"Prototype boards of the Matrix Mixer are in! Fairfield Circuitry 3x3 Matrix Mixer in pedal form. That is, 3 ins, 3 outs, 9 knobs to control where to send what. Simple little project, for the experimentalist in all of us."
Got me interested.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." --John Cage
Usually when you're plugging multiple things into one passive mixer, there can be volume loss due to the signal traveling through all of the parts inside without any aid. With an active matrix mixer, you've got buffer circuits to kind of scoot each signal into the directions they need to go, instead of wondering along on their own. Less chance of volume/tone loss etc
ALSO, with passive matrix mixers, impotence can also be a problem, as well as hot signals. If you've got a hot signal in a passive matrix mixer there is more of a chance of it to overpower the other signals being fed into it. This is sort of flattened out with an active circuit!