Matrix Element X2 Streamer Review

[Snoopy]

I'm convinced that Topping or someone else can do something similar at 1/10 the price.

You could buy a stereo integrated amplifier with Dirac or lyngdorf s room correction system.. anyway you get roon, streamet and hdmi etc

NAD C 3050 LE for example , and would still have enough money leftover to buy a crazy headphone amplifier to go with it. Or alternatively the matrix element 2i..

But I'm sure people will buy it and end up using it with a 2000€ headphone amp

 

[Ein]

I'm convinced that Topping or someone else can do something similar at 1/10 the price.

Ekhmm, all in one and 1/10? Near 1k, so 4 times less I guess. But for that 1k Topping'll give you also mch ;-)

 

[Jimbob54]

If I buy a box with streaming functionality built in and a decent headphone amp in 2023 then I am afraid it needs to have some decent parametric EQ built in so I can put it on my desk/ rack, set it up and then I need nothing else for a good headphone experience.

The lack of EQ plus the silly output impedance (PS, @amirm, did you do the 50mv test? ) that might impact some IEM/ phones means I dont think this is a well thought out product, or possibly aimed at users who dont care and think $4k is a bargain. The fact that the performance is worse in some areas than the predecessor is galling. I fear even if I had money to burn this would be a hard pass. I would far rather get an ADI 2 pro (or even 2/4 pro) and a discrete Pi/ Wiim to hide behind the dac and spend the considerable change on wine, women and song.

 

[Dj7675]

Great review and interesting product. 2 missing things… subwoofer out (preferable more than 1) and some for of EQ (manual or import from REW would be adequate).

 

[TonyJZX]

even if you went with the cheapest construction out there, ie. yamaha metallic foil plastic case, i dont think usd $400 is possible from anyone

the problem i would have is how quickly there's new stuff coming out that people might want in their $4,000 investment

and again, this is a version 2.0 right?

i'd always want to seperate out some of the components that are likely to be rapidly made obsolete

 

[Bama214]

Nice unit, but nothing that would move me away from my RME ADI-2 FS and Squeezebox Touch combo at roughly 1/3 the price.

 

[Jim Shaw]

Price has definitely taken a big jump. Product is being sold in the luxury/retail channel so perhaps there is more allowance for that.

Please send the specs to Topping; next year we'll buy the same performance for $599.

 

[muslhead]

Please send the specs to Topping; next year we'll buy the same performance for $599.

From song #5 on "Crime of the Century"

"Dreamer, you stupid little dreamer"

 

[DSJR]

Did I read earlier that this may be sold through dealers? if so, I suspect 40 - 50% of the asking price goes to them. Having said that, would 'we' still complain at '$2000' direct price?

 

[subframe]

Agreed this seems expensive. I’d like to see how the M2 and i2 measure.

I will say though, it’s not that easy to find a quality streamer that: measures well, has a screen, has a volume control, is reasonably priced and is not DIY. So there’s a market here…

 

[Cote Dazur]

costs US $4,399

 

[Billy Budapest]

The noise floor is super low. Maybe the lowest Amir has tested so far. Distortion spoils the party, so to speak, dragging SINAD down.

 

[Chester]

I was excited when I saw the golfing panther before I read the review…..having read it, this product doesn’t feel like golfing panther material (in my opinion).

 

[BR52]

The noise floor is super low. Maybe the lowest Amir has tested so far.

Really?

 

[Kervel]

A pity that PEQ in Roon does not apply to the HDMI Arc and other inputs in such a unit.

 

[EJ3]

There are many good things in there like low distortion, good volume control, lots of clean power for the headphone amp, streaming, and ARC.

But a shame some bad things passed under their radar like preamp performance, jitter bands, filter ripples and output impedance of the headphone amp.

If this was sub 1k USD it would be acceptable, but for over 4k....

I agree that it is priced too high. Even if I had the money. If I had the money & it was $2500 it would strongly have my attention. If it was $3300 without the flaws, it would strongly have my attention.
It bothers me that they have already done better (yes, with a different feature set, but even so...). So they should already be able to get to the performance without to much extra research.
And while the feature set evolved (the price should also evolve: SOME for that) but the performance (that they already knew how to do [unless they got rid of employees that had done it {which would be their own fault}]).
It SHOULDN'T have cost much more to do that level of performance again (+ a few new features).
But the performance devolved and the added analog COULD have been better.
I will say that I think that what devolved MORE THAN OFFSETS the new use cases it has.
While still being very good in the grand scheme of what it does...

 

[EJ3]

I applaud Matrix’s audacity for pricing this thing the way they have, but anyone who actually pays this price, needs their head read.

AUDACITY: perfect word for the price & performance results MORE than off setting the cool (and actually useful) new functions.

 

[EJ3]

Great review and interesting product. 2 missing things… subwoofer out (preferable more than 1) and some for of EQ (manual or import from REW would be adequate).

YES! (and perhaps an updated version of the old processor loop)

 

[Dj7675]

YES! (and perhaps an updated version of the old processor loop)

Hopefully companies will start to look at ways to differentiate their products more at some point with a few of these features. And if I may be so bold… tone controls and variable loudness. I know many will use EQ from the source such as Roon, but once you start adding other sources it has to be in the hardware.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Thanks @amirm for another great and honest review. I got 2 weeks ago its little brother, the element i2 for my bedroom setup and it's fantastic. @MatrixAudio products are NOT for everybody. These are luxury devices that perform very well. You don't get a good device only, you get a customer service that could be the envy for some US based companies. I have had issues with my X-SABRE 3 and element i2 related to firmware, and after summiting my bud report, I get custom build firmware updates in less than 24 hours. Build quality is one of the best compared to even more expensive streamers. I also own Topping and I love my A90D but comparing Topping with Matrix Audio is not even fair for Topping. You get a problem with your Matrix Audio device, and you can deal directly with @MatrixAudio, they will walk the extra mile to fix your issue, even build a custom firmware for you. I haven't hear of any other company doing this.