-adapter and a very small fuse. You also get the default 2 x NE5532, 2 x NE5534 Opamps installed but alas, no remote control and V6 Vivid opamps included with the basic package.





Build
The Playmate 2 is housed in a somewhat aluminum casing that feels solid and is designed to be a heatsink in itself. Despite being a class A amp, it only runs a bit warm even during long operating times. It also is similar to older Lake People amps wherein you unscrew the top 2screws on each side to unveil the insides. In itself, it definitely looks premium and is not that big enough to eat up some real estate on your desktop. The front LED display indicates the volume level and navigation via the knob, while pushing onto the knob affirms the selection. Other than that, it only has the power button and menu button for accessibility which is easy to use. It is quite to note however that upon turning it on, it will immediately give a blip/ping/tick sound to your headphones (indicating a voltage pass I think) so I think this is not that harmful but I do recommend plugging your headphones AFTER turning the unit on.



Functionality and Sound
The Playmate 2 has a USB-C input as its main with an Optical port as well. It has a pair of RCA preouts at the back foe connecting as preamp for active speakers and other systems as well. It does not, however, have coax input for users of this but no biggie. At the front though is a very underrated, but very useful output of 3.5mm headset+mic so that you can plug in your gaming headset with boom mic without the need for passing the device directlt to your PC. Very useful for that amped up gaming experience and streaming/recording without the needing to switch to another USB interface. It does however, miss having a line-in or direct amplifier functionality so you're stuck to having to use its onboard internal ESS9038Q2M Sabre DAC. Though again, I have to say this is another great rendition of the Sabre implementation (along with Khadas Tone2 Pro) wherein there is no harshness, thin-sounding, dryness sound to it. Its synergy with its 3W Class A powerful amp section gives this set a very musical, smooth, heft, full-bodied sound. Not exactly warm but never harsh or peaky nonetheless. It is to note that it is very capable with most cans especially those below 150 ohms. With 300 ohms sets, such as the HD800, for example, you may have to turn the volume a bit more but no trouble handling the requirement and in fact, matches really well with my Sennheiser HD800 and AKG K812.

So much in fact, it gave these sets a really good musical presentation with a wide soundstage. If you find the peaks of these sets hurting at times, the Playmate 2 actually smoothens these out to a non-fatiguing listening session. Plugging in sets like the HD650/HD6xx, however, will draw out its veil much more so I do not recommend these to pair with warm to dark sounding cans. It is to note as well that the Playmate 2 may provide a wide soundstage but at the cost of some detail. I have noticed (may not be obvious for some) that there was the reverse feeling that there were sounds and details to tracks that I've heard back then but not as much pronounced this time while listening to this set. It is not the subtlest and not the most graceful in handling the busiest of tracks especially with rock as well as not the most grand sounding with opera and classical pieces such as Hans Zimmer Live in Prague. But if you would like to listen to your HD800 or K812 fatigue-free with the majority of genres while still maintaining its core technicalities then this just works. Testing its details with Yosi Horikawa's Fluid and Bubbles.



Listening to Paper Trails by Darkside, it also provides neutral, quick-hitting bass but not much decay and treble extension for those looking for some airyness. In comparison, the Khadas Tone2 Pro + Zen Can combo with the same DAC chip gives out more details and air along with some of the same smooth non-fatiguing ESS implementation without losing the dynamics and excitement. The Mojo, on the other hand, is warmer yet more natural sounding in comparison but at the cost of soundstaging, which the Playmate 2 trumps it over. For those looking to integrate this with their mobile via UAPP app and Tidal, it is to note sometimes the connection is quite iffy with my Huawei Mate 20 and since without MQA support, the android device is sometimes confused using the USB DAC device or onboard MQA decoding. If MQA is not your thing then this wouldn't matter as the Playmate 2 gave my long fatigue-free listening sessions enthusiasm and bliss.

Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Burson Playmate 2 houses that signature Burson sound in a compact formfactor and is a really good product though not the most price-friendly with its connection options and functionality. No worries with powering most headphones despite lacking a balanced connection as there is no shortage of power here unless drving some electrostats. No MQA may drive some scratching their heads and an integrated bluetooth option would've made this a no-brainer at its price. The V6 package most probably is the better sounding option but at a cost of a couple hundred bucks more. This, however, is a DAC/Amp/Preamp that feels and sound premium which will give your neutral-bright sounding cans an appetizing treat of that Burson sound. Well done!

EDIT: Recently was able to try these out with the V6 Vivid dual opamps on the I/V stage (farther sides) and I have to say, these are the way it's meant to be configured.


Replacing the opamps was straightforward enough, just keep in mind of the correct orientation (the notch is the indicator). The V6 Vivids took the graininess away and made the overall sound cleaner at the same time musical, giving that class A amp some smoothness. Imaging was more pinpoint/accurate and squeezed out a bit more details, doing justice now with that power. Spending a bit more for the opamps actually is worth it if you find the previously mentioned flaws of the Playmate 2 critical to the unit's performance. No more upper mid peaks and actually made it more engaging. This is how it's meant to be heard than just the stock setup and a worthy upgrade. If ever you feel the Playmate 2 is still lacking your expectations, the opamps takes it to another tier of performance.

BURSON AUDIO- Founded by a small team of audio engineers over 20 years ago, Burson Audio is based in Melbourne, Australia. They design benchmark setting audio equipment and premium quality audio design building blocks for fellow audio enthusiasts and manufacturing partners alike.

Today they are well known for their Party series- Class A Dac-amp – Burson Playmate 1, their Reference series , Performance series and their discrete OPAMPS ( The V series of OPAMPS).

Given I use their V5i Dual OPAMPS on my A30s amp and having seen the difference it makes, I am really excited to review this Party series DAC AMP, the second version of burson play mate -Theeeeeeee Bursonnnnnn Play mateeeeee 2 (really tried to say it the way how WWE host announces the wrestlers haha ).

DISCLAIMER- THIS UNIT IS PROVIDED TO ME BY BURSON AUDIO IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST OPINION AND I AM HONORED FOR THIS OPPURTUNITY.

SPECS-
Class A operation With SABRE32/ESS9038Q2M DAC, XMOS USB Input and supports native DSD upto 512.

Power is-

Headphone jack POWAH SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO SEPARATION

16 Ohm 3.5W 96db 99%

32 Ohm 2.5W 97db 99%

100 Ohm 600mW 98db 99%

150 Ohm 400mW 96db 99%

300 Ohm 150mW 95db 99.50%

Unboxing experience

It’s a pretty heft box weighing at around 2.625kg.

On opening the box, you are greeted with a foam of how to use the power brick to switch on the DAC-AMP. On removing this we see the MC of the show the playmate 2 in a big aluminum chassis with a beautiful silver colour on one half side and grey colour on the other half side..

Nothing else whattt !! Wait there’s another small box hidden nicely at the back written in full glory Burson Audio.. check above pic
Inside this, I found –

• The Power brick and the connector for Indian power plug (will vary upon different region) ;
  
• A 3.5male to mic and 3.5mm female adapter ( airline adapter like) and
• a hex tool to remove screws when you wanna open this baby up for OPAMP modding/Switching and I will highly recommend it ;
• and a small fuse
  
• A USB type C to C cable for user who wanna use this with Phone/Iphone/DAP…(forgot to take pic )

Now on the very last 2 days of this review I found a small red box inside the brown packaging and had no idea that something was there. I was abacked to see two V6 vivid dual in sealed box just sitting there waiting to be unleashed , Burson you should give a headsup if you add such surprises inside the box

NOTE- The review is against my OLD D50 and A30s (Modded with V5i D) and N6ii with A30s as my setup.

BUILD- This thing is enough to last World War 3 and come out with a may be a few scratches. It is built of machined aluminium or stainless steel in a heatsink design to dissipate more heat. I think its made up of 4 pieces of machined aluminium – The front, The back and two 2 pieces of top and bottom half.

