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Review and Measurements of Mytek Brooklyn DAC

watchnerd

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Thanks for the heads up because this is a box full of interesting options.
http://www.rme-audio.de/download/adi2pro_e.pdf

Might be a replacement for my Benchmark DAC1
Better buy it before Amir measure it :)

There is also a more consumer-looking Anniversary Edition:

RME-ADI-2-Pro-Anniversary-Edition-AE-Angle-Closeup-Synthax-Audio-UK.jpg
 

Vincent Kars

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The Pro sells at €1.599,00 in Europe, the AE is 400,- more.
Bit to much as far as I'm concerned for a slight improvement in aesthetics.
Don't like the window on top either.
 

watchnerd

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The Pro sells at €1.599,00 in Europe, the AE is 400,- more.
Bit to much as far as I'm concerned for a slight improvement in aesthetics.
Don't like the window on top either.

Yeah, I don't like the window on top, either.

I just wish either version had a remote for volume.

I suppose I could rig something up...
 
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amirm

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An update. I received a message from Michal Jurewicz (member alias mehow), the designer of Mytek Brooklyn, with some remarks on my measurements. I wish I still had the Mytek to verify what he is saying but I am going to go ahead and provide his data regardless.

On the clipping, he confirms that it is the MQA decoder that causes the clipping. Disabling MQA decoder, eliminates the problem (graph in red):

BrooklynDAC_S_FFT_5k_MQA.png


The question I sent him which unfortunately he has not responded to, is why enabling MQA decoding impacts non-MQA content which I used for my testing.

It seems that they have a new dsp pipeline that includes MQA decoding and it is that new pipeline that now clips on non-MQA content. So to fix that, also means to give up on MQA decoding just the same!

That's not good. They should go back and properly integrate MQA into their decoding pipeline so that it doesn't impact non-MQA content. A simple check of the content flag for MQA should enable them to do this without a user switch to turn MQA on and off.

Of course it would be unfortunate if it overflows on MQA content but at least let's get the 99% answer right (i.e. non-MQA content).

On the second harmonic clipping, he says this is due to the attenuator (volume control) circuit which was intended to have a "warm" sound. Shutting off the volume control makes most of the second harmonic distortion to go away (graph in blue):

BrooklynDAC_S_FFT_6.7k.png


I guess this is their attempt to create the "tube" sound with those high levels of second harmonic distortions and at any rate, cater to subjective audiophile needs this way. Not my cup of tea. I want my volume control to be fully transparent and not inject gobs of second harmonic distortion into the path. If I want to distort it, I will do it elsewhere, thank you very much.

Above all, they should document all of this. People may for example choose to not use their volume control if they knew it acted as we have discovered.

Anyway, I appreciate the reach out and more information. My conclusion now is that the DAC is of higher quality the original stated within the constraints that these modified settings provide.
 

Blumlein 88

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Cool. So, MQA clearly sounds better than non. But, alas, that is because MQA has sabotaged the non-MQA playback. Dirty pool, IMHO.
I don't really think they sabotaged non-MQA. It is just part and parcel of how MQA works.

Now I do agree they sabotaged both MQA and non-MQA by selling this diminished codec digital performance as an improvement. ADC to DAC performance of MQA is diminished vs 96/24 and even appears in some ways diminished vs 44/16.
 

Jinjuku

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On the second harmonic clipping, he says this is due to the attenuator (volume control) circuit which was intended to have a "warm" sound. Shutting off the volume control makes most of the second harmonic distortion to go away

I've always said: Design a product to sound different and market that difference. EQ baked right into the god damned attenuator and it's one size fits all.

My question is do they address this engineering choice in the manual?
 

jtwrace

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Fitzcaraldo215

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I don't really think they sabotaged non-MQA. It is just part and parcel of how MQA works.

Now I do agree they sabotaged both MQA and non-MQA by selling this diminished codec digital performance as an improvement. ADC to DAC performance of MQA is diminished vs 96/24 and even appears in some ways diminished vs 44/16.
I was being facetious, of course. But, it might point to a fairly large problem for Mytek and others who wish to get on the MQA bandwagon.

Personally, I have not heard the audible degradation of which you speak. But, I have no MQA in my system and I am not likely to get it for numerous other reasons. My listening to it has been limited and purely out of curiosity. But, the blind listening I have done so far seems to indicate it subjectively sounds subtly different, often "better" and preferable to me, though not always. It seemed to offer less difference, less "improvement" on native 88 or 96k files in MQA vs. non. My blind batting average was poor in picking the MQA file vs. non. OTOH, I thought Tidal streaming of 44/48k files consistently inferior to Tidal streamed MQA at 88/96 for recodings done natively at those hi rez sampling rates or above. I had a pretty good batting average blind on those.

Sorry, not trying to start another MQA war here.
 

Ratatoskr

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I lived with a Brooklyn DAC+ for a year before selling it. The USB receiver is just average despite marketing claims. A good USB/SPDIF converter noticeably cleans up the sound and an outboard linear power supply is a must. Basshead club gave high marks to the lower priced Schiit Eitr so that is what I used. At the time the Sbooster was the most economical LPS for me. So I had to add $600 to the cost of the DAC+ to improve SQ so that it was listenable for me. I have a problem with a DAC where SQ differs between inputs, and the Toslink in on the DAC+ has the horrid Sabre glare while the USB does not. I sent my unit back for diagnostics and Mytek said it was functioning as designed. Based on my experience I would ignore the glowing reviews in the mainstream audio press and avoid Mytek DACs like the plague.
 

linnlingo

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Just saw the latest Sound on Sound Magazine and they gave the Mytek Brooklyn a very positive review. They did mention cost was a bit high and the headphone part was very good but a bit below the RME.
 

linnlingo

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Never mentioned it was an updated version. Said it was worthy for home or studio use.
 

Angelzilla

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According to their website these are the differences between the standard version and the + version:

https://mytekdigital.com/hifi/products/brooklyn/

“Brooklyn DAC+ features the following improvements as compared to Brooklyn DAC:

- Sabre 9028 Pro chipset ( 9018 in older model)
- Higher grade, more transparent and less noisy analog attenuator circuit.
- Improved analog input performance
- Improved Phono Stage transparency
- Improved Headphone Amp sound (more detail, more definition)
- Dual mono analog path

In other words Brooklyn DAC+ has the same features as Brooklyn DAC but improved sound. It’s not a huge improvement, but noticeable, as Brooklyn DAC is still excellent sounding and best value in the price category when compared to competition”
 
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Sal1950

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n other words Brooklyn DAC+ has the same features as Brooklyn DAC but improved sound.
As I read it, the sound quality improvements are only credited to the analog stages.
 
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