[grokit]

I never heard of any problems at all with the Mini-i before they "improved" it, hmm...

 

[moldypotato]

I purchased mine from casque_hifi on ebay (audiophilechina.com). Their warranty is valid for a year, however I would have to pay shipping there and back, essentially $80-90. I can't really justify practically $100 to fix an issue (a third of the unit price!) that I don't necessarily have a need to fix if I use another input. I would rather spend that money on modifications, or towards a nice amp. I can't rule out this happened in the past 6 months due to a component going bad since I only now have tested the BNC connection, I recently had an issue with a capacitor in a guitar amplifier I built a year ago so I realize things happen. This just leaves quite a sour taste in my mouth about the Matrix brand.

 

[Ph1lerAudi0]

Quote:

I purchased mine from casque_hifi on ebay (audiophilechina.com). Their warranty is valid for a year, however I would have to pay shipping there and back, essentially $80-90. I can't really justify practically $100 to fix an issue (a third of the unit price!) that I don't necessarily have a need to fix if I use another input. I would rather spend that money on modifications, or towards a nice amp. I can't rule out this happened in the past 6 months due to a component going bad since I only now have tested the BNC connection, I recently had an issue with a capacitor in a guitar amplifier I built a year ago so I realize things happen. This just leaves quite a sour taste in my mouth about the Matrix brand.

Do you have a DVD or blu ray player? Some of them have optical and co-axial digital outputs. I would not conclude that your Mini I has the problem when it has trouble with one device. In your situation I would be thinking that there is a problem between the Mini I and the Musiland. I would then test each device independently to see which one is more problematic, and finally conclude that the more problematic device has the issue.
 
From my experience, the bnc input of the Mini I is the best, most problem free connection. TOSLink specs say the Mini I will take 192Khz, and although I have not tested it myself past 96K, it seems to be a common issue amongst several DACs, not only the Mini I, that getting anything above 96K from TOSlink is a bit of a gamble.
 
PA
 

 

[moldypotato]

 
Quote:

Do you have a DVD or blu ray player? Some of them have optical and co-axial digital outputs. I would not conclude that your Mini I has the problem when it has trouble with one device. In your situation I would be thinking that there is a problem between the Mini I and the Musiland. I would then test each device independently to see which one is more problematic, and finally conclude that the more problematic device has the issue.
 
From my experience, the bnc input of the Mini I is the best, most problem free connection. TOSLink specs say the Mini I will take 192Khz, and although I have not tested it myself past 96K, it seems to be a common issue amongst several DACs, not only the Mini I, that getting anything above 96K from TOSlink is a bit of a gamble.
 
PA
 

Good idea, PA. I do have a bluray player in another room I could use the coax out into the BNC with adapter to see the results. I will report back with an edit to this post in a few minutes. 
 
I actually get very nice results with the TOSLINK input, I have a few albums in resolutions above 96kHz some of which are 192kHz and overall I have no issues with playback using foobar2000 and WASAPI. I get no noticeable jitter, in fact sometimes I mistake artifacts in recordings for it and replay that part just to be sure, so I know my setup via TOSLINK is reliable. I have the latest beta driver for the Musiland as well which is a nice improvement from the past. However, I like anyone else here wants to try all variables and find what truly sounds best. I would just be a little surprised if both the coaxial and BNC outs on the musiland are at fault. Time to find out.
 
EDIT: Well what do you know, success using the bluray player coax out into the BNC with adapter (playing Black Sabbath's Paranoid SACD, fantastic quality release). I wonder if it is a grounding issue since the Musiland is only giving me trouble with the analog outs? Time to test using my laptop off of the battery with the Musiland. I guess I got too fed up to be logical and try with another device haha.
 
EDIT 2: No, not a grounding issue.

 

[edik]

 
Quote:

Just got this in today.First introduced to head-fi here http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/mat...ed-dac-438499/Bought on ebay Matrix mini-i 24/192 Balanced DAC + Headphone Amp - eBay (item 350235725907 end time Sep-02-09 20:13:10 PDT)Specs:* D/A DAC chip AD1955 x 2* Full balanced stereo design* Up to 24Bit/192kHz sampling* Low jitter receiver chips and seperate clock* Built-in headphone amplifier, for up to 600 ohm headphones* OP275/OPA2604 opamps* Balanced/Unbalanced outputs* Various inputs* Large screen VFD* Designed and tuned for audiophile* Digital Input:- Optical: toslink, 44.1-192kHz- Coaxial: 75 ohm RCA/BNC, 44.1-192kHz- USB: USB-B, 44.1-48kHz- AES/EBU: Standard XLR balanced, 44.1-192kHz* Digital Output:- Coaxial RCA- 44.1-192kHz- Support AC3, DTS* Analog Interface:- RCA/XLR- Frequency Response: 20-20kHz- Signal to Noise Ratio: 120dB- Dynamic Range: 118dB- Distortion 0.0002% (1kHz)- Stereo Separation: 110dB* Power Support: AC 220-240V/100-120V (Please specify)* Front Panel Color: Silver* Case Color: Black/Silver (Please specify)* Weight: 2 kg* Dimension: 205 x 155 x 48mm (L x W x H)

