A Headphone Amplifier thread

Yes i have - It’s an amazing bit of kit, the amount of detail it digs out is really quite disconcerting and recordings i know well have revealed more than i’ve heard before. You’d think it would be a slam dunk for the TT2 but i suspect when it goes back to the shop on Tuesday I won’t miss it. I’ll put a some more detailed thoughts down in the next couple of days :thinking:

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Hmmm - it seems to have woken up tonight. Not sure how new the TT2 is i have on loan but the engagement that was missing now seems to have joined the party.

This is more like it !

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Try putting some ferrites on the cable going into it too…if you have any on hand.

James
Anxiously waiting your TT2 review however - in the meantime - care to write some words comparing the Mytek to your 1Z?

I am sitting here now listening to my 1Z > Axios/Utopia and am quite happy. I did however definitely love my demo at CanJam of the Mytek/HeadAmp Mini into my same Axios/Utopias. It would have been nice to have done a direct comparison between the two.

Gregg

I’ve got quite a few knocking around - i’ll have a play later :grinning:

Hi Gregg – well it’s not good news on the TT2 front. I’ve just not warmed to it. I put the first time I tried it down to being tired after a long day but the first impression has stayed the same over the last few evenings. Ergonomically it’s fine and it’s quite big compared to the Mytek but is actually pretty easy to use. Plug headphones in (it selects HP mode), select and filters and cross feed (filter 1 for me and no cross feed) and select gain. I initially selected Lo but on advice from NQ, set it to high. Select input and off you go. I used it as I did the Bridge, with a Project Streambox S2 Ultra providing the bits via a Chord C USB cable. Both units were plugged into a standard mains ring (this is to be a bedside system). The TT2 does dig really deep into a recording, making everything sound fresh and alive. The noise floor is low and on live recordings you really feel the acoustics of the venue envelope you. If you like detail and digging into the deepest depth of a recording then this is the DAC. For this it’s a remarkable piece of kit. But…

I just don’t get the engagement I get with the Sony or indeed the Bridge.

I find the TT2 bright and analytical and I find myself listening to the recording rather than listening to the music. When I had the Bridge here, I found myself listening late into the night and sneaking off during the day just to have a quick listen too. With the TT2 this has not been the case. The TT2 will be packed up tonight and goes back to the dealer tomorrow. They did have a DAVE there so I’ll ask if I can borrow that for a few days to see if that addresses my issues with the TT2. If not, then Mytek (DAC + or Bridge) will get my money.

James

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My 1Z has been sitting forlornly next to various DACs over the last couple of weeks that have been attempting to better it for home headphone duties. With the TT2 back in its box I used the 1Z last night, put the balanced cable back on my headphones and had a listen. Just lovely and a good reminder of where I’m going. Achieving this level of playback via a networked device is the aim so I can take advantage of Roon (and Tidal) via my headphone setup. So far the Mytek Bridge has achieved that (albeit in USB mode fed from the Streambox). Expectations were very high for the TT2. It’s a beautifully built unit and it’s great to see a made in the UK sticker on the bottom. Nice as it is though and I can understand its appeal, it just didn’t work for me.

I’m picking up a DAVE when I drop the TT2 back at lunchtime, so I’m very much looking forward to hearing what it can do…

James
Thank you for the writeup.
My demo was different than yours in that I only had a brief spell with the TT2/Violectric Nimbus amplifier (so not the TT2 straight out into headphones) - however the quick results were the same. Uninvolving and making me bored and itchy to leave.

On the flip side my demo with the Mytek Brooklyn/Headamp GSX Mini (same as above ie WITH an external amplifier) had me toe tapping and engaged for more than an hour. I did not want to leave.

FYI for those who are following - another point to mention as well. Here in the States TT2- $5400 while the Brooklyn comes in at exactly half.

Best
Gregg

I was able to have a good listen to DAVE last night. To the hyper detailed TT2 sound, it adds warmth and a natural ease to the music. It swings, it boogies, it’s a lot of fun and I really like what it does. One of my favourite ‘difficult’ tracks is ‘Top of the City’ from Before the Dawn (Kate Bush). This track can sound muffled and distant on the wrong equipment. Not on DAVE.

For me, the understated looks (in Black) and the lack of glowing balls and light displays through viewing portals makes a compelling case for DAVE. Sound quality wise it has all the attributes that I enjoyed with the Mytek Brooklyn - They are both are very enjoyable DACs to listen to and allow me to just relax and enjoy the music they make. DAVE brings even more realism and detail to the party but at this moment I’m thinking I could be very happy with either… but one is around 6k less than the other, adds Network streaming functionality and MQA decoding (not a big deal to me) and balanced headphone outputs.

I’ve got some serious thinking to do over the next few days.

You might well be advised to audition the Mytek Manhattan II. I haven’t heard it, but anecdotally quite a bit better than the Brooklyn+. Significantly more expensive than the Brooklyn, but still significantly less than the DAVE.

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It’s too big unfortunately. The DAVE is getting to the limit of what is acceptable size wise for what is to be a bedroom system.

