Sorry but I disagree.. Unless you want to throw something like a 789 under the bus for offering little value for instance. It's also at $400.. I'd take this Matrix device any day over it at the same price. So the whole $400 dollar valuation is a bit meh, even when simply condering the wealth of functionality in an enclosure as nicely done as this one. There has been lots of headway in performance lately, so it's easy to get hungup on numbers in this blue realm of performance. Lastly, a phone is such a totally different form factor, and doesn't offer balanced output for example to other amps you may want to use and such.
(Tbh I haven't seen any company have higher quality enclosures than MA on average, what they did with their Matrix-X SABRE Pro is just stunning.. if anyone has seen the internals of that case, I challenge you to find anything remotely better in a standard DAC for example of it's size). I'm sure you can find some bespoke stuff from now non-existent companies at prices they're too scared to openly state on their own site..
The Matrix Element i is a great performance achievement. Not questioning that. Just asking if it is worth $1000.
That question comes from seeing over the last 40 years how mass-produced items (i.e today -cellphones) when software adapted to specific functions and perhaps augmented by external hardware additions, overwhelm low volume manufactured specific solutions. Even if, initially, they may not be superior.
In a way, the Matrix Element i is todays Lexitron. The Lexitron was a superb dedicated word processor. It was destroyed by the initially inferior PC WordPerfect combination. The Matrix does a number of things well. But it has already been pointed out that it's specific streaming app may show limitations. With cellphone based streamers not tied to a specific app, there is no such limitation and far more choice.
Lexitrons did their job, and did so for years. So will the Matrix Element i.
But to reduce the chances of future obsolence, my view is we are best off to buy specific devices for each function. A DAC to do 'DACing'. Cellphones/DAPS (another Lexitron) to do streaming. Amps to do amping. etc.
Just one members opinion...