MATRIX Mini-i Series Music Streaming DAC User Manual
- June 6, 2024
- MATRIX
Table of Contents
MATRIX Mini-i Series Music Streaming DAC
Packing list
- Product x1
- Remote control x1
- Power cord x1
- Lithium battery x1*
Parts and names
Front panel
- 6.35mm headphone jack
- 4.4mm balanced headphone jack
- Remote control sensor
- LCD screen
- Power on/standby/volume/control knob
Rear panel
![MATRIX Mini-i Series Music Streaming DAC 3]](https://manuals.plus/wp- content/uploads/2022/02/MATRIX-Mini-i-Series-Music-Streaming-DAC-3.jpg)
- XLR right channel output
- XLR left channel output
- RCA left channel output
- RCA right channel output
- RCA left channel input
- RCA right channel input
- Coaxial input
- Optical input
- Wi-Fi/Bluetooth antanna
- IIS-LVDS input
- USB Audio port
- Ethernet port
- Settings menu
- Power input
Remote control
- Power on/Standby
- Mute
- Volume +
- Volume –
- Filter
- Digital input*
- Analog input
- Bluetooth
- Streaming audio
Connections
Connect to AC power
mini-i Pro 3 and mini-i 3 is compatible with AC100-120V and AC220-240V power specifications. Please make sure to select proper voltage settings according to your local voltage environment before connecting the unit to power supply. As shown:
The 2 position of the voltage switch are 115V and 230V, each stands for: Position 115V is fit for AC110V-120V 50/60Hz Position 230V is fit for AC220V- 240V 50/60Hz
Please use the power cable which includes a ground. Ensure you have a reliable ground connection to avoid an electrical shock. Please unplug the power cable if you need the unit to be disconnected from the power completely.
Connect to input source
Connect to S/PDIF output devices over coaxial and optical port, or connect to Matrix audio interface over IIS-LVDS port. Connect to vinyl turntables or other analog output devices over RCA line input ports.
Connect to headphones
There are two headphone jacks on the front panel where you can connect a balanced headphone with 4.4mm plug and an unbalanced headphone with 6.35mm plug at the same time.
Connect to active speakers or power amps
In order to avoid damage to your devices, please turn off the active speakers or amplifiers before connecting them to mini-i Pro 3 and mini-i 3.
Connect to LAN
Connect mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 to the network router with Ethernet cable， a CAT-5 or higher version shielded ethernet cable is recommended, and let the unit in the LAN as shown below:
It is recommended to set up the router as DHCP server, the unit will be assigned IP address automatically. After connected to the LAN, there will be an icon of Ethernet in the top right corner of the screen. As shown:
Connect to WLAN
Let the mini-i Pro 3 in the network as shown (does not apply for mini-i 3):
Enter the Wi-Fi settings (refer to “5. Settings” in page 12), turn Wi-Fi on, select the SSID and enter the password. The mini-i Pro 3 supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. After connected to the WLAN, there will be an icon of wireless network in the top right corner of the screen. As shown:
Playback
Basic operations
Power on and standby
After connecting the unit to the power supply, press the knob on the front panel or the power On/Standby button on the remote control, the unit starts to boot. The start-up process after connecting to the power supply takes about 30 seconds. The start-up progress will be displayed on the screen. If the power supply is not disconnected, the unit can be restored from standby mode within 3 seconds.
When the unit is working, press and hold the knob or the On/Standby button on the remote control for about 2 seconds, it will enter standby status.
Hold for 2 seconds to enter standby status
Select input source
Rotate the knob to select among 7 input channels including coaxial, optical, IIS-LVDS, USB Audio, Bluetooth, and streaming audio. Press the knob to confirm the selected channel.
Volume controL
Volume adjustment
The volume can be adjusted through the knob on the front panel or the buttons
on the remote control. The current volume will be displayed as decibels in the
screen. The line output and headphone output have independent volume settings.
The line output can also be set to fixed output.
CAUTION
“Fixed output” means that the line output of the device signal with maximum level at 0dB. Before selecting this mode, please make sure that your power amplifier or active speaker has been adjusted to a lower volume level. If the amplifier or speakers do not have volume control, Do NOT set up to “Fixed output” mode, otherwise this operation may damage to your devices and harm to your ears.
