Mytek Brooklyn Bridge – Review

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge

 | DAC | Streamer | Preamp | Headphone Amp | 6000 mW | WiFi | MQA Decoder | Sabre ES9028PRO DAC | DSD256 | 



? Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, the newest DAC/Amp from Mytek Digital.

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is the 2nd flagship product from Mytek’s HiFi line, right below the Mytek Manhattan DAC II and above the:

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge and the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ share more than just a similar product naming; both models offer the exact same DAC, amps and audio circuitry but with the introduction of streaming, network capabilities and USB-A (for external hard disks) on the Brooklyn Bridge.

In fact, the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is the evolution of the Mytek Brooklyn DAC series; being the DAC+ model the previous generation and the Brooklyn Bridge the newest product.

Besides belonging to the the HiFi line, the Brooklyn Bridge is part of the Brooklyn series which, also, include the:

Users can buy the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge in either black or silver color (front panel’s color).

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Review

Tests & Scores


AF

Advanced Features

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge include advanced features such as:

  • USB DAC
  • Sabre ES9028PRO DAC chip
  • Streaming (DLNA, Roon, Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, etc)
  • MQA Hi-Res decoder
  • Dual headphone amps with balanced mode
  • Balanced input/output connections
  • Digital and analog potentiometer
  • Native DSD256
  • up to 384k/32bit
  • Mytek Femtoclock Generator with Femtolock <1ps

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A

Accessories & Packaging

The Brooklyn Bridge comes bundled with an USB cable for USB DAC capabilities, a power cord, a WiFi antenna and an original Apple Remote.

The unit comes well protected by custom-shaped padding that absorb any impact that could be possibly suffered during shipping and/or transport.

The packaging of the device is a black-colored, rectangular box with the brand’s logo on the top.

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D

Design

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge has a clean and balanced-looking design with a dark-grey (nearly black) main housing with a textured finish and an unique front panel with the characteristic hexagon/honeycomb design pattern of the brand – this front panel is black-colored (silver on the silver model) but has a shiny/polished finish instead of the matte style of the overall unit.

The top section of the main housings has the “BROOKLYN BRIDGE” model name written with silver capital fonts but the most special detail of the top housing is the smart decision of perforating the metal top case with the brand’s logo design and, at the same time, functioning as the ventilation holes in their cooling system.

The device weights 1.6 kg (approx. 3.5 pounds) and has a 1/2 rack size in a nearly-square form factor – the specific dimensions of the Brooklyn Bridge are 206 x 44 x 218 mm.

This front panel of the Brooklyn Bridge holds the headphone out connectors, 4 buttons, the screen and the rotating knob. On the top right edge of this panel there is a backlit “M” from the brand’s logo with a selectable color and intensity of the light that can be changed via the device’s menu or through the Mytek Control Panel software.

The logo’s color can be chosen among 16 different colors (menu option “Color”) and 17 brightness levels (0 to 16 through the “Diode Bright” menu option) – the logo’s brightness can be set separately on it’s standby mode (5 brightness levels, from 0 to 4 under the menu option “St-by D Bright”)

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge top panel
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge top panel
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge front panel
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge front panel

OC

Operation & Control

The full control of the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is operated through 4 physical buttons and a rotating knob which is also a multifunction, additional, 5th button.

When not navigating through the unit’s menus, the rotating knob works exclusively as the volume control. The knob can be rotated at 1-step at a time with “clicky” positions that confirm the step increment or decrements. Moreover, the knob rotates infinitely either clockwise or counter-clockwise with no hard ends on either direction.

The volume setting and precision can be dialed at 1 level on each rotating step with a range going from 0 to 100 with a numerical indicator on the screen that confirms the volume level set.

Pressing the rotating knob will switch the screen to the peak control mode and will enable the access to the menu options; the menu options will show up on the bottom edge of the screen. When the device is set on this mode, rotating the knob will allow to navigate through all the menu options.

As we recently mentioned, the bottom edge of the front panel has 4 buttons, two of them are on the left side of the screen and the remaining 2 on the right. These buttons correspond to the menu options seen on the bottom of the screen and will serve as the menu option selection (1st button= 1st menu option, 2nd button= 2nd menu option, etc) – this might be the less-intuitive feature of the whole device but, once users get used to their control logic, it will become second nature but we consider it to be quite unacceptable to deal with for a product with this asking price.

As expected, being such a rich-featured device, fully managing it will involve some learning curve.

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge knob
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge knob
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Infrared operation:

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is, also, equipped with an infrared sensor that allows the full operation and control of the unit via a compatible infrared remote control.

The implementation of the infrared remote function is well-thought offering compatibility with Apple Remote and with standard RC5 remotes with the security function of detecting the remote’s address.

