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Matrix Audio X-SABRE Pro MQA: Best Audio DAC in the World?

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amirm

amirm

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hi amir would you test the aes output 1k jitter and thd/ sinad?
AES is a digital interface so has no concept of THD or SINAD. Jitter, I can measure.
 

Bamyasi

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If you have for example a subscription for Tidal. Is there a way to play their content with this DAC? Or play content of a harddrive is that possible? Basically, I am looking for an option that does the same things as the Okto research Stereo dac.
Can it play MQA files from a harddrive, the answer is yes. Tidal streaming in MQA is possible but only when using MQA certified software (e.g., Roon) or hardware (a network streamer with the built-in Tidal MQA support). You cannot just use Chromecast Audio for that unfortunately, this will only stream up to Hi-Fi quality.
 

Gnasherrr

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AES is a digital interface so has no concept of THD or SINAD. Jitter, I can measure.

what i actually meant is to have the aes/toslink connected to another dac vs usb to evaluate the interface itself. like what you did with the matrix x-spdif2 usb interface.
 

Gnasherrr

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AES is a digital interface so has no concept of THD or SINAD. Jitter, I can measure.
there should be a way to evaluate aes3 signal quality right? since aes3 contains clock information and in cases that the input signal needs to be downsampled or dsd to pcm conversion, should the quality of these be evaluated? basically it's like evaluating the xmos interface and its peripherals i imagine?
 
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w1000i

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you can just plug it into the roon core using USB, or windows using the USB interface.

I mean in the roon interface you can play with the setting of MA in roon, like the way you want DSD or the type of driver etc..
 

Bliman

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I love the measurements of this product. But like always I am a little scared because it is Chinese. And I worry how well it is put together and such.
I was looking at their products and I came along the quattro dac (https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/headp...b-dac-headphone-amplifier-remote-control.html) and I thought to myself, I have seen this before and it hit me immediately it looks almost the same as a Benchmark DAC1 (https://6moons.com/audioreviews/benchmark/dac1.html).
Why do Chinese copy so much? This looks like a wonderful product, but then I hear horror stories on the Topping dx3 side. And I am fearful that it would break down very fast. So is this something that I only have or does other's think the same?
The reason why I am also fearful is why these products never seem to sell in hifi stores and such but are sold like by audiophonics and such? It seems like there are two separate worlds. One with brands you can read in hifi magazines and then you come here and you find many Chinese brands.
Do you guys not have any prejudices against Chinese gear, and is it all in my head? For example, why do they only give a one year warranty?
See I want the best price/performance/reliability. There are so many brands now. Can anyone say if this a trustworthy brand?
Sorry if this is a more feeling and not technical post.
 
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amirm

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The reason why I am also fearful is why these products never seem to sell in hifi stores and such but are sold like by audiophonics and such?
If it were sold that way, it would cost twice as much. Distributors and reps typically want 10% and the retailer, another 40 to 45%. PS Audio just went direct to customers and that is a US company.

Do you guys not have any prejudices against Chinese gear, and is it all in my head?
There is junk that comes out of China. There are countless DACs on ebay and such. But you can't judge all products from there this way. The build quality on Matrix is exceptional. Furthermore, they attend audio shows such as Head-fi which I attended and spoke to them. Very nice people are behind it with excellent engineering skills.

Now, the product form long term point of view may have issues. I don't know. I just can't see it from visually inspecting it any more than any American made company's products.

For example, why do they only give a one year warranty?
A lot of companies give 1 year warranty. With something like a DAC, if it works for a year, it is going to keep working.

Overall, yes, you should have a small concern for buying products from overseas. If other factors don't overcome it, then you should pass on it.
 

Bliman

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If it were sold that way, it would cost twice as much. Distributors and reps typically want 10% and the retailer, another 40 to 45%. PS Audio just went direct to customers and that is a US company.


There is junk that comes out of China. There are countless DACs on ebay and such. But you can't judge all products from there this way. The build quality on Matrix is exceptional. Furthermore, they attend audio shows such as Head-fi which I attended and spoke to them. Very nice people are behind it with excellent engineering skills.

Now, the product form long term point of view may have issues. I don't know. I just can't see it from visually inspecting it any more than any American made company's products.


A lot of companies give 1 year warranty. With something like a DAC, if it works for a year, it is going to keep working.