Filter settings
When playing PCM audio, you can choose to apply filters to obtain different sound performanc-es. Enter the “Filter” option in settings menu (refer to “5. Settings” in page 12), rotate the knob to choose the filters, and press the knob to confirm the selected filter.
Auto standby
Optical, coaxial, USB Audio, RCA in and IIS-LVDS input selected: the time of signal unocked reaches the set duration, and no any knob and remote control operation; Bluetooth input selected: the time of bluetooth disconnected reaches the set duration; Streaming audio input selected: the time of no streaming audio playing reaches;the set duration; The unit will automatically enter standby mode when the conditions above are met.
Remote control
The remote control uses a CR2032 coin cell. Install the coin cell in the slot at the bottom of the remote control, please note the polarity.
Point the remote control to the remote sensor like the following picture, the remote distance is about 8 meters and the battery life is about one year, please replace the battery if the remote distance becomes shorter or loses sensitivity.
Play music through optical, coaxial or IIS-LVDS port
Connect the unit to standard S/PDIF output devices over optical and coaxial, or connect to Matrix audio interface over IIS-LVDS port. The signal format and the sampling rate will be displayed when the signal be locked properly. As shown:
If the screen displays “No audio input”, please check the signal cable connection and if the front-end device is outputting signal.
Play music over AirPlay and Roon
Mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 supports AirPlay 2, when connected to the LAN, you can send the music stream to the unit from iPhone, iPad or macOS computer over AirPlay. Let the iPhone, iPad and macOS computer in the same network with this unit, tap AirPlay icon in the Control Center and select mini-i Pro 3 or mini-i 3 as playback device, then enjoy the music.
Mini-i Pro 3 and mini-i 3 is Roon Ready, you can enable and select this unit as an endpoint from Roon controller app, the audio will be streamed to the unit bit-perfectly. The metadata and album art image of the playing track will be displayed in the device screen. You also can control output volume, power on and enter standby mode through the Roon controller app.
Play music over USB Audio port
The USB Type-C port of mini-i Pro 3 and mini-i 3 is double-sided supported, the unit can be recognized by host device connected over both Type-C to Type-C and Type-C to Type-A cables. Driver software is needed for Windows 7/8/10 operating systems, follow the instructions to install the driver:
Install driver for Windows
- Run the driver installer, and click “Next”.
- Select the installation path and click “Install”.
- Click “Next” after installation is complete.
- Click “Finish”to complete installation.
Use mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 under macOS
mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 can be connected to an iPhone or iPad via Lightning to USB Camera Adapter. mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 can be connected to Android devices via OTG adapter, but it’s not guaranteed to be compatible with all the Android devices.
Play music via Bluetooth
mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 can work as Bluetooth DACs, it supports AAC, SBC, aptX, aptX HD and LDAC formats. Turn on Bluetooth on mobile phones or audio players, search for available devices, you will find Bluetooth device name similar to “mini-i_Pro_3_xxx” or “mini-i_3_xxx”, select the device and wait for pairing complete.
After Bluetooth connection is established, the sender device name will be displayed in the screen, as shown:
Digital audio stream will be send to and be handled by this unit, when playing music over Bluetooth, the coding standard, sampling rate and the metadata of the playing track will be displayed in the device screen. For some cases, lyrics can be displayed in the screen.
Settings
Press the “ i ” button on the rear panel when the unit is working, you can enter the Settings menu, as shown below:
Rotate the knob to select configuration items, enter the item by pressing the knob. You can configure the unit according to the tips in the screen.
Appendix
About MQA (Master Quality Authenticated)
MQA 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.’MQA’ or ‘ MQA.’ 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.mini-i Pro 3 includes MQA technology, which enables you to play back MQA audio files and streams over 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.
IIS-LVDS Port
The IIS port of mini-i Pro 3/mini-i 3 is based on standard 19-pin HDMI connector. It uses 4 sets of LVDS differential signals to transmit IIS-LVDS data. It supports up to 32Bit/768kHz PCM signal input and 1Bit/45.1MHz DSD signal input. There are 4 different IIS-LVDS port definitions in this unit, you can find the pin definition diagram in “IIS Config” option in settings menu.
