What do folks here think of products like the Matrix Element H

[Mr. Haelscheir]

I had lately on the dreaded Head-fi come across the mention of the Matrix Element H which makes vague claims of improved USB audio quality. I don't think I have seen discussions about such "audiophile USB ports/interfaces" here yet, i.e. of more upstream tweaks than fancy USB cables or filters for PC audio. I am of course quite skeptical and would assume that a competent DAC's USB receiver would be able to mitigate issues with a consumer PC motherboard's USB interface. What I can say is that when taking headphone measurements with a certain pair of in-ear mics and my MOTU M2, the REW RTA does show an albeit inaudible 60 Hz mains tone and its harmonics which gets attenuated when I rest a hand on a grounded chassis like the MOTU M2 or the FiiO K9 Pro ESS I hooked up the former's line out into; I have yet to test whether this mains noise is originating from the PC USB connection or from my FiiO K9 Pro ESS, though the 60 Hz tone is still present when not playing anything through the FiiO.

 

[Oldson]

i was about to ask the exact same thing.
have seen "Passion for sound" youtube review of the element H and an alternative from Jcat.
i cant see what these can offer over all the various products from the likes of Ifi.
i am currently selling an Ifi nano iusb3 on ebay , because it seems to do very little.
in fact i can hear a very high pitched tone from its cheap psu, so not really impressive.

i am also in the process of a dac shoot out (via usb) , Qutest vs the Topping E30.
the qutest is supposed to be galvanically isolated but it is just as noisy as the Topping.
admittedly this is at high listening levels with no music playing, i can hear pc noice from both.
luckily i do have an isolating transformer for the rca outs which removes all the nasties.
the Qutest will be on ebay very soon