Matrix Audio Mini-I 4

Little wonder, then, that listeners are rushing to get their music decoded by Mini-I 4. Matrix make it easy. In addition to HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) for TVs, the usual streaming suspect of Gigabit Ethernet connectivity comes standard in typical Matrix style.

At the source Mini-I 4 accepts audio data from your router, putting its Roon Ready status at your disposal or its growing, diversifying Matrix MA Remote OS – most lately adding the HIGHRESAUDIO streaming service to Tidal and Qobuz.

The freeware of your choice may be used too, with first-choices Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect and UPnP/DLNA augmented with Apple AirPlay 2. With a new, modern quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 CPU keeping things ticking over, Mini-I 4 runs smoothly no matter how intensive streaming inputs get.

Digital gets turned over to Matrix's FPGA running proprietary code that re-clocks and de-jitters the data stream, before feeding pristine I2S to Mini-I 4's ES9039Q2M. Running on ESS' most advanced Hyperstream IV architecture, the futuristic stereo ES9039Q2M brings five new digital filters – many with low in-band ripple – to the party for new flavours to music reproduction.

This DAC chip packs enough computational horsepower to run its 8x oversampling process in just two passes thus minimising rounding errors – an upgrade on other attempts that use a concatenation of three stacked 2x oversampling passes which compound errors.

ES9039Q2M is an exercise in sonic purity, and outputs analog in current to a current-to-voltage I/V converter. That ensures small-signal is of highest quality to begin with, as conversion errors manifest as a DC offset that's easy to filter out – not more sinister total harmonic distortion.

The voicing of Mini-I 4 is thus under Matrix's full control with their tuning of said I/V stage, and grants up to 127 dB of signal-to-noise ratio. This final DAC analog product can be output via XLR or RCA on the rear to an AV receiver or downstream amplifier.

Because while you can choose to run Mini-I 4 beyond arm's length using Roon Remote, the stock MA Remote software, and Tidal Connect, Matrix add a 3.46 inch LCD touch screen for anyone keen to take advantage of this DAC in a desktop setting.

Double tap to wake the screen, and swipe left and right to access a myriad of features at the lift of a finger.

With HDMI ARC one of so many ways to input music into Mini-I 4, and an assortment of high-quality sonic outputs out, Matrix have a humbly-sized and priced winner on their hands that can accompany you on many a musical journey.

Also view Mini-I 4 Pro for Wi-Fi connectivity, an included remote control and a balanced 4.4mm headphone amplifier here, Matrix's other flagships here, and all our other DAC/amps here.