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

[staticV3]

@truemise Topping E70. $350.

 

[truemise]

I reviewed the Matrix Element X streamer and DAC a few months ago which achieved the highest measured performance of any DAC I have yet measured. Will the X-Sabre Pro MQA match or possibly beat it? I am here to answer that question. Company was kind enough to send me a unit for testing. It is not cheap at US $1,999.

If there was a measure of weight per square inch in audio products, the X-Sabre Pro certainly is the champion of it. Despite being rather small, the thing weighs a ton, making it almost impossible to pick up with one hand! The industrial design as with Element X is excellent, being modern but have a bit of "retro" look to it with the circular display:

View attachment 32213​

A set of touch controls flank the unit allowing instant selection of inputs and volume levels.

Unit configuration is a bit obscure though. You have to hold the power button down where it counts with one, two and three dashes and shuts down. Continue holding the button and you will be greeted with configuration menu. Volume + and - then control the option and the power button is your select button. I did not mess with much in there other than selecting the different audio filters, upon which the unit will power cycle. It does this quickly but does cause the player to complain that it has lost connection with the unit.

There is a remote control but gives no filter setting controls. Wish they would add a button to it for that purpose for people who want to mess with it (not me). Or at least a setup button to get you into that mode rather than the long press on the power button.

For my testing, I focused on USB input as I always do. And unless noted, the main output I tested was XLR balanced output.

DAC Audio Measurements
OK, here is the moment of truth: the Element X garnered a SINAD (signal over noise and distortion) of 120 dB, pushing the limits of my Audio Precision APx555 analyzer. Let's see how X-Sabre Pro MQA does:

View attachment 32214

That's right! The previous record is shattered. With the output level reduced to 4 volt with -1 dBFS of input, we reach 121 dB. If you let it be at full level of nearly 4.4 volts, you lose 1 dB so still superb. Here is the official ranking graph:
View attachment 32215

Note that distortion products are at -126 dB or so. This means that the SINAD is actually more determined by noise level which includes my analyzer noise. In reality then, performance is even better than 121 dB! Wow!

Now we have to hold our breath through the rest of the measurements to see if anything else is a let down. How about linearity?

View attachment 32216

Nailed! Perfectly flat despite noise that impacts both the analyzer and DAC in this measurement. And it does this for both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA output.

Jitter test shows incredibly low noise floor which naturally reveals a few spikes here and there but they are utterly inconsequential:
View attachment 32218


How about intermodulation distortion versus level? Could we see the dreaded "ESS IMD Hump?"
View attachment 32219

Of course not. The Topping DX3 Pro is very tough to beat in this test yet, the Matrix Audio X-Sabre Pro sails past it with significantly lower noise and intermodulation distortion.

Here is the intermodulation test with 32 tones instead of the two above:

View attachment 32220

We essentially clear the -120 dB mark meaning all distortions are below 20 bits (120 divided by 6).

Since some of you are in love with intermodulation tests of all sorts, here is the test of 19 and 20 kHz tones:

View attachment 32221

For grins, I left in there the TotalDAC d1-six dac measurements in red. You rather have your soup with a bunch of flies in it or bug-free?

Signal to noise ratio is spectacular:

View attachment 32222

It is actually 3 dB better than that of Element X.

THD+N versus frequency with a bandwidth of 90 kHz shows highly controlled distortion and ultrasonic junk:
View attachment 32223

Here is the response of the different reconstruction filters with #2 being the default:

View attachment 32224

I would probably go with filter 3.

Conclusions
The Matrix Audio X-Sabre Pro MQA is beautifully made, putting to shame many products in its price range. It oozes class and quality.

That beauty runs deep when it comes to performance as Matrix Audio X-Sabre Pro MQA unseats its own brother to take the crown of the best DAC I have ever measured. Considering that the list now includes nearly 160 DACs, this is an incredible achievement.

I met the team behind Matrix Audio at the last audio show and you have not seen a more soft-spoken, unassuming team of engineers than them. None of the ego that is so prevalent in high-end audio. The company is active here and on some other forums. And of course volunteers to have its products tested by us, rather than hiding in the bushes. So they score high on both product and customer service.

