Article: My Quest for a New DAC Part 1 - The Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ with Uptone JS-2 Power Supply

[austinpop]

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Chris,

 

The gentleman can write!

 

You have found a real winner with a fresh perspective. Keep the gear moving in his direction.

 

Bob

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austinpop,

 

Great job out of the box. I look forward to the rest of the series.

 

Quick question, when you had the Ayre QX-9 did you ever try the direct Ethernet input to see how it compared to your pre-DAC chain?

[Account Closed]

austinpop,

 

Suggestion, Please include some other musical genres like Jazz and others for those of us who are not fond of Classical. It will help if we have heard the music you use for evaluation purposes.

[mozes]

I really like this approach to reviews. Straight to the point, no bloating with unnecessary fluff, clear cut comparisons and rankings without diplomatic apologies.

Welldone @austinpop! Thanks for your time and dedication. 

[austinpop]

17 minutes ago, bobflood said:

austinpop,

 

Great job out of the box. I look forward to the rest of the series.

 

Quick question, when you had the Ayre QX-9 did you ever try the direct Ethernet input to see how it compared to your pre-DAC chain?

 

Yes I did, and wrote about it here on CA. It's in 2 threads, so start with this post: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/27754-ayre-acoustics-qx-5-twenty-–-the-digital-hub/?do=findComment&comment=725929 and look at the links in that post, along with some dialog with Charley in the first thread.

 

[austinpop]

19 minutes ago, bobflood said:

austinpop,

 

Suggestion, Please include some other musical genres like Jazz and others for those of us who are not fond of Classical. It will help if we have heard the music you use for evaluation purposes.

 

Duly noted!

[soares]

Fine review indeed. I loved it.

As the Brooklyn+ and the Chord Qutest could be seen as competitors, I would see the interest of many people to have the later also reviewed.  Cheers.

[Ralf11]

1 hour ago, bobflood said:

austinpop,

 

Suggestion, Please include some other musical genres like Jazz and others for those of us who are not fond of Classical. It will help if we have heard the music you use for evaluation purposes.

 

You could reformat to include a Methods section.  I noted that you used both short intervals & longer passages, but you didn't say if you used any blind or double blind listening - (so I assume not).

 

Enjoyed reading about your impressions.

[luisma]

Any chance of daring comparing to the Holo Spring which is in the same range? If you are familiar with it 

Thanks 

[austinpop]

30 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

 

You could reformat to include a Methods section.  I noted that you used both short intervals & longer passages, but you didn't say if you used any blind or double blind listening - (so I assume not).

 

Enjoyed reading about your impressions.

 

I'm happy to clarify. While most of the "holistic" listening - by me, solo - was necessarily sighted, I did do some blind listening too, especially when doing comparisons. This happened whenever I got together with my buddy Eric, both on my setup or his. However, the blind tests were primarily a sanity check for us, and that's about as much as I can say about it.

 

So yes, think of these findings as primarily subjective listening impressions.

[austinpop]

8 minutes ago, luisma said:

Any chance of daring comparing to the Holo Spring which is in the same range? If you are familiar with it 

Thanks 

 

This post may explain the rationale.

[exdmd]

Great article thanks. You pretty much confirmed my impressions of the Brooklyn DAC+ I have been listening to for the past 6 months. I do use an Sbooster LPS rather than the JS-2 though. It's a shame you could not do a direct comparison to the latest spec Yggy A2. The Schiit fanboys will use that as a excuse to still dismiss the DAC+ as inferior to the Yggy.

[mfin]

Try letting Roon do the first MQA unfold when available and set its DSP to upscale to DSD256 with settings of:

 

Sample Rate Conversion Filter: Precise Minimum Phase
Sigma-Delta Modulator: 7th Order 

SDM Gain Adjustment: -3db

 

...I run that to a SOtM Trifecta myself, (with the Roon Ready setting in the sMS200ultra to allow Native DSD)

 

Default setting in the Dac+ for auto DSD filter based on rate.

 

I use my setup like that, no local dsd files, rips and some high res purchases of 96/24 and 192/24, but mostly Tidal. Those settings I find to be the best. It also allows me to disable MQA in the Dac so I can use a different filter (SRMP) for other sources like my AV stuff, which then sounds better than the default MQA filter for that bit.

 

These settings sound best in my system for sure, whatever I am playing inc MQA when that happens.

 

I wish they sold the JS-2 in a black case and that they sold it in the UK. I completely agree that the Dac+ sounds different on different power supplies, even DC cables have effect too (luckily ghent ones work nicely, and some I have tried don't). The Dac+ deserves a good PSU. The sBooster does a good job for those on a budget, the new version is out next month with a new Ultra add on too which hopefully can cope with more current than the outgoing one.

