Matrix Quattro Dac, Amp - Page 6

I currently have a Matrix Quattro DAC and Headphone Amplifier through a kind loan from Project 86.  I'll be writing a "lengthy" impression of them in the coming days.  For now, I shot two short videos with my iPhone, which I have uploaded to YouTube.  One is a short tour of the Matrix siblings and the system that I have been using to listen with them.  The other is a "through the iPhone microphone" demo of the audio of the DAC, as it was being used as a preamp/decoder in my reference system.  The piece is a snippet of the fourth movement from Beethoven's Ninth.  The spectrum is truncated, of course, but you can get a pretty good idea of how resolving that DAC is.

Enjoy!  More to come.

Regarding the gain which is adjustable by internal jumpers..

I am using the DAC as a preamp into my 100W monoblocks using the single ended outputs.

Most of the music needs to be played with the volume control at 3\4 to 7\8 of the max setting.

I read in the instructions that the gain adjustment is for the XLR outputs but it does not mention the single ended outputs...

Anyone know if the gain can be increased on the single ended out?

Just found out there is a XLR (4pin) Adapter to double TRS available as needed for Matrix Quattro AMP when using balanced headphones like HE-5 LE at Tam Audio.

I am very curious if somebody may compare the Yulong D100 directly to this Matrix Quattro DAC. Statements that you find throughout the web are like "Matrix is better", "wants to be better", "seems to be ambitious with this approach" and so on...So how much better does it really sound? Is it worth the higher price?

Regards Vienna

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viennaconnect 

Just found out there is a XLR (4pin) Adapter to double TRS available as needed for Matrix Quattro AMP when using balanced headphones like HE-5 LE at Tam Audio.

 

I am very curious if somebody may compare the Yulong D100 directly to this Matrix Quattro DAC. Statements that you find throughout the web are like "Matrix is better", "wants to be better", "seems to be ambitious with this approach" and so on...So how much better does it really sound? Is it worth the higher price?

 

Regards Vienna

That's good news about the HE-5 style cables. I knew those would come at some point since it is a logical thing to do.

I'm still hesitant to write too much about the Quattro sound, since I have the units out on loan to some other HeadFiers right now. I don't want to influence them too much... In a nutshell, I think the Quattro DAC is slightly more balanced than the Yulong unit, with an overall "higher resolution" sound to it across the board. I don't have a lot of problems with the sound of the Yulong, but I can see how some people might find it a little bright when paired with certain equipment. I did hear it sound bright with an old Creek OBH-21 amp that I used to have. The Quattro doesn't have that issue. 

Still, the differences are not huge. If you were using something like an HD600, you might not even notice any difference at all. Switch to an HD800 and it presents itself more clearly.

Is it worth the extra money? Depends. Do you have a high end headphone? If so it is probably worth it, assuming you can afford the difference. The other thing to consider is the fact that the Matrix gives several key features that Yulong doesn't: a quality pre-amp, a remote control, and analog inputs. If you might use one or more of these, then it makes sense to get the more expensive unit. 

Thanks for pointing out the facts, i can see clearly now.

But one question is still bugging me, what about those two balanced out TRS ports?

Which headphone do you plug in there? I just see balanced mods resulting in two 3-pin XLR connectors. I haven't seen double 6,3mm jacks mods.

That means either you need two female XLR->Mono 1/4" adapters when you already have XLR-modded headphones OR you gotta mod your cans ending up with 2 TRS mono jacks, right? Never have seen that yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viennaconnect 

Thanks for pointing out the facts, i can see clearly now.

 

But one question is still bugging me, what about those two balanced out TRS ports?

 

Which headphone do you plug in there? I just see balanced mods resulting in two 3-pin XLR connectors. I haven't seen double 6,3mm jacks mods.

 

That means either you need two female XLR->Mono 1/4" adapters when you already have XLR-modded headphones OR you gotta mod your cans ending up with 2 TRS mono jacks, right? Never have seen that yet.

It takes two Stereo TRS plugs, not mono. Its balanced, not single ended.

Is the USB input on this DAC asynchronous?