Mytek new dac Brooklyn.

[John Eaton]

OK, the Brooklyn finally arrived.

For inputs, I have it connected to my Lenovo Windows 10 PC via USB; drivers and control panel are installed.  (Also connected but untested are a coaxial digital cable from an Oppo Blu-ray player and RCA phono cables from a Pro-Ject turntable.)

Output is through balanced XLR’s to the balanced input of my Classé SSP-800 preamp-processor. 

I have not tried headphones. 

The good news, Tidal appears to be working well.  The 2L Nordic Sound album sounds great and has illuminated the MQA logo.

The bad news is JRiver sounds poor.  I believe it is overloading the XLR input on pre-pro.  So, if I understand correctly, I will have to add 4 jumpers to attenuate the output.

As you can see from the photo attached both L and R Peak VU meters are maxed out.  (This while playing Adel at 16/44 from JRiver)

Other questions.

·         The only way I can get any audio output is with “Bypass” set to “ON”.  With bypass set to off, no sound is output through my speakers no matter what the volume setting.  Does that seem right?

·         Neither the “Analog” nor “Digital” volume control has any impact on overall speaker volume.

·         Regarding Output: “Main” and “Auto” provide sound to the speakers, “Both” mutes speaker volume.  (No Headphones are plugged in.)

I'm surprised by the overload issue, obvious on JRiver and less so on Tidal though perhaps there.  I thought I read where one person preferred the analog volume set to max over bypass when a running through an outboard preamp.

No doubt there is some amount of operator error at this early stage.  Is this worthy of opening a ticket?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[Cornan]

Here is a tip for anyone that want to inject 5v battery power into Mytek Brooklyn DAC.

 

I have been wondering why the battery injection does´nt work with my TP-Link Vivid battery pack for a little while. After a bunch of experiments and asking questions on CA without results it suddenly strucked me this morning that it have to be something with the battery charging mode. I descided to change my TP-Link Vivid, which is powered during charging (a constant power feed), to a battery pack that turns off the the power feed during charging. Voila, mission accomplished! Now it works and sounds much better!

 

 

[whacky]

7 hours ago, John Eaton said:

The bad news is JRiver sounds poor.  I believe it is overloading the XLR input on pre-pro.  So, if I understand correctly, I will have to add 4 jumpers to attenuate the output.

As you can see from the photo attached both L and R Peak VU meters are maxed out.  (This while playing Adel at 16/44 from JRiver)

 

Was having the same issue initially on my new Brooklyn. was getting a clipping, popping sound on certain files through Tidal and Audirvana, especially the MQA files. So I place the 4 jumpers and it helped alleviate the issue, but the peak VU meters are still close to being maxed out. Just no popping noise. 

 

Was wondering if anyone had any further suggestions. I'm still learning the new DAC and the corresponding software. Certain programs dont have the issue. ie, Spotify's volume control works to lower the gain on the DAC, and I can then control volume via the Marantz preamp without affecting the VU meters on the DAC. 

 

 

Also, is anyone having the issue of Audirvana+  not automatically detecting the MQA device (Brooklyn) ?? Is this normal?

 

 

 

[Veovis]

10 hours ago, John Eaton said:

The bad news is JRiver sounds poor.  I believe it is overloading the XLR input on pre-pro.  So, if I understand correctly, I will have to add 4 jumpers to attenuate the output.

As you can see from the photo attached both L and R Peak VU meters are maxed out.  (This while playing Adel at 16/44 from JRiver)

Other questions.

·         The only way I can get any audio output is with “Bypass” set to “ON”.  With bypass set to off, no sound is output through my speakers no matter what the volume setting.  Does that seem right?

·         Neither the “Analog” nor “Digital” volume control has any impact on overall speaker volume.

·         Regarding Output: “Main” and “Auto” provide sound to the speakers, “Both” mutes speaker volume.  (No Headphones are plugged in.)