The front has-

1. One is power button and the other is menu button.
2. A never stopping revolving volume dial which is also a button if you press on it
3. A tiny non intrusive blue LED that shows when it’s on or off .
4. This also has a lower resolution display but the FONT is big enough that it wont be a problem for anyone.
5. And another blank dark spot probably which houses the IR receiver for the remote.
   
   

The back has-

1. A USB C connector with XMOS chip handling the USB input
2. Two RCA output
3. One TOSLINK connector
4. And A Power pin connector
   

I was a little sad that other input options were not available but since I use either TOSLINK or USB its fine for me and I would have loved to see this with balanced output for HPs but alas next time …

Next time I would like to see even Bluetooth added as a functionality since I could not figure why leave it at this price point...


Now coming on to the characteristics of the BURSON PLAYMATE 2

BASS AND SUBBASS- Songs used are :-

• BOTTOM OF THE RIVER-DELTA RAE- Watch the big drum hits from 0.19mins
• NYCTERS -HANS ZIMMER AND JAMES NEWTON HOWARD – From 0.30min the simple hits of the synth and the timbre from it is really good. Then the 1:37min the further hits and the slow receding sound makes it awesome song to test your subbass and bass.

Now coming on to the DAC AMP- The first thing you notice is the Balanced nature of the vocals in the first song , and then the Bass percussion hits and then the Big Drum hits, This projects a really good balanced hit. Its textured , having good timbre and goes really down with the Headphone you are using . Added the resolution and separation of different hits, really adds to the feel and characteristics of the Mid Bass. The tonality is completely on point and it doesn’t seem to colour the sound of my HP at all.

Coming to the second song , especially focusing on the Bass here , wow the eerie music with the simple rumble of the bass ohh my , this depicts a really good presentation of how it should sound like if you are listening in a studio. The midbass here has a good decay, maybe a tad bit more would be my preference for that room surrounding feel that I feel with my N6ii and A30s. There isn't any midbass bleed if that’s what you are worried about. The Subbass rumble though hits a nice point , its not overly done but has a faster decay , a little more would have been perfect but that’s what I like and its entirely subjective and nitpicking at this moment.

MIDS- VOCALS-

MALE VOCALS- RESOLUTION – MATT CORBY- The male vocals here is wonderful. Here the singer is right on the mic and singing with the instruments surrounding him.

The Male vocals on the play mate2 is lean but not mean , not a hint of sibilance, even with my Sundara it seemed less bright haha which with a ESS DAC, I wasn’t expecting. The Male vocals have a certain texture to them and continue in the same pitch from beginning to the very end excepting where they are extending the ends. It has an air around it which you could feel for sure. Its feels more controlled here though , like something is holding it back from extending even more when compared to N6ii with T01 module. But a little more thickness that I felt from using the N6ii is what I would prefer. But compared to my desktop Dac D50 and amp A30s combo this is way better with the more controlled nature yet extending beyond the ends of the notes.

FEMALE VOCALS-

• ENOUGH FOR YOU- OLIVIA RODRIGO - Her voice is a wonderful , the slight sss at the ends and her breath in between will be a really good way to compare.
• I EAT BOYS - CHLOE MORIONDO - Now here we find the difference between the vocalist above and the here ,it's more balanced , controlled less ssss and less breaks..

Now coming on to the amp - Really good presentation , they have an real air around them which makes them more realistic. It's a bit on leaner side but the emotions still come through. The notes reach a little higher throughout and gives a better presentation of the high pitch voice in females. Texture is really good. Would I like it more thicker here , yeah and no . For female vocals this might be just up my alley. I just love it.

MIDS -

• WRITING'S ON THE WALL- SAM SMITH - The lovely amalgam of music mostly piano , violin and Guitar and occasional trumpets etc make this an awesome track to go for ..
• BONFIRE HEART- JAMES BLUNT - The awesome bass , with the guitar going on and then the chorus in between and some instrument going on both sides that I can't define makes this a good way to find the separation on the mids..

