Modi Multibit: Multibit for the masses.

So I just bought a Modi Multibit Gen2 myself and I am impressed. Previously I only had a Teac UD301 and a bunch of other cheapo DACs. Here are my first impressions of UD301 vs Modi Multibit:

- Detail retrieval: it's the same for the most part, but Modi Multibit has the ability to pull out just a hair more information, while sounding extremely smooth. Kinda reminds me of what the HD650 does as a headphone: it's laid back, but very capable of pulling out plankton from your music.

- Bass: Modi Multibit has better extension and longer decay. One of Mimbi's stronger points compared to the Teac, where I hear a significant difference between the two. I hear new stuff in the bass region now, which is impressive.

- Mids: mostly the same, but I feel like Modi Multibit has more body, warmth and grunt to it. The Teac sounds rather cold here, but I can't really say one is better than the other. They are both good in this segment in their own way.

- Highs: oh boy, okay, here we have a clear loser and a very clear winner. The highs on the Teac are painfully compressed, lack air, extension, realism and have the tendency to be quite peaky. They can turn a bright headphone into a downright unbearable one. The Modi Multibit in comparison is very airy, true to live and nicely extended, albeit slightly subdued. Again, it's not missing any detail here though compared to the Teac. IMHO Modi Multibit wins by a long shot to the point where it's almost absurd to compare the two here. This is basically like comparing the treble of the DT770 to the one of the HD650.

- Separation/Soundstage: the Teac uses a BB chip and all of the DACs I tried with a BurrBrown implementation have the tendency to sound quite open and airy. The UD301 does this too, but the Modi Multibit maintains the same stage and manages to outshine the BurrBrown Teac by having better instrument placement and separation. Modi Multibit wins here again.

TLDR; Modi Multibit is better period. It has better bass everything (extension, detail, slam), gets rid of the awful treble of the UD301 and replaces it with a smooth, realistic and significantly airier reproduction. Cymbals actually sound like cymbals on the Modi Multibit. Apart from that the instrument placement and layering is better too. I cannot find a single thing were the Teac wins over the Multibit Modi. It's or the same, or much much worse. If you're thinking of getting the Teac, don't. It's bad stuff. Save a buck and get the Modi Multibit

 

If I had to put the Modi Multibit in a nutshell without comparing it to anything, I would call it smooth, warm and slightly subdued in the treble. The bass sounds somewhat fat on it, but I like it. This type of bass pairs really well with most "mid-fi" gear (K series from AKG, 6X0 series from Senn), which tends to lack bass quantity (for most folks at least) and extension. For example, I feel like the Modi Multibit is a great match with the HD600 as they complement each other really well.

Some negative points (sorta):
- I had trouble getting the thing to work on WIN7. Shiit lists some alternative drivers on their webpage which worked for me. The regular ones couldn't locate the Modi Multibit during setup and thus refused to install.

- The heck is this thing so small xD My first shitty shit gear and it looks absurd on my desk. Maybe I am just used to the big huncka junk of the Teac, but c'mon it's tiny (also pretty heavy for the size).

- For EU it might be hard to find a proper power supply. It needs 16V, but 220V to 16V power bricks are a bit of an oddity. I guess Shiit EU/UK might have replacement units for sale, so no big deal I guess.

- The Modi Multibit seems to have a slightly greyish blackground, like there's some very very faint hiss going on. Might just be my PC (or my imagination) though.

- It takes the unit around 20 seconds to turn on and locate the audio source. Minor nitpick, but still pretty odd.

- Needs warm up I think, but I personally cannot confirm this yet with full certainty.

 

It's in the MB manual. The 20 second "time in" is intentional during the boot up sequence, the output of the DAC is muted to prevent any clicks, pops, or other weird noises heading downstream that could be unpleasant.

If I am off base I am sure Jason or someone else will set me straight.

 

It’s a Schiit Multibit DAC. You know it sounds even better when it’s left on all the time, right?

 

I heard it will sound better if you leave it on, but I have personally not tried it yet, so I cannot really comment on it. I'll sure try it! The 20 seconds, I know it's in the manual, but c'mon, it's still kinda weird isn't it?

 

You could do quite a few pushups in 20 seconds. How about that?

 

Hahahaha or have a quick drink and order some french fries from your local McDonalds

 

Rargh. Love this. You can’t listen to music until you’ve gotten jacked.

 

No. Lots of electronics take some time to boot.

 

You just have to do pushups until you boot too.

 

Another quick update: just tried it with WIN10 and it's plug and play on there. My WIN7 PC is the one that needed the "alternative" drivers from Shiit. Again, I am very impressed with this DAC. It's so smooth and pairs well with bright(ish) headphones.

 

It is true (at least it def is for me and my unit) that the sound changes over time. Listen to it cold and the bass is overemphasized. Listen to it after 4h or so of warm-up and now the bass "normalizes", stops being fat and the stage and instrument separation becomes better. After 48h, the treble gets lower in quantity and starts to sound quite subdued. After that, I have not noticed any significant differences at all.

