Hans’s Burson Playmate 2 with Sennheiser HD 660S

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Sales Burson
July 20, 2024

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Burson Playmate 2, Sennheiser HD 660S

The current sound quality is remarkably clear and detailed. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be installing the V6 Vivids opamps and eagerly anticipating whether they’ll elevate the sound quality even further.

The System

Listening with

Sennheiser HD 660S · Headphones: open-back, dynamic, circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 150 Ω
Sensitivity: 104 dB SPL @ 1 kHz, 1 V (as published) ≈ 95.8 dB/mW (calc.)
Frequency response: 9 Hz – 41.5 kHz (AU page); 10 Hz – 41 kHz (user manual)
Plugs / cables supplied: 6.35 mm unbalanced and 4.4 mm balanced cables (user manual)
Other: THD <=0.04% (1 kHz, 100 dB); max input 500 mW

Matching notes: At 150 Ω and 104 dB/V, the HD 660S is a high-impedance load that needs voltage more than current: about 2 V (27 mW, 13 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson rates the Playmate 2 at 0.4 W (SE) into 150 Ω, which is about 7.7 V RMS (calc.), roughly 12 dB more than that. The Playmate 2’s under 2 Ω headphone output impedance is less than 1/75 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

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%

^{[4] [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.