Burson Playmate2 : The All-in-One Beauty

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

 

Pros:

1. Microphone and toshlink Input makes it ideal choice for gaming

2. USB-C Connection for versatility 

3. 12V Pre-amplifier outputs 

4. ESS Sabre digital filters/LP Customizations 

5. Quite power in terms of drivability

6. Mid-Range focused

7. Clean and powerful output

8. OpAmp rolling

Cons:

1. No balanced out Support

2. No MQA Support 

3. A little weak on lower range and harsh on upper mids at stock conditions 

4. No analog inputs to use it as a dedicated amp

5. More of a stereo sounding in terms of soundstage 

*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.