Modi Multibit: Multibit for the masses.

Ouch! Veiled, mid-bass punch? Not even close to my ears. My Eminent Technology planar speakers resolve the tiniest details. This Dac is not veil at all. Also not hearing that mid-bass hump. I couldn't believe how resolving and natural this dac sounds. I never heard this much detail before. I'm coming from the Bifrost upgraded dac. The Modi Multibit sounds much better to me. This has to be the best bang for buck Dac on the planet. Sure the Gungnir Multibit is better, but I'm extremely happy with the Modi Multibit.

I have read that the Bifrost Multibit sounds near identical BTW. The advantage of the Bifrost Multibit is that it can be upgraded in the future. Can't upgrade the Modi Multibit due to size constrains. Your mileage with any of this stuff will vary given your equipment and listening preferences. My ears tell me the Schiit guys (oops did I really say that?) know what they are doing and also have great ears. I play piano professionally ( jazz is my love) many times a week. Trust me when I say I know what it is suppose to sound like. Nothing like hearing it live (esp. acoustic instruments). The Modi Multibit moves me, in the same way I hear it when I playing live. No better praise than that!

 

I don't know if you are addressing this to me or just to the thread in general but just in case, I will repeat what I wrote earlier in the thread. Any DDC I add or use isn't just for the Modi Multibit as it can still be used down the road with any other DAC that I decide to try. Eventually I will want to move to a fully balanced DAC and amp combination and if I have a USB/SPDIF converter or AES PCIe card then they will still be put to good use.

And I'm not hearing anything remotely "veiled" about the Modi Multibit in my setup. I am using some killer tubes in the Lyr 2 though so perhaps my experience is unusual.

 

Whether you hear Modi MB as veiled or not is going to depend a lot on what else you've got experience with. It's an excellent DAC to be sure, but there are lots of units that out resolve it and offer better clarity. Hell, Schiit alone make five of them.

 

So I had to opportunity to trial the Modi Multibit at home thanks to the AUS/NZ loaner program. I believe my experience mirrors what others have described before so I try to make this brief (or can skip post).

My chain is PC(Jriver-USB) -> Modi Multibit/Bifrost Multibit -> Sagaheim -> HD6XX. I allowed the Modi Multibit to warm up overnight and then give it a days listen, then switched to the Bifrost Multibit and gave it the same warmup before making notes.

Bass - Compared to Bifrost Multibit, good quantity of bass, decent amount of slam, would not tell a difference if A-B testing. There is sub-bass present but not a lot so might be mid-bass focused, while Bifrost Multibit sounds more smoother throughout the range.

Mids - Modi Multibit sounds forward and smooth. Sounds like the microdetail is less than on the Bifrost Multibit which probably reflecting Modi Multibit's smoothness. Bifrost Multibit's mids are placed back of the stage in comparison. Voices are much harsher sounding, particular female vocals

Treble - Modi Multibit does sounds like it is rolled off at the upper midrange to lower treble in comparison to Bifrost Multibit. Not saying it is noticeable during an extended listening session, but when swapping back to the Bifrost Multibit, the guitar, piano and percussion was more present and detailed (for me, most noticeable was on 'Say Say Say,' by Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson).

Headstage - Modi Multibit is slightly narrower than the Bifrost Multibit, but retains good depth and spacing between instruments.

The biggest differences heard when listening to my test tracks was ‘Chandlier,’ by Sia. I put this song on my test tracks as I wanted to know if the Modi Multibit would make very dynamically compressed songs sound tolerable. On the Modi Multibit, Sia’s vocals becomes the focus. Voice sounds smooth and the horrible, lifeless instrumental backing stays well away and the bass sounds loud and fun (but not enough sub-bass slam). On the Bifrost Multibit, the slam is more present, but I hate using the Bifrost Multibit for this song. Voice sounds harsh, and poor dynamics become very noticeable.

TL;DR - Modi Multibit provides that midbass-midrange smoothness and forwardness with slightly veiled treble that makes those dynamic compressed songs sound awesome. Bifrost Multibit is more U-shaped in comparison, with smoother sub-to-mid bass, dominant highs, better microdetail but vocals less present and harsher sounding. Schiit did a hell of a job targeting the Modi Multibit for people whose music collection ranges from 2000s onward.

I do not regret the purchase of the Bifrost Multibit after listening to the Modi Multibit, but I think if I can restart my audio journey again, Modi Multibit to Gungnir Multibit/Yggdrasil route is the better route to take.

Other notes
- Using the Modi Multibit made the bad computer noise I get on the USB intolerable, such that I had to put the Jotunheim volume dial at 11-12 (using Bifrost Multibit, 1-3). I think the raspberry pi + hifiberry digi is in my future.
- Michael Bolton's Big Sexy Valentine's Day Special was more awesome when I added Modi Multibit to the TV -> Soundbar (would not buy Modi Multibit for the TV, girlfriend did not hear a difference). I need to invest in speakers.

