Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 User manual

Brand: Matrix Audio

Model: X-SABRE 3

Category: Supplementary music equipment

Type: User manual

Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 is a high-fidelity audiophile DAC and preamplifier that combines advanced audio technologies with versatile connectivity options. It features multiple digital and analog inputs, including S/PDIF, optical, IIS-LVDS, and USB, allowing you to connect various audio sources such as CD players, streaming devices, and computers. The X-SABRE 3 also boasts balanced XLR and RCA outputs, enabling you to connect to power amplifiers or active speakers for an immersive audio experience. Additionally, it comes with a user-friendly remote control for convenient operation.

1.Packinglist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01

2.Partsandnames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01

2.1Frontpanel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01

2.2Rearpanel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02

2.3Homescreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02

2.4Remotecontrol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03

3.Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04

3.1ConnecttoACpower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04

3.2Connecttoinputsource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05

3.3Connecttoactivespeakersorpowerampliﬁers . . . . . . 05

3.4ConnectotherdevicesviaTrigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06

3.5Connecttonetwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06

3.6MARemoteApp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.6.1InstallMARemoteApp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.6.2AddingdevicebyscanningQRcode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.6.3Tutorialvideoforcontrol/conﬁg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4.Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4.1Basicoperations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4.1.1Poweronandstandby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4.1.2Selectinputsource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4.1.3Volumecontrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4.1.4Mute/unmute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.1.5Filtersettings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.1.6SetSYNCmode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.1.7Dimmer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.1.8Autostandby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.1.9Remotecontrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.2Playmusicviaoptical,coaxialorIIS-LVDSport . . . . . . . 14

4.3PlaymusicviaUSBAudioport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.4Airplay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6.Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6.1AboutMQA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6.2IIS-LVDSPort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6.3TechnicalSpeciﬁcations .........................19

6.4Powersupply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6.5Otherspeciﬁcations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

1.Poweron/Standby

3.Input

5.Volume-/Leftarrow

7.Filter

9.Settingsmenu

2.Dimmer

4.Mute/Unmute

6.Volume+/Rightarrow

8.SYNCmode

1.Productx1

Duetoregulatoryrestrictions,itmaynotbeprovidedinsomecases.

1.Packinglist 2.Partsandnames

2.1Frontpanel

4.Lithiumbatteryx1

2.Remotecontrolx1

3.Powercordx1

1.RightXLRanalogoutput

3.LeftRCAanalogoutput

5.IIS-LVDSinput

7.Coaxialinput

9.Ethernet

11.Triggerinput

2.RightRCAanalogoutput

4.LeftXLRanalogoutput

6.Opticalinput

8.USBaudioinput

10.Triggeroutput

12.ACinput

1.Samplingrate

3.Inputchannel

5.Audioformat

7.Filtertype

2.Volumering

4.SYNCmode

6.Networkstatus

2.2Rearpanel 2.3Homescreen

2.4Remotecontrol

1.Poweron/Standby

2.Mute/Unmute

3.Volume+

4.Volume-

5.Filter

6.Working/BatteryLED

7.Dimmer

8.Input

9.SYNCMode

10.Shortcut

X-SABRE3iscompatiblewithAC100-120VandAC220-240Vpowerspeciﬁcations.Pleasemake

suretoselectcorrectvoltageoptiontomatchyourlocalpowerbeforeconnecting theunitto

powersupply.Asshown:

Thetwooptions115Vand230Varestandsfor:

The115VoptionisﬁtforAC100V-120V50/60Hz

The230VoptionisﬁtforAC220V-240V50/60Hz

3.1ConnecttoACpower

3.Connections

Pleaseuse thepowercable whichincludesanEarthwire.Ensure youhaveareliableEarth

wireconnectiontoavoidanelectricalshock.

Please unplug the power cable if you need the unit to be disconnected from the mains

completely.

YoucanconnecttheX-SABRE3toS/PDIFoutputdevicesviacoaxialandopticalport,or

connecttoanaudiointerfacefromMatrixX-SPDIF2viaIIS-LVDSport.

TheX-SABRE3canbeconnectedtoactivespeakersorampliﬁersviaRCAorXLRcables.Inorder

to avoid damage to your devices, please turn oﬀ the active speakers or ampliﬁers before

connectingthemtoX-SABRE3.