This DAC-AMP is wonderful. All the instruments have an excellent tonality that made me think what was I listening to . The amount of timbre is a little less than my preference but man it's like 90% of what my N6ii does ( that's a 1200$ DAP). But the amount of air this thing moves with each string pull of the guitar and violin is more than real , you really feel the reverb in case of acoustic guitars. The violin strikes hit right at your heart. Each string instruments benefit at providing that excellent strike then slowly receding feeling with a lingering reverb that just hits the right spot in my brain . The piano strokes are excellent , the have the same thickness and separation right from the beginning to the end of each note. But I would loved a bit more thickness from the piano strokes , they seemed a little less thick for my taste. The air moving instruments like trumpets , flute etc. has a nature of them that made them feel musical, yet get raw enough to know that it's being blown into for the effective sound it makes. More energy here especially the trumpets would have made it more awesome but then it might make it sharp for others.

TREBLE -

STEAMBREATHER - MASTODON , CIGARETTES IN THE THEATER - TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB and DO IT AGAIN- STEELY DAN- I use these tracks extensively to test the treble tonal accuracy, positioning, speed and separation.

This was way beyond what I thought, the excellent details and the tonality even with the fast paced music is damn accurate and not a single note is missed. The texture , the dynamics and the timbre is not lost at all . The timbre was a little less for me but the faster decay of this really helped to pave way thought such busy tracks. I would have liked a little more thickeness while some would want some energy here , for me I am happy with this much .

IMAGING ,SEPARATION ,STAGE AND RESOLUTION - YOSHI HORIKAWA - BUBBLES AND KANEDA - GEINOH YAMASHIROGUMI.

The imaging is as expected wide and accurate like a DD driver. Even the subtle sounds have a place that is well seen or felt in the direction from where it is coming from. There's no grouping of instruments but they have a definite place in the stage.

The separation is out of this world . Forget the instrument separation, even the damn notes have separation and air that makes them feel distinct. I would just like to say it's way beyond my expectations.

Staging- on the X axis - It makes everything really wide even with my iems, I felt this feeling, like wow it's makes the stage really big

On the Y axis -

• Height - Height is more than average but not too great
• Depth - Now this is something different , there is a good amount of depth added to the dynamics of the instruments especially the kick drum. They have now a more deeper 3D presentation. Now for those iems or HP (like Sundara) which has a like 2D presentation , you won't find added depth though.

On Z axis -
There's definitely a cue placement change of instruments that makes them feel more different from others. The have now a parabolic feel infront of the listener and more better differentiation felt between instruments placed on slightly infront of you to something placed far infront of you.

RESOLUTION-The resolution is pretty great for its price. The every nuance is really felt and heard properly but an effort has to be given for the same. N6ii has better resolution than this .

POWAH PROVIDED -This thing is sufficient powerful to even run the 300 ohm HPs with ease.
My A30s is like half of this thing power at 16 ohm.
My Sundara and focal clear are like nothing for this amp , high gain vol 30 is sufficient for me on my Sundara which is the hardest to drive HP that I own.
I did not hear any noise with my HPs or iems like UM Mest 2 , Shozy pola or even the VE Ve6xc. It's dead silent all the way.

MODDING-
Now how to check the orientation while changing the opamps, I have described in my previous post please check here or you can even use the manual here
Using discrete opamps against the Ne5532D in the I/V Stage Dual OPAMPS X2

Using V5D - changes that I felt - Better dynamics , Better/ nearly equal clarity , Treble energy increased , More lean bass , More taller Soundstage, a little more musical

Using V6 vivid dual - changes that I felt - Better dynamics , Musical and sparkly treble , A slightly increased punch in bass , More taller and wider soundstage , more musical presentation.

