Info. on new Matrix Audio mini-i

[Wolvebain]

My mini-i Pro3 (mip3?) was delivered earlier today...

Even though I knew it wasn't yet 'Roon Ready', I felt really disappointed with the lack of Roon support
This was largely due to my expectations being HYPED-UP!!! with the stickers it had...

Pic of stickers:


Pic of what Roon says:


So, using it as a USB DAC with my Ropieee endpoint currently:

 

[pompecukor]

I have read almost the entire thread but something is not clear to me about this device and it seem Matrix is not helping matters.

For traditional use (forgeting Roon entirely), can this be just connected via USB to PC and on it Tidal and have the full MQA decod and render done on the Matrix? Or is there some limitation and the marketing a tad bit misleading vs the competition that has full render/decode supported and working?

 

[Wolvebain]

I have read almost the entire thread but something is not clear to me about this device and it seem Matrix is not helping matters.

For traditional use (forgeting Roon entirely), can this be just connected via USB to PC and on it Tidal and have the full MQA decod and render done on the Matrix? Or is there some limitation and the marketing a tad bit misleading vs the competition that has full render/decode supported and working?

Yepp. Does full MQA unfolding and playback from the Tidal Desktop App

 

[pompecukor]

Yepp. Does full MQA unfolding and playback from the Tidal Desktop App

View attachment 96025

View attachment 96024

Thank you, then what is the problem here for anyone not needing Roon? I mean if you start from page 2 or 3, I can just read post with people agitating and writing to Matrix then not getting any reply. Am I missing something. Are all those people only pushing for another option (LAN or wireless)? I see a lot of mention of Tidal Connect.
Thank you in advance for offering clearity. Also may I ask how you like the sound of it all. I am looking for a combo to drive both my IEM and a 300Ohm full sized headphone. Is this a good option? I really like the RME ADT 2, but it is missing MQA and as I have tidal I am seeing to get something that works with it.

 

[pompecukor]

PS: Forgot to mention, that one of my main concerns is this who thing about 22 ohm output impedance vs my IEM (6.6 Ohm @1kHz). Will that break it. Or will just make it not sound good? I am a noob in this regards. Thank you.

 

[mdl]

Thank you, then what is the problem here for anyone not needing Roon? I mean if you start from page 2 or 3, I can just read post with people agitating and writing to Matrix then not getting any reply. Am I missing something. Are all those people only pushing for another option (LAN or wireless)? I see a lot of mention of Tidal Connect.
Thank you in advance for offering clearity. Also may I ask how you like the sound of it all. I am looking for a combo to drive both my IEM and a 300Ohm full sized headphone. Is this a good option? I really like the RME ADT 2, but it is missing MQA and as I have tidal I am seeing to get something that works with it.

Hi I'm no expert...but yes I would want to be within the wireless/(or attached to router) experience rather than using it through the usb connection via a laptop hence the request of tidal connect.the ideal situation is that you connect your mini to your network (either wireless or to the router) then you sit down open your mobile as a remote and listen without any other cable (well ok you need the mini attached to the mains lol) by selecting the tidal app ...my system is roughly 3 meters away from the sofa best spot and I would like to avoid running a 3 meters usb cable to the mini and have my laptop on my lap (*no pun intended) ideally with full MQA folding/unfolding.Hope it makes sense?

 

[mdl]

PS: Forgot to mention, that one of my main concerns is this who thing about 22 ohm output impedance vs my IEM (6.6 Ohm @1kHz). Will that break it. Or will just make it not sound good? I am a noob in this regards. Thank you.

