Thanks for that link fon55. The Polish review is excellent in favour of this Dac. Interesting read for anyone looking at a new Dac in this price bracket. I would suspect that the X-Sabre Pro(ESS9038) may beat the latest Benchmark Dac3(ESS9028) soundwise. Something I'm not able to compare unfortunately.
Another favourable review here:
For me the contest is between the R2r Holo Spring and this Dac.
Now we just need a comparison of these two Dac's and using different inputs(usb, I2s) from someone.
The two things in the X Sabre favour is its ability to handle upsampled audio to 768 for PCM and it is a preamp.
Polish Review :
Somewhere, it's worth stopping at some point. In searching for the ideal, the ideal track, the system is being chased when we recognize that it is "I can live with it", that in the end further changes are no more progress. Of course, you can go on and on, search endlessly, or simply change the system as a (costly) hobby, a bit of art for art. You can do it anyway, but it is worth answering the question what is the purpose, why exactly, why we change something, we decide to buy a new klamot. What am I going to do? Well, what constitutes the quintessence - the equipment is to be a tool, not - precisely - an aim in itself, a tool that should bring us closer to what has been recorded, what we play, and ALWAYS is a more or less successful attempt to reproduce what was created in the recording studio (even in the case of "live" recordings, we are talking about a studio). Live music, often referred to as something that is a reference, a summit, is an impossible thing to repeat in home conditions for a very simple reason - this moment, the moment, the context of the place, climate, fleeting and unique "here and now". The best microphones, the best registrations, mastering, the best you can get post factum will be just an imitation and you will never be able to recreate what - just - it was in your home system. This is, firstly, and secondly, each presentation conjured up by klamoty is a presentation, interpretation of what has been written on a carrier. It's always only an idea for playing, for such a specific technological framework, showing a musical spectacle. Approx. And only our subjective assessment of the system gives us some hints as to whether what we hear is "more faithful", "closer" to what has been written, whether the equipment presents it in its own way (coloring), or simply (subjectively judging) ineptly trying to reproduce music in home chimneys. This interpretation and in itself is a quality, a certain being, belonging to home-made klamotom, belonging to the ways of reproduction on loudspeakers, on headphones. My name is - what I am repeating to him - our emotions, our state of involvement. This can not be "jumped".
Looking at the development of home audio, I see a certain boundary to which we inevitably go. Is the bidding on "who will give more", in the context of the latest generation of D / A chips, interfaces does not approach the finale, do not we reach the "wall"? In the case of music, its recording, we come to a place where it is difficult to make progress, for a revolution, for some radical change. The best materials, the best way to register - that's it, it's difficult to jump over something that in measurement, the ear sounds "perfect". It is hard to expect any radical breakthrough in recording wells, it is difficult to expect the appearance of some breakthrough technology that will allow much better results in the case of home audio. The direction has been clearly defined: we have a global network, streaming, the ability to play audio in the master's quality from the studio, in any recording and recording technology, directly at home. This is a kind of reality and a near future, we already know it and nothing will surprise us here. The industry perfectly senses this direction, the above: access to the web, playing from a file is a necessary standard of equipment for every (almost) new clapper. The aforementioned possibilities, properties of the latest boxes are just mentioned "wall", it is the horizon of what is and will be offered (materials), what we will play in home conditions.
