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Matrix Mini-i Pro Impressions?
Mar 15, 2014 at 4:12 PM Post #106 of 289
hellenback said:
I'd venture to say the opposite as I hear the original as quite smooth and warm. I suppose it could be the ESS DAC chip as it's said by some to be quite bright in most implementations.
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Totally agree with this statement. I bought my Mini-I Pro couple of days ago and must say that i'm pretty disappointed with it's very soft and smooth presentation by now.
 
Mar 15, 2014 at 5:40 PM Post #107 of 289
3rdmortal said:
Its quite stange to read about "aggressive nature of Mini-i Pro". I`ve listened to it with different heaphones (242 HD, 990 Pro, 770 Pro) and i canHDay that Mini-i Pro sounds rather smooth and a little bit dark. No aggressiveness at all.
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Might be the difference in headphones. HD800s are audio microscopes, after all. Also those comments were in comparison to the Mini-I normal and the X-Sabre. I am confident if you had both Mini-I together it would be obvious.

With the HD600 the aggressiveness of the Pro was a nice counter to the passive sounding HD600s, which is why I mentioned it would be a great combo in my review. If I only had HD600s to review with I might not have concluded that the Mini-I Pro was very aggressive, it would have been just right.
 
Mar 17, 2014 at 7:18 PM Post #109 of 289
maxvla said:
Might be the difference in headphones. HD800s are audio microscopes, after all. Also those comments were in comparison to the Mini-I normal and the X-Sabre. I am confident if you had both Mini-I together it would be obvious.

With the HD600 the aggressiveness of the Pro was a nice counter to the passive sounding HD600s, which is why I mentioned it would be a great combo in my review. If I only had HD600s to review with I might not have concluded that the Mini-I Pro was very aggressive, it would have been just right.
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Honestly it seems to me that you could mistake two units: Mini-i Pro and Mini-i when you were doing your tests. Because i`ve listened to Mini-i too and in my opinion it is brighter than Mini-i Pro. The headphones are the same (990 Pro, 770 Pro, 242 HD). I can`t name Mini-i aggresive or harsh but if i had to choose i would pick out Mini-i as more "aggresive" than Mini-i Pro.  
 
Mar 17, 2014 at 8:30 PM Post #110 of 289
That's really surprising to me as the normal was fairly dull and relaxed, IMO. Sometimes people get carried away with comments, but this is a true case of night and day between units. I'd easily be able to pass a DBT. The Pro just has a LOT more bite to the sound, where the normal is a clean polite sound. And there's no way I could mistake the units as they are different color chassis.
 
Mar 19, 2014 at 5:01 AM Post #111 of 289
Hi,
 
I've got two questions about the new Matrix Mini-i versions:
1. Has anybody tried to connect a SPDIF signal to the AES/EBU input with a simpel adapter cable? I know there a differences in voltage, impedance and even protocol, but I have read in the net, that it should work in most cases anyway (e.g. http://www.sonicsense.com/blog/reviews-and-tutorials/how-to-convert-between-spdif-and-aes-digital-audio)
 
2. How is volume control done? Is it done in the digital domain (with quality loss) or by some resistor ladder in the output?
 
Mar 19, 2014 at 5:24 AM Post #112 of 289
I don't know the answer to #1. As for #2, volume control is done in the digital domain, however it is handled well above where quality loss would occur. This is pretty commonplace these days with processors capable of handling 32 bit signals.
 
Mar 19, 2014 at 8:47 AM Post #113 of 289
Thanks for your answer. This means the 16 bit input signal is upscaled to 32 bit? This should add way enough room for volume control then 
happy_face1.gif

 
Mar 19, 2014 at 2:02 PM Post #114 of 289
BTW: Is there a store in Europe that sells the Matrix DAC?
 
EDIT:
I've found these shops for EU customers:
* http://www.kidultdiagnostic.com A shop from Hong Kong with a ware house in UK. 1 year warranty on Matrix products, return address also in UK.
* http://www.audiophonics.fr A shop in France, shipping to EU (did not ask them about warranty)
* http://headphoniaks.com/gb/ A shop in Spain, shipping to EU (did not ask them about warranty)
 
Mar 25, 2014 at 10:30 PM Post #117 of 289
white lotus said:
   
I have one, what would you like to know?
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Thanks for the reply. I saw your "ruler flat" statement which was a good start but there are differing opinions in this thread so was wondering if anyone else could give an opinion.
 
Have you heard the original Mini-i and if so how improved is the SQ? Is it worth twice the price of the original and how does it compare with higher priced units (DSD capable and/or not).
 
Thanks again for any input.
 
Apr 12, 2014 at 12:46 PM Post #119 of 289
"By the way, the delay on my review was that I received a Mini-I Pro that might have a faulty USB connection. I had trouble connecting the device and it wouldn't play high rate PCM (352.8 and 384) without stuttering. I asked others here as well as the USA distributor who also asked Matrix in China to try to replicate my problem and nobody could. I feel confident this is an isolated incident."
 
 
I have the exact same problem, was your unit faulty?
 
Apr 12, 2014 at 3:02 PM Post #120 of 289
weissglut said:
  BTW: Is there a store in Europe that sells the Matrix DAC?
 
EDIT:
I've found these shops for EU customers:
* http://www.kidultdiagnostic.com A shop from Hong Kong with a ware house in UK. 1 year warranty on Matrix products, return address also in UK.
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According to their site, it's free shipping from HK but $60 from within the UK!  That doesn't make sense, and so expensive too (about three times what you normally pay inside the UK)
 
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