Comparisons- Between My topping D50 and A30s

Pros of Playmate 2 - Staging , Separation , Bass definition , Subbass , Treble airyness , Nearly equal energy , Resolution tiny bit better , powahh

Cons of Playmate 2 - Less tall , Less timbre , lean vocals and mids

Between N6ii with T01 module / A30s (burson v5i D)

Pros of Playmate 2- Stage , Separation nearly equal , Powah

Cons of Playmate2- Resolution, height , thickness of vocals , mids and dynamics , less timbre

Summary - This is an neutral, slightly musical DAC - AMP with class A power and at the price it's being sold for, at its a steal deal. The option of easily modding the opamps to change the sound is a really easy and imo worth the money . I would highly suggest to use the v6 vivid if there's an option to add it or get the V5D otherwise, (since they are cheaper) as they are quite near to each other.
Though - Why 4/5- The Addition of OPAMPS are a nice touch but they add extra cost, No Bluetooth and No balanced output or Other input options And they cost 544$-744$

Burson Playmate 2
After my PLAY died for the third time and the warranty had expired, Addicted to Audio offered me the chance to buy the PM2 for a substantial discount. I’ve had it for nearly four months now and it’s time to pen a few words about it.

Build: The big plus for me is the new heat sink style cover which barely gets mildly warm as opposed to the Play and Playmate which could get very hot. My belief is that the PLAY power supply failed because of the heat generated but that’s only a supposition. I also like the push button power switch on the front and the fact that I do have some sound control via the menu button. The volume pot has a much better feel. In all this a much more professional looking and feeling device.

Review Constraints: I am reviewing this with the standard op amps (JRCNE5532 and JRCNE5534) though I do have some Burson V6 Vivids in my dead PLAY which I will swap over later. I also wanted some continuity in determining what this DAC/Amp sounds like so it became decision time for both source and headphones. I decided to run with playing only CDs – no lossless files or high quality streaming, just CDs. (Good old 16 bit 44.1 khz). I have thousands of them and even though I have ripped them all to Level 5 FLAC I figured that CDs might sound a little better but I can’t really be sure.

I also decided to run with the highest quality headphones possible which initially meant only using my Flare Golds. These are superb iems and easily outperform my Sennheisers (580, 6XX and Momentum 2s). However, I’ve just purchased the Audeze LCD-1s and they offer a different sound. Both of these are very revealing of source. If it’s not the best sound you’ll notice it and the reverse is true.

I used a variety of well recorded music including chamber, orchestral, choral, vocal, solo piano, EDM, rock, folk and musicals.

Looking Back: First, let me say that I enjoyed the sound signature of my V6 Vivid PLAY. It had clarity, great instrumental separation and some very deep bass that was not overemphasised in any area. While it wasn’t warm, it wasn’t cold either but maybe neutral is not the word to use here. The PM2 sound signature is not quite like that. It seems (I’m relying on memory here) a bit smoother but the clarity is still there. Was I hearing some ‘grain’ with the PLAY? When I swap over the op amps how much of that will change? One thing I do know is the PM2 is more resolving than the Play. One of my test CDs was good old DSOTM. I was astonished at what I heard that I hadn’t heard before?

Instrumental Separation: As a lover of chamber music, I want to be in the room with the musos, shut my eyes and hear where each instrument is coming from. The PM2 does this from a width perspective exceptionally well but I know how a string quartet arranges themselves around the room. While I could perceive depth as well maybe this is an area where the PM2 might be slightly lacking. It’s a small caveat but one worth noting. That said instrument location was pinpoint with both the Flares and the Audezes.

Soundstage: The Flares provide an ‘out of head’ experience that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from iems. The PM2 seemed to extend this even further and it was emphasised when I reverted to the Momentums for listening. The soundstage narrowed and this aspect of the M2s (I’ve got the earlier wired version) was exposed. It was the same with the LCD-1s but listening to a string quartet it was incredibly accurate and focussed giving a true representation of where the musicians are seated.

