Matrix Rip DAC
Sept 18, 2012 0:35:58 GMT
Post by joethearachnid on Sept 18, 2012 0:35:58 GMT
Here's an interesting little DAC that I acquired for the grand old price of nowt through a competition, so no buyers' remorse or need to placate a donating seller here (not that other people do that on here). The 'Rip' DAC seems to be about £130 on eBay and is made by Matrix, who have established themselves pretty well as making good amps and DACs.
Some pictures:
The box
Front
Back
Cheapo PSU and a USB cable that has glowing plugs when in use (?)
Interior
The main DAC chip, PCM 1793
The USB receiver, AKM somethingorother
You can switch between 3 inputs (USB, S/PDIF coax and RCA) with the pair of RCAs either being line out or line in depending on the position of the switch. Build quality is good.
Sound-wise... I'm not very good at reviewing DACs. I can say 'Yes there's slightly less distortion than my FiiO E10' but I find it very hard to comment on changes in sound signature when I have an amp and a pair of headphones in front of the DAC. In fact the E10 comes damn close to this thing, which is impressive given that the Rip is over twice the price of the E10, four times the size and needs an external power supply. The Rip pulls ahead with a slight increase in clarity that probably amounts to the aforementioned lower distortion.
I haven't done much listening with the built-in HPA other than to ascertain that it's pretty good, though not as good as the C.H.AMP or Panda. One socket is meant to be for higher-impedance headphones and one for lower-impedance headphones, though I've yet to ascertain which is which.
Really not a lot to say here, but since there's very little information about this DAC in English out there I thought I'd offer up my opinion to the internet gods. If anyone's actually interested I can try and come up with some more detailed impressions.
-JoetheArachnid
Some pictures:
The box
Front
Back
Cheapo PSU and a USB cable that has glowing plugs when in use (?)
Interior
The main DAC chip, PCM 1793
The USB receiver, AKM somethingorother
You can switch between 3 inputs (USB, S/PDIF coax and RCA) with the pair of RCAs either being line out or line in depending on the position of the switch. Build quality is good.
Sound-wise... I'm not very good at reviewing DACs. I can say 'Yes there's slightly less distortion than my FiiO E10' but I find it very hard to comment on changes in sound signature when I have an amp and a pair of headphones in front of the DAC. In fact the E10 comes damn close to this thing, which is impressive given that the Rip is over twice the price of the E10, four times the size and needs an external power supply. The Rip pulls ahead with a slight increase in clarity that probably amounts to the aforementioned lower distortion.
I haven't done much listening with the built-in HPA other than to ascertain that it's pretty good, though not as good as the C.H.AMP or Panda. One socket is meant to be for higher-impedance headphones and one for lower-impedance headphones, though I've yet to ascertain which is which.
Really not a lot to say here, but since there's very little information about this DAC in English out there I thought I'd offer up my opinion to the internet gods. If anyone's actually interested I can try and come up with some more detailed impressions.
-JoetheArachnid