Mytech Brooklyn DAC, anyone using one?

jdandy

jdandy

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Mytek Brooklyn DAC, anyone using one?

I've been thinking it might be fun to play with the new Mytek Brooklyn DAC. I'm curious to know if someone here owns the Mytek Brooklyn and what are your impressions. It comes in black or silver, provides two headphone jacks, and can be used as a preamplifier with switchable analog or digital volume control. It is also MQA certified. It is designed in the USA and manufactured in Poland. The reviews have been positive but I am looking for owner comments.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/mytek-hifi-brooklyn-da-processor–headphone-amplifier

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/mytek-brooklyn-mqa-compatible-dac/
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Dan,

I almost pulled the trigger a few times but held off. I know Andy aka La Dolce Vita here has one and seems to love it. The reviews have been great and looks like the best way to get into MQA.

If I could find a little bit of a deal, I'd get one now.
 
joeinid said:
Dan,

I almost pulled the trigger a few times but held off. I know Andy aka La Dolce Vita here has one and seems to love it. The reviews have been great and looks like the best way to get into MQA.

If I could find a little bit of a deal, I'd get one now.
Click to expand...

Hi! Yes indeed I own the Brooklyn dac. To cut to the chase...for the money you cannot lose! It's feature set is great and I enjoy listening to MQA. Now does it sound as pleasing as my Lampi GG? I'd venture to say it falls short a bit, but candidly the tubes alone in my GG cost more than the Brooklyn and it is a solid performer. MQA is fun to listen to fully decoded... hope this helps.


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joeinid said:
Dan,

I almost pulled the trigger a few times but held off. I know Andy aka La Dolce Vita here has one and seems to love it. The reviews have been great and looks like the best way to get into MQA.

If I could find a little bit of a deal, I'd get one now.
Click to expand...

Joe.......I know what you mean about a little break from the $1995 retail price. That would be nice. Still, I am curious about the Mytek performance. It uses the ESS SABRE 9018K2M DAC designed for mobile audio application. It is a 2-channel audio D/A converter rather than an 8-channel D/A converter like the ESS ES9028PRO SABRE DAC in Benchmark's DAC3 HGC, retail $2195. The extra $200 for the Benchmark gets you the second best ESS DAC chip but no MQA decoding like the Mytek.

I am not really looking for another DAC since my digital bases are covered. I'm just curious to play with this DAC to see what the MQA decoding is all about when streaming Tidal Master files. It might work well with my Sennheiser HDVA headphone amplifier in my office. I can stream Tidal from my office PC and enjoy it with my HD800 headphone. I don't have to have it, but I do want to mess around with it. Perhaps one will turn up on Audiogon or US AudioMart.
 
La Dolce Vita said:
Hi! Yes indeed I own the Brooklyn dac. To cut to the chase...for the money you cannot lose! It's feature set is great and I enjoy listening to MQA. Now does it sound as pleasing as my Lampi GG? I'd venture to say it falls short a bit, but candidly the tubes alone in my GG cost more than the Brooklyn and it is a solid performer. MQA is fun to listen to fully decoded... hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Andy.......Thanks for chiming in. As usual, I will be procrastinating on this for awhile. Maybe a pre-owned will pop up for sale.
 
jdandy said:
Joe.......I know what you mean about a little break from the $1995 retail price. That would be nice. Still, I am curious about the Mytek performance. It uses the ESS SABRE 9018K2M DAC designed for mobile audio application. It is a 2-channel audio D/A converter rather than an 8-channel D/A converter like the ESS ES9028PRO SABRE DAC in Benchmark's DAC3 HGC, retail $2195. The extra $200 for the Benchmark gets you the second best ESS DAC chip but no MQA decoding like the Mytek.

I am not really looking for another DAC since my digital bases are covered. I'm just curious to play with this DAC to see what the MQA decoding is all about when streaming Tidal Master files. It might work well with my Sennheiser HDVA headphone amplifier in my office. I can stream Tidal from my office PC and enjoy it with my HD800 headphone. I don't have to have it, but I do want to mess around with it. Perhaps one will turn up on Audiogon or US AudioMart.
Click to expand...

Agreed it'd be best to find one when it pops up on Audiogon etc. it's very difficult to find these at a discount unless you are buying demo gear...probably due to relative low cost there's really not much money in it for the dealer in the first place. Food for thought...



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A pre-owned one would be a good idea. Although I've never owned it, I've heard it a few times (even against an exaSound e20 Mk III) and I think it's a good DAC with an impressive set of features. You definitely need a linear power supply for it as the wall wart included one sucks... You can even try to bypass the preamp and use this directly with your power amp (just for fun, to see what's going on, what do you lose or what you gain in this configuration). The USB interface is not its strength but if you find a good offer you should give it a try! :D
 
johndoe21ro said:
A pre-owned one would be a good idea. Although I've never owned it, I've heard it a few times (even against an exaSound e20 Mk III) and I think it's a good DAC with an impressive set of features. You definitely need a linear power supply for it as the wall wart included one sucks... You can even try to bypass the preamp and use this directly with your power amp (just for fun, to see what's going on, what do you lose or what you gain in this configuration). The USB interface is not its strength but if you find a good offer you should give it a try! :D
Click to expand...

johndoe21ro.......The Mytek Brooklyn has its own onboard switch mode power supply so there would be no reason to use a wall wart type power supply. It does have provisions for powering it with external DC voltage which would allow one to use an external linear power supply or a 12VDC battery to power the Mytek Brooklyn. The reviews I read make it clear the internal switch mode power supply is well filtered and quiet. I would be interesting to determine if there are additional performance advantages with a separate external linear power supply.
 
