Matrix Audio Element X Streamer

Visual Design

Our brand-new element series has a simplified visual design removing unnecessary elements. It features simple visual lines with a precision CNC anodizing aluminum case.

Start From The Core

We spent more than a year incorporating a quad-core ARM processor (Freescale i.MX6) into Matrix products. Then we developed a high-quality audio system based on Linux. The element series is our first product that transforms into a full-featured audio source with built-in music playback for streaming media over your network or files from a local disk.

MA player

The element X runs a powerful audio playback system that supports all the popular formats. Simply connect a USB drive or configure a NAS storage device to browse your music library and enjoy up to 768kHz PCM and 22.4MHz DSD. Click HERE to learn more about MA player.

MA App

MA Remote app is available for iPhone, iPad and Android phones now. Browse and play your own high-quality digital audio, or enjoy hi-res streaming audio, whatever you want. MA Remote is now integrated with TIDAL and Qobuz streaming service. In addition, it’s also ROON Ready. Find Matrix device and control through ROON Remote, making playback faster.

AirPlay & DLNA

Listening to network streaming media has become a normal part of life today. The element series also enables you to play music from your smartphone or other mobile devices via AirPlay & DLNA for convenient wireless streaming.

MQA Decoding and Rendering

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of the original master recording. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and is small enough to stream or download. The element series include MQA technology, which enables you to play back MQA audio files and streams, delivering the sound of the original master recording. Visit How it works for more information.

ES9038PRO/ES9311/Femtosecond Clock

The element X is the series flagship model using the industry leading ESS ES9038PRO D/A converter along with the professional grade ultra-low noise LDO ES9311 and the Crystek CCHD-950 femtosecond clock. By combining our years of development and tuning experience with ESS best chip to date we have achieved the full potential of this hardware.

Brand New USB Interface

With the rapid development and release of high-quality music formats, the processing requirements are also higher than ever before. The element X is equipped with the brand-new XU216 XMOS processor which can easily handle decoding and unfolding of the highest bit rate MQA format.

Hyper-Control

We wanted to eliminate the weaknesses of traditional analog potentiometer based volume controls and digital based volume controls. So we designed a hybrid digital volume control for the element X which uses an array of relays along with the built in DAC chips internal digital volume unit. This enabled us to combine the audio quality advantages of an analog volume control along with the precision of a digital volume control.

Pre-amplifier

When using active speakers, there is no need to add a pre-amplifier since the element X has a built-in very high-quality analog pre-amplifier section that is configurable with up to +10 dB of analog gain.

Full Balanced Headphone Amplifier

The element X is also a dual-mode headphone amplifier based on the LME49600 and consisting of four independent amplifier units. In balanced mode it can drive a pair of balanced headphones or in single-ended mode, it can drive two single-ended pairs of headphones each having its own independent stereo amplifier.

High Performance Power Supply System

Our linear power supply is the foundation of our excellent sound quality. We use a customized Noratel toroidal transformer along with Nichicon audio grade capacitors. The element X also has multiple levels of isolation LDO, with a well-designed four-layer PCB to help reproduce the original sound as accurately as possible by removing interference of the separate internal systems.

Double-shell Structure

Different materials have their own resonant frequency. The element X is designed as double-shell structure. The inner shell uses stamp galvanized steel with multi-strip reinforcing ribs to ensure excellent strength and the external shell is made of 4mm aluminum. The combination of the two metals eliminates the fixed resonant frequency of each material and greatly reduces the negative impact that case resonance can have on the sound quality.

Features

Enjoy up to 768kHz PCM and 22.4MHz DSD

MA Remote App

AirPlay & DLNA

MQA Decoding and Rendering

ES9038PRO/ES9311/Femtosecond Clock

Pre-amplifier configurable with up to +10 dB of analog gain

Stamp galvanized steel inner-shell

External shell is made of 4mm aluminum

Specifications

TECHNICAL

Coaxial & Optical

PCM 16-24Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz DSD 2.8MHz (DoP)

IIS LVDS

PCM 16-32Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 705.6kHz, 768kHz DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz (DoP) DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6 MHz, 11.2 MHz, 22.4MHz, 45MHz (Native)

USB Audio

PCM 16-24Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 705.6kHz, 768kHz DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz (DoP) DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz, 22.4MHz (Native)

LINE OUTPUT

XLR

SNR: > -131dB THD+N: <0.00012%@1k, <0.00025%@20Hz-20kHz Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz ±0.05 -3dB@120kHz Crosstalk : >-145dB Output Level: 4.5VRMS@0dB ,15.8VRMS@+10dB

RCA

SNR: > -124dB THD+N: <0.00012%@1k, <0.00025%@20Hz-20kHz Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz ±0.05 -3dB@105kHz Channel Crosstalk : >-137db Output Level: 2.3VRMS@0dB , 8VRMS@+10dB

HEADPHONE OUTPUT

XLR4 and Dual XLR3

SNR: >-117dB THD+N: <0.00055%@20Hz-20kHz 1VRMS Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz ±0.05 -3dB@50kHz Output Impedance: <1.5Ω Output Power: 1700mw@33Ω, 1180mw@300Ω, 650mw@600Ω, 1%THD Gain: +18dB@Low Gain, +28dB@High Gain

TRS 6.35mm

SNR: >-112dB THD+N: <0.00055%@20Hz-20kHz 1VRMS Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz ±0.1 -3dB@50kHz Output Impedance: <1.5Ω Output Power: 1150mW@33Ω, 308mW@300Ω, 152mW@600Ω, 1%THD

NETWORK

LAN

10BASE-T/100BASE-TX

WLAN

2.4GHz/5GHz, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac standard

MA PLAYER

Format Supported

MP3 , WMA , WAV , AIF, AIFC, AIFF, AAC, FLAC, OGG, APE, ALAC, M4A, DSF, DFF

PCM Sampling Rate

PCM 16/24/32Bit 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 705.6kHz, 768kHz

DSD Sampling Rate

DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz, 22.4MHz

USB STORAGE DEVICE

Storage device

Element X can use the devices which conform to the USB mass storage standard and supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS file formats, but is not guaranteed to be compatible with all storage devices or memory cards

POWER

Power Voltage

230V position is fit for AC220V-240V 50/60Hz 115V position is fit for AC100V-120V 50/60Hz

Stand-by Power Consumption ＜1W

Sleep Power Consumption ＜4W

Max Power Consumption ＜25W

OTHERS

Dimension 340×281×60mm (L×W×H, including protruding parts)

Weight 4.2kg