Mytek Brooklyn Thread

[DanielListening]

I'm pretty sure you just use one or the other...

 

[crayons23]

Thanks that was my question

 

[AlanU]

I am asking if you/me anyone should use a power cable as well as the sbooster or just the sbooster?

Having both dc and AC inlet connected the system should have a fail safe and not permit such connections at the same time.

My lithium 12volt battery sounds better than my $500 Audio Sensibility power cord for the record.......

Gonna connect my Astrom power supply when it gets delivered. It's suppose to outperform the Sbooster at the fraction of the cost.

I should get out of this thread as I only purchased a cheap Liberty for a standalone dac on my 2 channel Hifi system for an experiment. However the soundstage and detail did get much better than a power cord attached to the Liberty. Rather surprised how decent the Mytek brooklyn + and even cheap Liberty sound.

However the sound from the solid state dac even in the Brooklyn + is no where as organic as a tube system with added harmonics. More rich realism with tubes on my Hifi system.

 

[AlanU]

DSCF7835 by Alan Uyeno Photography, on Flickr

DSCF7824 by Alan Uyeno Photography, on Flickr

Center of this image is the variable resistor so I can adjust the voltage to 12 volts.

This is the Astron RS-20M with customized power DC cord and I installed a ferried noise suppressor. Excuse the dust and wiring!


DSCF7820 by Alan Uyeno Photography, on Flick

 

[vintinfinity]

DSCF7835[/url] by Alan Uyeno Photography, on Flickr[/IMG]
This is the Astron RS-20M with customized power DC cord and I installed a ferried noise suppressor.

Any noticeable sonic improvement with it?

I was considering getting the SBooster for my Brooklyn, but this is significantly cheaper.

 

[crayons23]

sbooster is arriving tomorrow!

 

[exdmd]

I am asking if you/me anyone should use a power cable as well as the sbooster or just the sbooster?

You only connect the Sbooster to the DAC+ and do not connect the AC power cord. Just the Sbooster! Make sure you use the proper tip for the cable from the Sbooster.

 

[AlanU]

[/IMG]

Any noticeable sonic improvement with it?

I was considering getting the SBooster for my Brooklyn, but this is significantly cheaper.

If you look on the web/forum Audiogon has a thread going on. There are some that are raving about the astron power supply.

If you want to experiment I'd suggest buying a 2.5mm male DC jack that is pre wired. The power supply comes with 2 connectors you can crimp onto the wire.

I opened up the Astron to adjust the voltage to 12 volts. This is really easy to do!!

All you must do is make sure with a voltmeter you have 12 volts in the center pin of the DC jack. For a DIY guy this is very easy to do.

How does the Astron sound??? As good as my lithium 12 volt battery. I do not think many linear power supplies can match pure DC battery. I no longer have access to an oscilliscope but it's been said the schematics/design of the Astron power supply is clean dc and there are BIG capacitors for filters in their too.

I was willing to dump 500 bucks Canadian for an Sbooster but the 2 meter guage on the Astron looks fantastic in a low lit room.

If you want to go cheaper buy the power supply version with NO meters. However the cost of this Astron power supply and sound quality I'd say the industrial look is great.

Try looking for a used Stello U3 usb/spdif converter and test out your brooklyn. This combo with my Liberty is EXTREMELY musical with emotion. The Brooklyn plus or Liberty Dac sound good but its still more neutral for vocals. The stello u3 is only 24 bit but it adds some great texture to vocals with more meat.

Have fun experimenting!!

 

[AlanU]

Any noticeable sonic improvement with it?

I was considering getting the SBooster for my Brooklyn, but this is significantly cheaper.

When you go clean 12 volts you will notice a difference in sound stage. More depth in the music and the highs have more extension and sparkle.

The power cord connected really sounds muddy in comparison when you do a comparison between the two. However if you're use to the sound with a power cord you'll think it's fine.

I will say with my cheap Liberty solid state dac it's a really great bang for the buck your average 1000-2000 dollar solid state dac. I will say I CANNOT use a power cord now after hearing the sonic differences using 12 volts. This has nothing to do with $$$$ justification in buying a linear amp. The sound improvements is clearly different in improvements.

Since I have the space I'd rather have the Astron RS-20M on my audio rack. The pure white lights on the meters look great and this USA made Power supply has an incredible reputation in very clean DC. In other words I'd rather buy two Astron power supplies with different applications than just one Sbooster non serviceable linear PS.

1) buy a cable with 2.5mm DC male jack. Add two crimped eyelet connectors to connect to the +ve and -ve terminals.
2) open up the cover on the Astron PS which is 7 screws.
3)pull out your volt meter and turn the variable resistor (only one present on the PC board) adjust to 12 votls.
4)Make sure you have 12 volts on the center pin of the DC jack when you bolt it onto the linear power supply.
5)enjoy your simple fun DIY project and have an ultra reliable power supply that provides extremely clean filtered DC.
6)You've added value to your hobby and improved sonic enjoyment.

The size of the IEC transformer in this Astron power supply is extremely large. The brooklyn doesn't take much current. Just remember the unit will only draw so much current so this is something out of your control. The Astron is overkill but so is the price you pay for highly filtered linear power supplies and proclaiming it's audiofile grade!!

I enjoyed playing with my DC lithium battery but I did not want the hassles of charging it. Linear power supply is the way to go for any device that you can swap over from using switched power supplies internally in the unit. More expensive audio gear with switched PS will have major filtration that mytek does NOT provide.

