The sound
Contents
Once we’ve warmed up the Mytek, we’re gonna go for it. We’re taking this test with two people. Cosy and always useful: sometimes you think you hear something… but it turns out to be imaginary. The coffee’s ready, the playlist’s filled…
Three steps
We’ll start with just the Mytek directly into the wall. Then we go to the Syntaxx and finally we turn on the Farad. Purely for comparison, since it can also be an option for those who only need one food.
The Mytek Brooklyn+ is of course a fine dac. So even with energy directly from our Kemp PowerStrip 8plus it’s not a waste. Compared to the Metrum Pavane we do miss some refinement and space. But yes: the Pavane also costs twice as much. So that’s pretty much in line with expectations.
When we add the Syntaxx to the Mytek heads, a world of music immediately opens up. Boy, what a big difference this makes!
We really hear more lowpunch and definition. This is audible in almost all genres. Adele’s Love Song comes smoother and better grounded by the Focals, Opera by Emanuel Santarromana gets a lot of space. And if we switch to some rougher work by, say, Paul Oakenfold, Bunkka… you guessed it. More punch. It looks like we’ve injected some adrenaline into the Mytek and it’s reviving now. Yummy! Beware: after this experience there is no way back… the standard power supply is suddenly… soulless.
One more point: the tranquillity and control in the display. The whole thing feels really blacker. Silence is… quieter. Very crazy. But also logical when you consider that switching power supplies are often not so quiet. Exceptions there, of course.
The competition…
Suppose you only have one device to power. Is a Syntaxx then the best choice? Although you should know that there are two things to play: you always get two outputs on a Syntaxx and the price goes down considerably. A single domain costs almost half. Still, we are curious about what the Farad Super3 – 499 euro – does…. and yeah… that’s quite a step.
In short: even quieter, even tighter… better focused. More music. However, it is a bit more expensive per output than the Syntaxx. With used, nicer cable it comes to 560 euros. And so 1120 euros for two devices. Anyway, you actually get a better view in return.
