Cool … looking forward to your findings. IIRC, the OneConvey HDMI cable took some time to settle in (though that break-in period coincided with the Matrix break-in, so I cannot be sure whether I was hearing improvements to the HDMI cable, the Matrix, or both).
FWIW dept. I have a tracking number which Arthur provided
In my experience (I tried it) optical hdmi leads won’t work with I2s. I presume it’s because these cables are ‘active’ and require an hdmi chipset in the I2S interface. I’m guessing It doesn’t have one and, just the hdmi connector itself
Yes, all the cables control / add analog noise differently in different parts of the audible frequency range. This noise travels all through your sound system to the amplifiers etc, hence changing tonal characteristics of what you hear
Yes I understand. I just hadn’t heard anyone mention it. I heard lower noise floor, better soundstage, imaging, better prat. These sorts of things.
I’m interested in your particular comments as I too will have the identical cabling w the matrix.
I always recommend trying things for yourself, especially simple things like this. I was just pointing out to people that worrying about extra lossless conversions is not only probably not terribly useful in this context, but also that they were doing it wrongly. IMO trying to get native DSD to the Matrix (instead of DoP) is probably way more trouble than it’s worth, but I’d never discourage people from trying for themselves. And trying a switch in two positions can’t be that hard.
Purely technically there’s no practical difference in choosing Native DSD or DoP from the Matrix to the DS - any actual differences will be swamped by people’s moods, system configuration, etc. The FPGA is always receiving both normal I2S (and converting into 24 bit PCM) and DSD I2S (and converting into DoP) and in parallel running code to see which is correct then choosing to pay attention to the 24 bit I2S answer or the 24 bit DoP answer. Similarly it’s always converting DSD to DoP and repackaging 24 bit PCM (adding guard bits on the top and bottom) and then choosing which answer to pay attention to. And FWIW these things are happening in parallel for all 8 inputs all of the time (even tho there are only seven real inputs.) The answer from the currently selected input is the one that gets upsampled, etc. There simply isn’t a concept of saving work in the DS’s FPGA code with different choices upstream.
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I didn’t receive an email notice, but contacted Arthur and mine also shipped yesterday. It’s due to arrive March 12…
I genuinley hope that Arthur is correct, that higher end cables in this application do not surpass the OneConvey in SQ. Will save me $200!
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Well your shootout will be interesting. Which cable looks cooler?? 
It’s hard to top the Mocha battery pack on the coolness front 
Trying to decide whether to order the Matrix- spdif. Has anyone compared the DS using the bridge/Ethernet connection, usb, and the Marix-x spdif? Be very interested in your thoughts.
(I posted this before but it was moved to a Matrix thread with 300+ postings and got lost there. I haven’t seen this question addressed…although admittedly I don’t have the patience to read all 300+ postings on that thread).
I think everyone on that post has done either a bridge replacement or a straight usb connection replacement . So…
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Muster the patience and read the thread, it’s all there or don’t and just try the Matrix.
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POLL: Should @brownsf order the Matrix?
- Yes
- Hell Yes
- No
- Hell No
- It Depends
0
voters
Sorry timm, understood. For me the mocha is a bit like the diamond in that it relatively adds a nice smooth thickness to the sound.
Yes I have no point of reference with the Diamond as I just went right with it when I got the DS.
Thanks very much, Ted. It seems to me that one key takeaway from your post is that the DS’s internal Native DSD-to-DOP conversion is NOT a reason to worry about the Matrix performing a DOP-to-Native DSD conversion.
The Matrix does such a good job of re-clocking incoming PCM that I wonder if having the Matrix perform a DOP-to-Native DSD conversion provides a sonic improvement to an incoming DSD signal. As you mentioned, the best way to determine that is to listen with the dip switch in both positions and decide. Thanks again.
I mean … let’s not forget the exclusive club membership and all the perks that come with that.
Started streaming years ago on behalf of the DSsr/BridgeII combo which gave the opportunity to stream direct from internet/server without the need for a computer, very happy with the given SQ.
Things changed for the better after purchasing a Melco N1ZS10 network player a few years ago, due to the it’s ‘cleaning’ and reclocking abilities. The Melco offers both a very good ethernet and usb output and using Audioquest Diamond USB & RJ/E i slightly preferred playing via usb.
From the very first seconds after connecting the Matrix (with Monster UHD4K platinum HDMI) it was perfectly clear there was big progress and no way back. Using a Pink Faun Lan Isolator and streaming via BridgeII from the dedicated Melco ethernet output sounds awesome but it’s no contest compared with the Melco-USB-Matrix-HDMI/i2S.
(FWIW…all in my system & to my ears;-)
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