Mytek Brooklyn DAC

[vln]

Yes, I think in JTC's setup it should work. I hadn't thought about the digital volume control, but I can see how it would mess with the signal to such an extent that it is no longer considered MQA. Probably the reason why they included the analogue volume control in the Mytek?

Mr. JTC, Sir, could please try it it? Please please pretty please?

Inquisitive minds need to know.

 

[Julf]

Yes, I think in JTC's setup it should work. I hadn't thought about the digital volume control, but I can see how it would mess with the signal to such an extent that it is no longer considered MQA. Probably the reason why they included the analogue volume control in the Mytek?

It won't mess with the signal if set at 100%, but at any other setting it will of course change the data by scaling it down.

 

[vln]

It won't mess with the signal if set at 100%, but at any other setting it will of course change the data by scaling it down.

Just checked with some of the things Bob Stuart said at CA, MQA should be not be affected by a digital volume control.

 

[Ian M]

Yes, I think in JTC's setup it should work. I hadn't thought about the digital volume control, but I can see how it would mess with the signal to such an extent that it is no longer considered MQA. Probably the reason why they included the analogue volume control in the Mytek?

Mr. JTC, Sir, could please try it it? Please please pretty please?

Inquisitive minds need to know.

No I didn't mean the digital volume in the mytek I meant in anything upstream, e.g. HQPlayer or JRiver. You can have the Mytek volume control as you want , it had nothing to do with the MQA decoding.

 

[Timcat]

I have been experimenting by playing some DSD files from my Aries Mini on the Brooklyn. Does anyone know why the Mini and the Brooklyn reports all of them to be 24bit 88.2 Khz files? Also, I downloaded an MQA file and played this. The Mini reports it to be a 24bit 44.1 Khz file, whereas the Brooklyn reports it to be 24bit and 352.8 Khz! Anyone any ideas?

 

[jamesd]

There's a thing happening with this unit that I'm not used to experiencing, though I assume it's not uncommon if you're used to a more resolving digital front end:

My electronics stack is on a shelf between my speakers....about a foot behind the plane of the face of my speakers. When I'm putting on the next album and I walk between and past the speakers, the stereo image is aurally "visible" from above....a birds eye view of the soundstage. Very novel and amusing to me...may be nothing unusual but it's the first I've experienced that phenomenon in the 20 years that I've spent time on this stuff.

 

[adamdea]

I have been experimenting by playing some DSD files from my Aries Mini on the Brooklyn. Does anyone know why the Mini and the Brooklyn reports all of them to be 24bit 88.2 Khz files? Also, I downloaded an MQA file and played this. The Mini reports it to be a 24bit 44.1 Khz file, whereas the Brooklyn reports it to be 24bit and 352.8 Khz! Anyone any ideas?

It may depend on whether device is reporting on the the file before or after unpacking.

 

[Ian M]

Also, I downloaded an MQA file and played this. The Mini reports it to be a 24bit 44.1 Khz file, whereas the Brooklyn reports it to be 24bit and 352.8 Khz! Anyone any ideas?

This is correct. The mini doesn't detect an MQA file. The Mytek has decoded it as 352.8. The blue MQA light should be on at the bottom of the volume display.

 

[Timcat]

It may depend on whether device is reporting on the the file before or after unpacking.

I asked Auralic about this and Xuanqian Wang got back to me within hours and told me to turn on the DSD over PCM option on the Mini so as to allow it to transmit native DSD. I did this and both devices now report the signal correctly as DSD64. Seems odd, because I thought DSD over PCM was a protocol for sending DSD to DACs that can't handle native DSD. Perhaps it means DSD in preference to PCM in Auralic speak.

Incidentally, this is the second time I have asked for assistance from Auralic and both times Xuangian has come back with helpful advice within hours! That's what I call customer service.

 

[Timcat]

This is correct. The mini doesn't detect an MQA file. The Mytek has decoded it as 352.8. The blue MQA light should be on at the bottom of the volume display.

I think that you are quite right. Auralic have let me know that the Mini simply sends the MQA file as is (presumably it is encoded as a 24 bit 44.1 KHz file). Thus the Myttec must, as you say, be simply decoding it into the original format (i.e., 24 bit 352.8 KHz). The blue light is on when the MQA file is playing.

Thanks!

 

[Julf]

Seems odd, because I thought DSD over PCM was a protocol for sending DSD to DACs that can't handle native DSD.

No, the DAC must understand DSD even if you use DoP. What DoP allows is to send the DSD to the DAC using a non-DSD-aware streaming chain (that just sees it as a PCM data stream).

 

[Julf]

Just checked with some of the things Bob Stuart said at CA, MQA should be not be affected by a digital volume control.

Really? Not sure how that works, as any volume adjustment completely mixes up the lower-order bits (where MQA supposedly hides the HF information).

 

[adamdea]

Really? Not sure how that works, as any volume adjustment completely mixes up the lower-order bits (where MQA supposedly hides the HF information).

