MATRIX AUDIO X-SABRE 3

X-SABRE 3: ES9038PRO and Femtosecond ClockingX-SABRE 3 is built around the ESS ES9038PRO D/A chip, capable of decoding PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD up to 22.4MHz (DSD512), paired with a Crystek CCHD-950 femtosecond clock for low-jitter timing.

Measured performance from the balanced XLR output reaches 134dB signal-to-noise ratio with less than 0.00010% THD+N at 1kHz - figures that place X-SABRE 3 among Matrix Audio’s most resolved-sounding conversion stages.

X-SABRE 3: Resolution by Connection TypeVia USB, network streaming and I2S-LVDS, X-SABRE 3 accepts audio up to 768kHz/32-bit PCM and native DSD512, while its coaxial and optical S/PDIF inputs are limited to 192kHz/24-bit and DSD64 via DoP, as the S/PDIF format itself dictates.

X-SABRE 3 also decodes both MQA and MQA Studio streams in hardware, unfolding the format’s full resolution rather than depending on software-side rendering elsewhere in the chain.

X-SABRE 3: First to Add Spotify ConnectX-SABRE 3 was the first Matrix Audio product to support Spotify Connect, alongside Apple AirPlay 2 - letting a phone or laptop send audio directly to the DAC over the network without routing through a separate streamer.

Connectivity is rounded out with dual-band Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, plus physical optical, coaxial, AES/EBU and USB inputs alongside the IIS-LVDS input carried over its HDMI connector.

X-SABRE 3: Isolated Internal CompartmentsInside the chassis, the power supply, digital circuitry and analogue output stage are physically separated into their own isolated compartments, carved from aluminium to keep each section’s noise from reaching the others.

That compartmentalised construction reflects Matrix Audio’s approach across its higher-end products: keeping noisy digital and switching circuitry physically distant from the sensitive analogue output stage.