 

Great write-up and thank you for your thoughts and impressions vs Bifrost Multibit. After my listening marathon Saturday with Modi Multibit which put me in a state of near audio nirvana I decided to roll tubes in the Lyr 2 to see how much of the *magic* was coming from the 75 Reflektor Silver Sheild SWGP tubes.

I swapped the 75's for some new production Genalex Gold Lions and let them warm up for a while before I sat down for a listen. Let me tell you, the experience with the Gold Lions was a noticeable step down. The Gold Lions are definitely better than the stock Lyr 2 tubes but are still far inferior to the 75 Reflektors. On most tracks what I noticed the most was a loss of musical clarity (and I call it musical clarity because the 75 Reflektors lift the veil that the Lyr 2 usually displays with the TH-X00's while not sounding harsh or analytical) but there was also a step down in overall airiness and delicacy.

To me, this just shows how tricky it is to subjectively grade a DAC as part of a larger gear chain. You have your file source, your cables, your preamp/amp, your transducers and sitting in the middle of all of this is the DAC. Had the Gold Lions been in the Lyr 2 when I first connected the Modi Multibit I don't think I would have been quite so impressed or at least not to the degree that I was. It just reinforces to me that synergy matters and working towards that very special sound might require some experimentation and iteration.

Still, going back to my original comparison of the Modi Multibit vs the BurrBrown DAC chip in the Fostex HP-A4BL the Modi Multibit is unquestionably superior in the way that it presents sound and that is really what this thread is all about. How good is the Modi Multibit, really? For $250 it is very good indeed.

 

Most people use USB.

 

Your point?

 

USB may not be our preference but if it is a comparison between Modi Multibit and Bifrost Multibit and they are both using USB then as long as everything else remains constant then you have a valid basis for comparison.

 

Not really, you are putting a floor on what you can hear. You should really give 'em a spin on better sources before trying to compare. Though these two DACs are really similar in how they sound, apart from bass on big systems (according to @baldr - who we can blame) in this case. Still, the point remains, it's a really shaky basis for any sort of subjective qualitative assessment.

You wouldn't try to critically compare picture quality between two high-end TVs by just feeding them with a manky old VHS deck via composite in, would you? It doesn't matter if some people still use them, it's still a bad source to compare TVs..

Even assuming that you do have a good ear, the value of your conclusions would be extremely limited- which of these two devices sounds best when they're both sounding significantly worse than they should? It's possibly an interesting sidenote to try during a more valid comparison, but on its own, doesn't really help much.

 

HiDef TV vs. shitty VHS as an analogy for coax vs. USB is a bit hyperbolic, don't you think? Comparing both with USB input is valid and useful, particularly for us Luddites who use it. Both DAC s may sound better with coax input, and that can be described in another comparison.

 

Not really, no. Jitter and RF noise can make a good DAC sound distinctly fucked. Both of these DACs sound surprisingly bad via USB. Even the device's designer wouldn't claim otherwise, and only includes USB with gritted teeth, as a convenience measure.

Jitter smears frequencies in a really surprising way, and the effect is more pronounced with higher frequencies. We all love being lazy and plugging in with the lowest common denominator easy connection, but feed your DAC properly, and it's a major upgrade. Not only will transients be clearer, but instrument separation is much nicer- and you don't need to have golden ears to hear it. Feed your DAC from USB, on a DAC with a cheap USB receiver, and you get a blurry, noisy mess.

(Apparently staging improves too, but I am wary of making claims like that, as I'm really not great at evaluating that in headphones.)

 

Since you like dropping names so much, Jason Stoddard listens over USB.

 

Edit: Never mind, don't want to waste my time with someone on a mission.

Edit x2: See, Psalm may be aggressive but he does it with dry wit and no directed malice. You? Just pure condescension and belittlement. You even went to the point of deleting your post (and editing the prior) so I sound incongruous - well done! I know your USB knob is at full mast (if it doesn't subside see a doctor) and you're raring and raving to go, but you're KUTB with your coax and anything lesser is shit-fi.

 

I deleted my posts because it was cluttering up the thread and harmed the SNR. It made no sense after you started deleting; you tried to make a sly dig, screwed it up and ended up looking quite silly. Maybe you're not comfortable having your brainfarts on display? I dunno.

I'm not sure what spite you're seeing, I'm a little bewildered by that and your excitable meme-ing. I'm here to talk about making audio not suck, drama. Forum drama is much better catered to elsewhere, non-sucking audio? Not so much.

 

Ironic since most members would agree all you do is generate noise. You don't actually generate any content yourself but go as far as to critique someone who took the time to share impressions and write up a comparison on the basis of an elitist claim you've latched on to to make your own shitty rig look that much more appealing.