X-Saber Pro of the second generation is the target one, because in addition to the outstanding sound reproduction possibilities, it has the same amount of technology (it already goes beyond what the record market offers) that simply is a good reason to tell yourself. " enough". This is the final. Of course - as I mentioned earlier - how each device interprets in its own way (although it is one of the most perfect in terms of fidelity, DAC neutrality that I had the opportunity to listen to) and it depends on us whether it will be "our" playing, but everyone who listens to this case , similar conclusions will be reached as the undersigned. You can live with it and give up the search for the perfect "files", because this DAC sets the limit of what you can reproduce from the file (yes, it is a zero-one world, subject to rapid changes, continuous improvement, while looking at the development of the entire IT industry we can clearly see that today progress is made mainly in the field of network, code, and not hardware). Is ready for what the future will bring, because it can be updated (MQA?), And what has "under the hood" closes the topic, because simply available sources overlap with the possibilities, also in terms of "przymaczania" (DSP) can be achieved in in this case, everything we want. And just as the predecessor set a certain direction, the new model based on the latest silicon, with the super-strength Saber (ESS9038), with an excellent USB interface, with a completely new, competitive analogue track, runtime power is a "dot over and." Radical progression in subsequent scenes simply do not predict, what can and probably will change is the extension of the possibilities for direct links wireless / wired, the ability to send the stream straight to the mailbox. Today, it is becoming an increasingly common feature of new generation DACs, which become more autonomous, often transforming into multifunctional equipment, without losing the character of a digital switchboard, digital preamplifier, and audio hub. Only that the idea of multiplying beings on an audio table on an RTV cabinet ceases to make sense for the reasons mentioned above. Computer transport locked in one, common box, or (traditionally) separated, based on some PC / mobile platform is the present and tomorrow element, without which virtually no system will do. It will not work, because new music, new releases will be (are) only available on the web. Not on the disc (it is already and soon will be more and more promil) and saved in the file is music without a physical medium. Reeditions, reissues on discs is, it will be niche. New releases on a physical medium is, it will be niche.
Summing up this lengthy editorial, the described box is an emanation of changes that are taking place in the entire industry. It's such a machine for today and tomorrow, without worrying about moral aging, being "out of date". This equipment, which we can simply consider as the target. His current and future possibilities guarantee that he will be "on time", that he will not grow old, that he will handle every stream, every material and will do it "concertally". He will do it because ... and you will read about it below, in the development, in the proper review of this uberklamot. I invite you…
It's a real übermachine. Probably the best thing from transducers that I hooked to my lapels. I am shocked and additionally un-bonded solidly involved. Yes, this transducer is the final, the culmination of the process we have been observing from the last few years associated with the revolutionary change in the way music is distributed. The Internet has changed everything and changes everything. The current capabilities of top DACs, whose representative is described model is according to I am able to achieve a peak of possibilities in terms of format support, generally the ability to convert zeros and ones to an analog form. Not much more can be achieved without a radical change of what in the studio, what serves the label on the market, and finally how we listen to music (in general). Of course you can "more" (tomorrow, the day after tomorrow the announcement of such a device) in the field of numbers, but this is only pure search for art, not only does it matter the DSD 512, or some PCM files with parameters 32/768? Well, I have not seen one like that either), but the way technology is used that has recently become available in home audio. This DAC is a great example of this skillful use, because it is one of the few devices that allow for such a meticulous adjustment of signal parameters in the system.
Already earlier (see the review of the previous X-Saber Pro model) the flagship DAC in the Matrix catalog stood out from the competition. This new model offers even more, much more in this area. This is a real revelation, especially that we are dealing here with a hardwares allowing to extract the best of the 1 bit format, the equipment with extensive DSP options (huge possibilities of signal modification), and finally (most importantly) something that can play so that . I find it difficult to find a competitor at any price level. The latest Matrix is the most expensive device of this company in history, they are slowly approaching the 10k limit, but it is still a very interesting alternative for much more expensive high-end DACs, because with their nearly 8,000 is still a higher HiFi shelf. Affordable. Looking at how he presents himself, how he has the possibilities, how he plays HIGH-END with his mouth!
This is the first device using the top bone ESS 9038 Pro. The new silicon replaces the well-known ESS 9018, used in hundreds of flagship transmitters. The new silicon, apart from new possibilities, in the Matrix application offers something that has always kept me a bit distant in the case of ESS Saber based DACs - there is no brightening, no analytical "slide and eye" (neutral serving of music, in the sense washed out) from something very important), which is associated with digital playing. No. It's different. And very well, because this new Matrix plays on the one hand incredibly resolution, presents the recording in detail ... faithfully, but at the same time we have what I like in some multibit converters: enchantment, magic, dense, emotional message, something that does not allow detachment from klamot, only more, more, even more! "Magic cyst!" Says my little daughter. "Cyst".