OUT

3.2Connecttoinputsource 3.3Connecttoactivespeakersorpowerampliﬁers

TriggerIn

X-SABRE3acceptstriggersignalfromtheTriggerOutofotherdevices.ConnectX-SABRE3toa

devicewithaTriggerOuttoachievethepowerlinkageofthisunitandotherdevices.

TriggerOut

ConnectX-SABRE3toadevicewithaTriggerIntoachieve thepowerlinkageofthisunitand

otherdevices.

Cables

Useanon-resistancecablewith1/8inch(3.5mm)monoplugsfortriggerconnection.Donotuse

acablewithstereoplugsforthispurpose.

3.5Connecttonetwork

ConnecttoEthernet

X-SABRE3supports1000MbpsEthernetconnection,aCAT-6orhigherversionshieldedEthernet

cableisrecommended.ConnectX-SABRE3tothenetworkrouterwithEthernetcable,andletthe

unitinthenetworkasshownbelow:

3.4ConnectotherdevicesviaTrigger

Enterthe13thoption"Network"inSettingsmenu,select"LAN"asshownbelow:

Itis recommended toset up therouter as DHCPserver,the unit willbe assigned an IP

addressautomatically.Afterjoiningthenetwork,there willbean Ethernet iconshown

onthescreen.Asshownbelow:

Enter the 13th option "Network settings" in Settings menu, select "Wi-Fi" as shown

below:

ConnecttoWLAN

LettheX-SABRE3inthenetworkasshownbelow:

Afterthenetworksearchiscompleted,usethe""or"  "touch-keytoselecttheSSIDtobe

connected.X-SABRE3supports2.4g/5gwirelessnetwork.

Afterenteringthepassword,select"Join"tostartconnectingtothiswirelessnetwork.

Tapthe""touch-keytoenterthepasswordinputinterface,tapthe""or""touch-keyto

switchcharacters.""touch-keytoselectacharacterand""touch-keytoswitchthe

keyboard.

Afterjoiningthewirelessnetwork,therewillbeawirelessnetworkiconshownonthescreen.As

shownbelow:

Theantennasforwirelessconnectionarelocatedintheareashownintheﬁgurebelow,toensure

agoodsignal,pleasedonotplacemetalobjectsinthisareaonthetopoftheunit.

WhentheconnectedEthernetorWLANisnotconnectedtotheinternet,theHomescreenwill

displayayellowicon,asshownbelow:

InstallMARemoteAppforyouriPad,iPhoneorAndroidphone.

Opentheapp,select“X-SABRE3”,click“Next”andfollowthepromptstoentertheScan

QRCodepageofMARemoteApp.

To control and conﬁgure the element device through MA Remote App,

or playback streaming music from the element devices, please refer to

matrix-digi.com/tutorialsforinstructions.

Playback

Tapthe""touch-keytoenterthesettingspagewhenthedeviceispoweron.

Aftertapping the""touch-key again， the screen will display theQRcode,

scanittocompletetheadditionofthedevice.

3.6MARemoteApp

3.6.1InstallMARemoteApp

3.6.2AdddevicebyscanningQRcode

3.6.3Tutorialvideoforcontrol/conﬁg

4.1Basicoperations

AtHomescreen,tapthe""and""touch-keytoadjustthevolumestepbystep,tapandhold

thetouch-keytoadjustvolumerapidly.ThescreenwilldisplaycurrentvolumebydB.

When the Lineout mode was set to "Fixed", the volume cannot be adjusted, there will be no

volumeringontheHomescreen.

"Fixed" output means that the device outputs a maximum level signal at 0dB. Before

selectingthismode,makesurethatyourpowerampliﬁeroractivespeakershavebeen

adjusted to a lower volume level. If the ampliﬁer or speakers do not have volume

control, do NOT set to "Fixed" output mode, other wise this operation may damage to

yourdevicesandharmtoyourears.

Playback

4.Playback

Afterconnectingtothepowersupply,touchthe""touch-keyonthedevice.Afterhearingthe

beepforafewseconds,thescreenwilllightupandLCDscreenthestartupbar.Theﬁrststartup

after connecting to the power supply will take about 30 seconds. Without disconnecting the

powersupply,thetimeofstartupwillbelessthan5seconds.Tapandholdthe""touch-keyon

the unitortheremotecontrol for about2seconds,orshortpress the" "touch-keyto enter

Standbymode.