 

I had the same experience with the XLR inputs on my Simaudio amp and the jumpers didn't keep the inputs from overloading with very loudly mastered material. I consider this a design mistake on an otherwise fantastic product.

 

The other issues sounds strange. I'm now using the Brooklyn as a preamp and, of course, have the bypass option set to OFF. Both digital and analog volume control works. And setting the output to BOTH definitely should produce sound to the XLR outputs.

 

Maybe you should try to do a factory reset and/or reinstall of the firmware?

[mumsoft]

Maybe it is wise to check the firmware version of your Brooklyn? I myself did not bother for a while, and now I see that 2.34 is out.

 

[witchdoctor]

11 hours ago, John Eaton said:

OK, the Brooklyn finally arrived.

For inputs, I have it connected to my Lenovo Windows 10 PC via USB; drivers and control panel are installed.  (Also connected but untested are a coaxial digital cable from an Oppo Blu-ray player and RCA phono cables from a Pro-Ject turntable.)

Output is through balanced XLR’s to the balanced input of my Classé SSP-800 preamp-processor. 

I have not tried headphones. 

The good news, Tidal appears to be working well.  The 2L Nordic Sound album sounds great and has illuminated the MQA logo.

The bad news is JRiver sounds poor.  I believe it is overloading the XLR input on pre-pro.  So, if I understand correctly, I will have to add 4 jumpers to attenuate the output.

As you can see from the photo attached both L and R Peak VU meters are maxed out.  (This while playing Adel at 16/44 from JRiver)

Other questions.

·         The only way I can get any audio output is with “Bypass” set to “ON”.  With bypass set to off, no sound is output through my speakers no matter what the volume setting.  Does that seem right?

·         Neither the “Analog” nor “Digital” volume control has any impact on overall speaker volume.

·         Regarding Output: “Main” and “Auto” provide sound to the speakers, “Both” mutes speaker volume.  (No Headphones are plugged in.)

I'm surprised by the overload issue, obvious on JRiver and less so on Tidal though perhaps there.  I thought I read where one person preferred the analog volume set to max over bypass when a running through an outboard preamp.

No doubt there is some amount of operator error at this early stage.  Is this worthy of opening a ticket?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Refund it and buy a Bluesound Node 2, You can thank me later with the $1500 you will save. Plus you won't need a PC with the Node which means a straighter signal path and less cable. Streaming from the Node to the same DAC I streamed my PC to via USB kicked my PC to the curb. 

With the Bluesound App you won't need J river either or roon etc.

[kilroy]

23 minutes ago, witchdoctor said:

Refund it and buy a Bluesound Node 2, You can thank me later with the $1500 you will save. Plus you won't need a PC with the Node which means a straighter signal path and less cable. Streaming from the Node to the same DAC I streamed my PC to via USB kicked my PC to the curb. 

With the Bluesound App you won't need J river either or roon etc.

 

Not everybody likes cheap AV equipment. Especially on CA.

[witchdoctor]

11 minutes ago, kilroy said:

 

Not everybody likes cheap AV equipment. Especially on CA.

John Easton is a Newbie who dropped $2000 on a DAC that is malfunctioning as far as I can tell.
The Node 2 is "inexpensive" yes but certainly not cheap. Let him compare for himself and decide.

John Easton, there is a Bluesound Node 2 thread here if you want more info.

[John Eaton]

Interesting and helpful comments all, thank you. 

The distorted overloading sound is/was much worse on JRiver whereas Tidal had a high relative output according to the meters but never reached -0.0 Db.  I never really heard overload distortion on Tidal.

While lying in bed this morning it occurred to me to try adjusting the volume control slider within JRiver.  Turns out that volume adjustment does directly affect the output of the Brooklyn as shown by the VU meters.  So, I think I’ve made some progress.

A couple other thoughts.

·         I may test with single ended rather than XLR output cables to see if there is any impact on overloading.