All you do is spew pseudo-intellectual bullshit that is so contrived it's a miracle if I can make it to the end of one of your posts without gagging. Please look through the past three pages of your post history, not one of your posts was half as worthy as what @Stride posted. Focus more on improving the quality of your own posts before you try to tell others what's what.

 

How would USB fix the tonality of the DAC? It might add better separation but stuff sounds like stuff sounds if the USB works. USB tends to work out of laptop quick charge ports with 5v lines to the battery. Other ports tend to be wackier but if you have a business or workstation grade laptop from someone like Lenovo Thinkpads, Dell Latitudes, HP Elitebooks, or the equivalent Toshiba line, then you probably have one. If you have some crappy laptop with stickers all over it from Best Buy or a Macbook (oh man have these been getting defective by design) then you're fucked.

Sure there are some DACs like the Lavry DA 11, the ODAC, and the Holo Spring DAC which have synchronous USB receiver chips (usually poorly done XMOS or CEntrance ones) without an "Exclusive Mode" in the DAC to receive samples directly from operating systems (over ASIO or your OS's native protocol) but that basically mean the the USB implementation is non-functional. The Schiit USB 2.0 and 3.0 chips from C-MEDIA just work if the DACs are recognized over the USB port in my experience.

 

Glad I'm using the right port on work laptop.

 

I value your opinion in this topic as I am still a novice in this audio journey. I do realise that the preferred interconnect here is AES over Coaxial over USB. Unfortunately USB is the best digital interconnect I have at my disposal at the time of the loaner and such this was the situation I had for critical listening. Before I found this forum, I always had the upgrade itch, very susceptible to hype-fi mania and purchased a Curious USB cable believing it would provide that upgrade in sound, and it did improve the sound over the motherboard toslink I was using prior YMMV (and I do regret wasting the cash when could be saving up for better gear/savings/deposit etc).

However, I feel like I urgently need to change transport that uses Coaxial after the loaner. Maybe using Coaxial might change my opinion of the Modi Multibit being little light on treble (assuming high frequencies becoming more clearer with a cleaner signal, if I get another chance to listen).

I am under the impression that I should write an impression on the Modi Multibit since I have the privilege to participate in the loaner program. I trust my ears when I wrote my impression and I think everyone here has the ability to discern whether this is useful/applicable for them or not. And if my impression is representative of the minority, I will decide for myself whether I want my ears checked or not (or be an outlier, who cares in the end right).

That being said, I do not appreciate the way your opinion was expressed. Please follow that old phrase 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.' Write something constructive and I will read. You give sass and I will tune out.

 

You did well Stride. I've been switching between USB and SPDIF all night with my rig PC>modibit (loaner)>studio>abyss. The difference is so minor and without insanely good downstream gear I don't think the difference is worth arguing about..

 

I may as well add my short review of the modibit from the AUS/NZ loaner.
Chain: PC/lynx aes16e>modibit (spdif/usb)/(spdif/AES)sfd-1mkiiSE+ > EC studio > Abyss
A big thanks to @Garns for organizing the AUS/NZ loaner.
I joined the loaner just out of interest to see how this little guy stacked up against my nearly 30 years old r2r.

The modibit is a fantastic dac for the money. If you are building a 1k desktop rig a modibit would be a must.

Bass: The little modibit has a big mid bass bump and really thumps away nicely with the studio, however with the ragnarok/abyss this bass bump was just a bit too energetic and results in some mid-bass bleed. The sfd-1 actually has a similar bump but it is not as pronounced as on the modibit.

Mids: mids are tilted forward with upper mid smoothness/slight treble roll - as everyone before me said

Highs: Knowing what the studio can do with something like Winter 2 by Max Richter it was sad to hear the shimmering highs of the violin lost on the modibit. Highs fall short in extension and definitely lack detail

Imaging/staging: (using headphones) Imaging is on par with the sfd-1. Staging is narrower and shorter and less deep that sfd-1. Definitely acceptable for a sub 1k dac, but this is the sfd-1 strongest point.

USB vs SPDIF: several hours spent switching between both. Slowly going mad..
Maybe just maybe there was slightly less mid-bass on SPDIF.. maybe...

TLDR: Xec compared a DAC that cost less than the shipping of the other DAC.
The modibit is great, it has fun mid-bass, it has a smooth mid-range, images well and for the price it is fantastic value.
When comparing it to high end dacs with r2r configuration, the modi-bit still sounds 'digital', lacks space and loses much of the gorgeous microdetail.
Multibit for the masses is right. This dac with the likes of schiit vali/jot will give you a fantastic system. Unless you are a bit insane and want to chase that last few % you will be happy for years.

Sorry to not bring much to the table.