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Matrix Quattro II DAC/Amp
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Matrix Quattro II DAC/Amp
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Product Description
Meant to live at the center of your high-end audio system, the Matrix Quattro II features the highly regarded ES9018S DAC, an XMOS interface, and a LME49600 ultra-low-distortion headphone amp. It comes loaded with a variety of inputs and outputs; the inputs alone include two coaxial, two optical, a USB, and an AES/EBU—an unusually high number, and ideal for switching between many sources Read More
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pott
147
Aug 28, 2018
Just received mine today; I tested it on two PCs:
a) my laptop w/hub, where it replaced a Topping D50 + Schiit magni3. The DAC is definitely an improvement here, the whole sound felt wider and more expansive. I really enjoyed it. This was solely through my headphones
b) my desktop straight to USB, where it replaces a Schiit Jotunheim w/ DAC. Here I have mixed feelings. I listen to music through powered speakers (Adam A3Xs), so the DAC + preamp out impact was expected to be small. Mostly I wanted something smaller which didn't run as hot as the Joti, and has a remote. The Quattro II does all of this. On this PC I barely ever use my headphones (HD6XXs)
But.
The Joti did two things better: * I could connect the headphones at the same time as the speakers, which meant I didn't need to keep them unplugged to hear music. Useful to burn-in headphones if that's your thing, or even just for convenience * The volume control was a lot less gradual and WAY easier to use
The Quattro's volume control is way to grainy, and much tougher to adjust. I feel it's overkill in this respect. It does run cooler though.
Another issue... THAT one is a big problem: my unit lets out some noise through the headphones. They sound electronic in nature. I've had this happen before and it eventually went away; I'm not sure what I did to help it. Weirdly, this did not happen on my laptop, but does happen on the PC. I will try different USB outputs, or maybe the spare Schiit Wyrd I have. Oh and I will try to use install the driver too... which I have not! UPDATE: as expected installing the driver had no effect here... We'll see. I think this may become my office setup actually, as I'm still waiting for the SMSL SU-8 and the HPA-3 which will become my home balanced setup and, I hope, fix these issues.
But.
The Joti did two things better: * I could connect the headphones at the same time as the speakers, which meant I didn't need to keep them unplugged to hear music. Useful to burn-in headphones if that's your thing, or even just for convenience * The volume control was a lot less gradual and WAY easier to use
The Quattro's volume control is way to grainy, and much tougher to adjust. I feel it's overkill in this respect. It does run cooler though.
Another issue... THAT one is a big problem: my unit lets out some noise through the headphones. They sound electronic in nature. I've had this happen before and it eventually went away; I'm not sure what I did to help it. Weirdly, this did not happen on my laptop, but does happen on the PC. I will try different USB outputs, or maybe the spare Schiit Wyrd I have. Oh and I will try to use install the driver too... which I have not! UPDATE: as expected installing the driver had no effect here... We'll see. I think this may become my office setup actually, as I'm still waiting for the SMSL SU-8 and the HPA-3 which will become my home balanced setup and, I hope, fix these issues.
rslatara
287
Aug 8, 2018
I have the 2C Classic and it's powerful as $%^& I did change the opamp. Well built amps for sure and will for burson opamps if you take plastic cover off them.
roarWolfy
144
Jun 18, 2018
First time looking at a true external DAC, love clear, crystal sound and need a replacement for my internal Sound Card (Asus Xonar Essence STX). Pairing with Senn 650s. This looks like an amazing deal for the price and has the I/O I need (RCA, USB, 1/4 headphone) but am slightly worried about the volume knob issue reports and reports with a dull sounding headphone amp. Debating if I should jump at this or not. or jump at the airist audio R-2R/THXAAA 789 drops
verifonix
1181
Oct 2, 2018
Hi Rycan, the R-2R drop has not shipped yet, but I ended up cancelling my order lol. I was second guessing I really needed a new DAC, so I can't tell you for sure. I doubt there's a lot of dacs out there that will be a big improvement over the EL Dac...
cong314159
102
Jun 13, 2018
My DAC don't recogonize 44.1/24 PCM while it works for others. Anyone experiencing the same?
badheinz1985
34
Jun 12, 2018
Well... I received my unit two days ago... here are some impressions:
1. The DAC itself sounds good. I have no complaints about the sound at all. I tried it with HD598 and HD660S. I feel like the amplifier is just enough to power the HD660S, not sure it can power something like HD600 or HD650...
2. It was shipped with a US power cord. So all you non-US guys should know that you'll probably need to buy a UK/EU or whatever power cord you need when it arrives.
3. Now to the problem... If you look at the manual, you'll see that there is a nice setup mode allowing to manipulate a variety of settings. You are supposed to move between the settings by rotating the volume nob, and alter a given setting by simply pressing the volume nob. Simple and elegant solution, I must say... Two days of use, and this thing somehow already got messed-up. Sometimes I just gently touch the volume nob, and it responds as if I pressed it. As a result, settings get altered while I flip between them. It's very hard to operate the unit like that. I don't know if it's a firmware or hardware problem, but it's very annoying. If anyone is interested, I can easily record a video with my phone and share it...
1. The DAC itself sounds good. I have no complaints about the sound at all. I tried it with HD598 and HD660S. I feel like the amplifier is just enough to power the HD660S, not sure it can power something like HD600 or HD650...
2. It was shipped with a US power cord. So all you non-US guys should know that you'll probably need to buy a UK/EU or whatever power cord you need when it arrives.
3. Now to the problem... If you look at the manual, you'll see that there is a nice setup mode allowing to manipulate a variety of settings. You are supposed to move between the settings by rotating the volume nob, and alter a given setting by simply pressing the volume nob. Simple and elegant solution, I must say... Two days of use, and this thing somehow already got messed-up. Sometimes I just gently touch the volume nob, and it responds as if I pressed it. As a result, settings get altered while I flip between them. It's very hard to operate the unit like that. I don't know if it's a firmware or hardware problem, but it's very annoying. If anyone is interested, I can easily record a video with my phone and share it...
lumohomo
24
Jun 12, 2018
badheinz1985I also received mine. Did you install the software. I tried to install, somehow my win10 gives me an error message, saying "The driver DLL required to access the device is missing".
Although I did not install the driver, I can still use it. Will it make any difference? THanks.
badheinz1985
34
Jun 13, 2018
lumohomoInitially, I did not bother installing the software since I did not need it. I'm just using the optical output of my sound card. I just wondered if it will work better via USB and here are the findings:
1. It only supports sampling rates up to 192kHz with 24-bit depth. Not that I really care, but it's not the 384kHz/32bit they talked about...
2. I believe I heard the familiar and annoying USB-popping when I tried USB. But it could be my imagination, because the volume knob failure drove me nuts at the moment.
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