Matrix Audio - Element X

Visual Design

The brand-new element series has a simplified visual design removing unnecessary elements. It features simple visual lines with a precision CNC anodising aluminium case.

Quad Core ARM Processor

Matrix Audio spent more than a year incorporating a quad-core ARM processor (Freescale i.MX6) into Matrix products. Then they developed a high-quality audio system based on Linux. The element series is their 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.

MA Remote App

MA Remote is a companion app for Matrix element X. It is available on iPhone, iPad and Android phones. With MA Remote, you can play music from the music library in Matrix streamers, manage storage devices, access your streaming service, and adjust hardware configurations. The virtual remote control in MA Remote duplicates all the functions of the infrared remote control and has several more convenient functions.

Airplay and 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 & 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 playback MQA audio files and streams.

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 a Crystek CCHD-950 femtosecond clock. By combining years of development and tuning experience with ESS best chip to date, Matrix Audio have achieved the full potential of this hardware.

Brand New USB Interface

With the rapid development and release of high-quality music formats, processing requirements are 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

Matrix Audio wanted to eliminate the weaknesses of traditional analogue potentiometer based volume controls and digital based volume controls. So, they designed a hybrid digital volume control for the element X which uses an array of relays along with the built in DAC chips. This enabled them to combine the audio quality advantages of an analogue 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 very high-quality built-in analogue pre-amplifier section that is configurable with up to +10 dB of analogue gain.

Full Balanced Headphone Amplifier

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

High Performance Power Supply System

The on-board linear power supply is the foundation for excellent sound quality. Element X has a customised Noratel toroidal transformer along with Nichicon audio grade capacitors. It 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 from the separate internal systems.

Double Shell Structure

Different materials have their own resonant frequency. The element X is designed as a 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 aluminium. 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.

Price £2,850

Available in Silver

Specifications

Digital Input

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
Output Power: 1150mW@33Ω, 308mW@300Ω, 152mW@600Ω, 1%THD

MA player

Formats 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

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

General

Dimensions: 340×281×60mm (L×W×H, including protruding parts)
Weight: 4.2kg

Get in Touch

We'd love to hear from you

If you are interested in investing in a new system or looking for ideas on how you can improve your existing system, add a streaming solution or build a digital library, we’d love to hear from you.

To audition any of our products call us on 07423 603035 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sign up for our newsletter

Terms & Conditions