Benjamin’s Burson Playmate 2 with Grado RS1e

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Sales Burson
February 1, 2021

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Feedbacks - Playmate 02 | 03
Burson Playmate 2, Grado RS1e

I love the Playmate 2 so far, am a long term Burson buyer; this being my fifth finished product and my first purchase (the PI-160 Integrated Amplifier) I have used near every day for years.

The System

Listening with

Grado RS1e · Headphones: open-air, dynamic (50 mm), supra-aural (on-ear) · discontinued

Impedance: 32 Ω
Sensitivity: 99.8 dB SPL @ 1 mW ≈ 114.7 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 12 Hz – 30 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: fixed 8-conductor cable; 6.5 mm adapter + extension cable
Other: mahogany; drivers matched to 0.05 dB; approx. 9 oz

Matching notes: At 32 Ω and 99.8 dB/mW, the Grado RS1e is a low-impedance load: about 0.58 V (10 mW, 18 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson rates the Playmate 2 at 2.5 W (SE) into 32 Ω, which is about 8.9 V RMS (calc.), roughly 24 dB more than that. The Playmate 2’s under 2 Ω headphone output impedance is less than 1/16 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Burson

Burson Playmate 2 · DAC / headphone amplifier / preamp · discontinued

Output power (headphone): 16 Ω 3.5 W · 32 Ω 2.5 W · 100 Ω 0.6 W · 150 Ω 0.4 W · 300 Ω 0.15 W
Output impedance: <2 Ω (headphone); 15 Ω (pre out)
Output voltage: RCA not published
Gain: High / Low; dB not published
Inputs: USB (XMOS; PCM to 768 kHz/32-bit, native DSD512); Toslink
Input impedance: 38 kΩ
Outputs: RCA pre out; headphone jack (SE)
DAC / chipset: ESS SABRE32 ES9038Q2M
Other: Model P171; SE only; THD <0.002%; FR ±1 dB 0-35 kHz; DAC THD+N 0.0018%

^{[3] [4]}

Specs from manufacturer data unless a source below says otherwise. “calc.” values are worked out from those figures (V = √(P × R); 110 dB SPL used as a loud reference level). Gear listed without specs is not in our spec library yet.