MYTEK BROOKLYN DAC+ DAC/PRE-AMP/HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER

James A. Michener in his 1971 novel ‘The Drifters’ indulges in a bit of cheap psychologising, suggesting hi-fi fans are principally interested in a sense of control. That flies in the face of the minimalism of the past few decades: the shedding of tone controls and graphic equalisers, and the preference for having only a volume knob for control.

That said, when it comes to digital audio there are things that are worth controlling. Michener’s mythical control freak would love the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ because it has adjustments for just about everything. Hi-fi purists will love it too, for its other virtues… and, perhaps, because it has adjustments for just about everything.

THE EQUIPMENT

First, what is the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+? It is a DAC. It is a headphone amplifier. It is also a phono preamplifier.

Let’s drill down on those. As a DAC it supports all input types. That is, there are two S/PDIF coaxial digital audio inputs, plus one optical one. There’s a USB Type B