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Build Quality
The Element M2 is a very moderately sized streamer, which measures only 280 x 259 x 58mm (WDH). For our non-metric audience, this is 11.02 x 10.2 x 2.28 inches. The M2 weighs 3.5 kilograms, or 7.71 pounds.
The build quality of the Matrix is absolutely flawless in my opinion. The full aluminum frame feels very robust and high-class. On the bottom of the unit there are four feet to ensure stability, their rubber parts also mitigate possible vibrations.
On the front of the unit, the power button sits on the far left, with a small LED indicator next to it showing whether the unit is on or off. A white light indicates the active status of the Element M2.
The center of the front-panel is used by a 3.46” LCD touchscreen. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of touchscreens in HiFi. Most of the times I am sitting on my couch, roughly three meters away from the unit, when listening to music. I understand its appeal for desktop users who listen to music through headphones with the Element M2.
On the right-hand side of the front panel, you’ll find the volume knob, which gives you control over the output volume. Push it to mute the device.
Overall, the build quality of the Element M2 is very good. The design of the Element M2 is also quite modern and I’m sure many people will like it as much as I do. It’s simple, sleek and elegant.
Usability
The Matrix Audio Element M2 can be used with a variety of different streaming options. Matrix supplies a well-thought-out App called MA Remote. It’s available for iOS and Android and I have used it on my iPad as well as my Android phone.
At the time of writing, the MA Remote App version used is 4.0.9 and the Element M2’s firmware is 1.1.6 Build005.
Once connected to your device, MA Remote will give you access to all settings of the Element M2. There’s a variety of options. You can select different filters, add or remove wireless networks, set up the I2S input and many more.
Make sure to add your network attached storages by adding it to the list of folders to watch/scan. This can be done by the folder icon with the musical note in it.
Overall, the App performs really well, and I especially liked the way of navigating through my network attached library. When playing local files, you can definitely see the inspiration Matrix took from Roon and streaming services like Tidal. As the MA Remote App also suggests similar artists when listening to a specific album. It also lists further albums by the same artist currently played for you to delve deeper in and get lost in the music more.
Browsing through the music in the local storage has become a pleasant experience with the MA Remote, and I applaud the decision to draw inspiration from Roon here. This made playing and discovering music a real joy throughout the review time and I’m sure it will remain that way past it.
MA Remote reads all meta-information stored in the files, lists tracks, artists, genres, composers, and labels in the app’s library view, and displays the cover art if the app finds it embedded in the meta-tags or stored locally as “cover.jpg” or “folder.jpg” in the same folder. A nice feature is also, that MA Remote will look up artist pictures to show under Artists. This however has still some bug-ironing-out to do, as it doesn’t draw the images from the internet very reliable.
If you have a larger library the MA Remote app also gives you the option to jump to a specific letter of the alphabet by swiping through them on the right side of your device’s screen.
Something I found very informative is that the now playing screen of the App also shows you the kbit/second, which tells you if the played file is indeed lossless or not.
Of course, Matrix also gives you further ways to use the Element M2. The most notable being Roon. I am an avid Roon user for six years or so, and any streaming DAC that comes into my home must be Roon Ready. It is such a simple integration of products that lets me control all zones at home.
On top of Roon, you can also hit up the Element M2 via Spotify and Tidal Connect. Which is also a super easy and simple process. My fiancée also is always very happy when she can use her Spotify account in our living room HiFi setup.
Apart from smart devices, you can also use the supplied remote control or the touchscreen of the Element M2. On the screen you can swipe left to access the settings menu, by swiping right you go to the shortcut page.
Bugs
There are some known issues with the current MA Remote App. All of which I have reported to Matrix and they have assured me that they are looking into them.
When you add new music to the NAS, the system does not find the new folders or music unless you update the entire library, even though it lists the entire NAS as storage.
There is a lag of approximately one second between giving a command via the MA Remote App and the actual doing of the Element M2. When hitting pause/next/previous track it takes the M2 approximately one second to do so. Other software, such as Roon and Tidal Connect, does not encounter this issue.
All about Sound on page three!
