My review today is focused on Burson Audio’s “Play”, a potent DAC/Amp combo available in a variety of prices. Dependent on the op-amps chosen from Burson Audio, the price varies from $299 (no remote) up to $549 (with 5x discrete V6-OPA “Classic” op-amps + remote, the setup shown in this review)! The Play uses an XMOS chipset for USB/digital audio in and it has a full pre-amp and headphone amp, offering both ¼” and RCA outputs. You can run the ¼” output and the RCA output together/at the same time. This is similar to how the ES9038P can do XLR and RCA out at the same time from one pre-amp.
I confirmed with Alex at Burson that the XMOS unit talks to the main DAC using I2S! This is why you are able to play DSD128 with ease on foobar2000! The 64-pin ES9018K2M seen on the primary PCB (under the XMOS unit) is responsible for converting this I2S into analog waveforms. We have a ton of different op-amp sockets to “Play” with (5 in total), yet it will still fit into a CD/DVD 5.75” drive bay in a PC case.
I will be using the V6-OPA “Classic” line from Burson across the board inside the Play for this review. Burson Audio includes a standard 12V Molex power connection on the rear of the unit as well as a microphone input on the front. The 12V Molex connector allows for an easy power connection when the Play is inside your PC’s 5.75” drive bay. All of these features come together to give you the whole package in one very mobile footprint!
The microphone is powered by a small C-Media HS100B (thanks to Head-Fi.org for this correction). After connecting USB, most computers will see the ES9018 output and list it as a generic USB device. This ES9018 output is not meant to be used, so disable it. If you don’t choose the XMOS device (default) named “XMOS-XS1-U8 MFA (ST)”, you’ll never get any sound output. You can find the XMOS driver for the Play directly on Burson Audio’s website in the download section (found here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RwVLfyNDo0u79erR3KaETreUnlemVhjn/view).
Next
Table of Contents:
- Review Main Page
- Competition Hardware Descriptions:
- Review Hardware Info v2.0 vs. v1.6 Burson Audio Play:
- Digital Noise/Mouse Distortion + Solution: (USB Ground Headaches)
- Opening Thoughts on Voicing of Burson “Play” vs. ES9038Pro:
- Listening Tests Streaming: ES9038 on Coax + RCA out
- A Closer Look at Oversampling & Noise Filtering: (It’s Not Magic!)
- Listening Test Music (Pt 1): (Adele with ES9038P on I2S)
- Listening Test Music (Pt 2): (Tedeschi Trucks Band with ES9038P on Coax)
- A note on Converting PCM to DSD with Foobar2000: (DSD64 Clicking)
- Balanced vs. Unbalanced: (Understanding the ES9038’s Performance)
- Adding I2S Input To ES9038 DAC: (Power Tools and Soldering Irons)
- Measurements/Technical Page
- Closing Remarks: (The Verdict)