Matrix X-SPDIF 2

Lucky you! I ordered my .75M I2S 2/5/21 the only thing I have to show for it is a invoice showing it’s paid for. Maybe I should of ordered outside the US. :confounded:

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:muscle:
On the positive side, it will be worth it in the end.

mine was ordered around end of february to europe, but also nothing else than invoice email.
i knew that this will take long, but i somehow can’t get how some folks got it so quick - maybe Brad is each month picking also someone randomly out of queue order?

Maybe you are correct. I figured the cable already cut in specific lengths would ship first but it seems like a pick your name out of a hat lottery. If the cable wasn’t so highly recommended by forum members who I respect I’d have a hard time being as patient as I have been.

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I hope you guys receive your RAL i2S cables soon! :crossed_fingers:

But besides the quickness, in my case, Brad was absolutely great communication wise.

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I’d love to have the opportunity to find that out for myself. :laughing:

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Hello fellow Matrixians! I am a relatively new member of the “club” having received my Matrix less than 3 weeks ago. But oh my, what a fantastic little device! I am truly impressed with its performance in my headphone system. It provides THE largest audible quantum jump up in sound enjoyment that I have yet experienced from my MB Pro to DS DAC to headphone system. Definitely the best price/performance bargain in all my years of audio system purchases. And its build quality is superb.

What do you suggest I take as the next step to potentially elevate its performance level even higher? HDMI cable or PS? My inclination is to go the HDMI route even though I am enthralled with the sound using my current inexpensive HDMI cable. BTW, I have started to look through this thread for information, but have only made it to #1667 after one week of part-time reading. But what an interesting and positive read!

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Andrew Everard writes all the Gramophone reviews. It was also published in HFN. Interesting devices and nice small formats.

Great to hear you’re hearing how good the Matrix is, welcome to the entrance of the rabbit hole.

Depending on budget most people here end up with a Revolution Audio Lab HDMI cable, IMO it’s the best solution as long as you don’t mind the trauma of actually acquiring one.

A solid LPS is also a big bonus, lots of options but in my system a Farad Super 3 was the dog’s bollocks.

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Thanks for the welcome. I probably will go for a RAL hdmi as the next step forward. Hopefully I can get one that was previously owned and avoid the crapshoot of a new purchase. Fortunately I am currently so enthralled with the performance using my 8 year old, <$6.00 monoprice HDMI cable (with ferrite chokes on both ends), that I can probably wait for a used cable to become available without letting those aural ants in my audiophile pants annoy me to the point of new purchase submission.

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If you’re thinking about getting a RAL HDMI, you should order one now. Hopefully you will get it 2 or 3 months from now. That’s about the average wait. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a used one. It’s been a year and I’m still waiting for one
in the used market.
As for LPS, I ended up with the Farad Super 3, which has the clearest sound. But you can spend less and go with a TeddyPardo or a Sbooster and still get excellent performance.

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Matrix Element X uses Edit: ESS ES9038PRO used in Ayre QX-5 Twenty Streaming DAC.
Element X looks really promising:
PCM 16-32Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 705.6kHz, 768kHz
DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz (DoP)
DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6 MHz, 11.2 MHz, 22.4MHz (Native)
MQA 16-24Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz MQA or MQA Studio stream

There were reports about a year ago that the Matrix app and player software crashed from time to time, but they may have fixed that. Something Octave has to look forward to. Always happens.

I came too :smiley:

I view Element X as a pure Headphones amp / DAC and for streaming as a Roon endpoint. MA software can stay in the App Store :smile:

Too bad RAL is so slow and inconsistant with delivery. I’ll try a mid-quality HDMI cable to see if it makes any difference in sound. I will pick up an AQ Forest 64Gbps cable from my son today and give it a go. Any suggestions for other decent cables that are <$300 and readily available?

I will keep USB power to the Matrix for now, but will definitely try a quality PS in the future. My USB cable has separate runs for power and signal which I guess would minimize electrical noise. And I have auditioned many of the top line line USB cables against it several different times and still found none that I liked better for sound.

For the money it’s pretty hard to beat the Blue Jeans Cable

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Thanks. I’ll look into that one.

The BJC cables are assembled to order and ship very quickly. I have quite a few of their various cables and have always been impressed with the performance for the money and their service is top of the heap.
You can always contact anyone there or @BobBJC here with questions.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

Also, I’ve heard good things about the new WireWorld Silver Sphere 2.1.