Same as the other question I'm no expert...I use a pair of senn hd800 with an unbalanced cable and no problem for me. Sounds still quite delicate and present...I'm waiting for a balanced cable with a 4.4mm jack to arrive and I hope to spot improvements ...
Ps: I've used an old but still great Musical fidelity XCans valve ampli with the unbalanced cable and yes I've seen a more liquid musical flow ...more detailed more stable image better transients on low frequencies.so for a final judgement I would wait for the balanced cable to arrive

 

[pompecukor]

Hi I'm no expert...but yes I would want to be within the wireless/(or attached to router) experience rather than using it through the usb connection via a laptop hence the request of tidal connect.the ideal situation is that you connect your mini to your network (either wireless or to the router) then you sit down open your mobile as a remote and listen without any other cable (well ok you need the mini attached to the mains lol) by selecting the tidal app ...my system is roughly 3 meters away from the sofa best spot and I would like to avoid running a 3 meters usb cable to the mini and have my laptop on my lap (*no pun intended) ideally with full MQA folding/unfolding.Hope it makes sense?

I appreciate the explanation, makes sense now. Thanks

 

[pompecukor]

Same as the other question I'm no expert...I use a pair of senn hd800 with an unbalanced cable and no problem for me. Sounds still quite delicate and present...I'm waiting for a balanced cable with a 4.4mm jack to arrive and I hope to spot improvements ...
Ps: I've used an old but still great Musical fidelity XCans valve ampli with the unbalanced cable and yes I've seen a more liquid musical flow ...more detailed more stable image better transients on low frequencies.so for a final judgement I would wait for the balanced cable to arrive

Seems that this is one point that @MatrixAudio has been avoiding. Even though it was brought up so many times in this thread. About why they dropped the ball on this.
I could not find any design though process behind this. Except cost savings. I mean considering the rule of 8s. And most other (good) headphone amps having impedance of about 1, for exactly this reason.
I cannot believe how an otherwise audio expert company would ignore this? Can anyone explain why it might be. I mean look at the first few comments. This alone put off so many people right from the start.
Sure if you have 300 Ohm HP you are fine, but there are so many 32 or less out there. What were they thinking???

 

[Wolvebain]

@pompecukor I can test my IEM's over the weekend and let you know about their performance.

As for their sound, as a DAC, it sounds great to me, for it's price. (Though I have not auditioned the SMSL DP5.)
The build in HPA sound great on the HD6XX, but is not as impactful on the LCD-4.

However, the unit really excels when used as a pure DAC, feeding into the Topping A90 or even into the much higher-tier Cayin-HA-6A.
Sound stage and imaging is very good; not the final word nor is it artificially exaggerated. Sound overall is very good for it's price.

After my initial few hours of listening, the below are it's standout aspects for me:

• Cons:
  • Sound is a tad bright. Not at the very top end only, and not excessively bright. But upper-mids seem a bit extended, and the upper-highs are a not rolling-off early enough. I need to spend more time with filters and reassess
• Pros
  • The low end is really great... detailed, fast, and impactful
  • Some may call it 'being musical', but the DAC has GROOVE!! Music feels more engaging. Most likely due to the clocks used; regardless, I am enjoying it

Hope that helps.

.

 

[pompecukor]

@pompecukor I can test my IEM's over the weekend and let you know about their performance.

As for their sound, as a DAC, it sounds great to me, for it's price. (Though I have not auditioned the SMSL DP5.)
The build in HPA sound great on the HD6XX, but is not as impactful on the LCD-4.

However, the unit really excels when used as a pure DAC, feeding into the Topping A90 or even into the much higher-tier Cayin-HA-6A.
Sound stage and imaging is very good; not the final word nor is it artificially exaggerated. Sound overall is very good for it's price.

After my initial few hours of listening, the below are it's standout aspects for me:

• Cons:
  • Sound is a tad bright. Not at the very top end only, and not excessively bright. But upper-mids seem a bit extended, and the upper-highs are a not rolling-off early enough. I need to spend more time with filters and reassess
• Pros
  • The low end is really great... detailed, fast, and impactful
  • Some may call it 'being musical', but the DAC has GROOVE!! Music feels more engaging. Most likely due to the clocks used; regardless, I am enjoying it

Hope that helps.

View attachment 96085
.

