Do you need a device that is a little more versatile than a standard digital device? Will you be able to hear the sound from it even if you have a digital speaker? Do a bit of research, get some advice from an audio expert, or just ask around at your favorite audio store and you should be up to the task.If you're not sure where to start, you've come to the right place.
Though the smaller feature set might be problematic for some use cases and the Liberty’s firmware is still a work-in-progress, the Liberty delivers just about the right amount of prosumer features and sound quality for half the price.There are plenty of wonderful analog to digit converter devices on the market, and it can be hard to choose the right one for your needs. We like the Liberty, and we applaud Mytek for making a minimalist, more-accessible version of their Brooklyn without sacrificing the sound quality. The Liberty’s headphone jack had no problem powering our harder-to-drive headphones but, like the Brooklyn, the slope of its power output could use some reconfiguring - volume ramps up slowly, so about 50% of the volume range was too quiet for almost every headphone we tried. As a preamp, the Mytek functions just fine but, as noted above, becomes a little cumbersome to use without a remote control. We tested the Liberty using its unbalanced outputs and its headphone jack - like its more expensive sibling, the Liberty sounds excellent - transparent, as it should - with none of the supposed harshness that older Sabre implementations used to have.
The Liberty uses the latest-generation DAC chip from ESS – the Sabre 9018K2M. Perhaps the most important comparison to the Brooklyn is what Mytek did not remove: the DAC chip. We think this set of inputs and outputs will appeal to those most likely to buy the Liberty - customers connecting it to their computer as a USB DAC, headphone amp, and near-field speaker preamp. The Liberty’s 1/4-inch headphone jack outputs a claimed 300 mA / 3W of power, with a nice low output impedance of 0.1 ohms.
To run balanced outputs, you’ll need TRS-to-XLR balanced cables ($10 on Amazon). Like the Brooklyn, the Liberty has both unbalanced and balanced analog outputs though, as a result of the Liberty’s smaller case, the XLR outputs are replaced by 1/4-inch jacks. We’re fine with the loss of some of the Brooklyn’s more pro-level connections, but the Liberty’s lack of analog inputs might be felt by vinyl aficionados. Many of the Brooklyn’s configuration options are missing from the software, but most of those went unused anyway.
#Digital to analog tv converter review drivers#
The Liberty works without drivers on macOS and Windows 10, but you’ll need MyTek’s software (and, on Windows, Mytek’s drivers) to unlock its full potential. Depending on the input, the Liberty will convert PCM 32-bit/384 khz, DSD up to 256, and MQA natively, with a huge 127 dB of dynamic range possible. The Liberty accepts a variety of digital inputs: optical, USB, AES/EBU, and two coaxial digital. Our one true complaint here is that, with its current firmware, the Liberty does not mute its analog outputs when headphones are connected Mytek tells us that this crucial feature is coming in a future firmware update. Among the more disappointing omissions are the lack of balanced headphone output, the ability to link the Liberty’s volume to that of Windows/macOS and, crucially, the lack of a remote control. Some additional options can still be accessed using Mytek’s desktop software which, although still lackluster, does the job. We really liked the Brooklyn’s display, but the LEDs tell us all we need to know, and pressing the volume knob to switch digital inputs is enough interface for most purposes. The front of the device no longer features the nice OLED display in its place are six LEDs that change color to indicate input, sampling rate of the file being decoded, and volume level.
The Mytek Brooklyn was already feature-dense for its size, but the Liberty is downright tiny at just over half the width and about the same height and depth.