New: MATRIX M-STAGE DAC

[fuzzybaffy]

Well, I just got the DAC, and I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed. 
 
In terms of quality, the sound is very good. Everything sounds tighter, the bass sounds great, and the mids sound really, really good.
 
However, in subjective terms, I'm finding the sound signature is not quite my cup of tea. I should have known this was going to be a warm DAC, given that the M-Stage amp is a warm amp, but having the two together seems to compound the warmth, and consequently makes the sound a bit stuffy.
 
It's just a little too intimate. The sound is restrained, but to the point that I'm just not feeling that excitement with music, that alas, I even had with the motherboard onboard audio. Yes, the sound quality is terrible with the onboard audio, but for some reason I can feel more excitement listening through that. There is just more air in the sound that lets me just listen to the music.
 
I was looking more for an airy sound, with clarity. Whereas this DAC, as the review at headfonia suggests, is a bit darker.
 
Of course, I'm a novice to this whole audiophile thing, especially when it comes to DACs, so my observation may be wrong.
 
These are just my initial impressions, and may change over time. It could very well be the "intimacy" is just more an issue of the Matrix DAC being able to process more, while what I believe to be the "airiness" of the onboard DAC could be the onboard DAC producing a thinner and weaker sound. Or, I might just prefer the sound of the Matrix DAC over time. We'll see!

 

[fuzzybaffy]

Well, after having spent some time with this, I must say I've grown to like it, a lot. 
 
What I didn't mention was that this DAC has two filter options: "sharp" and "slow." 
 
At first, I preferred the "slow" option, because I thought the "sharp" was a little too, well, sharp, in the treble. And so my complaints with the DAC being too intimate was based on that "slow" filter. 
 
I've also been pairing the DAC with a Sennheiser HD-650, so you can see why I'd have such an issue with the "slow" setting, when the Sennheiser HD-650 is already a kind of laid-back headphone. 
 
So, after having spent some time with the "sharp" filter, I'm beginning to like it much, much better. Admittedly, it is still just a tiny, tiny bit sharper than I'd like, but it's nothing like the Asus Essence STX which I tried a couple of months earlier. While the Essence STX isn't necessarily "sharp", its treble was definitely a little more rough and "hard"? I don't know if that's the right word to describe sound... but, that is definitely what it felt like to me. 
 
That said, yes, I'm hearing more details in music than I have before with my onboard audio (can't say I've done extensive and long enough testing with the Essence STX to truly compare; just enough to know that the STX's treble was a little rough and hard 

). Guitars are silky, silky smooth, and colorful. Songs like "Already Dead" by Beck, are just absolutely beautiful with this DAC. 
 
Which brings me to another point. Another word to describe this DAC, in either setting, is "smooth". Everything sounds super, super smooth, but not necessarily washed out. Whenever I think I'm going to get hit hard by a passage in a song, it just comes in really, really nicely and smoothly, without being too "in your face". Yet, it still keeps you engaged musically. Melodies and instruments are still colorful and beautiful. 
 
But I must warn, that the last paragraph sounds a lot like people's praises of the HD-650 in general. So the smoothness I'm talking about may simply be a characteristic of the HD-650. Comparing the DAC versus the onboard audio, though, yes, the Matrix DAC definitely is MUCH, MUCH smoother. 
 
Well, I hope this helps. Again, my impressions may not be the best, as I don't have much experience with DACs, but I am definitely very, very happy with this. 

 

[Guess?]

Thank you fuzzybaffy.

 

[Alexein Aner]

How does it compare to Schiit's modi?

 

[GLXLR]

I'm considering getting one since the dac on the M-stage Amp is not that great but there are so few reviews. Thanks to all that have given your thoughts so far on this thread though! 

 

[Otheronek]

Has anyone heard about an update to the M-Stage Dac?  Since the release of their HP-2 I have been waiting to see if a Dac-2 would be released. 
 
Anyone have some insider news?
 