Thank you.
Based on your use case, then wont a D90 MQA make more sence... and even cost less?

 

[Wolvebain]

Hi bud...

I haven't tested the D90 (any variant) as yet.
I hope to do so during Dec, as a friend has one that I could borrow.

However, for my use case, the SMSL DP5 + iFi Bridge may be a great option for an intermediate/temp MQA Roon DAC & streamer.

 

[Wolvebain]

Does anyone know what the magenta MQA light indicates? I get the blue dot playing through a roon bridge and tidal, but the manual doesn't clearly indicate what magenta is for. Oddly enough, all the other stages in the signal path use magenta, until we get to MQA Full Decoder stage, where it's blue; I think blue indicates an authenticated MQA stream as also indicated by the "MQA Studio..." designation. HOW DO I GET MAGENTA AND DO I WANT IT?
View attachment 94879

Hi bud..
I'm been a somewhat out of commission for a bit, so haven't had a chance to check up on this.

From what I see, this seems to be a bug; either on Roon or the Mini-i Pro3 (maybe both?)
The reason I say that is that if I set the device up MQA Decoder and Render, I also get the same as you.. sometimes!


When I set the DAC as 'renderer only' and roon to do the fist unfold/core-decode, then I get the purple dot for MQA on the DAC.




But the odd thing is that ROOM seems to show "Lossless" and that purple MQA dot on the DAC screen shows sometimes...

 

[PortableMusic]

Dear All:

thank you all kindly for the information. i'm seriously considering buying this mini-i Pro 3 but still can't figure a few things out, hope you guys might be able to clear this up.

my intention is to use ONLY tidal hifi (and its MQA) to stream - i will NOT use any downloaded music files.

(1) is it true that connecting the Pro3 via its ethernet input to an ethernet port (incoming internet signal, i.e. from a router or a switch) will NOT allow the Pro3 to do full MQA unfolding/decoding? i am under the impression that in order for the Pro3 to do full unfolding/decoding of MQAs, the ONLY TWO options are: USB to computer, or via Wifi. i'd most appreciate the good folks here clarifying this. Thank you in advance.

(2) considering the issues with using a USB-C cable (only short lengths available, plus due to the high amp fast charge, there is a conflict with an internal chip in the USB-C connectors), i was told to use a regular USB-A to USB-A cable as i need a long run of around 10 feet, and then use an adapter that is USB-A to USB-C like this:

https://www.amazon.com/nonda-Adapte...05063&s=electronics&sr=1-2&tag=headfi-20&th=1

the thinking is this: since the chip inside the USB-C plug is used for 3 amp fast charging, the way to ENSURE that there isn't such a chip is to use a USB-A to USB-A cable, even if it's a USB 3.0 USB-A cable and plug, it's ok because even USB 3.0 supports only up to 1.5 amps of current, so we're safe from the chip in the USB-C plug that does 3.0 amp fast charging that some say is causing many issues with this mini i-Pro3 device.

is it true please? will using a 10-foot long USB-A to USB-A cable be an issue please? would using a USB-3.0 USB-A cable be better due to superior shielding?

(3) I had thought that my workaround to avoid using such a long (10 feet) USB cable would be to connect via ethernet, but then i read that connecting via ethernet would NOT allow for MQA full unfolding/decoding. so i am thinking that the only workaround to avoid using a long USB cable and still get full MQA unfolding/decoding would be via WIFI? would wifi solve this problem? as my desktop PC is connected to the same network router as the wifi, but my desktop pc is via hardwire ethernet, and wifi is of course wifi, would i be able to use the Tidal Windows app on my desktop PC to control what is being played back on the mini i-Pro3? or must i use merely a cellphone (Android) Matrix app to operate it?

my ideal scenario is to be able to use my desktop PC's large monitor to control what is being played as it is large and generous to be able to see many albums, arrange playlists, etc.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Cortes]

@pompecukor I can test my IEM's over the weekend and let you know about their performance.