·         I will attempt a firmware reinstall / reset to see if there is any change in the volume control.  Then again could it be the Brooklyn’s volume controls are only for situations where the Mytek is connected directly to a power amp?

·         I think my Classé pre-pro has the ability to adjust for matching levels from input to input, thus I may look into that as well.

Thanks again!

[fondriest]

On 5/20/2017 at 10:10 AM, jtwrace said:

@mrvco @fondriest

 

I'm sure you guys know but this screen selection isn't terrible but I do wish there were more options.

 

 

I know about that, and about how the volume can be adjusted, but thought I had to go to the smaller menu to change input. WRONG! Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I didn't realize, that when the BK is at this display, up and down change volume and left and right change input. Thanks!

[Veovis]

1 hour ago, John Eaton said:

hInteresting and helpful comments all, thank you. 

The distorted overloading sound is/was much worse on JRiver whereas Tidal had a high relative output according to the meters but never reached -0.0 Db.  I never really heard overload distortion on Tidal.

While lying in bed this morning it occurred to me to try adjusting the volume control slider within JRiver.  Turns out that volume adjustment does directly affect the output of the Brooklyn as shown by the VU meters.  So, I think I’ve made some progress.

A couple other thoughts.

·         I may test with single ended rather than XLR output cables to see if there is any impact on overloading.

·         I will attempt a firmware reinstall / reset to see if there is any change in the volume control.  Then again could it be the Brooklyn’s volume controls are only for situations where the Mytek is connected directly to a power amp?

·         I think my Classé pre-pro has the ability to adjust for matching levels from input to input, thus I may look into that as well.

Thanks again!

 

I didn't have the overload issue with the single ended ouput and the brooklyn in BYPASS mode. Unfortunately I think the balanced output sounds better (when not overloading the preamp that is...). The problem is it outputs like a professional (studio) DAC instead of a consumer one.

 

The volume control should definitely work when connecting the Brooklyn to a preamp. The Brooklyn can't know whether it's connected to a pre or power amplifier.

[jtwrace]

17 minutes ago, Veovis said:

 

I didn't have the overload issue with the single ended ouput and the brooklyn in BYPASS mode. Unfortunately I think the balanced output sounds better (when not overloading the preamp that is...). The problem is it outputs like a professional (studio) DAC instead of a consumer one.

 

The volume control should definitely work when connecting the Brooklyn to a preamp. The Brooklyn can't know whether it's connected to a pre or power amplifier.

If you're going to connect the Brooklyn to an external preamp I highly suggest putting the Brooklyn in Bypass mode which eliminates the volume control on the Brooklyn.  There is NO need to have it enabled. 

[John Eaton]

It appears loading the new 2.34 firmware has solved my “Volume” and “Output” controls problems. 

The VU meters while playing JRiver are still a bit on the high side but if I hear a hint of overload I can attenuate the JRiver volume within the app, so problem solved with JR.

The big disappointment is now Tidal MQA.  I just tried Lemonade by Beyoncé in MQA and the overload distortion is obvious.  With Tidal streaming set to the parameters shown in the Mytek video for setting up MQA in Tidal, the Tidal volume control is deactivated and unlike JRiver, there is no way to attenuate the incoming signal.  Unchecking the “Force volume” box allows access to the Tidal volume slider but lowering has no impact on the signal seen by the Brooklyn, the VU’s are still bouncing in the red and the overload distortion remains.

Switching Bypass to off and invoking the now working digital volume control may be mitigating the overload distortion slightly.  My fear is lowering the Mytek digital volume is also lowering the absolute resolution.

I did connect a stereo pair of RCA output cables just to see if there is any noticeable difference between them and the XLR’s; I cannot detect any, the distortion remains.

So, my next option is to install the jumpers.  I can’t help but think this is attacking the wrong side of the problem.  The way I see it is the issue in the signal level input via USB from the computer to the Brooklyn, not the output from the DAC to the pre-amp.

