Ville’s Burson Playmate with Sennheiser HD 650 and Sennheiser HD 598

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Sales Burson
March 22, 2019

Post Info

Feedbacks - Playmate 02 | 03
Asus Xonar STX

Great so far, no problems. Clean & detailed sound,

The System

Listening with

Sennheiser HD 650 · Headphones: open-back, dynamic, circumaural

Impedance: 300 Ω
Sensitivity: 103 dB SPL @ 1 kHz, 1 V (as published) ≈ 97.8 dB/mW (calc.)
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 41 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: 6.35 mm stereo jack plug (3.5 mm adapter)
Other: THD <0.05% (1 kHz, 1 V); 42 mm transducer

Matching notes: At 300 Ω and 103 dB/V, the HD 650 is a high-impedance load that needs voltage more than current: about 2.2 V (17 mW, 7.5 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson rates the Playmate at 0.1 W (SE) into 300 Ω, which is about 5.5 V RMS (calc.), roughly 8 dB more than that. The Playmate’s under 2 Ω headphone output impedance is less than 1/150 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Sennheiser HD 598 · Headphones: open-back, dynamic, circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 50 Ω
Sensitivity: 112 dB SPL (1 kHz / 1 Vrms) ≈ 99.0 dB/mW (calc.)
Frequency response: 12 Hz – 38.5 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: detachable 3 m cable; 6.3 mm plug + 3.5 mm adapter
Other: THD <0.1% (1 kHz, 100 dB SPL)

Matching notes: At 50 Ω and 112 dB/V, the HD 598 is a low-impedance load: about 0.79 V (13 mW, 16 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 50 Ω rating for the Playmate. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (2 W SE; 0.5 W SE) fall either side of it. The Playmate’s under 2 Ω headphone output impedance is less than 1/25 of the load. ^{[4] [3]}

Burson

Burson Playmate · DAC / headphone amplifier / preamp · discontinued

Output power (headphone): 16 Ω 1.8 W · 32 Ω 2 W · 100 Ω 0.5 W · 150 Ω 0.3 W · 300 Ω 0.1 W
Output impedance: <2 Ω (headphone); 15 Ω (pre out)
Gain: 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 ES9038 (suffix not stated)
Other: Original Playmate (Playmate 1); THD <0.002%; FR ±1 dB 0-35 kHz

^[3]

Also in the system

ASUS Xonar Essence STX · Sound card: PCIe sound card with headphone amp · discontinued

Frequency response: 10 Hz – 90 kHz (-3 dB, 16-bit/44.1 kHz input)
Output impedance: not published
Output voltage: RCA 2 Vrms (line out, RCA/3.5)
Gain: not published
Inputs: 1x 6.3 mm line/mic in; aux (4-pin header)
Outputs: 1x 6.3 mm headphone; 2x RCA; S/PDIF out (optical/coax combo)
DAC / chipset: TI Burr-Brown PCM1792A; ASUS AV100 processor (192 kHz/24-bit)
Other: SNR (A) 124 dB front-out / 117 dB headphone-out; THD+N 1 kHz 0.0003% (front) / 0.001% (headphone); headphone voltage not published

^[5]

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.