Mytek Brooklyn Bridge II Streamer Review

[MacClintock]

here's a link to the measurements in German magazine Stereo: https://www-stereo-de.translate.goo...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Haha, price-performance ratio received the maxiumum of 5 stars. For a 5k device, how bad has it to measure to receice 4 star (or even less) ?

 

[Angsty]

Haha, price-performance ratio received the maxiumum of 5 stars. For a 5k device, how bad has it to measure to receice 4 star (or even less) ?

I think it goes to show how relatively insensitive people are to SINAD, DR, and linearity figures beyond a certain threshold. Measurable difference is not always the same as audible difference.

 

[IamJF]

I think it goes to show how relatively insensitive people are to SINAD, DR, and linearity figures beyond a certain threshold. Measurable difference is not always the same as audible difference.

This unit has audible hum when you use it with bigger speakers. It shows more about how these HiFi magazines are working ... pay for review.

 

[Billy Budapest]

I think it goes to show how relatively insensitive people are to SINAD, DR, and linearity figures beyond a certain threshold. Measurable difference is not always the same as audible difference.

It almost never is with DACs. A DAC would have to be doing something very wrong in order for it to be audible.

 

[Music1969]

I thought Chord Electronics was bad...

What's 'bad' about Hugo TT2, Hugo 2, Mojo 2 ?

Only Dave (the oldest product currently sold) is bad...

these above all have positive review by Amir, due to excellent technical performance.

 

[antcollinet]

Only Dave (the oldest product currently sold) is bad...

And even the Dave exceeds the performance of CD - and hence is transparent to pretty much everyone pretty much all the time. So, not actually bad, but...

It's just the performance comes no-where near matching the price, or the marketing story.

 

[Billy Budapest]

And even the Dave exceeds the performance of CD - and hence is transparent to pretty much everyone pretty much all the time. So, not actually bad, but...

It's just the performance comes no-where near matching the price, or the marketing story.

And also the wacky theories of the principal engineer Rob Watts regarding digital filters.

 

[Music1969]

And also the wacky theories of the principal engineer Rob Watts regarding digital filters.

yes he is whacky but the measurements of those other DACs are excellent , cannot be argued

And it is discrete D to A design - not using an off the shelf chip

Not something anything can just whip up and still get excellent technical performance

 

[antcollinet]

yes he is whacky but the measurements of those other DACs are excellent , cannot be argued

And it is discrete D to A design - not using an off the shelf chip

Not something anything can just whip up and still get excellent technical performance

All of that is true. And while - as you state - not an easy technical achievement, the use of a discrete** design offers no benefit for the customer.

(**discrete is the wrong word - Chord dacs are based on very complex highly integrated programmable ASIC, where discrete in electronic terms generally means made of individual components, not integrated into a package. An R2R dac - if using individual resistors - could be considered discrete.)

 

[Music1969]

the use of a discrete** design offers no benefit for the customer.

of course, nobody said discrete design benefits the customer anyway

the point is despite some whacky marketing (which he might not even believe himself), it is clear the dude is actually smart... and capable of top tier execution.

without needing to buy an AKM or ESS chip.

 

[Docmoggy]

I bought Mytek's Brooklyn Bridge a few years ago. It was one of the first "all in one" DACS to also offer networked compatibility with Tidal's higher sampling rates and MQA for around $3000. It was a game changer, with a unique integrated bundle with good headphone amplification, capable preamp, comprehensive connectivity options, all neatly packaged inside a small uniquely upmarket styled unit and complimented with a showy colour display. Reviews, from publications such as Stereophile, gave it the thumbs up and the brand soared in to great heights in the market.

Unfortunately, things went pear shaped I think, when a big dispute inside the company blew up and all of a sudden there was a Mytek Poland and HEM ( ex Mytek ). It all got very messy as I got confused about where to go for firmware updates and who was what.

I remember being pretty impressed by the BB because I knew the unit was unpacking much higher resolution than I'd ever had at 24 bit 192 Khz. With MQA downloads, the sound resolution was different. I believed the hype that playing at higher sampling resolutions must obviously be better!

However, these measurements of their latest iteration, are somewhat disappointing because, in a way, I think Mytek kick started Chifi, or at least Chifi seem to have adopted a lot of Mytek's original design philosophy and have now established a commercial model based on a race to perfection or is it just a case of "one upmanship"? The result is, of course, a massive range of DACS that max out at about $4000.

There seems to be a cost increase of $1000 from the BB which I cannot account for or attribute to price inflation (Chifi stable pricing) alone or innovation ( Chifi TOTL) or added features - that appear to have moved little from the BB.

Sadly, my S.M.S.L SU10 blows the Mytek out of the water for reproduction excellence for approx 22% of the cost of this device. The new breed of dual ES9039 chipped units at 25% of the price, leave Mytek's latest offering well behind the Chifi pack. It would be easy configure a system with the latest dual chipped DAC, TOTL preamp and TOTL headphone amp and, theoretically still pay 50% less than this unit! (or less even).

For those that need streaming, then do you really need an Intel I5 chip (quite old architecture) to power Roon when there are excellent streamer units offering staggering levels of reproduction quality at lower cost? for example the Mytek spec is a near spec. match of the Matrix Element 2 ( that's been out in the field for at least a year) and the Matrix Element X has the superior ES9038 chip with bells and whistles. We know the Matrix units are high quality with excellent performance criteria. Something Mytek cannot match from these measurements.

I really don't know why Mytek thought this product would be competitive and the measurements just seem to confirm that perhaps the company were relying on brand image and their value incentive with the I5 chip for Roon. Then again, perhaps Mytek don't believe in the power of measurements!

