Modi Multibit: Multibit for the masses.

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by MrTie, Jul 25, 2016.

  1. Zed Bopp

    Zed Bopp Friend

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    After a long stint with the ModiBit I used my Apogee Duet DAC. Damn it, the bass with the Duet (using LCD-2, Lyr 2) is more punchy and full - it seems to reach lower too. (I'd be surprised if this kind of a "clear" difference in FR couldn't be measured too...) Otherwise the "lesser" DAC has this sheen & grittiness in the mids/highs that I noticed right away when changing.

    The ModiBit gets SO close to being the one for me, but damn it I just love that full bass so much with metal, hip-hop etc. I guess I'll keep switching them DACs around according to needs.
     
  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I've been comparing the Modi Multibit vs my Prism Lyra1. I feel as if there's a slight haze to the Modi Multibit, but at the same time a bit of an... echo? There's a good sense of air, but at times it almost feels like the air was emphasized. The Lyra in contrast brings about what seems like better clarity; I can feel the texture in the reveberations which are not as clean from the Modi Multibit.
     
  3. postjack

    postjack Friend

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    Got my Modi Multibit in earlier this week, my first experience with a multibit DAC. Spent a good hour or so listening through my Singlepower Supra > HD 650, really enjoyed what I heard. As per usual I spent a lot of time listening to late 70s Grateful Dead recordings, and the wonderful impact and space of those recordings was all there. Very impressive.

    Left the Modi on overnight and in the morning it wasn't on anymore. Tried different outlets, etc., but it wouldn't work. Emailed Schiit later that night, by the next morning they emailed back saying it sounded like a bad wall wart and they dropped a new one in the mail. Should be here tomorrow.

    Props to Schiit on the speedy customer service, looking forward to comparing the Modi to my Rega Apollo and Oppo HA-1.
     
  4. Arok

    Arok New

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    Hello, like i wrote in my introduction post i'm really tempted to go modi multibit + wyrd.

    My main doubt is i already own a semi professional roland dac, the quad capture, that goes 192k pcm, and also sports an internal feature that to my understanding does something like the wyrd does (their marketing say: One of QUAD-CAPTURE’s key “behind-the-scenes” features is its low-noise, wide-ranging power supply. Designed to deliver a clean, balanced input and output, it provides a reliable foundation for any professional audio application or environment. When driven by the USB bus power supply, QUAD-CAPTURE’s power is regenerated, providing the analog circuitry ideal voltage for the very best sound quality and efficiency in mobile environments.)

    I understand that my DAC is not the best known there is in the world, less so for audiophile listening applications, so i don't think anyone here has much experience with it. So i suppose my question is, how does the modi multibit sound compared to prosumer dac for studio applications of around the same price, say rme or the like?

    Are the € 430 that the multibit+wyrd will cost best spend on something else in my chain or do you think i will notice an upgrade?

    I'm the most attracted by the natural and big stage people talks about, but admittedly my dac is pretty strong in that regard, for example listening to festival the deum in the chesky demonstration disk, i can feel the headphones disappear and the soundstage envelope me in height, expansiveness and depth, so i guess i'm wondering how much better than this it can get at the price point.

    Rest of the chain is magni 2 and k712 pro. Hope someone can shed some light about the matter.

    As an aside, how will the ifi idac 2 fare in comparison with the modi? I would like the choice of phase for the filters but mainly i want the best SQ, even if at the cost of versatility in the filter choice.

    EDIT: Also since my pc has only usb 3 ports (compatible with usb 2 specs but had problems with my usb 2 quad capture sometimes), will the idac 2 be the better choice since it's usb3 compatible, or doesn't count much for audio quality?
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2016
  5. ibzrg1570

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    I'll preface this by saying I haven't heard any of the gear in your chain although I have read plenty of others' impressions, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. Conventional wisdom says that you'll notice the greatest improvement from your transducers, and the K712 is firmly mid-fi in both sound quality and price while the Modi MB punches above its weight. I don't know if there's something specific you're looking to improve from your existing chain, but if you're looking for an overall step up in performance I would start with the headphones and the Modi MB later on.

    Hopefully someone else experienced with both the Modi MB and prosumer DACs can chime in, but maybe also try reposting your question in the All Purpose Advice thread for a wider audience than those following this thread who can provide more specific recommendations based on your needs.
     
  6. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    Does your workstation have open PCI slots? You'd be better served getting a used RME card to feed SPDIF to the Modi instead of a Wyrd. I unfortunately have no comments on the Modi versus prosumer gear, but I think it may be a little too mid-centric in tonality for mixing, but I'm not sure exactly what sort of studio work you do.
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Did you leave it turned on? I noticed that too, but after leaving it on for two to three days, it went away. It also could be that I'm not using USB, which tends to be more liquid and less grainy sounding.