AtHomescreen,tap""touch-key,tapthe""and"    "toselectinputchannelsbetween

coaxial,optical,IIS-LVDS,USBAudioandstreaming,tapthe""touch-keyagaintoconﬁrmand

gobacktotheHomescreen.

4.1.1Poweronandstandby

4.1.2Selectinputsource

4.1.3Voulmecontrol

CAUTION:

Tapthe""touch-keyatHomescreentomutethedevice,tapitagainortapthe""and""

touch-keytounmute.Itcanalsobeunmutebypressingthe"",""or""buttononthe

remotecontrol.

Filtersettings

AtHomescreen,tapthe""touch-keytoselectPCM/DSDﬁlters.TaponcetosetPCMﬁlter,tap

againtosetDSDﬁlters,usethe""or""touch-keytoselectﬁlters,tapthe""touch-keyagain

toconﬁrmitandbacktoHomescreen.

SetSYNCmode

At Home screen, tap the "   " touch-key to let the D/A chip work at synchronous or

asynchronousmodes.WhentheD/Amodewassettosynchronousmode,therewillbea

SYNCmodeicononthescreen.

Playback

4.1.4Mute/Unmute 4.1.6SetSYNCmode

4.1.5Filtersetting Dimmer

InordertoavoidinterferencefromtheLEDandtheLCDscreentapthe""touch-keyatHome

screen,theLEDofallthetouch-keyswillbeturnedoﬀ,andatthesametime,thebrightnessofthe

LCDscreenwillbedimmed.Tapanytouch-keystoquitDimmermode.

Autostandby

When theoptical,coaxial,USBAudio andIIS-LVDSinput channelisselected,the input

signal not locked, there is not any touch-keys or remote control operations, and the

duration of such state reaches the set auto standby time, then it will automatically

standby. When the streaming input channel is selected, no playing, there is not any

touch-keysorremotecontroloperations,andthedurationofsuchstatereachestheset

autostandbytime,thenitwillautomaticallystandby.

4.1.7Dimmer

4.1.8Autostandby

30°

About8meters.

Point the remote control to the IR remote receiver like in the following picture, the remote

distance is about 8 meters and the battery life is about 1 year. When the battery is low, the

Workingindicatorontheremotecontrolﬂashesred,thescreenwillalsoremindyoutoreplace

thebattery.

Theremotecontrolhasashortcutbutton.Itcanbedeﬁnedasanyinputchannelsorﬁltersinthe

Settingsmenu,whichisconvenientforyoutoquicklyoperatefrequentlyuseditems,anditalso

canbesettoOFF.

If there are more than one MATRIX device in the same environment, in order to prevent one

remote control from controlling serval devices at the same time, the remote control has 5

addresscodes,andtheseaddresscodescanbesetintheSettingsmenutorealizethe"oneto

one"controlbetweenthedeviceandtheremotecontrol.

Playback

Remotecontrol

TheremotecontrolusesaCR2032battery,installthebatteryinthebatteryholderatbottomof

theremotecontrol.Pleasenotethepolarity.

4.1.9Remotecontrol

4.2Playmusicviaoptical,coaxialorIIS-LVDSport

ConnecttheunittostandardS/PDIFoutputdevicesviaopticalandcoaxial,orconnect

to MATRIX X-SPDIF 2 viaIIS-LVDS port.The signalformat andthesamplingratewill be

displayed when the signal is locked properly. Otherwise, please check whether the

cablesconnectedreliablyandthefront-enddevicehasoutputsignals.

4.3PlaymusicviaUSBAudioport

Connect the X-SABRE 3 to a computer via a USB type-B to type-A cable, drivers need to be

installedwhen usingon aPC withWindows 7/8/10.Find thedriver installationpackagefrom

ii.Selectinstallationpathandclick"Install".

InstalldriversforWindows.

i.Double-clickthedriverinstallationpackageandclick"Next".

iii.Click"Next"aftertheinstallationiscomplete.

Playback

MATRIXAudiowebsite,theinstallationprocess

asfollows:

https://matrix-digi.com/en/downloads/

iv.Click"Finish"toclosethewizard.

It’s no need to install drivers for macOS, select “X-SABRE 3” as audio device in System

Preferences.