I think they might need to rethink. Consumers are aware of sites like ASR that provide independent measurements that they can use to benchmark products. Hopefully a lesson learnt for their product development team, then again maybe not because I'm pretty sure they must have heard about ASR and others who test products.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Five. Thousand. Dollars. Maybe you need to buy their Empire streamer at $12.5k to get above the ‘fair’ performance zone.

Considering how these boutique audiophool companies operate, their $12.5K streamer probably measures worse while having gold plated bling on front that somehow magically absorbs all the bad waves and stuff.

 

[AdrianusG]

I bought Mytek's Brooklyn Bridge a few years ago. It was one of the first "all in one" DACS to also offer networked compatibility with Tidal's higher sampling rates and MQA for around $3000. It was a game changer, with a unique integrated bundle with good headphone amplification, capable preamp, comprehensive connectivity options, all neatly packaged inside a small uniquely upmarket styled unit and complimented with a showy colour display. Reviews, from publications such as Stereophile, gave it the thumbs up and the brand soared in to great heights in the market.

Unfortunately, things went pear shaped I think, when a big dispute inside the company blew up and all of a sudden there was a Mytek Poland and HEM ( ex Mytek ). It all got very messy as I got confused about where to go for firmware updates and who was what.

I remember being pretty impressed by the BB because I knew the unit was unpacking much higher resolution than I'd ever had at 24 bit 192 Khz. With MQA downloads, the sound resolution was different. I believed the hype that playing at higher sampling resolutions must obviously be better!

However, these measurements of their latest iteration, are somewhat disappointing because, in a way, I think Mytek kick started Chifi, or at least Chifi seem to have adopted a lot of Mytek's original design philosophy and have now established a commercial model based on a race to perfection or is it just a case of "one upmanship"? The result is, of course, a massive range of DACS that max out at about $4000.

There seems to be a cost increase of $1000 from the BB which I cannot account for or attribute to price inflation (Chifi stable pricing) alone or innovation ( Chifi TOTL) or added features - that appear to have moved little from the BB.

Sadly, my S.M.S.L SU10 blows the Mytek out of the water for reproduction excellence for approx 22% of the cost of this device. The new breed of dual ES9039 chipped units at 25% of the price, leave Mytek's latest offering well behind the Chifi pack. It would be easy configure a system with the latest dual chipped DAC, TOTL preamp and TOTL headphone amp and, theoretically still pay 50% less than this unit! (or less even).

For those that need streaming, then do you really need an Intel I5 chip (quite old architecture) to power Roon when there are excellent streamer units offering staggering levels of reproduction quality at lower cost? for example the Mytek spec is a near spec. match of the Matrix Element 2 ( that's been out in the field for at least a year) and the Matrix Element X has the superior ES9038 chip with bells and whistles. We know the Matrix units are high quality with excellent performance criteria. Something Mytek cannot match from these measurements.

I really don't know why Mytek thought this product would be competitive and the measurements just seem to confirm that perhaps the company were relying on brand image and their value incentive with the I5 chip for Roon. Then again, perhaps Mytek don't believe in the power of measurements!

I think they might need to rethink. Consumers are aware of sites like ASR that provide independent measurements that they can use to benchmark products. Hopefully a lesson learnt for their product development team, then again maybe not because I'm pretty sure they must have heard about ASR and others who test products.

That's why i wonder how HEM (who built the Mytek stuff before), now with their own brand "Ferrum" with models like Wandla; Oor and Erco is (really!) doing, in the HiFi press they are praised very higly, just like Mytek, but how good are they really?

I haven't seen any independent measurements for this brand anywhere yet.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Considering how these boutique audiophool companies operate, their $12.5K streamer probably measures worse while having gold plated bling on front that somehow magically absorbs all the bad waves and stuff.

You have to remember that mainstream companies like Sony and Marantz are not immune to this—witness the extensive copper shielding and copper chassis they used to employ in their TOTL gear in the 80’s and 90’s before it became prohibitively expensive to do so.

 

[staticV3]

You have to remember that mainstream companies like Sony and Marantz are not immune to this—witness the extensive copper shielding and copper chassis they used to employ in their TOTL gear in the 80’s and 90’s before it became prohibitively expensive to do so.

Sony is still doing it


Though who knows, maybe they're onto something if it makes "mid to high range sounds linger beautifully"

 

[SKBubba]

Shots fired...

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

I read this “review”. Unfortunately the SCIENCE at audioscienreview.com seems to be from the mid 20th century. We are now 70 years later and there is an ample science on brain and psychoacoutics that these guys seem not to even know about. ASR founder Amir WRONGLY assumes that low THD is the...

community.roonlabs.com

 

[Purité Audio]

He should have used his time more usefully usefully improving his product.
Keith

 

[enricoclaudio]

He should have used his time more usefully usefully improving his product.
Keith

Or full filing orders fully paid since 2021…. This guy has no respect for his customers.

 

[Timmeon]

Shots fired...

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

I read this “review”. Unfortunately the SCIENCE at audioscienreview.com seems to be from the mid 20th century. We are now 70 years later and there is an ample science on brain and psychoacoutics that these guys seem not to even know about. ASR founder Amir WRONGLY assumes that low THD is the...

community.roonlabs.com

My favorite part was the founder(!!!) of Mytek linking to an Audiogon post with an "alternative POV" written by a braindead golden ear while seemingly foaming at the mouth.

 

[voodooless]

Shots fired...

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

I read this “review”. Unfortunately the SCIENCE at audioscienreview.com seems to be from the mid 20th century. We are now 70 years later and there is an ample science on brain and psychoacoutics that these guys seem not to even know about. ASR founder Amir WRONGLY assumes that low THD is the...

community.roonlabs.com