[Emmanuel Palmer]

I have ordered the Brooklyn Bridge. The DAC+ was already a smorgasbord in versatility. My only concern with the Bridge is the quality of the phono stage. While I don't expect it to be as, relatively, good as the DAC, I hope it delivers...

Please keep me posted if it retains the sound quality of the dac+ so i can as well go ahead and place my order

 

[486930]

Please keep me posted if it retains the sound quality of the dac+ so i can as well go ahead and place my order

Will do - but just as I'm writing this I get an email from my local dealer that the Bridge is delayed 10-12 days... I don't know, maybe I'll cancel my order and stick with Qutest and Croft amplification. I can't go through endless delays and some kind of Mojo-Poly beta testing...

 

[Dobrescu George]

I owned a Brooklyn DAC+ for a year so am very familiar with it, how it sounds and its defects. The built in head amp is about as good as a Schiit Magni 2, nothing to write home about. When you cram all those options in a small case with a switching power supply you can't expect outstanding performance from all inputs or outputs.

I bought in to the MQA hype and had to try out the DAC+ ... in retrospect I should have bought the Yggdrasil to begin with. No need for add on linear power supplies or USB converters, has a five year warranty and boards that can be upgraded. Yggys hold their value also. I use both Tidal and Qobuz and 24/96 FLAC from Qobuz beats MQA from Tidal for sound quality.

I have a friend who has the Ygg. Said it was the single worst purchase of his life, he much prefers Brooklyn Dac+

Since he sold the Ygg before I could get a listen, I do not know whether that is true, but I actually am enjoying Brooklyn Dac+ immensely. It is on the more neutral / bright side, and it does have hiss with sensitive IEMs, but the detail and control it has, makes me wonder how much better can things go. To place this in perspective, I tested it with Master&Dynamic MW60, and tried the Brooklyn DAC+ versus other DAC/AMPs, including some more expensive ones. To be honest, I am stunned by how much more can Brooklyn+ squeeze out of those than midrange DAC/AMPs

 

[MikeW]

will make a big difference for sure. all the best dacs have lps.

Like Soekris 1541 and RME ADI-2 DAC right? this is a huge misconception. SMPS done right can be quite good.

 

[crayons23]

Like ps audio directstream which is the best dac I have ever had personally

 

[MikeW]

We are seeing SMPS in quality mid-fi gear now, on the amp side we have Monoprice Liquid Platinum and Nerochrome HPA1. There are other examples. Interestingly enough, a LPS does nothing for above producs, or the RME ADI-2.. say's something about how the circuit is designed no? Manufactor like RME says don't bother, and people still try it anyway with no performance boost, Mytek encourages this on their products, because they know their own power circuit is sub-par. Even IFI iPower SMPS are better then cheap chi-fi LPS. I've compared them myself... Ifi iPower vs 100-200$ ebay LPS.. don't bother, the 50$ ifi is superior.

Im not saying it's not an upgrade for Brooklyn Dac's, obviously it is. But YMMV with LPS, don't assume everyone's incompetent at designing high performance SMPS circuit.

 

[AlanU]

Try using a sub par wall wart that is not linear. Try that on the RME ADI-2 and you'll probably hear a degradation in sound. The provided AC to DC adapter that comes with the RME is probably a good quality DC supply.

I've now bee testing back to back a pure no ripple DC source from a lithium battery pack vs my Astron linear power supply. I hear no difference at all in sound quality. They sound fantastic. However the IEC plug feeding the Mytek products is poor. This simply means the filtration is poor internally. The RME does NOT really need high filtration since it doesn't even have the provision for AC input feed. If you look into Bryston amplifiers the filtration is extensive in their power amps to clean the power in the unit itself.

I clean my power with conditioners before hand. On top of that the specs of the Astron PS linear supply is rated very well too. Sound is subjective so we can just say anything in the chain of events can be changed in some way or another.

I couldn't imagine using a Mytek product without a high quality linear dc feed.

 

[486930]

Any recommendations on headphones for the Brooklyn Bridge? I should have it Friday. I have a pair of HD 58X but I'm looking for an upgrade below 1000 USD. Preferably closed back. How does something like the Aeon Flow Closed gel with the DAC+?

