[Pariah1]

Yea, those little rubber/plastic tabs you push/slide up or down. I forgot what mine came set as but I put it on 10db before I listened to it and haven't adjusted it yet (but I plan on it to see the differences).
 
So both left tabs should be slid all the way down for the 10db setting, both right tabs up. Or, going by the numbers, the 1 should be down and the 2 up. See photo.
 
http://coolfungadget.com/ebayimg/matrix_m_stage/DSC02349.JPG
 
Unless I'm wrong and the black square is supposed to designate empty space and the white square the tab itself...now I'm confused lol.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Yea, those little rubber/plastic tabs you push/slide up or down. I forgot what mine came set as but I put it on 10db before I listened to it and haven't adjusted it yet (but I plan on it to see the differences).
 
So both left tabs should be slid all the way down for the 10db setting, both right tabs up. Or, going by the numbers, the 1 should be down and the 2 up. See photo.
 
http://coolfungadget.com/ebayimg/matrix_m_stage/DSC02349.JPG
 
Unless I'm wrong and the black square is supposed to designate empty space and the white square the tab itself...now I'm confused lol.

Yeah I've got the same sticker on the back of the set; I always took the white bit to be the tab sticking out since it's white lol. I'll test and check the diff; and report back in a sec
 

 

[cravenz]

Nope, I'm quite sure it's 10db on my setting where 0db is when the white tabs are down all the way which would correspond to the picture when it is originally given to you. It is exceedingly louder when I set it at 12 o'clock on your setting and then it's about the 1 o'clock volume setting on my version lol. Try it! haha
 
i.e. i'm quite sure white is the tab hahahaha

 

[Pariah1]

Lol, yea I think that's right!

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Lol, yea I think that's right!

lol. which do u prefer nubcake? hahaha

 

[Pariah1]

Lol, sorry getting tired and confused. What the hell is a nubcake? lol
 
Ok if white = tab then I was on the 18db before and now I'm on the 10db. The 10db does sound quieter, significantly. Maybe this will take the hardness off of the 702's treble, duh!
 
I was at 10 before, now at the 11 position with the same material. Not LOUD but a good volume.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Lol, sorry getting tired and confused. What the hell is a nubcake? lol
 
Ok if white = tab then I was on the 18db before and now I'm on the 10db. The 10db does sound quieter, significantly. Maybe this will take the hardness off of the 702's treble, duh!
 
I was at 10 before, now at the 11 position with the same material. Not LOUD but a good volume.

heh nubcake just equal nub = noob = newbie = i'm just trying to be annoying
 
I'll stick to 10db then hahahaha..

 

[Pariah1]

Haha, I know, I just never heard "nub" for newb.
 
Yea, funny how this little change seemed to help the highs. Glad I got the M-Stage with easy to switch gain! That was one reason I got it. I'd hate to have an amp I couldn't adjust the gain on and have the fairly hard highs I was hearing just an hour ago! Should have messed with the gain (and looked at it more closely when I first got the thing!) earlier. Who knew that 8db (from 18db to 10db) would have this much of an effect.
 
More listening with different gain settings now for sure.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Haha, I know, I just never heard "nub" for newb.
 
Yea, funny how this little change seemed to help the highs. Glad I got the M-Stage with easy to switch gain! That was one reason I got it. I'd hate to have an amp I couldn't adjust the gain on and have the fairly hard highs I was hearing just an hour ago! Should have messed with the gain (and looked at it more closely when I first got the thing!) earlier. Who knew that 8db (from 18db to 10db) would have this much of an effect.
 
More listening with different gain settings now for sure.

 
haha...tell me how it goes. I'm lazy when it comes to experimenting haha..but I'll try it at some point for sure
 

 

[SP Wild]

In my recent round of detailed analysis this is what I found, IMO.  The BCL (and by extension the Matrix) truly exists in the upper end of Hi-End.  In my comparisons - since I bought another tube amp - is that the BCL is exposing flaws in my HD650's and K701's left right and center.  The most obvious of these is the treble - both phones comes of worse in the treble with the BCL and more natural with mid-level tube amp.
 
The one area of the BCL that is perhaps bettered by no other amplifier on the planet is transient response - and both the HD650 and K701 is not the most technically advanced or have agile drivers as the upper league phones (HD800, T1, D7000, LCD2 etc).  I feel the BCL is asking of these phones something that is not their key strength, basically exposing their weaknesses - not the best thing in terms of synergy.
 
I believe now that only phones like T1, HD800, and LCD2 can exploit this amplifier (super agile drivers)- but owners of these phone are fundamentally looking past the cheap price of the matrix.  With my D7000 - the treble is exquisitely extended and natural - something the HD650's and K701's falter with in this amplifier.  In fact, unless the D7000 is paired with a super-duper transient tube amp (rare and astronomically expense I believe) the potential of these phones are hidden by tubes.
 
The matrix seems like the perfect amp for those who have multiple headphones and will serve well when upgrading into the ultra league of cans.

 

[BlackstoneJD]

With the Bryston DAC you are in an upper Echelon of source components and you would absolutely benefit from better cans. The next step up in DACs is the probably the $10k dCS Deubussy async USB dac. Good pick!
 
