OK, so this review will be brief, and will contain personal opinions, and a total lack of organization. Take my advice the same as any other: with a grain of salt. Or ten! Also, this review is primarily aimed at newbies, given the cheapo priced stuff. There will be no ridiculous, off the wall description of how anything sounds here!!
Review: Matrix Mini i VS. Audio GD Sparrow Version A w/ WM8741 chip
Headphones used: Denon D7000
Source: cable box, and PS3 (listening to cd's, mainly rock music)
Amp section: both drove the Denon's to silly loud levels; the Matrix eventually runs out of steam, but it's at a dangerous loud level anyway. It's limitation with these cans would only be if you plan to make yourself deaf, or you cannot sleep knowing that you don't have lots of headroom available. The Sparrow however, can go on for lots more damage. 12 o clock on the dial is already way too loud. It's gets more dangerous from that point on! Overkill.
Features: Hands down, Matrix wins. It's balanced, and has lots of stuff going on here. Sparrow is bare bones. If you need features, get the FUN instead.
Build Quality: Hands down, Sparrow. When you look at it, handle it, or open up the Sparrow, you are clearly aware that this is a piece of high end audiophile equipment, and was a labor of love by Kingwa. The Matrix is not built at all like this. Not to say it's bad, but the Sparrow is much better. Matrix is built like low end Sony ES. Sparrow like low end Krell.
DAC: Don't really know. I only used both with their built in HP amp, and only listened to cd's. So I have no idea what either is like plugged into another amp, or listening to a SACD, or some high bitrate file via USB.
How do they compare used as the all in one solution that they actually are?
Well, I went back and forth quite a bit. It was a pain in the rear. Initially, I didn't even like the Sparrow, as it sounded weird. I liked the Matrix out of the box, and I liked it at the NJ HP meet. I ran the Matrix for 225 hours or so, and noticed no change. The seller on ebay said 100 hours of break in is all you need. Prior to this test, I thought that burn in was just dumb regarding electronics. However, I was truly shocked to discover that at around the magic 300 hour mark (after I had ordered the Matrix!), the Sparrow DID change it's sound. A friend of mine who is a "kinda sorta" musician and has a good ear (two actually), listened with me at around 50 hours, and thought it sounded odd. He listened again at about 350 hours, without being told anything, and instantly pointed out that it sounded way better for some reason, which indicated that I'm not nuts, and you guys are in fact correct! Burn in, as it turns out, IS real. I don't know or care why, and up til that point I didn't believe in it, but it's real alright. Weird. Whatever.
Between the two, they both sound great. The Matrix sounds best with poorly recorded material. However, the Sparrow is more neutral, and more accurate. It's like hearing deeper into a recording, or like a layer of film was removed from a sheet of glass. On bad recordings though, I sometimes preferred the veil of the Matrix. Bass between the two is different. That's the best I can describe it, but again, the Sparrow sounded more accurate, though perhaps a bit more lean. Both had great bass. Mids were great on both, but Sparrow wins with it's neutrality. Simply sounded more real. Highs are great on both, Sparrow is more neutral and softer. Matrix has a little sizzle, but not too much at all. Sparrow has the wider, deeper soundstage.
Also, to all the newbies reading this, I was initially using digital out on my PS3 going to my Sony DA777ES receiver (late 90's HT model; cost $2500). The internal DAC on that was a little better than the PS3. But both of these units (sparrow and matrix) easily crushed that setup for headphone listening. Not even close.
Conclusion: for me, Sparrow wins, plus it's cheaper any way you buy it. If you need the features, or if you need a balanced DAC, the Matrix is perfectly fine and would make anyone happy for years to come. But used as the all in one solution that it is, the Sparrow is just better. My only gripes: why does it not come with feet??? And what's with the goofy socket cap screws on the top??
