Indeed, I’ve a Holo Spring on the way and I’d like to know more about price and availability of the Matrix SPDIF2.
.sjb
I got mine from Shenzhen Audio on Amazon UK.
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I used the Matrix Audio online store:
http://store.matrix-digi.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=65
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Andybob,
Does the addition of the matrix x-spdif2 improve the sound compared to microrendu direct into the dac when given the same source?
I must confess I haven’t done much comparative listening. I’ll swap some USB cables in and out over the next few days and report back.
Well I just received mine and plugged it in after a microrendu. It then feeds a I2S input to a Matrix X sabrepro DAC.
I used the LPS-1 to power the X-SPDIF2 and reverted to an ifi to power the microrendu.
Noticeable gains in liquidity and transparency. More so than when I added LPS-1 to the microrendu.
Worth the $$$
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I’ve been distracted by what I think is a fault in the Spring’s 48k clock or output.
I’ve jumped on the X-SPDIF 2 bandwagon as well. I’ve been using an SU 1 into a Spring DAC but was really intrigued by Andybob’s comments about upsampling PCM to 705.6k.
The other advantage was being able to power the X-SPDIF from a spare LPS-1 I had available ( I was about to pull the trigger on the DC conversion kit for the SU1 before buying the Matrix).
There were a few initial teething problems - I’m having to run at 24 bits in HQ Player and 765k PCM was generating static (mostly with 48k family tracks but sometimes with 44.1k as well). But 705.6/24 works well - silent and no clicks pops or static. It just works. I used to get the odd stutter with the SU 1 running at 384/32. The Matrix is totally solid.
Haven’t tried DSD 512 yet but 705.6 PCM sounds marvellous. Not a huge difference from the SU 1 but I seem to be hearing more space, separation and reverb. More ambience. With certain tracks the sound is more ethereal but still with plenty of weight. A really nice balance. HQ Player filter is poly sinc xtr.
I like it - the SU 1 is staying out the system for now.
System is SonicTransporter i7 (Windows 10) > ultraRendu > X-Spdif 2 > Spring
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Just to say that I have now encountered periodic glitches “pops” at 768k when feeding the X-SPDIF2 from my Ropieee RPi. No problems whatsoever at 384k. It may be a recent image of Ropieee which is causing the problem. Shouldn’t be an issue with devices which don’t share the same bandwidth for Ethernet and USB.
Yeah @joel,
I really think you’re stretching it 
There might be something that can be done with scheduling from kernel’s side, but I think we’re running into the limitations of the Pi…
Best regards,
I have an LPS-1 powering my X-SPDIF 2 only … and it is hot to the touch. I guess that is normal for the LPS-1.
Warm to touch is normal. When I was attempting to power both the mR and X-SPDIF2 with a single LPS-1 and was hitting current limits it was appreciably hotter, uncomfortable to touch. Now using an iFI iPower on the X-SPDIF2 and everything is stable.
It has been stable so I’m not really concerned but it is certainly the hottest running piece of solid state equipment I’ve ever had, aside from a Plinius SA100 mk3 class A power amp some years back. I was a bit surprised.
Interestingly, my X-SPDIF 2, powered by USB wasn’t that warm the last time I checked…
Darren and I are talking about the temperature of the LPS-1 rather than the X-SPDIF2.
I think the X-SPDIF2 pulls about 300mA and has never felt very warm or hot to me. It really is a well built bit of kit, very impressed with it.
Incidentally I am experiencing even more issues than you with 768k. I get a louder output which readily distorts. It sounds a bit like a balanced output when the negative side is earthed. I also have problems with the 48k DSD multiples which sometimes play slow and low, as if they have reverted inappropriately to a 44.1k multiple clock. I suspect a hardware issue on the 48k side of my Spring rather than any issue with the mR or the X-SPDIF2.
I am not greatly motivated to have it shipped back to China for diagnosis or repair, however, because the 705.6 PCM sounds really good and the poly sinc filters in HQ Player (still finding xtr-mp my favourite) happily convert any 48k family files.
Ah well, there you go then .
Most microrendu users would have gotten the ifi power supply together right? I am powering the X-SPDIF 2 solely from LPS1 and using the iFi for the microrendu.
I reckon that using the better power supply for the x-spdif2 should be warranted since its supplying the clock to the DAC via I2S
Haven’t tried swapping the LPS-1 to the X-SPDIF2. I might do that one rainy day. I could always buy another LPS-1 but I think I’d rather put the money towards a 1024 kHz Ethernet R2R NOS DAC when they eventually come onto the market.
Hi all, belated thanks for this thread. It made me purchase the X-SPDIF 2 (from audiophonics.fr) and install RoPieee on my pi3. The Matrix (powered by an ifi iPower 9V) works well with my DS DAC but now I am thinking about a DSD512-ready DAC (as second DAC). Probably it will be the Matrix X-Sabre Pro.
I also have tried the X-SPDIF directly on my ROCK-box and noticed there is no native DSD support for the X-SPDIF. Is it planned to enable this with a future ROCK-update?
Thank you.
Adding @support
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The X-SPDIF2 definitely supports native DSD. I am using it with my ROCK box through a microrendu.
Or do you mean it doesn’t when connected via USB?