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

[amirm]

So you were using your favorite filter: #3?

No, I was using whatever was in there by default which I think was the slow one.

 

[restorer-john]

For me, nothing beats the Linn Klimax DS/DSM for industrial design

I like Linn's description of the chassis:

Dedicated "rooms" in the CNC billet. So upmarket. I have gear with copper plated metal cases around the PCBs but in comparison, they could only be called "sheds" I guess....

 

[digicidal]

Yeah ~$16K for a DAC - I should think that the rooms come furnished for that price. Although I love the fact that it at least has HDMI inputs and passthrough as well as an upgrade for surround processing. Shame to have to pay stratospheric prices to get those features... definitely cheaper to have a spare AVR (or 5) to handle that side of things.

I agree on the design being very pleasing... but it damn well should be at that price.

 

[typericey]

Thanks Amir for the review. The last 8 pages were a great Sunday morning read too.

Some brain flatulence:
- It's the best measuring DAC today in the realm of what Amir has reviewed, I think that's established at this point.
- But what I also like is the physical design. Something to be said of the guts too. I'm not an engineer but it seems minimalist, with less components. Other manufacturers load a lot of extra components under the hood to make it look high end, much like how there are extra useless jewels in some watches.
- Biggest question for me is reliability and ease of RMA, always an consideration for choosing gear. Personally I don't know how Matrix is with this.
- The price puts it in Benchmark DAC 3 territory. While the Benchmark is beaten in terms of measurements, there is more peace of mind in terms of reliability. Made in USA is a plus if you're into that.
- These products make Chord, DCS and other high end gear a joke.

 

[maxxevv]

Actually, the measured performance for the Chord Qutest is pretty good. Certainly in the top 1/4 bracket of DAC's measured. Just that the pricing versus features offered is another story though.

As for RMA part, usually its really down to its local distributor, doesn't really make much of a difference where the company is based in my experience. Some are pretty crap while some was pretty awesome.

 

[amirm]

Can you probe sync/async for USB as well please?

Sure, here it is:

This is not going to impact the dashboard.

 

[gvl]

This raises a question why ESS provided sync mode in 9038 at all. Audiophiles wanted it?

 

[digicidal]

This raises a question why ESS provided sync mode in 9038 at all. Audiophiles wanted it?

My guess would be so as not to necessarily increase the production cost on the end-use device... although perhaps small in terms of component costs, an asynchronous mode requires a clock generator for the device-side connection while synchronous does not - as it uses the clock from the source device.

As to the second part - audiophiles should always want async IMO - after all a computer is a horribly noisy environment unless you do a bunch of expensive tweaks with (IMO again) little to no actual improvement in this area. But then again audiophiles are incredibly difficult to pin down on almost anything technical.

 

[THW]

That Esoteric... sure claims a lotta stuff. 32 DAC chips in 'dual mono', 36-bit processing without any further real explanation other than this:

View attachment 32246

That image specifically is a whole lot of nonsense, I don't even....

People still think that digital audio waveforms should be drawn as stair-steps and that the final reconstructed waveform has said stair-steps?

 

[milosz]

Here we see what is possible with good engineering. I should say GREAT engineering. It's not cheap, but there are DACs costing much more out there which I highly doubt bests this device in any sensible way. (In fact I know we've seen at least one test of a more costly DAC that doesn't come anywhere near this kind of performance.)

While it's unlikely I could actually HEAR the difference between this DAC and the Topping D50 I bought secondhand for $100, it is important to see someone making a DAC that is the best that can be built given current state of the art.

 

[gvl]

As to the second part - audiophiles should always want async IMO - after all a computer is a horribly noisy environment unless you do a bunch of expensive tweaks with (IMO again) little to no actual improvement in this area. But then again audiophiles are incredibly difficult to pin down on almost anything technical.

I think you're confusing asynchronous USB with ASRC on the DAC chip, both have async in them and while both are there to reduce jitter what they do is very different. The sync/async setting on the Martix DAC turns off/on the ASRC on the ESS chip while USB remains async for both modes.

 

[gvl]

Sure, here it is:
View attachment 32347

This is not going to impact the dashboard.

Given the jitter is still very low, wouldn't running in sync be the preferred mode over USB? Bit-perfection and what not...

 

[bidn]

Once again, RIP Chord.

Hi Dealux,
using Stereophile measurements of Chord's flagship:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/chord-electronics-dave-da-processor-measurements,
the Dave is not so good re. noise floor (only -140 dB at 0 dBFS, fig. 4)
but seems to have be better re. intermodulation spikes (lesser and lower, fig 9),
but it costs about 6 times more money...

Amir,
is there any Chord Dave in the waiting line (or at least a Chord TT2)?

 

[JJB70]

Putting aside some of the sillier ideas pushed by Watts, Chord stuff does tend to be competently designed and performs well, their industrial design is certainly very marmite (i.e. love it or hate it) but it seems to be very nicely made. Is it worth it? That depends on what you want, nobody needs an expensive DAC costing a four or five figure sum but if you like the design and build then it is a personal decision. In that respect I think that the same fundamental argument applies to this Matrix DAC, Chord, Benchmark etc, no you don't need these products for good SQ but if you are going to spend $$$$$$'s on a DAC then at least some are well designed and built.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

The game is already over with affordable dacs that measure better than human hearing.

We invented the wheel. Let's stop here.

 

[graz_lag]

Yeah ~$16K for a DAC ... I agree on the design being very pleasing... but it damn well should be at that price.

Not granted ... Look at that $13,000 TotalARNAC (copyrighted by @bidn) of a TotalDAC, it's case looks very much a DIY project in comparison

 

[digicidal]

I think you're confusing asynchronous USB with ASRC on the DAC chip, both have async in them and while both are there to reduce jitter what they do is very different. The sync/async setting on the Martix DAC turns off/on the ASRC on the ESS chip while USB remains async for both modes.

You are correct, I was referring to async mode for USB - thanks for the clarification.

Not granted ... Look at that $13,000 TotalARNAC (copyrighted by @bidn) of a TotalDAC, it's case looks very much a DIY project in comparison

And as a result seems significantly more overpriced than the Linn Klimax DAC despite costing ~$3K less.

 

[AudioSceptic]

$60+ tip... Oh...Sorry...

Fnarrr! Fnarrr!

 

[AudioSceptic]

Yeah ~$16K for a DAC - I should think that the rooms come furnished for that price. Although I love the fact that it at least has HDMI inputs and passthrough as well as an upgrade for surround processing. Shame to have to pay stratospheric prices to get those features... definitely cheaper to have a spare AVR (or 5) to handle that side of things.

I agree on the design being very pleasing... but it damn well should be at that price.

Yes, far too pricey, but it looks like a bargain compared with a lot of underbuilt, underperforming, and ugly audiophoolery.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Actually, the measured performance for the Chord Qutest is pretty good. Certainly in the top 1/4 bracket of DAC's measured. Just that the pricing versus features offered is another story though.

As for RMA part, usually its really down to its local distributor, doesn't really make much of a difference where the company is based in my experience. Some are pretty crap while some was pretty awesome.

Re Chord, the DAVE is the one to compare with. It's a mere $10k.