In addition to this, Mytek bundles an original Apple Remote for free with the Brooklyn Bridge.

How to power the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge:

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge has a dual power supply system. The device can be powered by it’s internal multi-voltage PSU by simply connecting it through the C14 inlet connector to the mains power outlet or can be powered with an external 12V 6A DC PSU connected to the coaxial power connector.

A less-standard power switch design on the Brooklyn Bridge is that it does not have a dedicated power button; the unit will turn on when plugging it to the power outlet. Nonetheless, the brand has added a standby mode that can be set by pressing and holding the rotating knob – users will need to press the same knob to “wake up” the device from it’s standby status (the default power mode can be selected through the menu option “Power On”)

gramophone-256603.25/5

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CB

Construction & Build

Coherent with their technical specifications and internal components, the Brooklyn Bridge is a rugged device that does not cheap-out on their build materials and construction.

Indeed, the whole unit is fully build in metal including the bottom, top and side housings and even the front panel and knob.

Rotating the knob or pressing any of their 4 buttons will always feel well assembled, durable and never wobbly nor loose.

In fact, despite it’s fairly light 1.6 kg, the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge feels rugged and sturdier than even other metal DAC/Amps with similar weight.

gramophone-256604.25/5

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge

CM

Compatibility

Equipped with endless number of connectors, the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is extensively multi-compatible, allowing it to be matched with all sort of devices including: headphones (1/4″, XLR, 3.5mm, 2.5mm, 4.4mm), external digitizing ADCs, powered speakers, computers (Windows, macOS or Linux), smartphones, tablets, home theater audio systems, TVs, CD players, game consoles and even Vinyl records reproduction through the phono preamplifier and M/M turntables, M/C turntables

Moreover, the Brooklyn Bridge expands it’s compatibility, being network-enabled through WiFi and Ethernet with support of DLNA, UPnP, Roon and internet streaming music through TIDAL, Spotify, Roon, Deezer, Qobuz. For example, with Spotify the Brooklyn Bridge can be selected as an output device (Spotify Premium account is needed)

In addition to this, the network connectivity is combined with a digital media server functionality to be used with USB disks.

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge back panel
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge back panel
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge

SC

Screen

The front of the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is equipped with a screen on the center. To be more precise, the screen of the device is actually a dual OLED screen.

As the technology used for the screen is a modern OLED, it provides a sharp and well-defined display of information and fonts. At the same time, the display has no color distortion at any viewing angle and a fully visible image at every position around 180 degrees vertically and horizontally.

The criticisms that we see is that the OLED displays could had been used to display more content or richer content and, also, the fact that the screen is actually not a single display but 2 screens positioned next to each other with a gap that can be seen at plain sight does not seem inline for a product with this retail price.

The screen can be set to be always On or to auto-power off after some seconds of being idle (no users interaction with the controls) – the auto-off time can be set through the menu option “Disp Auto Off”; the time options available are: 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds.



As we introduced on the “Operation and Control” section, the Brooklyn Bridge has a 2-mode display that can be switched by pressing the rotating knob. The main screen shows the bit depth, sampling rate, volume level, output selected while the 2nd screen mode includes a 2 channel metering (peak and RMS), average and peak numerical, sampling rate and bit depth, MQA mode, current active output and, on the bottom edge, the menu options.

Pressing the knob will switch to the peak control and menu screen; the device will remain in this screen mode for 30 seconds and will switch back to the main screen mode if no buttons are pressed. Nonetheless, this option can be customized through the menu option “Auto Return”, being available the same time options as on display power-off or, even, setting it to remain on the screen mode unless it is manually switched by the user.

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge screen modes
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge screen modes
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge screen
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge screen

C

Connectivity

The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge is, certainly, not shy regarding it’s connectivity and availability of varied connectors.

The front panel carries two headphone out connectors in 1/4″ jacks, where the left one is in absolute phase and the right one connects in absolute out of phase.

The rear panel holds the rest of the connectors, including: AC power supply input (internal power supply), 12V DC power input for external power supplies, WiFi antenna, trigger connector, USB DAC input connector, 2x S/PDIF coaxial, RJ-45 Ethernet CAT5 network, USB-A for external hard disks, optical (TOSLINK), stereo analog RCA input, stereo analog RCA output, ground (for turntable use) and the 2xXLR balanced output connectors.