Needless to say, it is my absolute pleasure to recommend the Matrix Audio X-Sabre Pro MQA. We are here to find the best engineered audio products and the Matrix Audio Proves that it is among a handful of companies to produce such trophy class products one after the other. It put a huge smile on my face after testing it, one that will be hard to erase!

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Driving around Portland Oregon, enjoying the incredible beauty Dahlia flowers at an amazing farm here (we come every year). Had to board the Panthers and so when I get home, have to pay the bill for that. So please donate generously using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.815

May I get a proposal for a dac higher spec in measurements than the x-sabre pro nowaday

 

[Jeffolk]

@MatrixAudio
A few weeks ago I bought two (used) dacs at the same time, an RME ADI-2 DAC (v2) and a Matrix X-Sabre pro (no MQA). My idea was to compare them thoroughly and ultimately keep the best sounding one.

After adding a good mains filter/power supply to the ADI-2 it sounded almost perfect to me, and I was happy with all the options such as adjusting treble, bass, balance, equalizer etc. (although I didn't use it as a headphone amplifier).
When - after a week of listening to the Adi-2 - I connected the Matrix I immediately felt this was the winner, a bigger, deeper soundstage, easier on the ear yet great definition. And I love the design, which I think is fantastic.

However, there is a small nagging problem that I can't seem to get rid of. When I play a song (I mainly stream Qobuz), and select another song (from another album), the first second or so is almost always muted. You hear a short fade-in and then it plays just fine. As you can imagine, this is very, very disturbing. When I start a song, I obviously want to hear the first beat, the first piano note, the first vocal sounds of a singer.
It has the latest firmware (V1.82), so that can't be the problem. Is this a known bug and is there an easy fix to fix it?

 

[restorer-john]

When I play a song (I mainly stream Qobuz), and select another song (from another album), the first second or so is almost always muted. You hear a short fade-in and then it plays just fine. As you can imagine, this is very, very disturbing. When I start a song, I obviously want to hear the first beat, the first piano note, the first vocal sounds of a singer.
It has the latest firmware (V1.82), so that can't be the problem. Is this a known bug and is there an easy fix to fix it?

If the ADI-2 doesn't exhibit the same initial track muting, I'd suggest you should contact Matrix and ask if there's a known issue and what specifically can be done to ameliorate the problem.

 

[gvl]

When - after a week of listening to the Adi-2 - I connected the Matrix I immediately felt this was the winner, a bigger, deeper soundstage, easier on the ear yet great definition. And I love the design, which I think is fantastic.

However, there is a small nagging problem that I can't seem to get rid of.

Sounds like you need to reevaluate/revise your technique for comparing DACs, once you do that you will find that both DACs sound the same and you can resolve the nagging problem by sticking with the RME.

 

[MatrixAudio]

@MatrixAudio
When I play a song (I mainly stream Qobuz), and select another song (from another album), the first second or so is almost always muted.

Dear Jeffolk,
How did you play Qobuz from the X-SABRE Pro? From a computer or a mobile phone over USB connection?

 

[Jeffolk]

Dear Jeffolk,
How did you play Qobuz from the X-SABRE Pro? From a computer or a mobile phone over USB connection?

I stream it over wifi via a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 which is connected with an optical cable to the Matrix and controlled by the streammagic app on my iPad).

 

[VintageFlanker]

The thing is that the RME adi-2 doesn’t do this, it plays every track right from the start, so it seems to be a Matrix related problem.

Perhaps. I guess that you use USB. What system behind it (Windows, MAC) ? What settings in the Qobuz app ? Drivers up to date ?

 

[Jeffolk]

Perhaps. I guess that you use USB. What system behind it (Windows, MAC) ? What settings in the Qobuz app ? Drivers up to date ?

