[loaizaprat]

Have anyone seen any professional reviews for the element S online? I've only seen the one from Moon Audio and there's nothing more apparently.

 

[KTpG]

@FBas74 No, I haven't asked there yet but I'll give it a shot.

 

[project86]

Finally finished my review of the Element S for those interested. Some of the info is probably already mentioned in my initial post or further down in this thread, but hopefully you'll still learn something new. If not, just enjoy the pictures I guess!

 

[Dalmonegrig]

Finally finished my review of the Element S for those interested.
"I'm not saying the Element S beats an $18k Innuos Statement, but I would certainly put it up against their $3.6k Zen mk3, or the $5k Lumin U2, or even the $6k Auralic Aries G2.2, and be confident of a very tough fight - again in terms of SQ only. The Matrix Element S really is that good!"

I was interested to see what kind of sound quality we end up getting with the Element S compared to the competitors.
At one time, I wanted to buy an Element S, but I needed Roon. In my case, the choice was made in favor of Lumin U2, which is 4 times more expensive than Element S.
It's great to know that we now have a worthy alternative in the Element S.
Thank you for your review!

 

[project86]

I was interested to see what kind of sound quality we end up getting with the Element S compared to the competitors.
At one time, I wanted to buy an Element S, but I needed Roon. In my case, the choice was made in favor of Lumin U2, which is 4 times more expensive than Element S.
It's great to know that we now have a worthy alternative in the Element S.
Thank you for your review!

Thanks! Yes I definitely think Matrix lost a bunch of momentum due to the initial Roon issue and other bugs (but mainly Roon), and you are a perfect example of that.

Enjoy your U2 though. Lumin is a great company who makes very nice equipment and it should provide many years of happy use.

 

[loaizaprat]

Finally finished my review of the Element S for those interested. Some of the info is probably already mentioned in my initial post or further down in this thread, but hopefully you'll still learn something new. If not, just enjoy the pictures I guess!

Thanks for sharing the long-awaited review! It is very comprehensive.

The element S is my first dedicated streamer and I thought it was the weakest link on my chain, consisting of Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 DAC (I2S input), Pass Labs XP12 preamp and XA25 amp powering Focal Sopra 1 speakers. Hearing you compare the element S to entry level options from brands like Aurender, Innuos, Auralic and Lumin makes me doubt if the element S really is the weakest link.

I was thinking that, once the upgrade itch comes, I'd be either getting an Aurender N200 or a HiFi Rose RS130 (more probably the latter as Aurender is not Roon ready).

Do you have any experience with these last two? Do you think they'd be a noticeable upgrade to the element S?

 

[project86]

Thanks for sharing the long-awaited review! It is very comprehensive.

The element S is my first dedicated streamer and I thought it was the weakest link on my chain, consisting of Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 DAC (I2S input), Pass Labs XP12 preamp and XA25 amp powering Focal Sopra 1 speakers. Hearing you compare the element S to entry level options from brands like Aurender, Innuos, Auralic and Lumin makes me doubt if the element S really is the weakest link.

I was thinking that, once the upgrade itch comes, I'd be either getting an Aurender N200 or a HiFi Rose RS130 (more probably the latter as Aurender is not Roon ready).

Do you have any experience with these last two? Do you think they'd be a noticeable upgrade to the element S?

Great system you have there! I would consider it very nicely balanced, and don't think the Element S is the weak link at all. If anything I would focus on room treatments, then power conditioning, or even cables if you're into that sort of thing. Maybe you already have those aspects sorted but you didn't mention.

I personally found a worthwhile improvement when using I2S by upgrading from a generic HDMI cable to an AudioQuest Vodka. Then another (very) small step up going from Vodka to the AQ Thunderbird. Massively better return on investment with that first upgrade though, and I imagine there are probably better values to be had using other brands (these are just the ones I had access to).

I quite like Aurender in general and they keep steadily improving over the years. The N200 is probably the sweet spot of the lineup, but I just couldn't do it since I love Roon. Still, I don't think the N200 offers any significant SQ upgrade over the Element S, particularly since you'd lose access to the I2S connection which your DAC prefers imho.

I haven't heard the RS130 yet. Looks nice, but so far I've found the HiFi Rose gear to be sort of "jack of all trades, master of none" type offerings. They do a lot of things well but don't quite excel in any particular area either, at least compared to more specialist devices. Definitely a trade off but if you're using Roon, it seems like you wouldn't be using all the RS130's features anyway. I do love that screen though.