I wonder if other, based on this system DACzki will play with such mannerisms (it's not a pejorative term, each equipment, even the most seemingly neutral, it is not and adds something to it), very interesting. Matrix can be both a transducer and a digital pre, in the latter role it also stands out despite the purely digital regulation of sound intensity. I will say more, the incredible precision that is characterized, for example, allows you to create a minimalistic solution based on active monitors from X-Saber as a preamplifier and digital switchboard, significantly increasing the capabilities of such a system. He tests X-Saber, among others with Audioengine HD6 and the sound reproduced by active monitors is without a doubt exquisite. Matrix is the element that extracts the best from these packages, I have no doubts about it. The ULTRAWAŻNY element is software. Roon 1.3 (see entry describing exactly the latest front-end version) changes the rules of the game. Why? Well, because with the advanced capabilities of the title DAC, it is the top system that plays music from a file, allowing really amazing things about the playback configuration. It allows - in short - a SIGNIFICANT progression in terms of what comes to our ears. The second system with the rebuilt MrSpeakres Ether Flow (open and closed version) on the Questyle CMA600i (as DAC is not a competition for the Matrix, but here we also have an addition or maybe a great headphone amplifier) along with Roon playing via DSP (crossfade - > binaural, everything @ DSD256 *) this - again quote - 'cyst magic'. The game is extremely good, but more importantly, you do not need to connect headphones for 9,000 to hear it. No. On HD650, my favorite HiFiMAN HE-400 plays it in a similar way, that is, delightfully, captivating, just great. It's a sound that has no shortcomings, no "buts", it's my sound. On the headphones of the same class as Ether Flow, we simply dive in and get lost. It happens not to sleep through the night. Addictive. It works like strong drugs. Someone who loves music will have to make painful choices, change priorities, make life decisions
Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow you will read in the teaser about the above-mentioned headphones, I will just emphasize that it's not that thanks to Etherom I am playing. What I would not connect to the system with the new X-Saber Pro is very much, in the case of my reference LCDs 3 I would not download them (just like with Ether Flow), unfortunately there are deficiencies of this design (ergonomics) in comparison with the overt Mrs. Also Matrix with Roon will put up a tandem to play according to me in an inaccessible way for most physical sources, and confronting directly with equipment that does not play with a file (i.e., one without a computer) you would have to spend gigantic money to play it just like playing this DAC / soft - SYSTEM. With the CMA600i as an amplifier and the Makika for Core, we have something that plays at a truly "eight-thousand" level (analogy to the mountains, not mammoths). This - in my opinion - the ceiling, shocking that it is possible to achieve without the need to donate organs for transplantation. My brim lamp (MiniWatt) similarly, obscenely well, listens and still not enough, even recordings that were somewhere far away on the list to listen to, those that are far away from what is liked or favorite, even those they cause on the described above configurations are "more and more". Well, how can you not call it differently, just like IT. The Matrix is an essential element of TEGO. Not different.
Full specification, discussion of all options (oh come, thousands of signs for it, oh come down) you will find in the proper review, which I will make in the coming weeks. As you know, nothing describes the material as well as the pictures, so the large photo gallery with the Matrix below is the main, though not the only, role (yes, it will be Roon and previously described klamoty, effectors).
* until recently, if you wanted to get something like converting any PCM signal to DSD you needed expensive as hell HQPlayer. As a plugin, it was with Roon, now there is no need to use this software. All you need is a new Roon with a powerful DSP engine that has been applied to it in the latest installment 1.3. Why do I write about it ... check yourself what gives you to convert on the fly what we listen to in 1 bit form. It is worth to see for yourself, listen to it. Oh, it's worth it. A computer with a strong CPU is absolutely required. " Read on
