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Burson Audio Playmate DAC/Amp with V6 vivid op-amp

gto88

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Product information can be found @ Burson Audio Playmate & SS V6 Opamp

Gears used:

Source PC Foobar2000
DAC/Amp Burson Playmate, Topping DX7s
Amp S.M.S.L SP200 THX-AAA-888
Headphone HIFIMAN HE-1000 V2, Denon AH-D5000​

Disclaimer:
Burson Audio send me this Playmate unit for my honest opinion.
I have reviewed Burson’s Swing in different Opamp model on Head-Fi @ here and
here (Swing + V6x2)
I will compare Playmate with Topping DX7s as they are all DAC/AMP combo design, the DAC chip on DX7s are 2x es9038Q2M, and Playmate uses 1 es9038Q2M.

Dac/Amp Playmate DX7s Sabaj D5
DAC chip es9038Q2M 2 x es9038Q2M ES9038Pro
Headphone output power 2W @32ohm, SE690mW (@32ohm, SE 1W@32ohm,BL 1912mW(BL,@32Ohnm) 480mW(SE,@32ohnm)
output impedance <2ohm < 20 ohm 3ohm​

Apparently from above table, we can see Playmate has better parameters on Amplification design, however, Topping DX7s has balanced output on its Preout, and headphone output can go up to 1W @32ohm balanced. Balanced are not always better, but it is a plus if you have balanced headphone on hand.
(NOTE: some measurement data are from https://www.audiosciencereview.com)

Setting: headphone output at high gain

Sound Quality:
The first impression is, it is clear and very good separation of instruments in the music, which
gives me a good feeling of the stage. The clear sound seems a house sound of Burson’s gears as I have similar impression from Swing DAC. For me, the clarity on sound is not analytical at all.
For instrument reproduction, the punch on Playmate, big or small, are all in good quality, on DX7s comes a tad veil when A/B them.
Playmate sounds very good on female, male and male bass sound vocal songs, the mid is smooth and lively.
Playmate can driver my Denon AH-D5000 easily to its full potential, good dynamic and clarity.
I am surprised by my Denon headphone can punch out bass when driven by Playmate, it produces punch and extended heavy bass. Then I connect Playmate line out to my newly acquired SMSL SP200 THX-AAA-888 headphone amp to compare its amplification.
I am hit again to find out that Playmate drives harder than SP200, the same headphone, same song, when driven by Playmate I can hear bass with more extension and quantity. However, it is not as solid as SP200. But, when I replace the headphone output opamp on Playmate with Burson Audio V6 dual Vivid opamp, bass becomes well defined and quality is way better than stock opamp, actually it is quite an enhancement on overall sounding.
For Sabaj D5 Dac/Amp that I newly acquired, its XLR output power is close to playmate, but SE is way under, and by comparison on SE, Playmate is tad better on low end just like it won over SP200.
With my HifiMan HE-1000V2, Playmate still can drive it to enjoyable level, but DX7s is a little out of it, since playmate has only single end output, I used SE cable for it, so Playmate does a better job on SE driving power, this doesn’t surprise me any more since I have experienced its driving power already.

Sound stage:
Playmate has well defined stage, you can hear music with width and depth, and layering is also
good. In this department, Playmate performs in par with DX7s which equips 2 same DAC chips. I used to think that 2 chips design should be better than 1, so my collection of DAC are all two DAC chips, such as, LKS DA-003 (ES9018), and DX7s (ES9038Q2M)(sold) and Pro-ject Pre Box S2 digital (ES9038Q2M)(sold). However, Burson Audio R&D proves it otherwise, and changed my believing on this during my review of Playmate.
Actually, while writing at this, my new Sabaj D5 has arrived, which has ES9038PRO DAC/Amp.
And my DX7s was sold two days earlier. Yeah, I am no longer dual chip DAC advocate.
Sabaj D5 presents music in a space kind of feeling, that you can’t just describe it as width and length or height, just a space full of music and you are soaked in it, mid is forward, and listener is in middle of the sound field.
Playmate presents music in a clear layering manner, one can clearly figure out each instrument source and sounds are not interfere each other but blend in well, definitely not analytical if that is what in your mind from my description, D5 and DX7s have no such clear layering.