Technical Specifications
Hardware platform
CPU: NXP i.MX 6UL Cortex-A7 @900MHz
D/A Chip: ES9038Q2M
Clock Source: Crystek CCHD-950（mini-i Pro 3）
Digital Input
Optical、coaxial：
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, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz, 22.4MHz (Native)
USB Audio：
Type C double-sided support
PCM 16-24Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz
192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 705.6kHz, 768kHz
MQA 16-24Bit /44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz
192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz MQA Studio or MQA stream （only apply for mini-i Pro
3）
DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz (DoP)
DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, 11.2MHz, 22.4MHz (Native)
Line input
RCA：
SNR： >-102dB A-weighting
THD+N： <0.0025%@1k， <0.0030%@20Hz-20kHz Frequency Response： 20Hz-20kHz ±0.2
-3dB@46kHz Channel Crosstalk： >-97dB
Input Level： Max 2.0VRMS
The line output
XLR：
SNR： >-123dB A-weighting
THD+N： <0.00027%@1k， <0.00031%@20Hz-20kHz Frequency Response： 20Hz-20kHz ±0.1
-3dB@90kHz Channel Crosstalk： >-138dB
Output Level： 4.1VRMS@0dB
RCA：
SNR： >-121dB A-weighting
THD+N： <0.00045%@1k， <0.00051%@20Hz-20kHz Frequency Response： 20Hz-20kHz ±0.1
-3dB@90kHz Channel Crosstalk： >-128dB
Output Level： 2.0VRMS@0dB
Headphone output
TRS 6.35mm Definition：
SNR： >-116dB@2VRMS
THD+N： <0.0006%@2VRMS
Frequency Response： 20Hz-20kHz ±0.1 -3dB@64kHz
Output Impedance： <11Ω
Output Power： 1270mW@33Ω，257mW@300Ω，133mW@600Ω，1%THD Gain： +18dB
4.4mm Definition ：
SNR： >-117dB@4VRMS
THD+N： <0.0006%@4VRMS
Frequency Response： 20Hz-20kHz ±0.1 -3dB@64kHz
Output Impedance： <22Ω
Output Power： 1900mW@33Ω，950mW@300Ω，510mW@600Ω，1%THD Gain： +24dB
High-Res Bluetooth
Sampling rate：
PCM 16Bit/44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz aptX/aptX HD/AAC/SBC/LDAC Bluetooth version：
Bluetooth V5.0
Operating distance： 10-15m
Network
LAN:
10BASE-T/100BASE-TX
WLAN：
2.4GHz/5GHz, IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac standard（only apply for mini-i Pro 3)
MA player Lite
Roon Ready:
PCM 16-24Bit 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz
176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz DSD 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz
AirPlay 2：
PCM 16Bit 44.1kHz
Power supply
Power voltage:
230V position is fit for AC220V-240V 50/60Hz 115V position is fit for AC100V-
120V 50/60Hz Standby power consumption： < 2W
Other specifications
Weight： 1.7kg
Dimension：
223×205×48mm LxWxH （including the protruding part）
For improvement purpose, specifications subject to changes without prior
notice.
Precautions
- This product is for indoor use only.
- For full ventilation, it is recommended to reserve a space of larger than 5 cm around the device.
- Do not cover the air vents with stuffs such as papers, tablecloths, and curtains to obstruct ventilation.
- Do not place stuffs with flame, such as lighted candles, on the device.- If the device is used in tropical areas, please be careful to prevent insects from entering the machine through the air vents.
- The device must not be subject to water droplets or splashes. Please do not place stuffs filled with liquids such as vases and cups on or near the device.
- Do not put stuffs around the device power plug and the AC power socket, in order to disconnect the power supply easily when needed.
The product with Hi-Res Audio logo is conformed to High-Resolution Audio standard defined by Japan Audio Society. This logo is used under license from Japan Audio Society. MQA and the Sound Wave Device have registered trade marks of MQA Limited. ©2016 Being Roon Ready means that Matrix network players transparently discover and connect to Roon without any configuration, and bit- per-fect audio is delivered from Roon to your network player.
www.matrix-digi.com
Matrix Electronic Technology Co., LTD
+86-29-86211122
B-801, No.111 Fengcheng 5th Rd.,
Xi’an, China
support@matrix-digi.com