As for their sound, as a DAC, it sounds great to me, for it's price. (Though I have not auditioned the SMSL DP5.)
The build in HPA sound great on the HD6XX, but is not as impactful on the LCD-4.

However, the unit really excels when used as a pure DAC, feeding into the Topping A90 or even into the much higher-tier Cayin-HA-6A.
Sound stage and imaging is very good; not the final word nor is it artificially exaggerated. Sound overall is very good for it's price.

After my initial few hours of listening, the below are it's standout aspects for me:

• Cons:
  • Sound is a tad bright. Not at the very top end only, and not excessively bright. But upper-mids seem a bit extended, and the upper-highs are a not rolling-off early enough. I need to spend more time with filters and reassess
• Pros
  • The low end is really great... detailed, fast, and impactful
  • Some may call it 'being musical', but the DAC has GROOVE!! Music feels more engaging. Most likely due to the clocks used; regardless, I am enjoying it

Hope that helps.

View attachment 96085
.

Lovely rig. There's nothing like listenning to music with beautiful valves.

 

[MatrixAudio]

Hi bud..
I'm been a somewhat out of commission for a bit, so haven't had a chance to check up on this.

From what I see, this seems to be a bug; either on Roon or the Mini-i Pro3 (maybe both?)
The reason I say that is that if I set the device up MQA Decoder and Render, I also get the same as you.. sometimes!
View attachment 96200View attachment 96201

When I set the DAC as 'renderer only' and roon to do the fist unfold/core-decode, then I get the purple dot for MQA on the DAC.
View attachment 96204View attachment 96205

View attachment 96198View attachment 96199

But the odd thing is that ROOM seems to show "Lossless" and that purple MQA dot on the DAC screen shows sometimes...

View attachment 96202View attachment 96203
View attachment 96206View attachment 96207

Hi Wolvebian,
It's better to set the mini-i Pro 3 as decoder and renderer.
What device you installed Roon? a Windows PC? or a MAC?

 

[MatrixAudio]

Dear All:

thank you all kindly for the information. i'm seriously considering buying this mini-i Pro 3 but still can't figure a few things out, hope you guys might be able to clear this up.

my intention is to use ONLY tidal hifi (and its MQA) to stream - i will NOT use any downloaded music files.

(1) is it true that connecting the Pro3 via its ethernet input to an ethernet port (incoming internet signal, i.e. from a router or a switch) will NOT allow the Pro3 to do full MQA unfolding/decoding? i am under the impression that in order for the Pro3 to do full unfolding/decoding of MQAs, the ONLY TWO options are: USB to computer, or via Wifi. i'd most appreciate the good folks here clarifying this. Thank you in advance.

(2) considering the issues with using a USB-C cable (only short lengths available, plus due to the high amp fast charge, there is a conflict with an internal chip in the USB-C connectors), i was told to use a regular USB-A to USB-A cable as i need a long run of around 10 feet, and then use an adapter that is USB-A to USB-C like this:

https://www.amazon.com/nonda-Adapter-Thunderbolt-MacBook-Surface/dp/B07XYTHCXV/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=usb+atoc+adapter&qid=1606805063&s=electronics&sr=1-2&tag=headfi-20&th=1

the thinking is this: since the chip inside the USB-C plug is used for 3 amp fast charging, the way to ENSURE that there isn't such a chip is to use a USB-A to USB-A cable, even if it's a USB 3.0 USB-A cable and plug, it's ok because even USB 3.0 supports only up to 1.5 amps of current, so we're safe from the chip in the USB-C plug that does 3.0 amp fast charging that some say is causing many issues with this mini i-Pro3 device.

is it true please? will using a 10-foot long USB-A to USB-A cable be an issue please? would using a USB-3.0 USB-A cable be better due to superior shielding?