Like I already replied to MatrixAudio, I stream Qobuz over wifi via a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 which is connected with an optical cable to the Matrix and controlled by the Streammagic app on my iPad.
Latest firmware, everything up to date, same settings as when I play the RME ADI-2 dac.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Like I already replied to MatrixAudio, I stream Qobuz over wifi via a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 which is connected with an optical cable to the Matrix and controlled by the Streammagic app on my iPad.
Latest firmware, everything up to date, same settings as when I play the RME ADI-2 dac.

Sorry, I missed that part.
My guess is that perhaps there would be some dither issue with S/PDIF, then.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.matrix-digi.com/pdf/X-SABRE_Pro_Manual_EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj827GPvY6DAxUmTqQEHV6sAwUQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3hMhobMFd29EyCVDROQtMq

Try to play will both dither and jitter settings and see if sync issues are gone.

 

[Jeffolk]

Sorry, I missed that part.
My guess is that perhaps there would be some dither issue with S/PDIF, then.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.matrix-digi.com/pdf/X-SABRE_Pro_Manual_EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj827GPvY6DAxUmTqQEHV6sAwUQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3hMhobMFd29EyCVDROQtMq

Try to play will both dither and jitter settings and see if sync issues are gone.

Thanks, but I 've already tried all possibilities, problem stays.

 

[restorer-john]

Sorry, I missed that part.
My guess is that perhaps there would be some dither issue with S/PDIF, then.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.matrix-digi.com/pdf/X-SABRE_Pro_Manual_EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj827GPvY6DAxUmTqQEHV6sAwUQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3hMhobMFd29EyCVDROQtMq

Try to play will both dither and jitter settings and see if sync issues are gone.

Are there any PLL options for the Matrix audio D/A converter? It sounds like it's taking too long to obtain a lock.

 

[MatrixAudio]

Are there any PLL options for the Matrix audio D/A converter? It sounds like it's taking too long to obtain a lock.

Thanks for the reply, the DPLL bandwidth of X-SABRE Pro (non-MQA version) is not configurable. (while the X-SABRE Pro MQA is configurable)

 

[MatrixAudio]

I stream it over wifi via a Cambridge Audio CXN V2 which is connected with an optical cable to the Matrix and controlled by the streammagic app on my iPad).

Hi Jeffolk,
Unfortunately, I don't have a Canbridge streamer which has optical output to test.
I tested with Matrix Audio X-SPDIF3 as a source which outputs optical signals, played from Foobar2000, the X-SABRE Pro (non-MQA) works good, without any lost of tones.
Are you able to test the DAC with USB input from your phone or computer, or test the optical input with another audio interface or digital audio transport?

 

[Jeffolk]

Hi Jeffolk,
Unfortunately, I don't have a Canbridge streamer which has optical output to test.
I tested with Matrix Audio X-SPDIF3 as a source which outputs optical signals, played from Foobar2000, the X-SABRE Pro (non-MQA) works good, without any lost of tones.
Are you able to test the DAC with USB input from your phone or computer, or test the optical input with another audio interface or digital audio transport?

Hi MatrixAudio,
Thanks for your reply and efforts.
I just tested with a coax cable between streamer and dac, no difference. I don’t think I have something with USB output, but have to check (maybe my laptop). Next to that I could try my cd player, connected with coax. Will be back with update.

 

[Jeffolk]

Hi MatrixAudio,
Tested it now with my laptop via USB. Obviously I can’t use the streammagic app (only for IOS and Android), but I used the Qobuz web player and the Qobuz app for Windows. In this configuration there is no problem at all, every track starts immediately, no silent first notes. So the USB input seems to work fine. The problem scope is now at least reduced to either the optical and coax inputs on the Matrix or the Cambridge Audio streamer or Streammagic app. I will contact Cambridge Audio to see if they have faced a similar problem before and if they might have a solution.

 

[Jeffolk]

@MatrixAudio I contacted Cambridge Audio and they never encountered a problem like this. They asked me to test from another device, so I tested with my mobile phone, same problem. The problem seems to sit in the Matrix X-Sabre Pro (when streaming music from Qobuz without the matrix attached in between, so directly to my CXA81 amplifier, everything works as it should). Could it be useful to reset the Matrix to factory settings or install a previous firmware version? (If that is possible at all)?