Tonality and Timbre: As a classical musician these are vital parts of my listening experience. The real tonality test of any system involves two instruments – the piano and the human voice. Both produce harmonics that can’t be accurately reproduced electronically (for this reason, digital pianos are never as good as a fully stringed one). So, when a pianist hits the C above middle C I want to hear how the three metal strings that produce that one note are reproduced. Extremely well is my opinion. Listening to the Beaux Arts Trio play Haydn’s Gypsy Trio I can hear how well tuned Pressler’s piano is and the bite and timbre of Greenhouse’s cello as he draws the bow across the lower strings.

Bass: This is a strength of the PM2 and it was well brought out by the Flares. It was tight, quick and goes deep. This was really evident when I used the Audeze’s. Two things stood out. One was the layering and texture of the sub bass which was better than with the Flares. The fact that the PM2 can reproduce this is a major plus. The other is coherence. I’m fortunate in having two well produced CDs that has Robbie Shakespeare as the session bassist. Robbie likes to let his bass guitar speak for itself and it was so easy to follow all the lines he played no matter how deep he went.

Mids: I could detect no artefacts introduced by the PM2 and this is where it definitely betters the PLAY. I believe that there was a touch of grain in that earlier model that is not there in the Playmate2. Vocals were faithfully reproduced as recorded. Ann Murray, singing Schubert’s ‘Nacht und Traum’ was simply spellbinding and she sounded so natural on Hyperion’s high quality recording.

Treble: This is well balanced without being in any way shrill (unless it’s there in the recording). However, I am not one of those treble sensitive people so others might hear things that I can’t. While I wouldn’t describe the treble as sweet, it’s not stark either and fatigue is not an issue.


Final Thoughts: So, do I like the PM2 – you bet I do! Gobs of power to easily drive cans like my HD580s, a sound just slightly north of neutral but not purely clinical. This is a musical DAC/amp. I’m not sure what the competition is like in the same price range but if I upgraded to the next Burson in the range which is the basic Conductor 3 it’s close to double the price.

A couple of caveats. When I opened the box there was only a USB-C to USB-C cable and the connections at the back of my iMac are USB-A. Yes, there is a Firewire input but as my Mac is an older version (2013) connecting it USB-C won’t work as you need a newer version of Firewire. Fortunately I had a USB-C to USB-A connector handy. Also, there is no facility for balanced connection and while that doesn’t bother me it could certainly be a deal breaker for some of you. However, for me these are only minor points. I am very happy with this offering from Burson and rolling the op amps is next on my list.

For a few months now, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to the Burson V6 Classic and Vivid opamps in my Music Hall 25.2 DAC which is connected to a Music Hall PH25.2 Headphone Amplifier. Having the option to change around opamps to modify the sound signature has really made it so much better to tweak the sound signature to the headphones I’m using at the time. Quick example, I recently purchased a pair of Audeze LCD2 Classics and found that too much warmth wasn’t the best match so swapping the V6 Vivids in place of the Classics fixed that right up. Fast forward a few months and Burson contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying the Playmate 2 through their loaner program. This is the first standalone Burson product I have auditioned. I’ve only previously used/owned their opamps. My usual DAC and Headphone amp stack are close enough that it makes it very easy to compare them to the PM2. I believe their combined MSRP is about double that of the PM2. A better comparison would be between the Music Hall 25.2 DAC to the PM2 since they are very similar in both function and price but honestly, the headphone amp in the 25.2 is really just an afterthought and is not in the same league as the PM2 so I will continue to use the ph25.2 for my comparison. To keep them on a somewhat level playing field, I have reinstalled the stock opamps in the Music Hall DAC. The Music Hall uses 2 X OPA2134 and a single OPA2604 compared to 2 x JRC5532D and 2 X JRC5534D in the Burson.

Quick shipping directly from China and the package arrived at my doorstep safe and sound. Opening the package, my expectations were exceeded when I picked up the Playmate 2 (PM2 from now on). It’s a very solid and substantial case. Also supplied is the optional stand made from the same material as the case/heatsink. In the box is an allen wrench to open the case and a USB-C cable. This is where I hit a snag and my excitement had to wait, as I was going to be using this with my WFH setup which is an older MacBook Pro which only has a USB-A plug. I’d suggest that Burson include a USB-A to USB-C adapter in the box. I was able to finally find a USB-C to USB-A cable that came with another device I owned thankfully. There is also an optional remote control, but it was not provided with my loaner.

