Matrix X-SPDIF 2

Great!! I’m eagerly waiting for your report on theses cables. I also like to replace my Audience FrontRow USB I am running to the Matrix. I’m almost as sick as Al when it comes to cables.

1 Like

Shunyata omega usb is not impressive so far. May need more break in. The Chord Sarum T aes was amazing. Maybe the Chord usb cables are the way to go ? Hopefully, I will soon get to try the Sarum T and the Music.
My dealer rocks :cowboy_hat_face::sunglasses:

1 Like

I also heard amazing things on the Chord Sarum T aes cables. I wish I had such a dealer next door, or maybe not, for my sanity.

1 Like

Chord is an unknown gem in the USA.

1 Like

My aes Sarum T might be up for sales soon, but my dealer wants it back as part of a trade in, unless someone else is interested?

Too bad I’m not into aes right now. The Sarum T aes might be the cable to get. I tried my WW Platinum 8 aes before, but the Matrix I2s route is much better sounding.

I wanted to add, my server can output from the USB, DSD 22.5MHz, and PCM 768 KHz/32-bit.
aes output is limited to DSD 2.8MHz (DOP), and PCM 192KHz/24-bit.
That’s something to think about on my future file acquisitions, and I do have some quad rate DSD’s that I can’t play yet on the DS.

1 Like

I am using the Chord C-view HDMI cable for my Matrix SPDIF 2 to DirectStream DAC connection. I have tried a bunch of other much more expensive cables and none sound any better…

2 Likes

I wouldn’t mind having a Chord Sarum T USB to try, but like Al with the Shunyata Sigma USB, I found a deal I couldn’t pass up on a Valhalla2 USB cable and bought it.
But somewhere else, I believe you mentioned you like the WW Platinum HDMI over the Valhalla2 HDMI, so maybe I shouldn’t be too happy yet. It’s a different cable and my system is not the same, so maybe I’m OK. We’ll see when I get the cable and compare it with my FrontRow USB. The cable is coming from South Korea so I shouldn’t hold my breath.

2 Likes

I was very surprised by the outcome, I was expecting the Nordost to wipe the floor with the WW. But I have long played the piano and I attend (or rather, did attend pre COVID) lots of mostly classical concerts, and in my system, the ww sounded more like my piano or the live concerts.

1 Like

Maybe the Nordost HDMI don’t compliment your system. I remember trying their Valhalla interconnects and speaker cables in my system before, and they sounded really good, so their USB should work really well also in my system. Finger crossed.
The WW Platinum cables are no slouch either. Their Platinum Ethernet cables are a standout. Fabulous sound.

1 Like

There is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the omeaga usb now sounds really good, after proper break in.
The bad, but not surprising news is that the sigma, compared to the omega, sounds clearly inferior. I will give it some more break in time.

The Chord usbs (Sarum T and ChordMusic) are still trying to cross the channel from the UK into Belgium. It’s taking forever, due to COVID and Brexit, I presume :sob:

1 Like

Boy, I really envy you to have all these premium cables to play around with. Such a fun experience to find out what all these cables sound like first hand. Yes, the covid thing is really screwing up the postal services. The Farad I ordered got held up for quite awhile in the Netherlands before it finally was released.

1 Like

I had a Heimdal II loom some years ago, but dumpted it all. I thought it sounded “thin”, especially with the DSD in my system.

Have you heard their newer Valhalla and Odin line? I haven’t heard their lower series, but I heard their Valhalla2 line many times, especially at a dealer near me and it did not sound at all lean or “thin”. It was very revealing and if the recording was full, it was full sounding, and if the recording was “thin”, it sounded thin. If it was a really good recording, it made that recording sound even better with enormous resolution.

Those are out of my price range, even used! They might have been ok after the transformer upgrade to the DSD. I ended up buying Purist audio and Audioquest Hurricane power cords, along with interconnects and speaker cable from “The Audio Surgeon” who whips them up himself. I have no inclination to change what I’m using at this point.

Aren’t you in San Francisco, with some good dealers in the Bay Area ?

There use to be quite a few, but a lot of them closed down. They are also very limited in the selection of brands they carry. A lot of the stuff I’m interested in, they don’t even stock , you have to order it.

1 Like

I still remember buying my first system at House of Music, in SF, when we lived in Berkeley, and I worked for McKinsey in SF. Marantz and Tannoy, with a PSB sub. I still use the speakers for our home theater. Fond memories, and a beautiful place to live. My wife is from SF and we are patiently waiting for COVID-19 to end to return and visit my in laws in Daly City.

House of Music on Harriet St., yes, that’s where I heard my first McIntosh with all the pretty blue lights. Beautiful sound. Haven’t been there for quite a while. Now there’s Music Lover with the Wilsons, and Audio Vision with Focal or formerly Jm Labs in the city.

2 Likes

Yes I remember drooling at the MacIntosh and its beautiful lights :stuck_out_tongue:.

1 Like