As a dac. Fostex CR200/Harmon Kardon HD7600/Sony JA3ES --> Matrix Mini-i --> Rudistor NX-03 --> SA5000/HD600/CD3000/A1000X. Out of the box new so SQ impressions should change. Very clean, quite. Overall I like the sound and presentation. Better than the 707 SuperPro DAC I was using.Built in headphone is also very quiet. At first sounds a little lush and sizzle-ish. Smoothed out in just a few hours. Bass was lean but also improved. Multiple inputs is great. Selector/volume knob is push button/infinity dial style. Display of track info on screen is cool. When played from DAT and MD. Just track counter from CDP.USB -->Mini-i HP out. At first the same lush sizzle sound but soon became more detail and dynamic. There are many sonic qualities in the Rudi that out shine this amp but for some reason I enjoy this amp more. I can listen louder longer without fatigue. It could be the lush/sizzle that I think I hear. Kind of like listening to a electrostatic. Maybe. Has balanced out for future upgrade. I was using the Rudi+707DAC as a desktop system. This with just a few hours has been quit impressive so the Rudi may have to go soon. Its smaller, lighter, doesn't have the bold hi-fi aficionado looks of the Rudi but the small setup suits me and man can I enjoy the music. Best yet, I think I am the first U.S. buyer and since no one dared to try it, I got it for the starting bid of $299.

Looks very interesting. I was considering NUFORCE ICON. I was wondering if anybody has ever compared these two units.
 
 

 

[sunneebear]

I also have the first Icon and the Mini-i is a far better product.  Both DAC and headphone amp.  I have hot heard the newer Icon yet so I do not know what it sounds like.

 

[gwikse]

Hmmm I wonder if I can tap the i2s lines from the matrix into a different dac and switch between the i2s line from a modified musiland monitor 03us and the reciever. Hmmmm. Time to open up the matrix mini-i again.

 

[sunneebear]

I just returned a Musiland Monitor 01 USD yesterday.  I wanted to use it's BNC to feed the Mini-i.  After a couple of days testing my conclusion was the improvement was minute to none.  Sometimes even sounding worse.  Maybe I'm just used to the smooth sound I get from the Mini-i.

 

[gwikse]

The important thing for me at the moment is access to the i2s lines. I can easily tap the lines to an external dac using the mux from the mini-i wich atm is the primary goal. But this may also mean that I can cut the traces to the dac chips and use a switch like f.in. TPA`s Otto to switch between internal mux (the inputs at the rear of the mini-i) and an external i2s source like f.in. the musiland monitor03us wich has far better sample rates than the internal usb input.
 
I am not sure, but from what I have found so far, comparing a proper i2s signal (native) to a converted to sp-dif signal is useless. The coax output on the monitor01us I had a while back did as you say not sound better than the integrated usb solution. But that signal is converted a lot of times before the dac chip. And I must say that I am not too fond of usb bus powered audio. Converting signal back and fourth is also a bad idea.
 
I modified my monitor03us to be used with a buffaloII dac but now I will use it and the matrix mux with a dual mono Twisted pear audio COD alongside the matrix dac output. Having two very different dac`s to select from at my pre-amp will hopefully make listening more enjoyable in all situations.
 
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[Hellenback]

Quote:

i had the emu0404 pci and i replaced it with matrix mini. aftes one month i return to EMU.
 
The sound comparing to the matrix is night and day. i am very dissapointed.It sounds like my x-fi 30$ card comparing to EMU with or witout amp section.

 
Quote:

The sound comparing to the matrix is night and day

 
That's a strong statement...I have the M-Audio Audiophile USB and only use it for converting hi-res files over USB into the Mini-i. I do use it in DAC mode only, balanced out to a Mark VII+ and cannot fault it one bit, especially for the price.
To each his own but when I read "night and day difference" from an EMU 0404 when someone else returned his $2000 Bel Canto because he couldn't determine much difference it makes me....

 
Perhaps it's not set-up or functioning properly?
 

 

[Sioban]

Hey folks!
Got the Matrix Mini-i today. Using it as I am typing this. I realize that the amp requires some hours of burn-in to fully reach it's potential. However as I am listening I notice that the Matrix does not drive my current headphones, Beyerdynamic 770 pro, as well as my integrated amp( Yamaha AX-492)
I can easily turn upp the volume to -10db without it being too loud. Does it have to do with the fact that the Matrix is not really "burned in" yet?
 
Plus, my remote does not work either. I keep hear a rattling inside the remote when I shake it. Do you suggest that I open the remote?
 
Thanks.

 

[liamstrain]

When you say "does not drive them as well" - are you just referring to levels/loudness? How is the sound quality in comparison? 
 
Not sure about the remote. 

 

[Sioban]

Yes I am referring to loudness/level. The soundstage sounds a bit muffled but that is propably temporary (burn in etc.).

 

[liamstrain]

What is your input source? 

 

[Sioban]

I use a computer and play mp3-files(224-320kbps).