Anyone Experience of the Matrix Audio NT-1?

Audio Gear Talk
1

I’ve been looking at potentially buying one of these to replace my Holo Red, but 4k is alot to drop on a blind buy. Does anyone have any comparisons/experiences?

2

okay, so i did what I said I didnt want to do, I bought blind. I’ll let people know how i get on..

3

Please do, the NT-1 is high on my list.

4

To be honest, I’m expecting to be disappointed, the Holo Red is already very good and I’m struggling to see how it can be THAT much better. But there was only one way of scratching the itch and figure I can probably move it on without too much of a loss if I dont think its worth keeping it.

5

Okay, received it 30 minutes ago - yeah its a lot better than the Holo Red. Only tried it as a roon endpoint so far with 20 minutes listening..

Just tried it in NAA for HQPlayer nad it does the full1.536m too which was something I couldnt find in the specs. Most noticeable audio quality improvement is bass definition, tighter and deeper than the Holo Red.

6

Hi Jason, what’s your experience running NT-1 as NAA? Is it reliable? I do DSD512, and I’m looking for the best possible NAA solution. Hope the NT-1 fits the bill. Thanks for sharing your experience!

7

How could a network streamer improve that much on the Holo Red ? It sends digital data after all that should be bit perfect.

8

Hi,

So far, its been solid. I’ve not really used DSD through it as I’m one of those people who prefer PCM. I have some free time next week, I’ll give it a try so please feel free to come back and remind me if I forget.

9

I could tell you why but it opens up a broader question of why dont all streamers sound the same if all they’re doing is sending data?

10

Thanks Jason for the quick response! I also reached out to Jussi and he confirmed they were running his NAA code directly as it’s Linux. So I just ordered one.

11

Thats good to hear. I’ve just ordered the pro clock so that I can run optical in and then I’ll add the external clock.

12

I plan to use the usb connection to the DAC. Does the clock matter? And by “optical” do you mean toslink or SPF?

13

USB uses the dacs clock

14

Yes and no. A lot of DACS can be run synchronus and use the device sending the data if it has a better clock than its internal one. The matrix clock can also connect to the router and the NT-1 to keep everything together.

The clock isnt essential however, its just that I dont like leaving improvements on the table. For optical, I meant SFP.