X-SABRE3canbeconnectedtoaniPhoneoriPadviaaLightningtoUSBCameraAdapter.

X-SABRE 3 can be connected to Android devices via an OTG adapter, but not every Android

devicesarecompatiblewithX-SABRE3viaOTGconnection.

4.4AirPlay

X-SABRE3supportsAirPlay2,whenconnectedtoyourlocalareanetwork,youcancastthemusic

totheunitfromyouriPhone,iPadorMACviaAirPlay.LettheiPhone,iPadandMACinthesame

network withthis unit,tapAirPlay iconin theControl Centerand select"X-SABRE3-XXXX" as

playbackdevice,thenenjoythemusic.Thealbumartimagewillbedisplayedonthescreen

ofX-SABRE3,andtheoutputvolumecanbecontrolledbythesenderdevice.

Playback

RoonReady

X-SABRE3haspassedRoonReadycertiﬁcation,youcanenableandselectthisunitfromRoon,

theaudioﬁleswillbestreamedtotheunitbit-perfectly.Thealbumartimageoftheplayingtrack

willbedisplayedonthedevicescreen.Youalsocancontroltheoutputvolume,poweronand

enterstandbymodethroughtheRooncontrollerapp.

TIDALconnect

X-SABRE3supportsTIDALconnect.Whenconnectedtothelocalareanetwork,youcancastthe

musictoX-SABRE3fromTIDALapponyourmobiledevicesorcomputers.SelectX-SABRE3inthe

broadcastmenuinTIDALapp,asshownbelow:

Playback

SpotifyConnect

Playback

NOTE:

When playing with a higher sampling rate via the network, considering the stability and

bandwidthofthewirelessconnection,pleaseusetheEthernetconnectionﬁrsttogetthebest

playbackexperience.

Useyourphone,tabletorcomputerasaremotecontrolforSpotify.Goto

tolearnhow.

spotify.com/connect

DLNA/UPnP

X-SABRE3supportsDLNA/UPnP.Whenconnectedto thelocalarea network,youcancastthe

musictoX-SABRE3fromDLNA/UPnPsupportedappsonyourmobiledevicesorcomputers.

DLNA/UPnPisanopenprotocol,wecannotensurealltheDLNA/UPnPappsarecompatible

withX-SABRE3.

AtHomescreen,tapthe""touch-keytoenterSettingsmenu.Usethe""and""touch-key

toswitchitems,tapthe""touch-keyagaintoentertheoptionsoftheselecteditem.As

shownbelow:

5.Settings

Youcanconﬁguretheitemsaccordingtotheinstructionsonthescreen.

6.Appendix

X-SABRE 3 includes a MQA full decoder, which enables you to play back MQA audio ﬁles and

streamsviaUSBaudioportorfromRoon,deliveringthesoundoftheoriginalmasterrecording.

GreenorbluedotbesideMQAlogoindicatesthattheproductisdecodingandplayingan

MQAstreamorﬁle,anddenotesprovenancetoensurethatthesoundisidenticaltothat

ofthesourcematerial.

ThedotglowsmagentatoindicatethattheunitisrenderinganMQAstreamorﬁle.Thisdelivers

theﬁnalunfoldoftheMQAﬁle.

TheIIS-LVDSportofX-SABRE3isbasedonstandard19-pinHDMIconnector.Ituses4setsofLVDS

diﬀerential signals to transmit IIS data. It supports up to 32Bit/768kHz PCM signal input and

1Bit/22.4MHzDSDsignalinput.

X-SABRE3iscompatiblewith4setsofIIS-LVDSportdeﬁnitions,youcanﬁndthepindeﬁnition

diagramin“IIS-LVDSdeﬁnition”optioninSettingsmenu.

ThePCMformatisthestandardIISformat,theDSDformatsupportsnativeDSDandDoP

(DSDoverPCM).

6.1AboutMQA(MasterQualityAuthenticated)

6.2IIS-LVDSport

GreenorbluedotbesideMQAlogoindicatesthattheproductisdecodingandplayingan

MQAstreamorﬁle.

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Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 User manual

Brand: Matrix Audio

Model: X-SABRE 3

Category: Supplementary music equipment

Type: User manual

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Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 User manual

Matrix Audio X-SABRE 3 User manual

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