Conclusion:
I enjoy Playmate more than DX7s, because Playmate gives crystal clear sound, and better separation on busy music. Actually, the more I listen with it, the more I like it.
Jobs well done by Burson Audio engineers.
Playmate has only SE output, but its driving power and quality is in par or at times surpass my SP200 THX AAA 888 amp, I wonder if that is because my SP200 is new?
There are two things to note during this review that I have been turned from dual chips DAC believer to appreciate one chip design approach, this actually could save me some money down the road, and the other is amp SE output can be really good like Playmate does.
However, I have to comment about the small screen again, when I need to adjust it, I have to put my face close to it to see those characters. A bigger screen is on my wish list for Burson Audio next product.
D5’s screen is smaller than DX7s’ but I still can see its display text without leaning forward.
 
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gto88

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Just want to share with my impression that I posted on head-fi
 

pozz

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@gto88 Thanks for sharing. You're probably aware that here we make an effort to set up controlled circumstances for listening, including measuring the output for level matching. So unless those are part of your procedure your comparative descriptions aren't very useful.

Here, subjective reviews mean: look, feel, packaging, usability, features, interaction with dealers/company, and limited comments about performance unless supported by measurements.
 

fabien32

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With all due respect and believe me i have a lot of it, I'm not a machine, and the human experience especially in sound does matter. And I didn't contradict anybody in the forum. In the contrary, i renforced what was already said before me with my subjective hearing. And some one smart told me once that many subjective have something of the objective.
And sorry if my English is but I'm not a native to english
 

pozz

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With all due respect and believe me i have a lot of it, I'm not a machine, and the human experience especially in sound does matter. And I didn't contradict anybody in the forum. In the contrary, i renforced what was already said before me with my subjective hearing. And some one smart told me once that many subjective have something of the objective.
And sorry if my English is but I'm not a native to english
Your English is good. No problem understanding you, and I write this with equal respect.

If you are reporting a certain experience, you have to justify your observations with evidence. Your evidence in this case is another opinion. It's kind of like guessing someone's height or weight just by looking—no match for a ruler or scale.

Electronics have just one job: to pass signals. So if you measure the output, you'll understand their effect on a signal, and know the basis for your experience, why one amp sounded better than another, or why your opinion at the outset could have been mistaken. Like you said: you are not a machine. Which means that you are less capable of reliably reporting small differences than an analyzer or other tool.
 

fabien32

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From my experience, sometimes measurements are good and the sound is terrible, and viscera. In the end we are listening to music. And I didn't write my findings in the forum, I just shared the link of my subjective finding in the forum that go for the subjective. And since gto88 shared his finding here, I thought it is appropriate. And it's not that I contradicted someone measurements with my listening experience. The listening experience in my humble opinion does count for something when it comes to music. But you are untitled to think differently.
P.s. in the end I think music is a combination of both. I love both forums because I think life is a combination of the heart and the brain.
 

pozz

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From my experience, sometimes measurements are good and the sound is terrible, and viscera. In the end we are listening to music. And I didn't write my findings in the forum, I just shared the link of my subjective finding in the forum that go for the subjective. And since gto88 shared his finding here, I thought it is appropriate. And it's not that I contradicted someone measurements with my listening experience. The listening experience in my humble opinion does count for something when it comes to music. But you are untitled to think differently.
P.s. in the end I think music is a combination of both. I love both forums because I think life is a combination of the heart and the brain.
Ever watch Metropolis? "Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a Mediator, and this must be the heart!"

My heart leads to the scientific tradition rather than away from it. I hope you get what I mean.
 

Veri

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@gto88 just wondering but did Burson loan you the unit to review it? I know they do this for free advertising (pretty smart way to do it too)
 
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