 

[exdmd]

I have a friend who has the Ygg. Said it was the single worst purchase of his life, he much prefers Brooklyn Dac+

Since he sold the Ygg before I could get a listen, I do not know whether that is true, but I actually am enjoying Brooklyn Dac+ immensely. It is on the more neutral / bright side, and it does have hiss with sensitive IEMs, but the detail and control it has, makes me wonder how much better can things go. To place this in perspective, I tested it with Master&Dynamic MW60, and tried the Brooklyn DAC+ versus other DAC/AMPs, including some more expensive ones. To be honest, I am stunned by how much more can Brooklyn+ squeeze out of those than midrange DAC/AMPs

You are just in love with a new piece of gear, that phase passes. Seriously you need to listen to a broken in Yggdrasil A2 next to your Brooklyn DAC+. I consider the DAC+ just one more overpriced ESS Sabre DAC.

 

[captblaze]

You are just in love with a new piece of gear, that phase passes. Seriously you need to listen to a broken in Yggdrasil A2 next to your Brooklyn DAC+. I consider the DAC+ just one more overpriced ESS Sabre DAC.

after dropping thousands of dollars (or whatever currency is your primary) on audio gear who ever admits they have chased the rabbit down the hole? not many if any.

my preference is different than anyone else and until I found the combo that made me stop I kept searching. I've heard sickly expensive systems that never made the hair raise up on my arms and other systems in a more reasonable price range that do just that.

its all about what works for you

 

[grigorianvlad]

Try using a sub par wall wart that is not linear. ...
I couldn't imagine using a Mytek product without a high quality linear dc feed.

I second that. An ultra low noise linear power supply is a must for a quality DAC like the Brooklyn. The difference is small, but it is there. Fleshier sound and slightly better dynamics.
Here is how much difference each upgrade has made in % (I know it cannot be objectively measured, these are just approximate numbers):

tx-USBultra reclocker / USB signal conditioner : 25%
Keces P8 two-zone ultra low noise linear power supply : 5%
PS Audio P5 PowerPlant: 2%
Cardas Clear USB cable: 3-5%

Here is the setup now:



I very much would like to try Brooklyn Bridge, but at this point I am too heavily invested into the USB route, so it is not an option.

 

[MikeW]

Yet all of the expensive aftermarket usb decrapifiers, LPS, and power conditioner's make almost zero difference with a device like RME ADI-2... interesting.

 

[vintinfinity]

This thread always had a major lack of pissing contest type content. Please keep it that way. It’s not a contest, it’s a thread about one particular DAC that has many good features, including a phono stage and remote. Please keep it elsewhere if you feel the need to argue about it.

 

[grigorianvlad]

This thread always had a major lack of pissing contest type content. Please keep it that way. It’s not a contest, it’s a thread about one particular DAC that has many good features, including a phono stage and remote. Please keep it elsewhere if you feel the need to argue about it.

Actually, he has been very helpful. I knew nothing of the RME ADI-2 DAC until he posted:

Yet all of the expensive aftermarket usb decrapifiers, LPS, and power conditioner's make almost zero difference with a device like RME ADI-2... interesting.

I was looking for a better DAC, but that RME ADI-2 doesn't look like it.
The ADI-2 specs mention 800 picoseconds jitter , which is very jittery if compared to the Myteks 0.82 picoseconds. A thousand times, literally. The SOtM tx-USBultra uses even a better clock than the one in the Ultra, a reference level sCLK-EX12, so that completely kills the argument.

But I have never heard of it, it may sound like angels or all I know. You may be right.

 

[MikeW]

That's a fair point, and the Engineer's at RME have specifically addressed it, they measure jitter in a very different, more realistic way then most. They are using a Femtosecond clock, and the proof's in the pudding. Also I think some of the Jitter measurement literature is very old and not properly updated, from what I gather from RME. Regardless, the USB input has been measured spectacularly on ASR.

With regard to "Better" dac then RME ADI-2. Nah, the Brooklyn is a sidegrade likely. It has way more features at less then half the price, especially once you buy all the "aftermarket" trinkets to raise Brooklyn's performance to what it should be out of the box, Performance should be simliar.