Well DAVE was a curate’s egg. On one hand, superbly revealing making the most of a good recording. On the other, maybe just too revealing. For example, the title track on Shelby Lynne’s ‘Just a little loving’ sounded as stunning through DAVE as when i first heard the track 9 or so years ago. Blown away is an apt description. On other albums, the results were so so and some favourites just sounded flat through DAVE. Another favourite, Talk Talk’s fantastic album ’ Spirit of Eden’ came across as very detailed yet disjointed and not as enjoyable as it usually proves - i moved onto something else half way through.

So it was with a bit of a heavy heart that i packed DAVE up. I’ve never wanted to cherry pick my music playlist based on how good they will sound and this is what i found i was doing with DAVE. It’s a fantastic machine and i can understand why it’s so highly rated. I suspect the results could be different with a top class USB source (the Streambox is no slouch here though), attention paid to mains etc but the search was on for a bedside system so certain limitations were required (although i’m thinking of adding another radial to my dedicated mains supply to feed the bedroom system…)

So to sum up, its been an interesting exercise over the last few weeks and i’ve ordered the Mytek Brooklyn DAC +. I really enjoyed my time with the Bridge (the same DAC but with a network board installed) and loved its no nonsense engineering and its superb SQ. It’s just what i was looking for. With the money saved i may even treat myself to a Chord Shawcan headphone cable :grinning:

@glevethan Gregg - i’ll be interested to hear what you think if you audition the Brooklyn at home. Well worth trying IMHO.

James

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I can highly recommend Meze Classics 99 lovely headphones. Come with two cables one for mobile and.one for at home. They won’t break the bank either but sound way above their price.

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Chord build quality at DAVE level is very good (not Linn Klimax standard, but what is?). Chord does have some annoying quirks ergonomically such as Blu2 having sockets very close together. DAVE’s optical inputs are a challenge too. I thought any optical cable would fit but no. However the sound quality makes me forget those matters. Blu2 DAVE is the best CD player I have ever heard and my Linn streaming system was second best until Katalyst came along. Now I have no favourite (well maybe still Chord by a whisker).

My view on the transport is different from Simon’s, but I am using Blu2 between my Mac mini and DAVE.

My other recommendation is to avoid audiophile cables with Chord kit. I found using Pro cables worked really well - Canare especially. Chord comes from a Pro background so perhaps this accounts for it or maybe simply my preference. I use Audeze LCD3s with DAVE though I prefer to use loudspeakers. One downside for headphones is there is only a single ended socket, you cannot use a balanced cable. I use balanced cables for connecting to the Etude amplifier and think they are significantly better than RCAs.

I have never heard a Brooklyn DAC so can’t comment on how the Chord would fare in comparison.

Glad to hear you found what you are looking for James, at least you now can sleep knowing you tried all options, and found your preferred Headphone Dac/amp. I really think these things come down to personal preference, just like with speakers. I also hope this will not discourage others from trying CHord DAC’s, because many of us do like what they deliver.

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I’m sure my ramblings won’t put people off trying Chord DACs. I did find them enjoyable but ultimately not quite what i was looking for. DAVE was a real eye (ear ?) opener !

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James
Nice read and enjoy your new Brooklyn. It is an impressive little box and I really enjoyed demoing it at CanJam.
Care to compare it to your WM1Z - I would be curious to hear what you think between to two

Tnx for recommrndation. Cold you say more about that hadphones? Your oppinions…

I find them fun and a pleasure to listen to, the have surprising low range performance for a closed back headphones but are well balanced, very clear, easy to drive and time well. Very well made and a lovely finish especially the walnut and gold ones I have. All parts are replaceable to if something should happen to break. Not sure what else to say really, You need to try them yourself, plenty of reviews around of them.

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Hi Gregg –

The Brooklyn DAC + is settling in nicely. Not a lot of difference if any (via USB) with the Bridge SQ wise which is good. It does run warm rather than hot which was a slight concern of mine with the bridge as the network card seems to chuck out a lot of heat. I must say the Chord DAVE has intrigued me and I’m sure I’ll revisit this again one day, but for a bedside system to replace the 1Z, the Brooklyn is very nice indeed.

How does it compare to the 1Z ? As you well know, the 1Z makes great music and I still get a great deal of pleasure from it, either via my Shure IEMs or the Z1R ‘phones. The introduction of the DAC functionality in the 3.0 firmware update added something I didn’t think I’d need, but since converting to Roon for my stored and (Tidal) streamed music it’s come into its own for going beyond the internal storage when listening at home. USB playback on the 1Z is slightly inferior to playback from the internal memory and is certainly much closer when using USB from the Streambox S2 Ultra rather than my Mac book. It still sounds very good over USB but to me the sound is flatter and loses some of the fluidity that comes from the 1Z playing from internal memory.

The Brooklyn betters the 1Z via USB and I would say both are very close when the 1Z is playing back from memory. If I was nit picking, I’d say the Brooklyn goes deeper in the bass and hits harder, the 1Z having a sweeter high end than the Brooklyn. Both make great music though and I’ve got the best of both worlds now for portable (well work and holiday listening) and home headphone listening. Hope that helps and i’ll be interested in your own findings

James