    The RME, Lynx, or CD transport is a way to get huge gains on the Modi MB since its USB implementation seems to lag Gungnir Multibit Gen 2 and Yggdrasil Gen 3 by quite a bit. Although Ravi has made a good argument that you are better off spending money on a Gungnir Multibit than a Modi MB + non-USB SPDIF source, sometimes it's a matter of synergy. I actually prefer the Modi MB to the Gungnir Multibit with the Jotenheim + HD650K. The Gungnir Multibit sounds clearer, has stronger attacks, and is more resolving, but the Modi MB is smoother and just goes better with the Jotunheim + HD650K pairing. The gap between Gungnir Multibit and Modi isn't that far away when both are fed non-USB SPDIF.
     
  8. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    I have had a couple of those boxes used on machines at work, a few years back. it's a cheap Edirol/Roland device.. a UA55, I think, from memory. It's an OK (though not exceptional budget) USB sound card. A lot of the BoM goes on Mic preamps and the like. It's basically like a cheaper, less feature-packed UA-25, without stuff like the compressor/limiter, and a less sturdy case.

    It's not an awful device, by any means, but as a DAC, isn't really going to trouble the Modi Multibit.
     
  9. starence

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    I've noticed if I simply leave my Mobi on all the time, or turn it on a couple hours before listening, it doesn't sound its best. I have to play some music first, then restart the DAC, or else it sounds kind of veiled. Does anyone else have this problem, or an idea what might be causing it? The source is a Gustard U12 plugged into my PC.
     
  10. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Think he meant to Apogee Duet was the one with sheen and grittiness.

    [REDACTED]

    EDIT: Oops, so sorry.....
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2016
  11. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    I leave mine on 24/7 and have not noticed any veil. Have you swapped cables or removed the Modi Multibit from the chain?
     
  12. Arok

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    Thanks for the reposting, a wider range of opinion is always good :) I've just bought the K712 a month ago i think, mainly because of the imaging qualities (i tought that if i can fix the tonality with eq, better to choose one pair that does good imaging and articulation, and from the square wave measurements they seemed pretty close to an hd800 on that side) and after considering various other candidates, for the price i bought them (230€) i think i made a good choice all things considered.. Another factor was an existing sonarworks calibration for them to use as a starting point to tweak the eq. Aniway, not going to buy another pair soon, although given the enthusiasm i see here for the sen 650, might buy them next year, if i can find somewhere to listen to them. For now, i'm focusing on the rest of the chain as to me they seem pretty resolving to be able to hear a dac update (can hear lips sounds, low level noises in recordings, and all that little stuff), at least i hope lol ;) if not, well at least i will have my bases covered for future upgrades

    Unfortunately, it's a laptop and not a worksation... So there aren't expansion slot, i'm forced to use usb, that's why i'm looking at the wyrd. EDIT: I've just read that there are adapter that separates HDMI audio from video, and my laptop does in fact have an HDMI port to which i connect my monitor. Could this be a viable path to achieve better sq with the modi?

    Yeah, it's the the UA55. I also have an old edirol which looks the same but it's red and uses firewire as a connection, but same story as sp/dif, the laptop doesn't support it. Maybe when i will update my pc i will go desktop or choose a laptop with better connections, but i think i will not upgrade at least for a bit of time since this one is already pretty powerful, if only it had better connections..

    But that's what i was hoping to hear, the modi is better, so modi will be. I have only to wait that the italian distributor get them in january because they sold out all their stock this month. Seems even here in italy people like it :)

    Thanks for all the opinions and suggestions guys!
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2016
  13. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    You could just as easily directly order it from Schiit using Fedex Economy shipping. Gets to Europe in maybe three days, tops. And if you dodge the import taxes (seems to be a hit and miss with carriers), it works out at largely the same price as with European distributors.
     
  14. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    Warranty would be more troublesome though.
     
  15. Arok

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    Yeah, there's the warranty and taxes thing... I dodged customs already one or two times, but if they open the package is 100 € more easy peasy so, i'll wait those 15 days it takes.. but Wyrd and pyst on the way to my home already! Will probably order a DC cleaner and a belkin pure av power strip in the meantime to calm the shopping bug ;)
     
  16. starence

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    I have tried different cables, but swapping out the DAC hadn't occurred to me. I'll have to try that.
     
  17. gamerstudent

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    So I got a Modi Multibit and a Jotunheim setup a few days ago (I was considering this combo or the Audio-GD NFB-28, but chose the Schiit combo due to having good local Australian re-seller support).

    I'm running from Foobar2000 with 320K MP3s from Google Play Music --> wasapi (event) USB --> Modi MB --> Jotunheim --> HE-400 (while I'm waiting for the HD-6XX with balanced cable to arrive) so far I'm very impressed, it improves on everything that my old DAC/Amp combo had (UD110 --> Little dot 1+ with MUSES02 op amp and Russian rocket tubes).

    Having read in this thread that the USB implementation is not the best, are there any cheap options (around $100 --> $125USD) to get a good optical input form a PC to the Modi MB? please note I do not have a slot for a PCI card (Mini ITX PC) and would need to rely 100% on some USB implementation to optical device. If there is a way to improve the sound by a noticeable margin for cheap I am all ears :)
     
  18. DigMe

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    Search the all purpose advice thread for spdif. We had a discussion there this week about a hack that may or may not work for you to get a digital coax cable going. Very cheap to try.
     
  19. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    What motherboard do you have?
     
  20. gamerstudent

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