Phonitor matrix

The tiring super stereo effect is a thing of the past. Enjoy your music exactly the way it should be heard. The Phonitor Matrix in its largest expansion stage has three setting parameters: Crossfee Speaker Angle and Center Level. In Phonitor se the Center Level is preset to -dB and the speaker placement Angle to 30°.

These are the most common values.

When it comes to the Phonitor Matrix , there are plenty of adjustment possibilities. You can adjust the amount of crossfeed in steps and the simulated angle in steps. I would dive deep into the Phonitor Matrix , but it’s been explained quite well by SPL themselves (and in reviews of the Phonitor X and other offerings).

I’ve ever had the pleasure to use. I do find myself using it at times, particularly with IEMs. They’ve been on the periphery of my radar for a while, but not something I’d gotten to spend proper listening time with until I was offered the opportunity to audition this unit at home.

The large, central, illuminated volume dial is buttery-smooth.

Labels are clear and concise, with the functions they indicate being entirely unambiguous. The overall impression is that this is a very high-quality and entirely “premium” device. The Phonitor x has a number of interesting features, some of which herald from the professional market, some from the audiophile world and some are relatively uncommon, but quite welcome, in either: 1. SPL make a point of calling out their “VOLTAiR” high-voltage power-rail capability (also known as the “SPL 120V Rail Technology”).

This provides for a lot of voltage-swing in the power-supply, lots of available power and significantly improved dynamic range (claimed 1dB) vs. Unlike most of the competition, however, these inputs can accept high professional-gear signal levels. The $4question is, of course, “How does the Phonitor x sound?

In a word … fantastic! For a start, it is clearly both an entirely neutral and highly transparent performer. Much of my listening was performed using a Chord DAVE DAC as the source. It covers up nothing, makes excuses for nothing, and lets the source show its true colors without omission or editorialization.

It is really an advance analog-domain, crossfeed2system that allows simulation of interaural time and volume differences at various user-selectable levels. You can read a full explanation of the theory and settings in the Phonitor x User Manual(refer to page 11), but for this review, I’ll focus on the actual effects of the system rather than what’s behind it. SPL offer the Phonitor x with an optional, internal, DAC module (called “DAC192”), which was installed in the unit that I auditioned and used for this review. There is no support for DS native or otherwise - you’ll need to convert to PCM in your player.

I thought it might be interesting to call out the most notable of those, here.

It would be nice to be able to set the VU meter attenuation independently by input. With an external, balance studio DAC, I need the dB attenuator engaged or the needle spends most of its time buried in the opposite side of the scale. Since the control for this is via a dip-switch underneath the unit, changing it on the fly is not really practical. The optional DAC module seems to have issues with players that do automatic sample rate-switching under macOS 10. High Sierra) when using the USB input.

Setting the bit-depth and sample rate manually, via the Audio-MIDI Setup tool, prior to playback, alleviates this issue. The TOSLINK and COAX inputs are. It yields a huge sense of scale and power with effortless delivery, has excellent tonality AND tonal weight, transient response is superb and it plies its trade against a dead-silent, void-black, background. Its features, and sonic performance make it easy to integrate into studio scenarios and still able to satisfy audiophile sensibilities.

Unlike the professional version Phonitor features like Center Level, Solo and Polarity are not included in the Phonitor xe as they are only of use in music production. It features three parameters: Crossfee Speaker Angle, and Center Level. The Crossfeed control is infinitely variable to let you freely dial in spatial impressions. The others are stepped in degree and 1dB increments.

W output power the Phonitor x delivers an impressive performance. Unsubscribe from SPL - Sound Performance Lab? Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on. However, I found that I often used a portion of the Matrix.

The crossfeed and speaker angle settings added a touch of naturalness to the sound that I loved. The Phonitor X is part of SPL’s latest line of “pro-fi” gear, which bridges the gap between the professional and consumer markets.