Connections tech specs:

  • USB: PCM up to 384kHz / 32bit, native DSD256
  • SPDIF coaxial: PCM up to 384kHz / 24bit, DSD128
  • SPDIF optical: PCM up to 176.4kHz / 24bit, DSD64 DoP
  • Net: PCM up to 192kHz / 24bit, DSD64 DoP
  • Streaming: MQA master quality
  • Net decoding: FLAC, AAC, Apple lossless, AIFF, WAV, OGG, MP3, WMA, Monkey’s audio

gramophone-256605/5

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge connectors
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge connectors
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge headphone out jacks
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge headphone out jacks

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S

Sound

When exclusively getting into the audio specs of the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, the device exudes their premium capabilities.

Among their top-class specs, the Brooklyn Bridge is capable of providing a resolution of DSD256, PCM 32bit, a sample rate of up to 384 kHz, 0.82ps of internal jitter, dynamic range of 130dB and a jaw-dropping headphone output power >6000 mW.

The quality components combined inside the device translate, in fact, showed their potential during our soundtests exhibiting pristine sound quality with clean output, non-colored tonality and accurate sound reproduction.

Additionally, the Brooklyn Bridge was able to preserve the original detail capabilities and sound identity of every headphone, turntable and powered speaker tested.

To further test out the performance, out team proceeded to test out and measure the frequency response of Mytek Brooklyn Bridge while paired with headphones. The results of the tests showed an impeccably flat response through out the whole audible frequency range.

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Sennheiser HD650
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Sennheiser HD650

Reaching a maximum headphone output power >6000 mW the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge was, indeed, able to comfortably drive any headphone connected to it during our tests. Using the balanced headphones output connections will provide additional +6dB in comparison to the maximum capability of the unbalanced connection.

Moreover, sensitive and easy-to-drive in-ear monitors were smoothly coupled with the Brooklyn Bridge with precise volume control and clean signal.

In addition to this, the output through out all the tests showed no audible electrical interference, hiss nor noise; resulting in speckless sound.

Supplementary tests showed that the Mytek did not suffer from any of the typical flaws seen on low-classed DAC/AMP devices such as channel imbalance, potentiometer’s screeching noises, etc.

Special Audio Features:

Besides these top-notch specs, the Brooklyn Bridge is packed with flexible and vast customization options including:

  • Switchable volume control modes (digital or analog)
  • Trim/gain (up to 24dB range from -12dB to +12dB, in analog mode)
  • Phase switch (positive or negative/inverted)
  • Fader bypass (relay bypass of all faders)
  • Theater bypass
  • 7 PCM filter shape
  • Manual or automatic DSD filter bandwidth
  • Streaming of original master recording sound quality through MQA certified decoding hardware and TIDAL
  • Gapless playback (network)

The excellent performance and results of the soundtests were preserved working as a DAC, AMP, preamp and even as a network streamer.

gramophone-256605/5

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Fostex T50RP
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Fostex T50RP
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Meze 99 Classics
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Meze 99 Classics

SW

Mytek Software

Owners of the Brooklyn Bridge can download and use the Mytek Control Panel software to control the device and it’s settings when connected as a DAC to a computer.

The application looks simple aesthetically and quite unpolished but can provide full control of the unit while, also, informing specific status information and the serial number.

All the menu/settings options available on the unit’s menu when used standalone are also accessible through the Mytek Control Panel software. Additionally, users will be able to set the buffer size, safe mode, input method and output mode. Nonetheless, the software could benefit from better aesthetics and usability.


FW

Mytek Firmware & Driver

A driver installation is needed (Windows) to use the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge as an USB DAC and/or control it through the Mytek Control Panel software.

The Windows drivers provided by Mytek include ASIO and WASAPI while Linux and macOS will not need any driver installation to make use of the Brooklyn Bridge, working right out-of-the-box as a plug and play device.

The firmware of the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge can be update by loading firmware files through the Mytek Control Panel software – at the date of the publication of our Mytek Brooklyn Bridge review, the current firmware version is 1.10 STBL rev. 0047


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Scores Scores

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Scores

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Frequency Response (raw)

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Frequency Response Curve

Modes response

Volume control

Original frequency response of the headphone through Mytek Brooklyn Bridge (blue curve) and without Mytek Brooklyn Bridge (green curve)

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge frequency response curve with headphone
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge frequency response curve with headphone

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Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Sennheiser HD650
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge with Sennheiser HD650

Specifications

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Technical Specifications

TypeAmp/Preamp/DAC/Streamer
USB DACYes
Max output> 6000 mW (headphone)
NetworkWiFi/Ethernet
Balanced I/OYes
XLRYes
StreamingYes
Turntable compatibleYes, M/M and M/C
DecodingDSD256, 384k, 32bit
IR remoteYes
WeightApprox. 4lbs
DAC chipSabre ES9028PRO

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Photos

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Photos

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge

8.6

SCORE

8.6/10