Matrix M-Stage amp review: simple, cheap, and excellent.
Oct 6, 2010 at 7:21 PM Post #1,021 of 5,176


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Umm, that's one opinion I guess, I've heard others. Certain amps pair better with certain headphones. Certain Opamps are suited to certain amp/headphones as well from what I've gathered. Some will emphasize the highs, others create a warmer signature. So anybody else have thoughts on an Opamp for the Matrix and HD650?
 


OPA827 has slightly emphasized treble, might give you the difference you want, though I would suggest a different headphone altogether.  Soldering will be required with OPA827.  The slight bass and treble emphasis OPA827 bears makes the mids slightly laid-back, I don't know if that might veil HD650.
 
If using a computer as source, I recommend using the Sonnox Oxford EQ and/or Softube Trident A-Range EQ.  These are excellent and won't distort the sound so easily plus you can EQ down those annoying middle ear resonances.  If you boost frequencies too much, you'll start to get distortion of course but you can just reduce the output qith the output knob in the plugin to avoid distortion.  Great examples of how good equalizers can be.
 
Oct 7, 2010 at 3:58 AM Post #1,022 of 5,176
I couldn't find this anywhere in this thread:  Would someone mind confirming if the volume knob controls the preamp, or is it fixed volume? 
 
If so, it would seem a great choice for me since I have powered Mackie monitors.  I bet it would sound better than going straight from my Beresford!  But then I'll have 2 morally compromised gears...
tongue_smile.gif

 
Oct 7, 2010 at 9:06 AM Post #1,023 of 5,176


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I couldn't find this anywhere in this thread:  Would someone mind confirming if the volume knob controls the preamp, or is it fixed volume? 
 
If so, it would seem a great choice for me since I have powered Mackie monitors.  I bet it would sound better than going straight from my Beresford!  But then I'll have 2 morally compromised gears...
tongue_smile.gif


Yep, volume knob controls volume on the outputs, so it works as a pre-amp. It does a very fine job in my opinion.
 
 
Oct 7, 2010 at 2:25 PM Post #1,024 of 5,176


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Yep, volume knob controls volume on the outputs, so it works as a pre-amp. It does a very fine job in my opinion.
 


x2
 
Oct 7, 2010 at 3:16 PM Post #1,025 of 5,176
Question. Do you turn off the power of Matrix M-Stage during non-use? It is terribly hot. I am afraid that something inside it will not spoil.
 
Oct 7, 2010 at 4:43 PM Post #1,026 of 5,176
When I go to bed at night or decide to take a long break or go outside I turn it off.  I rather save on the power costs
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, besides that I don't think this level of heat will damage the unit.  These things have quite the allowances.
 
If you worry about heat, you can just take off the casing since the bulk of the heat is from it not having any vents.
 
Oct 7, 2010 at 4:47 PM Post #1,027 of 5,176
Absolutely!
 
Make sure to keep the amplifier in a well ventilated space, preferably with some air flow.  It only takes a little to drastically lower the amp's temperature when in use.  You may want to raise the amp about an extra half inch off of the surface it is sitting on for better air flow under the chassis.
 
My M-Stage only gets mildly warm, no more.  I turn it off when I take breaks.
 
Oct 8, 2010 at 1:09 AM Post #1,029 of 5,176


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Anyone else also having issues with J Tam? 


I finally just got an email that my amp shipped(on schedule) a few days ago, the lack of contact was due to the Chinese National Holiday...which is all well and good but at least Little Dot notified people in advance and pulled their eBay listings for the week.  I just wish there had been better communication.
 
Oct 8, 2010 at 4:00 AM Post #1,030 of 5,176
Wells it's been almost 3 weeks, and still no amp, and he has not emailed me back at ALL this week! SOOOO...I filed a dispute with PayPal today to get my refund rolling or whatever needs to happen. That's too bad, I'm probably the first black mark on his record in this thread, but such is life. His lack of communication is unprofessional, and I'm surprised he hasn't posted anything in this thread regarding this either, to save some face. Holidays mean nothing to me for three weeks of this nonsense. Will update this if anything changes.
 
-Daniel
 
Oct 8, 2010 at 8:59 AM Post #1,032 of 5,176
I purchased a LDII from ebay on the 23rd and I still have not received it, nor can I see any EMS tracking info.
 
David from LD said thats cos of the holidays and everything is closed. To quote him "One thing to note is that the entire country is on holiday for National Day 10.1 to 10.8 so all businesses included couriers and customs offices are closed."
 
Seems bizzar, but what can I do.
 
Oct 8, 2010 at 9:54 AM Post #1,033 of 5,176
LD David is a good guy, so I wouldn't be concerned. The extended Chinese national holidays are a well known delay.....and the 1 week holiday always seem to result in 3 week delays of products.
 
Oct 8, 2010 at 11:35 AM Post #1,034 of 5,176


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LD David is a good guy, so I wouldn't be concerned. The extended Chinese national holidays are a well known delay.....and the 1 week holiday always seem to result in 3 week delays of products.



David has nothing to do with this thread and I do agree about David but 3 weeks from Tam is way too long and if he is not returning the emails I would watch it.
 
Oct 8, 2010 at 6:02 PM Post #1,035 of 5,176
I just got an email reply from Jeffrey Tam a few hours ago. It was in response to a question I asked him several days ago about my Matrix Cube DAC. It was a technical question and he had to look into it, so I consider that to be a very reasonable time frame. Maybe that is a sign that he is back from holiday and everyone should be getting replies shortly.
 
I do feel bad for those who have not heard back yet. Perhaps his sales have increased and are overwhelming him a bit right now. I know he does have a seperate full time job unrelated to his audio stuff; combined with the holiday I can see how it would be hard to keep up. Good luck to everyone on getting things worked out, I still have confidence in him at this point.
 

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