Matrix Audio's newest Digital Audio Transport came with the intention to awe, and it certainly did more than that. The NT-1 is built first and foremost as a streamer, but packs with it so much more, and delivers far and beyond.
A more in-depth look into the NT-1 will reveal that Matrix Audio is serious on its intent of building high-quality products while maintaining absolute price competitiveness with the rest of the market.
We will look at its unique features, namely: power supply, circuitry design, clocking design, and longevity of its Linux-based system.
Priced at $5,799, the NT-1 ranks as the only streamer that promises a far longer product life cycle with a Linux OS, with the intuitively designed Matrix App, coupled with a seriously well-designed circuitry, and the ability to further stack with an external clock, all rolled up in one.
You only need to hear it to believe it. Don’t take our word for it. [See Product Desc. For More]
NT-1 features not just a linear power supply, but adds a unique feature – an automatic voltage detection function. In other words, no matter where you are – whether it is 110V or 220V, there is no danger of fusage burn as the NT-1 will automatically detect its input voltage with the transformer doing the necessary work.
As we peer within the NT-1, its brilliant circuitry design unfolds. First, the IIS and USB digital outputs of NT-1 are fully isolated designs. The ground wire of the USB and IIS digital outputs/interface are isolated from the NT-1 chassis ground. Such a design ensures the cleanest of signal transmission, eliminating much of the possibilities of further interference of signals sent to the DAC.
There is a row of small ICs behind the IIS interface and the USB interface, a total of eight. Strictly speaking, among the 8 ICs, 6 are optoelectrically isolated, and the two large ones are also isolation chips, but they are not photocoupled.
The audio signal output by NT-1 must first be converted into an optical signal, then converted from the optical signal into an electrical signal, and then output from the IIS and USB interfaces. This conversion process is completed inside these ICs. Therefore, there is no direct electrical connection between NT-1 and the DAC behind it on the signal line. In addition, the ground wires of these interfaces are also isolated from the ground wire of NT-1. Such circuitry allows for much cleaner transmission of digital signals to the DAC.
Finally, we get down to the clock design.
The NT-1 has the ability to support an external clock. While it may sound simple, having the ability to do so, and do it well, where the model has a circuit which cooperates with the external clock input to work seamlessly is easier said than done.
The internal circuitry has to convert the input 10MHz external clock signal into the signal that is required by the audio. This means both the input 10 Mhz and the RF synthesizer must be accurate and in step with each other. Taking what they have done with the MS-1, Matrix Audio is able to use the same technology within the NT-1 to achieve this.While the NT-1 is agnostic to any setup, it forms an excellent pairing with the X2 Pure DAC, as well as the X-Sabre 3. Also view everything from Matrix Audio here, or browse our other DAC/Amps here.
