It’s my understanding that it streams via Roon, whether or not there is a Roon Core attached. I’ve never tried it.
You’d lose out on a lot of the functionality of Roon though.
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Oh I see. I’m not currently a Roon user.
Pretty sure it would need a Roon core. It says it’s a Roon endpoint on the website
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(I figured out why @TylersEclectic won’t buy one… no purple background.)
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I love that Symphony. One of my favourite in Glass’ repertoire.
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This looks like a real neat device. Need some reviews on it.
First impressions:
Lovely build quality, feels solid in the hand, nice remote, the glass front is very well done. The feel of the volume knob is smooth plastic, with a nice resistance to spin, not too much, not too little. It also gets pushed in for certain functions, so I suppose it is actually a multi-knob. The multi-knob has detents as it spins that correspond with .5 db steps in the volume control.
The screen is vivid, and when playing from Roon it displays album art as well as track and bitrate info. It is of course, very small, so maybe not that useful unless on a desk.
2 headphone jacks, 6.35, and 4.4 pentaconn. Tons of digital inputs, which is funny for a streamer, but I suppose I’ll have to hook some things up for testing. An actual power cord, rather than a usb / wall wart solution.
Sound:. (Really first impressions:)
The Headphone amp section has an unusual output impedance, which may or may not have an impact on the Anandas I normally wear. So, I’m doing my first listening through a set of Drop Sennheiser 6xx.
Compared to the Modius / Magnius / RPi 3 with HifiBerry Digital out: very close.
Pixies (Wave of Mutilation & I Bleed): Clean snare impacts, bass strings against frets are clear, Better sustain / resonance to the Schiits, but not by a lot.
Woody Herman: Woody’s Winners (Live). 23 Red. The trumpet solo should rip. It doth rip. Sounds good on both, cymbals a tiny bit softer in presentation on Matrix, but to me, tonight the PRAT on the Matrix has me bobbing my noggin.
Porridge Radio: Born Confused. Lovely bass riff anchoring the middle of the soundstage, snare accents easily identifiable, choral work coherent, yet distinct voices, a little better held together on the Matrix.
Phoebe Bridgers: Kyoto. Lovely tone. Just lovely. On both, so not helpful, but who is actually reading at this point?
Cato Emerald: Back it Up. Looking for a little more of that PRAT. Great Track. If I were listening to two bands, I would say the Matrix is a skosh tighter. I don’t know what that means, but it’s what I would say,
Why So Serious: The 6xx are not great sub bass headphones. That is all.
Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra:
Would need to listen a lot harder to see if I can come up with some differences. It ain’t happening in a casual run, and I just want to listen to the rest of it.
The Joy Formidable: I should quit listening to this on headphones. It’s supposed to create actual pressure on your chest cavity. The Matrix might convey that a bit better, but the Schiit is pulling some tones into a wider soundstage.
So, first impressions are that it is a pretty solid piece of gear. It’s roughly twice the price of the magnius/modius stack, has loads more features, looks better, and sounds just as good. Define bargain for yourself.
If I wasn’t paying attention I would forget which one I was listening to.
I’ll hook it up to the Magnius to see if I can tell any difference in the DAC sections at some point, and I have a pi2aes on the way to try some exotic connections, but for now, I’ll be listening to music.
Kind of an odd piece really: What is the competition at this price point? RME ADI-2 DAC fs with r-pi streamer; Jot2/BF 2 and streamer is a couple hundred more, Topping DX7 costs a little less, but isn’t nearly as nice. Approaching it from the streamer angle, it’s a couple hundred more than a Node2i with a boat load more connections, but no DLNA, Spotify connect, or tidal connect.
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Me.
Nice write up, thanks!
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Great writeup @mfadio.
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Great reading. Thank you for sharing.
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Great write up! Have you used it via WiFi as a roon endpoint? Any connectivity issues? @mfadio
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I haven’t done WiFi, since I ran cat6 through the house last summer.
I can sure try it though. Anything in particular you want me to test?
(Putting my WiFi password in with a jog dial is gonna suuuuuuuuck)
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Download the matrix App, I think you can do it via that. Curious about the stability of WiFi and the distance it can be used without drops during Roon playback.
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The mini does not work with the full remote app, it’s streaming is limited to roon and Bluetooth. It’s a weird deal that way.
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doesn’t it have airplay built-in?
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Gotcha, that’s a bummer well if you have a chance let me know, I am curious about it’s stability via Roon streaming via WiFi most importantly. Thanks @mfadio
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Uhhh… look at that! Yes it does.
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I’ve been tempted to buy one of these since the day it was announced. It looks like a very well-built and designed unit. I wish it had chromecast and a more normal headphone impedance for my IEMs, but I am reconsidering it just as a streamer for my amps instead. I think they go up in price in 3 days too…
I’ve been trying this Grace Digital Link streamer because its an affordable streamer with a screen and digital coax output, and its not bad but leaves a little to be desired in terms of build quality.
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