(3) I had thought that my workaround to avoid using such a long (10 feet) USB cable would be to connect via ethernet, but then i read that connecting via ethernet would NOT allow for MQA full unfolding/decoding. so i am thinking that the only workaround to avoid using a long USB cable and still get full MQA unfolding/decoding would be via WIFI? would wifi solve this problem? as my desktop PC is connected to the same network router as the wifi, but my desktop pc is via hardwire ethernet, and wifi is of course wifi, would i be able to use the Tidal Windows app on my desktop PC to control what is being played back on the mini i-Pro3? or must i use merely a cellphone (Android) Matrix app to operate it?

my ideal scenario is to be able to use my desktop PC's large monitor to control what is being played as it is large and generous to be able to see many albums, arrange playlists, etc.

Thank you all in advance.

Both USB port and Roon work with mini-i Pro 3 to completely unfold MQA materials. For Roon method, both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connection works..
But as you know, Roon requires more costs. Also, you might need to wait for the Roon certification to enable mini-i Pro 3 as a Roon endpoint.

 

[Wolvebain]

Hi Wolvebian,
It's better to set the mini-i Pro 3 as decoder and renderer.
What device you installed Roon? a Windows PC? or a MAC?

Thanks, I have set the mini-i Pro3 as decoder and renderer.

I'm running roonserver on Linux , and is currently both server and output (as the mini-i Pro3 is not working as a roon endpoint via the network)

Roonserver Details are:

• OS: Centos8
• Hardware:
  • Board/CPU: ODroid H2
  • RAM: 2x 8GB RAM
  • Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
  • Network: GbE to Fiber Media converter
  • PSU: 12V LinearPSU

I have just purchases a Matrix Element X USB PCIe card. And plan to use that on a Pi CM4 + IO Board as my Roon Bridge endpoint. -- More than just because the mini-i Pro3 is failing as a network Roon endpoint, but becuase I am just not enjoying the Mini-iPro3's sound...
If I'm going to need to use a Roon Bridge as the endpoint to USB, I may as well get a better DAC

 

[MatrixAudio]

Thanks, I have set the mini-i Pro3 as decoder and renderer.

I'm running roonserver on Linux , and is currently both server and output (as the mini-i Pro3 is not working as a roon endpoint via the network)

Roonserver Details are:

• OS: Centos8
• Hardware:
  • Board/CPU: ODroid H2
  • RAM: 2x 8GB RAM
  • Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
  • Network: GbE to Fiber Media converter
  • PSU: 12V LinearPSU

I have just purchases a Matrix Element X USB PCIe card. And plan to use that on a Pi CM4 + IO Board as my Roon Bridge endpoint. -- More than just because the mini-i Pro3 is failing as a network Roon endpoint, but becuase I am just not enjoying the Mini-iPro3's sound...
If I'm going to need to use a Roon Bridge as the endpoint to USB, I may as well get a better DAC

Please set the mini-i Pro 3 as "Decoder and renderer", that's the best solution. At this situation, the mini-i Pro 3 works as an MQA full decoder.

 

[PortableMusic]

Please set the mini-i Pro 3 as "Decoder and renderer", that's the best solution. At this situation, the mini-i Pro 3 works as an MQA full decoder.

@MatrixAudio:

thank you for your reply.

may i ask where one would make that setting please? please give some context to where this setting is so we may follow.

thank you very much. much appreciated.

additionally, there has been talk about what type of USB cable works and what type of USB cable would produce a conflict with the Mini iPro3.
specifically, USB-C to USB-C cable (capable of fast charging at 3 amps) would NOT work, i.e. producing a conflict. this is supposed to be due to an embedded chip inside the USB-C connector which is causing the conflict.

in that case, one might then be forced to use a USB-A to USB-A cable, and add a USB-A female to USB-C male adapter, similar to these:

USB-A to USB-A cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HSS9LXY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ&psc=1

USB-A female to USB-C male adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CVX3516/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2FS8V7TJ34DI&psc=1

also: what might be the length of the USB-A to USB-A cable that one would be limited to? no more than 10 feet? no more than 15 feet?

thank you.