The front faceplate feels solid and the volume/function provides a nice tactile feel when turning and pushing. The ¼” jack also feels substantial when plugging in. I have used both the ¼” and the 3.5mm jacks, but I did not test the TRRS mic input as I only use headphones and not headsets. The display is easy to read and provides the right amount of information, volume, input, output, and sampling rate information.

Finally, showtime! My MacBook Pro connected to it immediately and didn’t require any configuration. I made the mistake of plugging right in and starting to listen. Initially it sounded a bit flat and harsh. Knowing it was a Class A amp, experience told me to let it play and come back in an hour or so. Had I read the instructions first, it explains this “The sound of the Burson Playmate 2 improves steadily within minutes after powered-up. Depending on the resolution of the system and the attentiveness of the listener, you may find that the sound continues to improve over the first several weeks of operation.” Next Time RTFM!
I’m happy to report, this is the case and after the unit warmed up for a bit, so did the sound! My tube headphone amp is very similar in this regard.

For the next week, I have spent my time listening to all my favorite albums on Tidal and Spotify. I’ve tried to do most of my evaluation with Tidal Master quality tracks whenever possible. Pre-Pandemic most of my listening was vinyl except when commuting to work and I predominantly used Spotify for finding new music to purchase. I decided that to really give a worthy evaluation of the PM2 I need to feed it something better than a compressed 44k stream, so I subscribed to Tidal. As much as I appreciate how years of being a Spotify subscriber has allowed them to learn my preferences and recommend some great music I would have never found, I feel that I can definitely appreciate the difference in the HiFi 44K lossless and higher resolution Master quality streams. Some of my favorite albums just sound better on Tidal. Had I not spent the time with the PM2, I honestly don’t think I would have ever noticed or appreciated the difference.

There have been a few things that have stood out to me about the PM2. It is very quiet compared to my tube DAC/AMP stack. Listening to my familiar playlists, I find that the quiet background had improved the soundstage. Sounds seem just a little farther away or even some things I never noticed before. The whole “Black Background” cliché is at work here. Tubes are usually known for their holographic soundstage or at least to add some air to the music but at least in my case, the solid-state PM2 seems to be better at both attributes than my tube setup. Based on the information Burson provides, I would have to attribute this to their Max Current Power Supply (MCPS). If you want silence, you really need to provide a quiet and stable power supply. Burson also claims this provides much better power and dynamics and I can say that the PM2 provides more power to drive my LCD-2 Classics than I would ever need. It never seemed to be strained, even at volumes that would damage one’s hearing. Crank the juice up and you’ll be treated to dynamics that will gut-punch you. At volumes higher than I would normally listen to, I found the PM2 able to give a visceral impact out of my headphones normally reserved for speakers.


The second and probably most important attribute of the PM2 is what it doesn’t do. It is not particularly warm, bright, aggressive, sibilant, aggressive, or laid back, it’s just pretty neutral and very easy to listen to. It’s not missing detail or rolled off, nor is it adding anything. It seems to just present what is there, nothing more, nothing less. While I have no real experience or background with the stock opamps, I think Burson made a good choice as they are very nice sounding. Now if you want to change the presentation, Burson has made it super easy to swap opamps. I briefly swapped out both V6 Classic and Vivid opamps and immediately noticed the benefits of each, more detail, more color, etc. I could write an entirely separate review extolling the virtues of each but what I’ll say briefly is both versions of the V6 had slightly better detail and separation than the stock opamps. The Classic a bit richer and warmer and the Vivid extended and more impactful. The majority of my evaluation was with the stock opamps. I find them a great match with my LCD-2 Classics.

The biggest compliment I can give the Playmate 2 is after a week of listening to it with my LCD-2 Classics, I prefer the combo over my full-size two-channel stereo system.