I never encountered any overload issues with my Meridian Director DAC, but then that was just a DAC not a DAC/pre-amp combo.

I did submit a Ticket and am awaiting a reply.

[Sanlitun]

I've had one of these for about a week now and it has certainly been a struggle to get acceptable sound out of it.

 

By far the biggest issue is how hot the output is. I had planned to run it as a DAC only into a Questyle CMA-800R headphone amp but even with the jumpers set it is far too peaky and shouty. There is almost no play in the volume at all past perhaps 3mm from the the bottom. I have also tried it single ended into the Bakoon and it is the same result.

 

It is certainly much hotter than the X-Sabre which is legendary for having a high output voltage. I have tried some experiments with lowering the digital volume control but I can't say it sounds better, and by this method of changing volume you are possibly no longer end to end bit perfect. 

 

So as it stands now the only way for me to use it for headphones is via the built in headphone out. I'm currently running that in a bit and seeing if I could perhaps live with it. But it does sound a bit constricted compared to the better external amps.

 

The other thing is that there is a lot of crackling, popping and other background noise on this thing. As it is now I feel it is coming from the USB implementation which is evidently not isolated. On other DACs such as the NAD M51 or the X-Sabre the USB is completely isolated and you can actually tape over the power connects or use only the data leads of a double headed USB cable. This is the first DAC I have used that is not isolated, and I cannot tell if it is using the 5v or not from the USB. So far the best sound I have had from it is with using the IFI Gemini cable with the data lead going to the computer and the power lead going to a battery.

 

Another thing is that it doesn't seem to work with the new Windows 10 USB 2 driver.  This is a bit of a disappointment as I was finding that this new Windows driver was sounding better than the repackaged XMOS drivers that are generally used.

 

Soooo lots to consider with this thing particularly with the expense. 

 

 

[m5sime]

8 hours ago, John Eaton said:

 

A couple other thoughts.

·         I may test with single ended rather than XLR output cables to see if there is any impact on overloading.

·         I will attempt a firmware reinstall / reset to see if there is any change in the volume control.  Then again could it be the Brooklyn’s volume controls are only for situations where the Mytek is connected directly to a power amp?

·         I think my Classé pre-pro has the ability to adjust for matching levels from input to input, thus I may look into that as well.

Thanks again!

Hi for what it is worth my Brooklyn hasn't ever overdriven my amplifier and the vu meters I assumed were directly referencing the audio track as was. Rather than anything to do with the Brooklyn volume. Setting volume upstream in the streamer or playback software lowers the levels in the vu meters. However to my knowledge it's not good to have any volume control in the sw player or the streamer (especially if you want MQA as this will not work)

 

You should be able to have everything full volume, Brooklyn in bypass mode for the own volume control and only control volume in your preamp. Might be worth checking the gain specs of your pre stage and power stage. 

 

I use a Sonos streamer via spdif and Roon via MicroRendu into the Brooklyn USB and both set to max output 

 

Good luck

 

Br Simon 

[m5sime]

MOV_0158.mp4

 

Here is a clip of mine playing a track from Tidal via Sonos into spdif at max volume in Sonos. Note the peaks are still less than zero on the attenuation scale. 

 

I think a good look at the manual and the output voltage max spec of the balanced audio and then the input specs and gain of the pre-amp is worthwhile 

[jtwrace]

1 hour ago, John Eaton said:

It appears loading the new 2.34 firmware has solved my “Volume” and “Output” controls problems. 

That's odd since the Release Notes mention nothing other than "MQA Indication"

[John Eaton]

It’s all good man.  (Anybody watch Better Call Saul?)

In this case, I picked up the phone and called Mytek at 5:41 pm today.  The phone was answered right away by Michal himself.  He graciously listened to my tale of woe and assured me if I would install the jumpers my overload problem would be solved.  He was right!  My Brooklyn is sounding awesome playing Lemonade in bypass mode with no overload distortion whatsoever!  YEAH! 

