Cory’s Burson Playmate 2 with Grado SR60 and Quad ERA-1

• Impedance: 38 Ω
• Sensitivity: 98 dB SPL / 1 mW ≈ 112.2 dB/V (calc.)
• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
• Plugs / cables supplied: standard plug

Matching notes: At 38 Ω and 98 dB/mW, the Grado SR60 is a low-impedance load: about 0.78 V (16 mW, 20 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 38 Ω rating for the Playmate 2. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (2.5 W SE; 0.6 W SE) fall either side of it. The Playmate 2’s under 2 Ω headphone output impedance is less than 1/19 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

• Impedance: 20 Ω
• Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW ≈ 111.0 dB/V (calc.)
• Frequency response: 10 Hz – 40 kHz
• Other: THD <=0.2% (1 kHz, 100 dB); rated input power 100 mW

Matching notes: At 20 Ω and 94 dB/mW, the ERA-1 is a low-impedance load: about 0.89 V (40 mW, 45 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 20 Ω rating for the Playmate 2. Its 16 Ω and 32 Ω ratings (3.5 W SE; 2.5 W SE) fall either side of it. The Playmate 2’s under 2 Ω headphone output impedance is less than 1/10 of the load. ^{[4] [2] [3]}

• 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%

^{[2] [3]}

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.

1. Grado SR60: gradolabs.com
2. Burson Playmate 2 product page
3. Burson Playmate 2 User Manual V1.6 (Burson downloads)
4. Quad ERA-1: quad-hifi.co.uk