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

[gvl]

Is this worth $1600+ more than my Sabaj D5?

Yes, by weight.

 

[sbsj]

Hi citraian
The measurements would almost the same...

You guys are awesome ! What is it that MatrixAudio does to remove that "ESS IMD Hump" ? I have not yet seen anyone else able to do that.

 

[gvl]

I would still knock half star off for not providing a rotary volume control knob. Waiting for Okto stereo tests.

 

[30 Ounce]

One of the reasons I bought this is because it doesn’t have a volume knob. I absolutely did not want one because I always use my preamp.

 

[gvl]

One of the reasons I bought this is because it doesn’t have a volume knob. I absolutely did not want one because I always use my preamp.

If I buy this DAC I'm going to make sure there's no preamp in the chain.

 

[digicidal]

Is this worth $1600+ more than my Sabaj D5?

Depends on how reliable it is IMO and if you want to see it or hide it away somewhere. To me reliability is worth a bunch - since I don't replace gear very often at all (except speakers, but I'm an addict). If you drop something on the Okto or the Matrix... you have to worry about the thing you dropped breaking... not the DAC.

I would still knock half star off for not providing a rotary volume control knob. Waiting for Okto stereo tests.

I don't mind that at all. However, considering the level of construction and expected performance - I'd say the Okto would be the only real competition at this price point. I qualify that as "expected" however, I would be incredibly surprised if the stereo DAC from Okto measured worse than the 8-channel one.

I personally find this DAC to be subjectively nicer in design aesthetic, but that's just me. Now if only one of these companies with such terrific engineering and design would make a DAC+Pre+DSP w/output for 2+ subs... I'd be in heaven. How about it @MatrixAudio ?

 

[restorer-john]

If I buy this DAC I'm going to make sure there's no preamp in the chain.

And maybe pickup some spare speaker drivers for when the D/A converter inevitably "forgets" the last attenuation setting, or defaults to factory settings after a period without power and hits your poor power amp with 4V input...

 

[30 Ounce]

If I buy this DAC I'm going to make sure there's no preamp in the chain.

I did try it without the preamp just to see what it’s all about and wasn’t impressed. My preamp has 2 outputs, one drives the main speaker amps and the other drives the subwoofer. I connected the rca out to the main speaker amps and the XLR out to the sub, adjusted the sub because the XLR has mor output. It sounded ok it just didn’t have the drive, impact and sparkle that the Audio Research pre has.

 

[Bamyasi]

And maybe pickup some spare speaker drivers for when the D/A converter inevitably "forgets" the last attenuation setting, or defaults to factory settings after a period without power and hits your poor power amp with 4V input...

That's why I always power up my DAC first and check its display afterwards, before powering my amp.

 

[amirm]

You guys are awesome ! What is it that MatrixAudio does to remove that "ESS IMD Hump" ? I have not yet seen anyone else able to do that.

A few companies have figured it out too. Topping has in D50s. Okto has done so in theirs too.

 

[gvl]

And maybe pickup some spare speaker drivers for when the D/A converter inevitably "forgets" the last attenuation setting, or defaults to factory settings after a period without power and hits your poor power amp with 4V input...

I'm fortunate to have level adjustment pots on my amps, but yes.

 

[gvl]

I did try it without the preamp just to see what it’s all about and wasn’t impressed. My preamp has 2 outputs, one drives the main speaker amps and the other drives the subwoofer. I connected the rca out to the main speaker amps and the XLR out to the sub, adjusted the sub because the XLR has mor output. It sounded ok it just didn’t have the drive, impact and sparkle that the Audio Research pre has.

Buy the cleanest DAC on the planet and color the sound with AR pre of 90 sinad at best. Way to go.

 

[gvl]

A few companies have figured it out too. Topping has in D50s. Okto has done so in theirs too.

Have we ever seen the hump on DACs with the 9038pro part?

 

[digicidal]

Buy the cleanest DAC on the planet and color the sound with AR pre of 90 sinad at best. Way to go.

RAWR! Although you certainly have a point... I believe he already had the AR pre... no reason to buy an inferior DAC just to match it. Better options are not always part of a single acquisition cycle. I know I certainly still enjoy listening to music on inferior gear - doesn't mean I don't plan on buying the best I can afford when I do upgrade something. It just means I might have a similarly inefficient setup for awhile.

EDIT: Ah just saw below... nevermind then. Carry on.

I’ve heard equipment that measured perfectly and sounds horrible.

Surely this is hyperbole? Begs the question what they were measuring then.

 

[30 Ounce]

Buy the cleanest DAC on the planet and color the sound with AR pre of 90 sinad at best. Way to go.

Whatever. I think measurements are important but not last word. I’ve heard equipment that measured perfectly and sounds horrible. My Aragon 4004 power amp measures exceptionally well but doesn’t sound as good as my tube amps which actually measure as well as the Aragon but you would probably poo on them because they are tubes. Life is too short to suffer through poor sounding audio because it measures well. Take your smug comments elsewhere.

 

[amirm]

Amirm, can we see this measurement with 600 ohm load ?

Sure:

 

[amirm]

i Amir,

Which filter was used for the two-tone measurement; certainly not the default or any of the MQA filters.

And what was the sample rate used? The Total Dac appears to have been done at 48kHz.

Thanks,
Rene'

Hi Rene'. For standard IMD vs Level, it is 44.1 kHz. For 19+20 kHz, it is 48 kHz. So your guess is correct on the TotalDAC one.

There are no settings related to MQA. I assume it automatically uses their filters when fed MQA content.

 

[amirm]

Hello Amir, I notice that Jitter Noise is not as good as Element X. I'd like to know is it because of XMOS problem? Or something wrong with the design of 3 crystal oscillators? Can you try a AES or coaxial spdif input and test the Jitter Noise again? Thank you!

Sure. Here is the S/PDIF in default async mode (blue) and sync mode (red):

For clarity, here is the async mode by itself:

The async resampler in ES3098Pro seems to erase all sins.

 

[g29]

And maybe pickup some spare speaker drivers for when the D/A converter inevitably "forgets" the last attenuation setting, or defaults to factory settings after a period without power and hits your poor power amp with 4V input...

That is what JRMC's Max Volume Protection feature is for. Their internal volume option is supposedly 64 bit.

 

[amirm]

It might be interesting to incorporate data from the 555 in loopback as part of the graphs when the performance gets this good.

I have post that a few times before. Here it is again with 4 volt input level:

SINAD is the same as X-sabre Pro but distortion products are non-existent. So we have plenty of headroom to go there with DACs as far as FFT is concerned. SINAD though will be limited to this value.

An upgrade to "B" version costs $6,000. All I read in their press release though is distortion detector for THD+N:

Will have to study the specs to see if noise floor is actually lower. Since we can resort to FFT for distortion, I don't see much value to the upgrade.