Are you doing DSD upsampling by any chance? I've found that to be beneficial when using the Denefrips DACs.

 

[loaizaprat]

Great system you have there! I would consider it very nicely balanced, and don't think the Element S is the weak link at all. If anything I would focus on room treatments, then power conditioning, or even cables if you're into that sort of thing. Maybe you already have those aspects sorted but you didn't mention.

I personally found a worthwhile improvement when using I2S by upgrading from a generic HDMI cable to an AudioQuest Vodka. Then another (very) small step up going from Vodka to the AQ Thunderbird. Massively better return on investment with that first upgrade though, and I imagine there are probably better values to be had using other brands (these are just the ones I had access to).

I quite like Aurender in general and they keep steadily improving over the years. The N200 is probably the sweet spot of the lineup, but I just couldn't do it since I love Roon. Still, I don't think the N200 offers any significant SQ upgrade over the Element S, particularly since you'd lose access to the I2S connection which your DAC prefers imho.

I haven't heard the RS130 yet. Looks nice, but so far I've found the HiFi Rose gear to be sort of "jack of all trades, master of none" type offerings. They do a lot of things well but don't quite excel in any particular area either, at least compared to more specialist devices. Definitely a trade off but if you're using Roon, it seems like you wouldn't be using all the RS130's features anyway. I do love that screen though.

Are you doing DSD upsampling by any chance? I've found that to be beneficial when using the Denefrips DACs.

Thank you very much for your comments!

I think I'm good on cables for the moment. I use the AQ Vodka HDMI, and also another AQ, the Forest, ethernet cable. The rest of interconnects are AQ MacKenzie XLR and Shunyata Venom RCA. Speaker cables are AQ Rocket 88.

Power-wise, I use Shunyata Venom V10 NR power cable in most of the components, being the element S the exception, where I'm using the cable that came with one of the Pass Labs. Shunyata Denali 6000S v2 power distributor is arriving this weekend.

I think the next logical step is room conditioning, as you rightly mentioned. There I'm a bit lost and don't know where or how to start. I'll see if there are any professional companies offering the service in town.

I'll follow your recommendation and try the DSD upsampling with roon. I guess I have to turn the Denafrips up sampling to NOS.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide your feedback, I really appreciate it.

 

[Libran]

Finally finished my review of the Element S for those interested.

Thanks for the review - it’s very interesting to receive so much useful information from a real user, and not just a reviewer from YouTube

What do you think about the lack of an input for external clock on the Matrix S?

I'm looking for a transport for my Gustard A26 DAC, Matrix S is one of the candidates, but the lack of input for external clock at 10 Mhz is stopping me from purchasing it - in my system Gustard A26 and audioswitch LHY SW-6 connected to external clock LHY OCK-2 and this explicitly improved the overall sound quality (use Roon and internal streamer of Gustard А26 via LAN)

 

[project86]

Thanks for the review - it’s very interesting to receive so much useful information from a real user, and not just a reviewer from YouTube

What do you think about the lack of an input for external clock on the Matrix S?

I'm looking for a transport for my Gustard A26 DAC, Matrix S is one of the candidates, but the lack of input for external clock at 10 Mhz is stopping me from purchasing it - in my system Gustard A26 and audioswitch LHY SW-6 connected to external clock LHY OCK-2 and this explicitly improved the overall sound quality (use Roon and internal streamer of Gustard А26 via LAN)

Thanks! I agree the "quick take" reviews you often find (whether youtube or their own site or in a thread here) can only take you so far... and often read more like marketing material than actual honest evaluations. I try to get a few months minimum of steady use before I write anything up formally, so hopefully it captures the good/bad/ugly of the experience. That means my review output is quite a bit more limited in comparison, but I'm ok with that.

The lack of a clock input isn't really an issue for most users imho. The Element S already has dual Accusilicone AS318B femto clocks which are excellent performers, so there's really very little room for improvement there. And of course with a USB connection we are not using the transport clock at all but instead getting that from the DAC itself.

But certainly everyone needs to plan out their system - what they need and also what they might want for the future - and buy accordingly. So if you intend to keep using your external clock then I would cross the Element S off your list. I'm still not sure the LHY would necessarily give a better sound (as opposed to perhaps just a slightly "different" sound) but some people do seem to enjoy it... so I wouldn't mess with an established favorite if that's where I found myself.