 
 
Thanks OOK

 

[lakiozoon]

I won't go into sound quality here, as i am not qualified to do so since i haven't even tried to compare it to other devices in the market, but:
 
The Matrix m stage dac unit i bought has a synchronization clipping/crackling issue (it may or may not be a general flaw).
It is a minor issue, but clearly audible in specific conditions. 
 
I described and identified the problem on hydrogenaudio forum; 
http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=106884&pid=874502&mode=threaded&start=#entry874502
 
Regards!

 

[GaToMaLaCo]

  I won't go into sound quality here, as i am not qualified to do so since i haven't even tried to compare it to other devices in the market, but:
 
The Matrix m stage dac unit i bought has a synchronization clipping/crackling issue (it may or may not be a general flaw).
It is a minor issue, but clearly audible in specific conditions. 
 
I described and identified the problem on hydrogenaudio forum; 
http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=106884&pid=874502&mode=threaded&start=#entry874502
 
Regards!

My unit doesn't

 

[lakiozoon]

I am glad yours is working properly. That means this problem can be related to my device only.
 
Recently i loaded up SineGen program to equalize my headphones. Upon pressing "Power" button in the program, the amount of clips i was getting was unbelievably high. The sound should be a smooth wave. Bypassing the matrix dac by using my Xonars headphone output i didn't get a single clipped sound.
I eventually got it to work by using foobar2000 on minimum (silent) volume in the background.

 

[lakiozoon]

It seems my Matrix m stage DAC wasn't the cause of my problem.
By doing some testing, everything seems to be pointing at my Xonar DG sound card as the likely cause.
 
If you re interested, i eliminated it as a cause in this topic:
http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=106884&pid=874947&mode=threaded&show=&st=#entry874947
 
I am aware that lots of people browse these forums for product reviews (same as I did) trying to determine if the product is worth buying.
Hence i apologize if my reply had a negative impact on the product. 
 
Regards!

 

[Barbapappa]

I bought this dac off an ebay auction and have been using it for the last two weeks (coax input with filter "sharp"). First impressions are very positive. Build quality is good, switches are solid and the inside looks neat. The brightness of the leds is perfect, you can see them but they don't draw attention. For those wondering, the spdif receiver is the AK4113. 
 
Compared to my previous dac, the smsl sd-793 (dir9001, pcm1793, opa2134), the matrix is a clear step up in terms of detail retrieval (acoustic information, timbre) and dynamics. Seeing as I was already familiar with the "pcm179x" sound I knew what to expect and I am loving it. I think the comparatively (much) better power supply section has a big part in this.
 
Does anybody have any insights on the function of the three opamps in this dac? If I would take a guess it would be that the middle one is used for I/V convention and the other two are used as buffers, but would appreciate some information from somebody with actually knowledge

.  

 

[Otheronek]

  Has anyone heard about an update to the M-Stage Dac?  Since the release of their HP-2 I have been waiting to see if a Dac-2 would be released. 
 
Anyone have some insider news?
 

 
 
Thanks OOK

Anyone????

 

[abvolt]

You can take a look & get them here this is the place I'll get my matrix x sabre dac..  http://matrix-digi-usa.com/

 

[Otheronek]

  You can take a look & get them here this is the place I'll get my matrix x sabre dac..  http://matrix-digi-usa.com/

 
Yes thank you I am aware of Matrix USA and international.  The reason I have been watching and curious is they came out with HPA2 and my logic carried that through to a DAC2 not soon after but it hasn't materialized as of yet.  I was just wondering if anyone knew if and when one might appear.
 
Thanks  OOK

 

[Barbapappa]

I think the lack of attention and appreciation for this dac is making it risky for matrix to invest in an update. It is unlikely that a new version of this dac will sell like hot cakes and therefor it could take a while before matrix will start to see profit from their investment. Besides, an updated dac would leave matrix with a (possibly large) supply of old dacs, which have to be (heavily) discounted to be able to sell. This would mean matrix will sees less profit from the investment made into the current generation of this dac. On top of that I think the only part of the dac that could require updating is the usb implementation. I am not sure how much of a deal breaker this is for most people, but for me it certainly wasn't (I use a gustard u12).