Streamers — Mytek EMPIRE STREAMER DAC

The Empire Streamer DAC is the flagship all-in-one component from Mytek, the company whose R&D team in Brooklyn, New York, is led by chief design engineer Michal Jurewicz. Mytek is known for its Brooklyn, Manhattan and Liberty converters, and the Empire combines a DAC, a Roon Core streamer, an analogue preamplifier with phono stage and a headphone amplifier in one chassis.

Key specs that matter

Hardware version 2.0 uses two ESS ES9039PRO eight-channel chips, one per channel in dual-mono balanced mode, and the earlier version used two ES9038PRO. Mytek quotes a dynamic range of 140 dB. Playback reaches 32-bit/768 kHz PCM, DSD512 and MQA. Digital inputs are streamer, S/PDIF, AES/EBU, optical, USB2, two-channel HDMI and Roon Endpoint. Analogue inputs include MM and MC phono and two balanced line inputs, each with adjustable sensitivity. Two independently selectable outputs are provided, both balanced and RCA. An internal SSD of 8 TB is fitted, expandable to 16 TB on request.

Engineering and use context

The streamer runs Roon OS on an Intel i7 computer board, which can be replaced with faster boards in future. It has no fans, spinning drives or moving parts, and the CPU is cooled by custom aluminium heat pipes attached to the lid, milled from a single aluminium block. The computer is galvanically isolated from the DAC analogue board, which sits in its own Faraday cage with a dual-mono linear supply and a galvanic USB isolator. Three oversized linear power supplies feed the digital section and the left and right DAC and analogue circuits, each with a shielded low-noise toroidal transformer that adjusts automatically to 100 to 240 V mains. The audio path is dual mono and balanced in both the DAC and analogue circuits. Mytek uses its own implementation of the Sabre chips rather than the datasheet circuit. The phono preamplifier uses nickel-core transformers for MC step-up. The balanced analogue stage was originally designed for mastering engineers. A dual-mono balanced high-current headphone amplifier is included. The MytekOS platform controls the DAC and preamplifier functions and allows new features and DSP to be added by software updates. External USB3, USB-C and network drives can be connected. The unit is controlled by touchscreen or the Roon remote app.

Pairing

As a complete Roon system with preamplifier and phono stage, the Empire needs only a power amplifier or active speakers. Its balanced outputs suit high-end power amplifiers with XLR inputs.

Alternatives

Mytek's Manhattan DAC II is the brand's earlier high-end converter with preamplifier and headphone output.