Mine just showed up yesterday and I think it is a game changer. In this day and age of some DACs still unable to pass 24/192 files from your computer via USB, now we have a super-reasonably priced
DAC that does that and plays DSD files as well. And none of that would matter if it doesn’t sound really good, but it does. In fact, I think it sounds great.
Mine is the mastering version and the output has to be fairly high because I have to back off the volume control from the normal level I would listen to with the E-MU 0404. I thought the Mytek had something to prove to me because I do feel that the 0404 is a damn good DAC. And when you consider its cost, it’s really a damn good DAC. The Mytek and 0404 aren’t even in the same zip code.
The Mytek throws a much bigger soundstage and it just brings music to life in a way that eludes the 0404. For the first time last night, I actually enjoyed listening to my 24 bit USB Flac files from my Beatles little green apple.
The amount of energy the Mytek will put into your room (assuming you have a big-boy stereo system) is high. It may pressurize your room in a way you haven’t heard nor felt before. This thing has some serious swagger.
The pictures of the Mytek are deceiving because it looks much bigger in the pictures. This thing is dinky, but the sound that comes out of it would make you think it is coming out of 4 boxes with two of the four being huge power supplies. But nope, it’s all coming from this very small, diminutive little box. I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t blown away last night by how good this thing sounds.
And I’m still working some kinks out. I know the non-DSD side lash-up is correct. Whatever Foobar says the file is (44.1, 88, 96, 192) is what the Mytek says it is. I need to read the ‘manual’ and figure out how to make the display stay lit. I also need to figure out the DSD side. When playing DSD files from my external hard drive, the Mytek doesn’t show ‘DSD’ on the display. It just shows ’88.’
If the Mytek gets any better, it would be scary. Once I get the DSD and the display lined out, the next step will be to switch over to XLR cables from the RCAs.
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