Review and Measurements of Mytek Brooklyn DAC

[Music1969]

Do they just naturally measure bad or is it that mean ole MQA which the Brooklyn has enabled on non-MQA material.
Some would call that a broken design, no?

As mentioned above (see link too) MQA filtering is applied to non-MQA material if MQA is enabled in the DAC's settings. This is how Amir measured the original Brooklyn.

If you disable MQA in the DAC settings, then non-MQA stuff will not have MQA filtering applied. Should measure better too...

At least you do have this option to disable MQA altogether via DAC settings...

 

[Soniclife]

At least you do have this option to disable MQA altogether via DAC settings...

If should have the option to behave correctly at all times, they have broken the implementation of MQA.

 

[Sal1950]

At least you do have this option to disable MQA altogether via DAC settings...

should have the option to behave correctly at all times, they have broken the implementation of MQA.

Exactly, one should not have to manually disable the proper handling of MQA files to correctly play back the other billions of non-MQA recordings.
That's a broken design that requires it!

 

[Music1969]

If should have the option to behave correctly at all times, they have broken the implementation of MQA.

Agree but for MQA lovers (not me, I'd love MQA to go away) maybe behaving correctly at all times (for them) is MQA filtering for everything.

So while it's not ideal for those not interested in MQA, at least they did give the option to disable it.

Whether it measures better/different when MQA is enabled/disabled, @amirm will hopefully find out and let us know.

 

[Soniclife]

Agree but for MQA lovers (not me, I'd love MQA to go away) maybe behaving correctly at all times (for them) is MQA filtering for everything.

There is not a single MQA filter, the correct filter of many possible options is dictated by the metadata in the MQA file, so they might even have broken the MQA implementation as well. It's broken.

 

[Music1969]

There is not a single MQA filter, the correct filter of many possible options is dictated by the metadata in the MQA file, so they might even have broken the MQA implementation as well. It's broken.

Maybe. If it measures well in all areas, with MQA disabled in the DAC settings, that's all I need to know.

 

[amirm]

Can you also please measure with the Bridge's USB input. At least this can cover both the DAC+ and Bridge at the same time (I assume both are the same on USB input).

Got it and will do when the time comes.

 

[gags11]

Besides the MQA being disabled, there are number of filters that could potentially give different measurements. Would be interesting to see and compare filter measurements, such as the frlp, srlp, and apodizing filters. Anyway, will look forward for the test results. Thanks in advance!

 

[Music1969]

Besides the MQA being disabled, there are number of filters that could potentially give different measurements. Would be interesting to see and compare filter measurements, such as the frlp, srlp, and apodizing filters. Anyway, will look forward for the test results. Thanks in advance!

These are shown in JA's Stereophile measurements of the original Brooklyn.

He also mentions the effect of leaving MQA enabled too (with non-MQA input...).

https://www.stereophile.com/content/mytek-hifi-brooklyn-da-processorheadphone-amplifier-measurements

 

[Laserjock]

Is there not a SINAD of this DAC?

Just wondering how it stacks up in the order.

 

[Music1969]

Got it and will do when the time comes.

Hi @amirm

Still plans for you to measure the Brooklyn Bridge? Do you still have access to a unit or no longer have access?

 

[amirm]

I will have to ask. I have so much to test right now that I don't want to pester my source and then not have the time to test it.

 

[blodsbror]

I will have to ask. I have so much to test right now that I don't want to pester my source and then not have the time to test it.

Yes, am vary much looking forward to this review if you can find the time. In addition to the DAC functionality, I'm looking to use it as a preamp, to either the Brooklyn AMP, or perhaps Benchmark AHB2.

 

[FourT6and2]

Any follow up on the DAC+? I'm interested to see how it stacks up against other all-in-ones like the Matrix Element X. Not just the DAC. But the actual headphone amp as well.

 

[watchnerd]

Any follow up on the DAC+? I'm interested to see how it stacks up against other all-in-ones like the Matrix Element X. Not just the DAC. But the actual headphone amp as well.

I bet if you buy one and send it to @amirm he'll test it....

 

[FourT6and2]

I bet if you buy one and send it to @amirm he'll test it....

Please see post #75

 

[ousi]

Should have seen this before I bought a used Mytek Brooklyn DAC (original version with latest FW)... Anyway, I don't like the sound of the DAC except that the display looks pretty cool. Should have noticed that having some chips "sanded off" the marking it's quite a red flag... BTW, I did use the 4 jumpers because it clipped the input of my integrated tube amp (Glow Audio Amp Two).

Even before reading this I found that with MQA disabled the DAC sounds a bit better, especially with songs mastered really hot and compressed. Also even when set to 0 level on analog, bypass will make the sound output different (cleaner but "brighter"). It also introduces some slight pops occasionally on my optical source input and it sounds worse that I remember when connected to either a Cyrus One HD or my trusty Sony HAP-S1. Anyway, it sounds very bright and somehow caused my ears to hurt after listening for 5 mins... even with a tube amp. My speaker is a pair of full-range single driver speakers (Omega Super 3 XRS). The Sony HAP-S1 never sounded like that.

On a side-note, due to the high efficiency of my speakers I cannot use the Cyrus One HD which has a complex background noise (pulsating with some high freq content).

 

[Ton]

I have the Brooklyn Bridge at home to try it out and I love it. I tested some other dac's like the much higher priced PSA DSD and I prefer the Brooklyn. Maybe it just fits my vintage gear (Krell KST100 power-amp/ Duntech Crown Prince speakers) but I can listen the whole day without fatigue.

 

[Music1969]

I have the Brooklyn Bridge at home to try it out and I love it. I tested some other dac's like the much higher priced PSA DSD and I prefer the Brooklyn. Maybe it just fits my vintage gear (Krell KST100 power-amp/ Duntech Crown Prince speakers) but I can listen the whole day without fatigue.

It also measures well, as long as the MQA mode is disabled via the on-screen settings.

 

[Ton]

It also measures well, as long as the MQA mode is disabled via the on-screen settings.

Yeah, I did that