[luisma]

12 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

This post may explain the rationale.

No I understand, it is just I'm on the same path as you are, considered the Brooklyn+, I even got myself a js2 for it ahead of the purchase which I'm sure I can use regardless and read many good things about the spring. Looking forward to part 2 of the article, I follow many of your posts great content thanks 

[Norton]

Great start to the series and enjoyable writing, however the question hanging in the air here is the  Liberty.  Given the features you do and don’t need, plus existing reports of comparative SQ, might not the Liberty be a better buy, even if falling outside  your budget parameters?

[barrows]

@austinpop,

 

Hi, I would suggest, if you are going to be doing reviews, that level matching should;d be done by measuring voltage with a steady state test signal.  Stereopile (and many other) Test CDs will have a test signal for this, then you can be absolutely sure that you are getting equal levels.  As you note, even a fraction of dB difference makes it hard to compare DACs at similar price/performance levels, being 100 % sure your levels are matched will add validity to your comparisons.

[austinpop]

1 hour ago, Norton said:

Great start to the series and enjoyable writing, however the question hanging in the air here is the  Liberty.  Given the features you do and don’t need, plus existing reports of comparative SQ, might not the Liberty be a better buy, even if falling outside  your budget parameters?

 

A fair point, and it is certainly possible that the Liberty/JS2 combo is very close or equal to the Brooklyn DAC+/JS2. I had to start somewhere, and in light of my budget, decided to start with the Brooklyn DAC+.

 

Too many DACs, too little time.

[austinpop]

49 minutes ago, barrows said:

@austinpop,

 

Hi, I would suggest, if you are going to be doing reviews, that level matching should;d be done by measuring voltage with a steady state test signal.  Stereopile (and many other) Test CDs will have a test signal for this, then you can be absolutely sure that you are getting equal levels.  As you note, even a fraction of dB difference makes it hard to compare DACs at similar price/performance levels, being 100 % sure your levels are matched will add validity to your comparisons.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Getting the test tracks is easy.

 

What measurement gear do I need to do what you suggest?

[Ralf11]

just a multimeter, aka DVM - some are only $10 - dunno if those are adequate but but all you need is it not to drift from one measurement to another, not to be accurate (in the technical sense)

 

 

[PeterG]

AP--

 

Wow!  Great review--thoughtful, helpful, and BS-free throughout.  You could do this for a living.  I second the motion to include jazz and rock next time.

 

Cheers!

 

Peter

[austinpop]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

just a multimeter, aka DVM - some are only $10 - dunno if those are adequate but but all you need is it not to drift from one measurement to another, not to be accurate (in the technical sense)

 

 

 

Ah OK - I have a DMM already. I'll have to check with frequency range it can measure.

 

So what's the process for measuring the balance output? Connect a cable to it, and then measure on the pins at the other end of the cable?

 

I assume one wants to play a single tone rather than pink noise. What frequency? The canonical 1kHz?

[austinpop]

I knew there was a reason to save my physical CDs! Found the storage boxes, rummaged around and - voilá:

 

 

Last I set eyes on this thing, my hair was a lot thicker.  Ripping now...

[austinpop]

1 hour ago, PeterG said:

Wow!  Great review--thoughtful, helpful, and BS-free throughout.

 

Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, PeterG said:

You could do this for a living.

 

LOL - no way! Not even if I wrote a review every single day of the year.

 

Nope - I did it because I enjoy giving writing and giving something back to the community.

[mansr]

6 minutes ago, austinpop said:

Ah OK - I have a DMM already. I'll have to check with frequency range it can measure.

If it's a cheap one, probably best to not exceed 1 kHz or so. The AC functions on these are only intended for 50/60 Hz mains derived quantities, but they work with somewhat higher frequencies as well (because it would take effort not to). If it's a Fluke or other proper brand, it can handle anything in the audio range.

 

6 minutes ago, austinpop said:

So what's the process for measuring the balance output? Connect a cable to it, and then measure on the pins at the other end of the cable?

Measure between the + and - pins. At the DAC or with a cable between doesn't matter, just measure each contender in the same way.

 

6 minutes ago, austinpop said:

I assume one wants to play a single tone rather than pink noise. What frequency? The canonical 1kHz?

That depends. If you're looking to equalise perceived loudness (which is a must if picking a preference), you should be using a A-weighted noise. If your goal is to identify differences, use a 1 kHz tone. Bear in mind that a cheap meter might only give a good reading with sine wave inputs.