Much of the noise from a PC or Mac is from the shitty power supplied they run. My mac mini was converted to run an external power supply. SO that lowered the noise alot. Also 2 SSD, and maxed out ram didn’t hurt.
I have tried that combo (both with the Matrix powered by USB & Uptone 1.2) and find my USB chain much better: Innuos MKII SE>tX-USBultra>.DS Sr. More body & weight
I hope so. It’s a heck of a lot more $$ than my mac set up. LOL
Well, a couple of friends and I tried a friend’s Innuos MKII SE with a SoTM tX-USBultra with a sCLK-OCX10 Reference Master Clock to the DirectStream USB. Then we compared that to my sonicTransporter i5 to ultraRendu to Matrix X-SPDIF 2 to DirectStream I2S.
The ultraRendu setup costing about 1/20th the price sounded the best and most like analog while still providing detail and clarity. The Innuos setup sounded more digital and was not as smooth as the ultraRendu setup.
I am don’t understand why the Innuos would need the SoTM USB signal regenerator since it is supposed to have great USB and I really don’t get the use of these stupidly expensive master clocks. Anyway, that setup is a wast of money.
Opinion. I also tried the SonicTransporter. Far inferior to the Innuos IMHO. I don’t use master clocks. SoTM makes great products and the TX would improve usb transmission on any server
Curious on everyone’s thoughts…
I’m getting my Matrix next week, and I have several options to power both it and my current SOtM SMS 200.
I currently have one MK 1 Sbooster 9v (with ultra) that is currently powering my SMS 200.
I also have one iFi 9v wall wart that is powering my router, but I was considering using it in my new setup.
So, would it be better for me to put the Sbooster with the Matrix I’m getting and use it with the ultra (that I’m not currently using), and then use the iFi with my SMS 200 streamer? Or would it be better to do the opposite and use the Sbooster with the SMS 200 like I’m doing now and then use the iFi with the Matrix?
Or, should I forgo the iFi altogether and look for a better power supply to match the Sbooster regardless of what I decide to do?
I know preference, system dependent, etc…but would still love to hear everyone’s advice. Thanks!
I know that this advice is going nowhere, but why don’t you try the
uptone LPS1.2 to power the Matrix? Just forget about the wall warts. They honestly don’t cut it. By the way, your setup is confusing at best. -Sorry for being blunt.
4 Likes
Uptone LPS1.2 (set at 9 volts) with a fancy power cable here. I’d do it again the same way.
1 Like
It doesn’t sound like you tried the sonicTransporter i5 over Ethernet to a quality streamer (like an ultraRendu) then to the DirectStream’s I2S input using the Matrix.
Regardless, the Innous was nothing special at all in our back to back tests when compared to the setup I described over Ethernet.
Thank you…and your advice definitely isn’t going nowhere 
. I’m open to any good audiophile counsel! Thank you very much for your insight.
Sorry about the confusion too, just trying to write the post quickly. Setup is SMS 200 (with Sbooster) Stream (running Audirvana on W10) to GCD, to S300, to Monitor Audio Silver 300’s.
Sounds nice. I really haven’t heard the SMS 200 with SBooster., but one of the biggest improvements to my system was the Matrix powered by the Uptone LPS-1.2.
Thanks 
It’s a humble system for sure - especially compared to many, if not most, here. But I gotta tell you, it sounds pretty fantastic! The SMS 200 plays quite well with the SBooster, but I’m open to more PS options. Especially after seeing how big of an improvement the SBooster made. Thanks for taking the time to respond, John.
Doug
I know this has already been discussed, but what settings should I consider (DoP to Native; IIS Reverse; MCLK) for using the Matrix with my Stellar Gain Cell DAC? I’m thinking it should be different than what most people here do since I don’t have the Direct Stream DAC along with the subsequent DSD conversion. I do, however, convert PCM files (Tidal streaming) to DoP… Thoughts?
And yes, I got it today!
All three switches off is the majority position.
Congrats on joining the club!
1 Like
I just want to report on my various Matrix upgrades: I few weeks back I was using the Uptone at 9v and Silver Starlight USB and HDMI cables, plus an iFi iPurifier, and MacBook Pro with Audirvana.
I ended up getting the Audio Sensibility silver DC cable which at first had some substantial improvement accompanied by a lot of bright metallic glare. After 3-4 days the glare was mostly gone and my whole system was sitting nicely. I would be pretty happy with the system right there.
Then I decided to upgrade the USB cable to the WW Platinum to clear up the last bit of noise from the MacBook. It did that pretty well, but dang is this cable bright and thin. Don’t get me wrong, the resolution clearly increased, black is blacker, more slam, better bass texture, much more space, more “live” and realistic in a way similar only to my P15 regenerator. But the burn in period is extremely long. I’m at almost 200 hours and finally feel like I’m getting there. Even so the timbre is very bright and bass/midrange is fairly thin. I’m hoping a day or two more will help, but I think it is just a really bright cable.
Funny enough, except for my Focal 936s (the weakest link at the moment), which are slightly brighter than neutral, there is nothing in my system that you would consider remotely bright: DS, BHK Pre, BHK 250, Tungram NOS tubes, Shunyata Alpha power cables, Audioquest Colorado interconnects. But that combination of the silver DC cable and Platinum USB have taken my sound from a bit too dark and rounded to ear-bleeding bright. If you are using the Silver Starlight and it sounds musical I would be wary of the Platinum unless you have a dark or tubby system. Yes, it is higher resolution, but the timbre shift is pronounced and won’t work for a lot of systems. Maybe things will turn around in the coming days and I will change my mind, but this is what seems very apparent right now.
I’m going to burn the Platinum in a little longer and try putting the slightly inferior Uptone stock DC cable back in to try and get a more balanced sound. Those two together can be excellent, and a whole lot of trouble at the same time.
Hard to beat the Silver Starlights in both USB and HDMI.
Let me know if you get tired of that Platinum. They work swell for me. If I had to guess I’d guess you pegged the problem on the Focals correctly. Sadly.
In the meantime, If you drop from 9 volts to 7 volts to the Matrix all the bright (and most of the fun) will go away.
I mean it is a really great cable save for the timbre. And you are right, 7v just doesn’t have the fun.
The first thing I’m going to try is a different DC cable with the Uptone. The AS is great and definitely better than stock but shifts everything up into the “air band” and with a bright USB cable it’s too much.
I really didn’t think these particular Focals were all that bright and it’s only been the last two upgrades that pushed my system into brightness territory. I need new full ranges at some point, but it seems weird to try and match you speakers to a USB cable!
1 Like
Matrix 2 is in the house! I joined the club. Unfortunately I had to dismantle my audio setup for other reasons. So it will take some time to give impressions. Bloody hell, did not know I had so many cables. Some ethernet, ethernet-optical isolation, some nice usbs, heavy power cables, wireworld speaker and balanced analog and cinamon optical, digital cinch and a lot of small powersupplies. Used to have one cinch pare cd to amp and speakercables. What went wrong?
1 Like
Did anyone else here have problems trying to connect their matrix to a sotm streamer? Mine uses MPD / DLNA in my SOtM-sMS-200 running Audirvana. I now cannot connect my SOtM nor the Matrix.
Still waiting to hear what it sounds like in my system. Trying to work things out with May at SOtM but having no luck.