Mytek Brooklyn Bridge II Streamer Review

[Toni Mas]

Mhm, I tested some Mytek's and my opinion is - too much for not much. Small factor, less expensive DAC - all good on paper but when you hear it you know something wrong is here. No good if you pay 10x less and have a lot better device. One more thing - they are very arrogant. Producent, PR team, distributor here (this is firm form US but with polish roots, today "made in Poland" …all of them think, that they do superb audio equipment, attack different point of view, critics etc. I had very unpleasant conversation view years ago.

Yes i agree It is arrogant overpriced pro gear. Plenty of pro brands like this using a high price level as an argument.

 

[Billy Budapest]

No, what we see here is the performance of a Dac based on an ESS ES9028PRO chip with simply some higher than usual, an ugly picture but totally innocuous PSU noise...

The $9.00 Apple dongle offers better objective performance.

 

[Toni Mas]

The $9.00 Apple dongle offers better objective performance.

Dont agree. Thd + noise is a misleading concept. Noise at these levels is not a problem at all. It simply spoils the picture giving no insight at all.

 

[lordhumungous]

Yes i agree It is arrogant overpriced pro gear. Plenty of pro brands like this using a high price level as an argument.

Maybe Benchmark could do a streamer/dac combo ? I’d have complete confidence in that company getting it right .

 

[Toni Mas]

Btw, though hidden by PSU noise components, we can clearly see that the dac has been tweaked to increase H2 and H3 components, as allowed by the Ess chip.
These guys have little interest in sinad and transparency, nor pretend to clone the performance of a Wii ...

From the website of Mitek:
CONVERSION

up to 384k, 32bit PCM, native DSD up to DSD256, DXD, 130dB DR, ES9028PRO chipset with superior Mytek implementation (HAT (tm) Harmonic Audio Tuning)

 

[Toni Mas]

Maybe Benchmark could do a streamer/dac combo ? I’d have complete confidence in that company getting it right .

All kinds of animals in this business...

 

[Michal]

Seems to me more and more audio brands are just that, a label. Because it seems they just outsource the actual engineering and over-market the (poor) results.

For Mytek, this was done by a team of engineers from Ferrum. I wonder how their proprietary products perform in terms of measurement?

 

[natna]

I don't get why this made your weekend happy. I’m interested in good sound reproduction, and I always hope that the next review will show the result of the next level in performance, no matter what the price or who the manufacturer is.

I find this attitude strange of hoping that something will measure bad just because the product may be in a price range you can't afford.

You know, I don't wake up in the morning, trying to find expensive gear to trash or give a bad review.
I do expect top notch performance by very expensive things, though...
ASR is a tough place for expensive brands.
And believe me if I had a bigger appartment, I'd own an expensive system. It won't be the first time I've painfully saved money for one of my hobbies

 

[AdamG]

ASR is a tough place for expensive brands.

Well we don’t consider price to be a performance factor that can be measured and benchmarked. We leave that up to our Community. That’s kind of the secret sauce around here. Price and or brand recognition and loyalty are not the alter we worship. We are brutal on any product that fails to measure well against the competition and more so if that same poor performing product cost many times more while delivering less performance.

Looking at recent trends in regards to popularity in Google Search analytics (Amir can provide more details if he so chooses). ASR is in the top twenty forums Google promote on the entire internet. This is a solid indication that the information, reviews and truth that ASR is providing is seen as highly valued and in demand by the Audio Community and Industry. ASR is moving the needle and that movement is benefiting the Consumer. All provided commercial free and as unbiased and fair as possible.

Thank you Amir for the work you do day after day grinding out review after review. Then you spend your evenings coming here to continue to offer deeper insights and details. Answering questions and providing clarifications. Rinse and repeat where every day is a Work Day. You have my deepest respect and gratitude for what you give our Community. Thank you Sir.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Dont agree. Thd + noise is a misleading concept. Noise at these levels is not a problem at all. It simply spoils the picture giving no insight at all.

THD is going to be inaudible. Noise on the other hand is audible, especially when listening through headphones.

 

[Angsty]

Why the hell did they try to cram all of that in such a small box? I wonder how much better this would have performed in standard rack-size box? Well, and with competent engineering.

This design could have benefited from an outboard ”wall wart” transformer, but that was likely rejected due to audiophile attitudes.

With that said, Topping has implemented embedded, canned transformers with linear power supplies having much lower noise impact.

 

[Toni Mas]

THD is going to be inaudible. Noise on the other hand is audible, especially when listening through headphones.

I give up, you won...

 

[Toni Mas]

This design could have benefited from an outboard ”wall wart” transformer, but that was likely rejected due to audiophile attitudes.

With that said, Topping has implemented embedded, canned transformers with linear power supplies having much lower noise impact.

Topping does not build i5 nuc pc based audio gear...

 

[Angsty]

I prefer not to have a PC in the living room to play music there so I like the WiiM streamer that. It's pretty good. There are enough computers in my life.

I understand as I have a Mac Mini sitting on my coffee table.

I’d prefer a dedicated streamer, but the Mac is really flexible. I use it to rip CDs, too.

 

[Angsty]

Topping does not build i5 nuc pc based audio gear...

I was specifically pointing to the power supply artifacts, such as the one at 180 Hz that should have nothing to do with the processor.

 

[lordhumungous]

Well we don’t consider price to be a performance factor that can be measured and benchmarked. We leave that up to our Community. That’s kind of the secret sauce around here. Price and or brand recognition and loyalty are not the alter we worship. We are brutal on any product that fails to measure well against the competition and more so if that same poor performing product cost many times more while delivering less performance.

Looking at recent trends in regards to popularity in Google Search analytics (Amir can provide more details if he so chooses). ASR is in the top twenty forums Google promote on the entire internet. This is a solid indication that the information, reviews and truth that ASR is providing is seen as highly valued and in demand by the Audio Community and Industry. ASR is moving the needle and that movement is benefiting the Consumer. All provided commercial free and as unbiased and fair as possible.

Thank you Amir for the work you do day after day grinding out review after review. Then you spend your evenings coming here to continue to offer deeper insights and details. Answering questions and providing clarifications. Rinse and repeat where every day is a Work Day. You have my deepest respect and gratitude for what you give our Community. Thank you

Audio Science has changed the way I buy electronics ….. for the better.

 

[Toni Mas]

Pc based audio allows for peanuts (free software) things that Wii and Mitek customers cannot imagine... Basically because what they need and buy is simply hassle free stuff, at any price point...

 

[Toni Mas]

I was specifically pointing to the power supply artifacts, such as the one at 180 Hz that should have nothing to do with the processor.

Yes but It is still too low to bother anything more than measurements...

 

[GaryY]

Well... poor engineering, poor marketing
as expected..

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge ll with Roon…is it ever shipping?

Well, Henry, please don’t put words in my mouth. And you are wrong. Michal has certainly been deceitful by lying point blank on multiple occasions. And since he has been using my money for nearly 2 years without any real transparency into what is going on or when he will fulfill his...

community.roonlabs.com

 

[KSTR]

IMHO, by now it seems to be clear what the company's rationale was when specifying and building this, in-house or out-sourced.
I voted 'not terrible' because at the end of the day, it delivers what is advertised and most customers will be completely happy with it.

But there are two big lemons, the high price and the only 'good enough' level of performance, despite all the versatility. A bit too much for ASR tastes.
Mytek missed an opportunity here. OK, maybe next time ;-)