 

[vintinfinity]

Thanks for the info @AlanU

I’m a fan of the meters too. It matches the aesthetic my stereo power amp with professional grade peak reading meters. Looks easy enough to wire up and adjust. Need to get myself one of these PSUs soon!

 

[AlanU]

Thanks for the info @AlanU

I’m a fan of the meters too. It matches the aesthetic my stereo power amp with professional grade peak reading meters. Looks easy enough to wire up and adjust. Need to get myself one of these PSUs soon!

I think I've given you enough info to effortlessly have fun

The DC jack at least follows "typical standards" in having the positive on the center of the jack an the outer portion is negative.

If you buy the screw in wire clamp style 2.5mm dc male jack it doesn't happily take thicker gauge wire.

One more added experiment is to buy one of those snap on style ferrite noise suppressor. Do a couple of loops of your DC wire closest to the 2.5mm jack that goes into your Brooklyn.

I will say I have yet to do extensive testing but the Astron power supply does sound great even when I compare it to a pure DC battery.

Have fun!!

Alan

 

[Kerwin515]

@AlanU I applaud your DIY skills. This definitely is not for me. I just connected my Sbooster an hour ago and going through my reference tracks. I will break in at 12V first based on Sbooster's tech support.

Definitely an improvement! First thing I noticed was that the noise floor is much lower...almost undetectable. When I switched from single-ended to a balanced headphone cable, I noticed an increase in the noise floor -- nothing horrible but it was there. With the Sbooster it's almost undetectable to my ears. Can't yet comment on what I hear in terms of difference in soundstage but it definitely sounds different, but definitely an improvement.

For those of you with your Sboosters coming in, it's the white tip!

 

[AlanU]

@AlanU I applaud your DIY skills. This definitely is not for me. I just connected my Sbooster an hour ago and going through my reference tracks. I will break in at 12V first based on Sbooster's tech support.

Definitely an improvement! First thing I noticed was that the noise floor is much lower...almost undetectable. When I switched from single-ended to a balanced headphone cable, I noticed an increase in the noise floor -- nothing horrible but it was there. With the Sbooster it's almost undetectable to my ears. Can't yet comment on what I hear in terms of difference in soundstage but it definitely sounds different, but definitely an improvement.

For those of you with your Sboosters coming in, it's the white tip!

If you did a test with a stereo system you'd hear an improvement in imaging. If you played an old track like Madonna's "lucky star" that twinkling sound in the beginning of the song will have a more defined image that you "hear" with your ears.

Have fun!

 

[exdmd]

I owned both a Brooklyn DAC+ for a year and a Liberty for 6 months both now gone and replaced with a Yggdrasil A2. The LPS most recommended for either Myteks is the Uptone JS-2 though you can get by with an Sbooster.

The USB implementation on both Mytek DACs is not great and you gain significant improvement in SQ from just using a $179 Schiit Eitr USB to S/PDIF converter. Never heard the Stello U3 but it is well regarded. It is an older design though.

You don't need a certified MQA DAC to listen to MQA files at higher than 44 on Tidal. The Audirvana+ player does the first unfold to 24/96, costs $75 and there is a 15 day free trial. MQA is hit or miss on Tidal anyway. I have both Tidal and Quobuz and SQ is better streaming on Quobuz.

If you have to have full MQA I think going for the Liberty/Sbooster/Eitr is the smart move for most if you don't have the DIY skills to use the Astron. As far as the Brooklyn DAC+ compared to the Yggy A2 SQ there is no contest. I would rather listen to 44 through the Yggy than MQA using the DAC+.

 

[AlanU]

I owned both a Brooklyn DAC+ for a year and a Liberty for 6 months both now gone and replaced with a Yggdrasil A2. The LPS most recommended for either Myteks is the Uptone JS-2 though you can get by with an Sbooster.

The USB implementation on both Mytek DACs is not great and you gain significant improvement in SQ from just using a $179 Schiit Eitr USB to S/PDIF converter. Never heard the Stello U3 but it is well regarded. It is an older design though.

You don't need a certified MQA DAC to listen to MQA files at higher than 44 on Tidal. The Auralic+ player does the first unfold to 24/96 and costs $75. MQA is hit or miss on Tidal anyway. I have both Tidal and Quobuz and SQ is better streaming on Quobuz.

If you have to have full MQA I think going for the Liberty/Sbooster/Eitr is the smart move for most if you don't have the DIY skills to use the Astron. As far as the Brooklyn DAC+ compared to the Yggy A2 SQ there is no contest. I would rather listen to 44 through the Yggy than MQA using the DAC+.

The Yggy2 is the way to go for realism with emotional content in the music for a solid state dac. I still find MQA an artificial highly detailed digital sound with the liberty but no glare. The old Stello U3 completely transforms the Liberty to a very good combo in adding emotion to the music making the music more convincing. For critical listening I use my 2 unit piece power rectifier / Tube dac from Space Tech labs which recreates human vocals and strings unlike any Solid state dac I've heard including a 2 unit power supply/solid state dac $8,000 Boutique company Blue circle audio dac.

Regarding DC power...... I'd say it's a prerequisite to use clean DC for the Mytek products. I couldn't imagine using a power cord to run a noisy switching PS internally if there are other alternatives.