You could also optimize your amps and source with better power cables and SPDIF digital cable (I really like Transparent Audio cables).
 
Are you using USB or SPDIF with the Bryston? What is your source?

 

[SP Wild]

Yeah, the Ayre came out just after the Bryston.  Damn.  But the Bryston is incredibly musical - leaning on the musical, tad warmer side of neutral.  My power source is A grade, off the mains with upgrade power cables.  IC's are AudioQuest cheetah solid silver.  I have never heard any meaningful differences with digital cables, then again, I don't have a top notch low digital transport. 
 
USB input is crap on the Bryston, worse than onboard fibre optic.  I use Jriver MC or Foobar, I use software upsample to 48khz (fixed onboard output) before going to ASIO and into dac.  This yields superior performance to standard USB (how horrible, I hear how bad the jitter is)...Next upgrade is when the next generation of Async USB/SPDIF convertors come out with improved clocks and low ripple PSU.  I should then not regret having missed out on the Ayre Unit.
 
Not until I got my D7000 and mated it to the BCL did I realise how superior the Bryston is over my previous Dacmagic.  My only bottlenecks now are my headphones.
 
Mind you, you're bottle necked by your headamp.

  Your DCS gear looks enviable!

 

[BlackstoneJD]

Yeah I'm in the market for a new headamp that is the point of my following this thread. I am mostly a speaker guy. My dealer sells the Lehmann but since I found out about the Matrix I am finding the price hard to justify.
 
The Bryston is actually comparable if not as good as the Ayre, although I didn't audition it extensively because I wanted the USB functionality. The catch with it as you said is the crappy USB implementation. It is well known that is the case. Personally I think the Ayre is a little overpriced at $2,500. My dealer sells the Ayre and the Bryston and when the Ayre first came in one of my guys there said he thought the Bryston might be better, but that was before they really had their computer properly configured. I would not concern yourself with the Ayre. Your unit is at that level.
 
The Ayre adds value in that it eliminates SPDIF issues and to a certain extent the need for expensive cabling. A good SPDIF cable can be expensive. Unfortunately, in my experience, a good SPDIF cable is an expensive proposition, but very important. In my opinion if you aren't going async USB then SPDIF is your best choice. I got really good results from a Squeezebox III with Channel Islands Power Supply, but the digital cable was a Transparent Audio Digital Reference, extremely expensive.
 
I use Foobar exclusively. I thought JRiver had the edge but Foobar has a hidden memory player function where you can load the entire file into RAM before playback that I think evens the playing field. I use Windows 7 and WASAPI and it performs flawlessly. 

 

[SP Wild]

Sorry guys for derailing a little.
 
How did you get the files to load to ram on Foobar? I use XP.  Do you feel that a serious SPDIF (coax or optic?)  is beneficial even though I haven't sorted out the jitter as best as possible.  I connected fibre optic and coax (both cheap) from my Pioneer DV989AVi 10KG dvd/sacd player to the Bryston and could not hear any real differences.  I can however discern the lowering of jitter by going battery on laptop, shutting down all apps, wireless and the screen - the sweetening of treble and filling out of mids, separation and imaging improvements are audible.  Or should I wait for an uncompromising low jitter source before forking out for a digital cable?  Your digital cable is coming into exotica, much like my analogue IC's - any ideas?  cheers.

 

[Pariah1]

 
Quote:

In my recent round of detailed analysis this is what I found, IMO.  The BCL (and by extension the Matrix) truly exists in the upper end of Hi-End.  In my comparisons - since I bought another tube amp - is that the BCL is exposing flaws in my HD650's and K701's left right and center.  The most obvious of these is the treble - both phones comes of worse in the treble with the BCL and more natural with mid-level tube amp.
 
The one area of the BCL that is perhaps bettered by no other amplifier on the planet is transient response - and both the HD650 and K701 is not the most technically advanced or have agile drivers as the upper league phones (HD800, T1, D7000, LCD2 etc).  I feel the BCL is asking of these phones something that is not their key strength, basically exposing their weaknesses - not the best thing in terms of synergy.
 
I believe now that only phones like T1, HD800, and LCD2 can exploit this amplifier (super agile drivers)- but owners of these phone are fundamentally looking past the cheap price of the matrix.  With my D7000 - the treble is exquisitely extended and natural - something the HD650's and K701's falter with in this amplifier.  In fact, unless the D7000 is paired with a super-duper transient tube amp (rare and astronomically expense I believe) the potential of these phones are hidden by tubes.
 
The matrix seems like the perfect amp for those who have multiple headphones and will serve well when upgrading into the ultra league of cans.

 
Great review and nice to know it scales up, although I just don't think I'm going there.

 
Quote:

Not until I got my D7000 and mated it to the BCL did I realise how superior the Bryston is over my previous Dacmagic.  My only bottlenecks now are my headphones.
 

Arrgh! Don't say that!

For me the DAC Magic was really too much money for my needs.
 
 
Quote:

Yeah I'm in the market for a new headamp that is the point of my following this thread. I am mostly a speaker guy. My dealer sells the Lehmann but since I found out about the Matrix I am finding the price hard to justify.
 
And considering the M-Stage basically is the BCL (and maybe even a little better in it's design), there's no way I'd pay 3 or 4 times as much!