Perhaps you apply the VC after unpacking.

 

[JTC]

Yes, I think in JTC's setup it should work. I hadn't thought about the digital volume control, but I can see how it would mess with the signal to such an extent that it is no longer considered MQA. Probably the reason why they included the analogue volume control in the Mytek?

Mr. JTC, Sir, could please try it it? Please please pretty please?

Inquisitive minds need to know.

I would love to help, but my tech is letting me down: my SBT-based system (two SBTs and a SBRadio) connect to a QNAP NAS. In theory, fine, but the necessary add-ins to support emergent files like DSD and (I assume) MQA are either incompatible with the CPU architecture of my NAS (i.e. DSD), or just don't exist (i.e. MQA).

I'd really rather stick with LMS/SBTs as that's a system that's worked well for me, but I am wondering whether I might need to rethink my streaming solution and move to something that IS supported. Or just give up on ideas of DSD and MQA (which would be a shame).

This isn't really OT for this topic, but I may add another asking for recommendations/advice. All I know is that I don't want to spend much more on hifi at all, so ideally I would be able to get what I have working, somehow....

 

[Timcat]

No, the DAC must understand DSD even if you use DoP. What DoP allows is to send the DSD to the DAC using a non-DSD-aware streaming chain (that just sees it as a PCM data stream).

Thanks for the information. I'm new to DSD you see! I have just spent half an hour reading up on DoP and I think that I now have a better understanding of it. As I now understand it, DoP is the protocol used for packaging up DSD so that it can be processed by a system that cannot handle a bit stream. In my set up I presume that this is the OS/USB driver in the Mini, as the Brooklyn can accept native DSD. Therefore, the reason I need to set the Mini to use DoP, which I have done, is to prevent it from converting DSD to PCM, which it can process, and then sending this to the DAC. I also understand that DoP does not involve any conversion step and that the DAC "unpacks" the original DSD file when the DoP transmission reaches it, so no signal degradation takes place. Clever!

 

[vln]

Really? Not sure how that works, as any volume adjustment completely mixes up the lower-order bits (where MQA supposedly hides the HF information).

It seems that way, see Q&A65:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/694-comprehensive-q-mqa-s-bob-stuart/

According to the diagram the MQA decoding process is before the DAC (well, it certainly can't be afterwards), so MQA and digital V/C (and digital room correction and digital XOs for that matter) are apparently not mutually exclusive.

I know this mutual exclusivity has been claimed before, and it would have been problematic, but seeing that Meridian is offering speakers with digital XOs, and room correction (or, let's say bass alignment) *and* MQA, it seems like a non-issue.

Which leaves me to wonder why the collaboration between Auralic and MQA did not go anywhere, with Auralic stating that MQA categorically ruled out any involvement with Auralic's streaming devices with digital outputs only, such as the Auralic Aries. It appears to be not a technical issue?

 

[vln]

I asked Auralic about this and Xuanqian Wang got back to me within hours and told me to turn on the DSD over PCM option on the Mini so as to allow it to transmit native DSD. I did this and both devices now report the signal correctly as DSD64. Seems odd, because I thought DSD over PCM was a protocol for sending DSD to DACs that can't handle native DSD. Perhaps it means DSD in preference to PCM in Auralic speak.

Incidentally, this is the second time I have asked for assistance from Auralic and both times Xuangian has come back with helpful advice within hours! That's what I call customer service.

+1!

Not exactly "within hours", but I have also made good experiences with Auralic, their continuous software development and their customer support.

 

[vln]

I would love to help, but my tech is letting me down: my SBT-based system (two SBTs and a SBRadio) connect to a QNAP NAS. In theory, fine, but the necessary add-ins to support emergent files like DSD and (I assume) MQA are either incompatible with the CPU architecture of my NAS (i.e. DSD), or just don't exist (i.e. MQA).

I'd really rather stick with LMS/SBTs as that's a system that's worked well for me, but I am wondering whether I might need to rethink my streaming solution and move to something that IS supported. Or just give up on ideas of DSD and MQA (which would be a shame).

This isn't really OT for this topic, but I may add another asking for recommendations/advice. All I know is that I don't want to spend much more on hifi at all, so ideally I would be able to get what I have working, somehow....

Sure!

Should you ever decide to move on from SBT/LMS, I can recommend Auralic's streaming devices. I have used an SBT/LMS in the past, before moving to Linn, and now very happy with my Aries.

 

[music fiend]

Sure!

Should you ever decide to move on from SBT/LMS, I can recommend Auralic's streaming devices. I have used an SBT/LMS in the past, before moving to Linn, and now very happy with my Aries.

I think there's still no Android app.
And that's a no go for me.

 

[vln]

I think there's still no Android app.
And that's a no go for me.

Ah, yes. I understand Android turned out to be too much of a moving target for their software developers, which is why they did not pursue it any further; however last thing I heard is that they are working on a desktop app.