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Post by stellabagpuss on Feb 5, 2022 18:42:21 GMT
Just thought l should post my findings in regards to the Matrix Audio Element H USB card. l no stranger to USB cards, and had two JCAT femeto in the past, one failed after 7 months, that was replaced, then the replacement failed 15 months in,JCAT wasn't interested in repairing, so returned back to standard USB output. Around the same l purchased a SMSL M400, and been very happy.Until....
l purchased a ifi Zen Stream, this sounded great, when it worked,but it would just randomly shut down, lagg, so that got returned. This did indeed plant a seed, so l looked back into USB cards.
The Matrix is cheaper than the JCAT femeto, and plugs straight into your PCI on your MB.No special drivers are needed, as there found by Windows. A Nice touch is the card is protected by a metal case,you can power from your PC board, or use an external PSU, which in my case, l did, l used a ifi Power X 12volt psu to run the Matrix.
So l am happy to report, l experienced quite a large improvement,lower noise floor, cleaner mids and highs, imaging,and it delivers a smooth sound so result..
Damien
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Post by John on Feb 5, 2022 19:52:11 GMT
Good result So you are going W10 pc to the M400 and plan to use the U18 between the PC and DAC How will you output from the U18 AES or I2s cable
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Post by stellabagpuss on Feb 5, 2022 20:00:18 GMT
Matrix to U18 then I2s to M400. sound be interesting, just waiting for the U18 to arrive. When is yours due John
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Post by stellabagpuss on Mar 16, 2022 23:16:04 GMT
Brief update, added a Zero Zone PSU supercap to the Matrix, gave a nice improvement over the ifi psu. More dynamic and lower octaves on bass are clearer. So the Matrix does respond well to a good psu.
Damien
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Post by John on Mar 17, 2022 4:12:00 GMT
Yes the IFi power supply is not that good
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Post by stellabagpuss on Mar 17, 2022 7:52:42 GMT
To be honest the ifi power x is not that poor, thats now supply my hard drive. They just lacking the dynamics and lower octaves, certainly quiet, l guess a halfway house between a cheap freebie and quality psu. Of course these days you can get quality PSUs from China,and for not a lot,guess we never had it so good.
Damien
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Post by John on Mar 17, 2022 8:34:44 GMT
They are okay but in the long term a bottle neck for your system As you say you can decent LPS at a reasonable price
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Post by stellabagpuss on Mar 17, 2022 10:49:09 GMT
How times have changed... thank you China 😆
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