I personally prefer to listen to it after 4h of warm-up, as my main headphone is now a KISS moded HD650. I feel like leaving it on for too long, def lowers the treble, which doesn't pair well with the HD650KISS. Had my main hp been a K712 or anything Beyer, I would leave it on 24/7.

 

I have always regretted selling my Modi multibit so Friday Fedex dropped off a new one. I know that they were going to be discontinued until the AKM fire temporarily changed that. I started out with a Modi 3 and since then have owned the Modi multibit, Bifrost multibit, Bifrost 4490, Topping D50, and Schiit Modius. There's just something about the Modi multibit that makes it my favorite. I still listen to records and CDs and use DACs for an external DAC on my older Marantz CD5003. I put a CD in my deck and push play and repeat and let it go for 48 hours to let the Modi multibit get used to working

 

okay, another update: I sold the Modi Multibit and got a regular ol' Modi 3. I had a few reasons for this:

- I didn't like how on the Modi Multibit the sound changes over time. I didn't like the signature when you keep it on all the time (what many said here, slopped, veiled, lacking extension etc.), nor when it's freshly on (fat bass, overly warm). My sweetspot was somewhere inbetween, but of course, how do you keep it there?! It's impossible

- I just wanted more resolution and a consist sound, irregardless of how long the unit is turned on

Got that Modi 3 for just 60€ (which for Spain is to darn cheap!). Got all I hoped for, consistent sound and more res (way more actually, I am surprised). Staging is smaller and the imaging isn't even in the same ballpark, but it's not objectively worse, just different.

Compared to the Teac UD301 from memory, way more resolving (even the Modi Multibit was more resolving) and no treble peaks. Staging and imaging is worse on the Modi compared to the Burrbrown based UD301 (that doesn't make it better though, its treble killed it for me).

 

What was your source for the Modi Multibit in the end? Stock USB?
The built in Gen 2 USB never quite got it singing the way a good SPDIF source could.

I found mine to be super consistent once it warmed up. Always run out of an Eitr though.
The Eitr flatters its strengths and averages a little darker up top than the Gen 2 input.
It also remains tighter in the bass. Where it can otherwise cross the line from thick to bloated.

How are you finding the sound of the AKM 4490 vs the multibit? As in tone and timbre.
Does anything stand out as particularly bothersome by comparison?

Ugh.

 

So with the Modi Multibit (V2 btw is what I had), the sound was off when freshly turned on (too much bass, it sounded fat), and when I left it on all the time, the sound was also off (subdued treble, kinda undefined bass). The only time I liked it, is after leaving it on around 4h. Somewhere in the transition period between running it cold (0h) and fully warmed up (24h+), that's where I did enjoy it. The issue is, there is no way of keeping it there, so inevitably, it would go from one extreme (fat bass) to the other (subdued treble).

I was just using USB... Totally forgot about the decrapifiers. I just saw the Modi cheap, picked it up, compared it to a warmed up Modi Multibit (72h+) and liked the Modi better. Thinking about this, makes me wonded if I should have bought an Eitr before going full AKM Velvet :/

When I compare them, the Modi is more resolving, but has way worse staging, depth and imaging. The bass is more defined on the Modi, which is pretty cool when pairing it with mid-fi stuff that has poor bass. I think this is a matter of preference, different strengths and weaknesses.

I also must point out that I only have two mid-fi headphones (K712, Kiss HD650), running them off a FiiO K5 (btw, this one I liked it way more than Magni3).

I also now understand why people dislike the "AKM Velvet Sound™" stuff so much. I read here how the slam is described as a wet noodle. The moment I heard slam in a song, yeah, wet noodle sounds about right. In fact, it had me giggling, it's so strangely subdued and rounded off. Treble seems to be smoothed over aswell (this I like).

 

hahaha I am still learning English as second language. Googled it up and they don't consider irregardless a real word... I am disappointed! Hey one learns something new everyday! I guess I assumed it existed because in Spanish we have "independientemente" which sounds more like "irregardless" instead of "regardless". Interesting, I will correct a bunch friends on this who are also learning

 

Speaking as a current ESL teacher the variations and social nuances distinct in each region's take on English, a language that has stolen from so many others that it scarce has much in the way of internal consistency to begin with, is fascinating.

There are some things that irk me as well like the words "flammable" and "irregardless" (which my former boss used so often that I have double the reason to find it distasteful ), but as @Thad E Ginathom and many others who are familiar with yacht club English besides the myriad organically-grown reinterpretations thereof that are technically correct might opine it's seldom worth losing sleep over

 

haha! Don’t worry about it, my man. Your english is so good that this is the thing that stuck out. It’s an annoying little mistake that many Americans say. I noticed it but I didn’t even realize that you were not a native English speaker until you mentioned it.

 

irregardless is just wrong. It's what I call mistake English. Someone makes the mistakes and others follow. Have you come across unloosen yet? (Wow! my spell checker doesn't flag it as a mistake!)

A London colleague was wondering out loud about flammable and inflammable. Both real words. Both correct. So why do we have both?

As he pontificated, the smoke began to rise from his waste bin, which he'd just emptied his pipe into. (Wow, we smoked... and smoked at work... back then.) He was the kind of guy that sort of thing just happened to.