It does appear the 2.34 firmware has changed the display just a bit. The MQA logo in now ever present and MQA content is identified by a small blue light next to the logo.

Earlier I listened to an original Sargent Peppers LP through the MM Phono input on the Brooklyn and it sounded great.  No Hum whatsoever. (I did connect a ground wire from the turntable to the Mytek.)

BTW, I really like the Mytek control panel.  I prefer making selections with that rather than using the front panel on the DAC.

Now it’s time to break it in then sit back for some serious and pleasurable listening.   

Perhaps down the road I will consider a LPS.

Thanks all for the help!

[Sanlitun]

Anyone have any trouble with the new firmware 2.34?

 

After installing this I am finding my volume will jump all the way full up when playback starts if I am using the Force Volume setting on Tidal or Jriver. 

[mrvco]

What does the following refer to in the 2.3 release notes?

- added: mute to "HID" volume control
- added "HID" volume control

[Sanlitun]

14 minutes ago, mrvco said:

What does the following refer to in the 2.3 release notes?

- added: mute to "HID" volume control
- added "HID" volume control

 

I thought this was related to the problem I was having but I could not find those settings under 2.34.

Rolled back to 2.32 and it is fixed, and then tried 2.34 again and I had the same problem with the volume. 

 

Back on 2.32 for now.

 

 

 

[Middy]

If you find an issue always put a ticket in at @Mytek_Support.

On the their main website so they can work the issue on the next firmware. 

Helps them help us. 

[m5sime]

12 hours ago, John Eaton said:

It’s all good man.  (Anybody watch Better Call Saul?)

In this case, I picked up the phone and called Mytek at 5:41 pm today.  The phone was answered right away by Michal himself.  He graciously listened to my tale of woe and assured me if I would install the jumpers my overload problem would be solved.  He was right!  My Brooklyn is sounding awesome playing Lemonade in bypass mode with no overload distortion whatsoever!  YEAH! 

Hi @John Eaton - did the jumper change that added 6dB of attenuation change the 'VU' meters at all? I was going to try mine today because I have tracks that do go to 'zero' (full scale meter). But then realised my jumpers are in the box stored away.. 

[John Eaton]

54 minutes ago, m5sime said:

Hi @John Eaton - did the jumper change that added 6dB of attenuation change the 'VU' meters at all? I was going to try mine today because I have tracks that do go to 'zero' (full scale meter). But then realised my jumpers are in the box stored away.. 

Hello M5sime - No, I don't believe the jumpers did anything to change the VU readings.  They continue to look pretty hot and on and the right material, peaks can still hit -0 db.  In my case, considering the jumpers solved the overload distortion issues in both JRiver and Tidal, I'm just not going to worry about high VU readings.

 

13 hours ago, jtwrace said:

That's odd since the Release Notes mention nothing other than "MQA Indication"

Of course you are correct jtwrace.  I believe the reason 2.34 solved my volume and output control problems is because I made a mess of the initial USB driver and control panel installation.  At the point where one is supposed to connect the USB cable (after the driver install and just before the control panel install) I did indeed connect the cable to the Mytek, problem was all my all my cable rejiggering had unplugged the USB from the computer.  Thus when I did re-connect  the USB to the computer, I has a somewhat corrupted install.  A clean install of 2.34 fixed everything.

[conqubite]

I use the XLR outputs of the brooklyn on mij Pahtos Logos. My xlr audioquest colorado is superior to my second best interlink, the RCA vd Hul integration hybrid. On my laptop and cd player without the jumpers there was magic with good recordings and hires material. Then i got the Auralic Aries femto and i got a serious overload and i could not play without the jumpers. But without the jumpers the brooklyn is definitely better than with the jumpers. I recently turned down the digital volume control on the Aries. It was 100%, now it is 91%. Apparently that reduces the output of the Aries into the brooklyn  . I listened only once but I removed the jumpers and it seems that there is no overload anymore and it sounds better again without the jumpers.