Randy.......If I was interested in the Benchmark DAC3 HGC, I would have started a different thread. In fact, if I wanted a DAC3 HGC, I would have bought yours.

I have already made it clear I just want to play with the Mytek Brooklyn on my headphone rig in my office. I don't need a fancy remote, a plethora of digital inputs, or internal jumpers, yada yada. I could care less who blesses a component in the audio rags. Evidently that impresses you, but not me. Nice of you to drop by and run down the Mytek Brooklyn while promoting the Benchmark DAC3 HGC. I don't think you could have thought that highly of your DAC3 HGC, you sold it, remember? Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to comments from Mytek Brooklyn owners and users.
 
"Randy.......If I was interested in the Benchmark DAC3 HGC, I would have started a different thread. In fact, if I wanted a DAC3 HGC, I would have bought yours.

I have already made it clear I just want to play with the Mytek Brooklyn in my headphone rig in my office. I don't need a fancy remote, a plethora of digital inputs, or internal jumpers, yada yada. I could care less who blesses a component in the audio rags. Evidently that impresses you, but not me. Nice of you to drop by and run down the Mytek Brooklyn while promoting the Benchmark DAC3 HGC. I don't think you could have thought that highly of your DAC3 HGC, you sold it, remember? Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to comments from Mytek Brooklyn owners and users."

Trying to delete (doesn't seem to be working)... don't want to offend Dan.... thought I was being helpful, but obviously not.

No reason to be a jerk... I was not putting down the Mytek only pointing out the differences with the two units YOU had mentioned. The Benchmark is a great unit, as I also assume the Mytek is. I sold it because I was not using all of its functions, not because it was not great. Ask Tom how good it is... he has posted this in the other forum... he has also giving me excellent feedback on the unit...
 
Randy Myers said:
Sorry Dan, you had mentioned it above so I thought you were comparing the two.
Click to expand...

Randy.......No, if I was comparing the two, the thread title would have read Mytek Brooklyn versus Benchmark DAC3 HGC. Actually, I mentioned the DAC3 HGC here because you made essentially the same kind of post promoting the Benchmark in my Mytek Brooklyn thread on another forum, so I made mention of the different DAC chips here hoping you wouldn't then feel it necessary to jump in here with another DAC3 sales pitch. Evidently I miscalculated. My purpose with this thread is to hear from Mytek Brooklyn owners or those who have had time auditioning one.
 
Joe.......It is evident from watching the video that Michal Jurewicz, one of the Mytek design engineers, is very proud of the Mytek Brooklyn DAC. It is quite a unique product considering the various ways it can be employed in a system, both at the consumer and professional level. My interest centers around the DAC and playing with MQA streaming to my headphone rig, but for someone looking to assemble an entry level system with a lot of bang for the buck the Mytek Brooklyn offers useful versatility. A pair of powered speakers like the Mackie HR824's or JBL LSR6328P's, a Clearaudio Concept turntable, and the Mytek Brooklyn connected to a laptop would be a great way to get up and running with high quality sound without having to go into debt. The more I look at and learn about the Mytek Brooklyn the more I like it.
 
I agree and WANT the MQA streaming part of it. Watching the video was entertaining and made me want one even more. Patience is key and maybe we can find a bit of a deal soon.



jdandy said:
Joe.......It is evident from watching the video that Michal Jurewicz, one of the Mytek design engineers, is very proud of the Mytek Brooklyn DAC. It is quite a unique product considering the various ways it can be employed in a system, both at the consumer and professional level. My interest centers around the DAC and playing with MQA streaming to my headphone rig, but for someone looking to assemble an entry level system with a lot of bang for the buck the Mytek Brooklyn offers useful versatility. A pair of powered speakers like the Mackie HR824's or JBL LSR6328P's, a Clearaudio Concept turntable, and the Mytek Brooklyn connected to a laptop would be a great way to get up and running with high quality sound without having to go into debt. The more I look at and learn about the Mytek Brooklyn the more I like it.
Click to expand...
 
Joe.......If you find a deal on the Mytek Brooklyn, let me know and I will do the same for you. It looks like the USA dealers are locked on $1995 with no wiggle room. I haven't found any local dealers near me that have the Mytek line so no chance to hope for a local dealer discount. I am keeping an eye on the usual pre-owned sites but it appears those who own the Mytek are keeping them. In a way I guess that's a good sign.
 
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