Overall, yes, you should have a small concern for buying products from overseas. If other factors don't overcome it, then you should pass on it.
Like always thank you for your wisdom.
Are audiophonics then distributors? https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/dac-...9038pro-32bit768khz-dsd1024-noir-p-11523.html. Or are you saying that the dac is normally 40% less expensive?
What I also don't get is this product measures like the absolute best. Why doesn't retailers don't want to sell it? It seems like they could make a great profit out of it.
Has it to do that the products and distribution must come from China?
And I also don't get why they have to clearly copy designs. That to me always feels like they want to con some people.
They clearly must know that the two products look very similar outside.
 
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amirm

amirm

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What I also don't get is this product measures like the absolute best. Why doesn't retailers don't want to sell it?
They may. There are some sellers in US already. The issue for traditional dealers is that they like to fulfill demand, not create it. They want the company to advertise, go to high-end shows, promote products, do events with them, etc. They also don't want to sell products at this price point. There just isn't enough money to pay for rent, salesman commission, etc. This is one of the reasons prices of high-end audio have skyrocketed.
 

Bliman

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That makes sense. For me, it is in the perfect range price-wise. I have paid my Grace Design m902 around the same price.
I can't afford these many many thousands € components. And I wouldn't give so much money to music gear.
I agree, if you look at stereophile and such then you see gear in the 10000's €. I don't know who can afford such prizes.
It looks to me just like you saw Top Gear. You have Porsches, Ferrari's, etc... But only few can afford it.
So I would think that people look at more affordable prices like this one (which already is pretty high). I don't get how these hifistores can survive. I think they most likely sell much Cambridge Audio and NAD, etc... and then I think such a brand like this would fit in great. With much better measurements.
Maybe you can't answer it but maybe somebody from the company can. Why did you copy the outside design of the Benchmark Dac1 so much?
Also Amirm, thanks.
 

tensor9

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It's a shame about the noise in the multitone intermodulation distortion text. I might just buy the Element X instead, even though I don't need the network streaming or headphone amp.
 

JBNY

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I bought this DAC after this review. I have been using it for almost week now.

I have been struggling to get the USB interface working properly, when playing via roon, with a variety of products. It seems to work if connected to a Windows 10 PC or Laptop, but I do not use this DAC that way as it is hooked into my main audio system not a desktop system.

Products I have tried that exhibit problems via the USB interface are:

1) SOtM sms-200 neo https://sotm-usa.com/products/sms-200-neo-network-player
2) Sonore miroRendu https://www.sonore.us/microRendu.html
3) roon Rock https://kb.roonlabs.com/Roon_Optimized_Core_Kit
4) ropieee https://www.ropieee.org/

Problems with the USB interface are:
1. USB Interface lockup playing MQA files. MA DAC when playing MQA files via roon with DSP or Volume leveling engaged, going from 96K to 192K will lock up and play silence until the USB interface is reset.

2. USB Interface playing 176.4K and 352.8K files causes heavy distortion on music.

3. USB Interface playing DSD after 44.1K files caused static to play for 6 seconds before DSD files plays normally.

Just wanted to let people know if they are planning on buying this DAC and using it outside of the Windows 10 environment with Matrix custom USB drivers, these are some of the issues I have found. All issues have been reported to Matrix Audio, but I am not sure if they are fixing them or they think that all the other products need to provide their own fix.

All the other interfaces IIS, Coax, and AES seems to work perfectly.

I am currently testing a fix. I opened a ticket with roon, and they acknowledged a bug in the XMOS USB chip that Matrix uses, they reached out to Matrix. Matrix Audio was very responsive and with a few days provided me an update to the XMOS and DAC firmware to test.

So thumbs up on responsiveness to problems all around!
 

Bliman

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It's a shame about the noise in the multitone intermodulation distortion text. I might just buy the Element X instead, even though I don't need the network streaming or headphone amp.
Is there much noise in the multitone intermodulation distortion? Is this a weak element in this product?
 

Bliman

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My main system is upstairs where there is no computer.
If I want to use Tidal with this product. Is it then possible to have a tablet and connect the tablet with the DAC by USB. And stream Tidal by that? Or is Roon necessary? Because that is again an extra expense.
 

Bamyasi

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I am currently testing a fix. I opened a ticket with roon, and they acknowledged a bug in the XMOS USB chip that Matrix uses, they reached out to Matrix. Matrix Audio was very responsive and with a few days provided me an update to the XMOS and DAC firmware to test.

So thumbs up on responsiveness to problems all around!
Can you tell us your firmware version? It's the last item in the settings menu. Mine reads Ver.2.40
 

JBNY

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DAC Firmware is 2.41
XMOS firmware is 3.01

I’m still working through a few minor problems with this, so the release will probably be 1or 2 higher.
 
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