Schiit Modius Balanced DAC Review

[PeteL]

When you have AES that is preferred over RCA. Assuming the cable used and termination is correct in both cases.
Use optical when you only have TOSLINK or when there are nasty groundloop issues. TOSLINK may or may not work well with 24/192.

Correct, I have a Sony pro cd Player cdp-d500 with AES/EBU output (and coax as well), so it makes sense to me to buy a Dac with a AES/EBU connection. I would also connect a Bluesound node to the DAC, unfortunately it is the first version which only had Toslink. My preamp Has balanced in as well so this product seams to tick a lot of boxes for a good price to be included in my system. Will I hear a benefit from the onboard DAC of the Node and the CD Player, that remains to be assessed but for 200$ to test if modern, well engineered DAC implementations outperforms audibly the late nineties r2r DAC in my Sony, and my 10 years old Blluesound DAC, I believe it's worth the experiment, even tough I know that differences in Dacs are in the quite subtle. I do like the sound of the dual Burr Brown dacs in my CD Player tough, I'm not expecting this Shiit to be a winner by Knock out, these oldies where quite nice.

 

[PuX]

So, this could be paired with an Allo
USB Bridge? $240 costs more than this DAC. Is that a wise way to split up $440? Or would that get something more turnkey, possibly better?

they mention they are running Moode Audio as their OS
https://moodeaudio.org/
so you could install Moode on a Raspberry pi 4 and get all of its functionality. not sure what this board from Allo has to offer that a Raspeberry doesn't.

 

[T.M.Noble]

What does "Assembled in the USA" exactly mean?

Seems to be little ambiguity when I look gear from JDS Labs and Geshelli Labs.

This is a very complicated statement that should be rather simple.

While I will not comment on any other manufacturer, the "Made in America" statement on a product, "must be "all or virtually all" made in the U.S" as per the FTC. This regulation has become far more strict under the Trump administration and we did not want to misinform nor deceive any customers. We source the vast majority of cost of a unit from the US but it isn't 100%. What we can say is this product is assembled here in America.

Hope that helps.

 

[mrdrewk]

@PuX that is correct. I think Allo sells this USB Bridge as lowering the USB noise. Seems like quite a price for it though huh, when a regular $35 RaspberryPI has the brains for a network streamer, wifi, and USB output to a DAC. Aren't these DACs designed to deal with USB noise anyhow? Might be well beyond diminished returns spending that $200 to pre-lower the USB noise.

 

[WonderBoy]

Honestly, we thought the little blue light totally threw off the aesthetics.

BLUE LED's were cool for 2 years in ~1994, when a Krell and a Theta DAC had ONE, the 1st ones. It seemed so exotic, there were simply NO blue or white led's before that year, they didn't have the chemistry yet!.

 

[ta240]

What does "Assembled in the USA" exactly mean?

Seems to be little ambiguity when I look gear from JDS Labs and Geshelli Labs.

There really needs to be different official wording for different levels like if a company simply attaches the outside shell to the product in the US and calls it "Assembled in the USA" it should have different wording. It looks like Schiit means a lot of it was done in the USA.

From schiits site:
"That's why we design and produce our stuff here in the USA, with the vast majority of parts cost going to US-based companies manufacturing in the US. We need all of that clarification in there because some people have played games with what "Assembled in USA" means. When we say it, it means that our chassis guys are right over the hill in the San Fernando Valley, our transformers are made here in California, our boards come from the east coast (of the USA), and we design, assemble, and test everything here in Valencia, California. "

I would assume since components on the boards come from a variety of different countries it can't be called "made in the USA" as there are specific requirements for that:
What is the standard for a product to be called Made in USA without qualification?
For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. The term "United States," as referred to in the Enforcement Policy Statement, includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories and possessions.
What does "all or virtually all" mean?
"All or virtually all" means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content.

And I'm sure there is a load of paperwork and proof required if someone challenges the full "made in the USA" claim.

 

[Davelemi]

I was poking around to see if this thing was a Roon endpoint, but I realized it's a DAC, not a network streamer. So, this could be paired with an Allo
USB Bridge? $240 costs more than this DAC. Is that a wise way to split up $440? Or would that get something more turnkey, possibly better?

Just use an RPi4 and feed the Modius using the RPi USB port.

 

[MingChops]

So given the measurements are we expecting this to sound better than say the Bifrost 2, and maybe even the best sounding DAC Schiit makes perhaps?

I'm pretty sure I will look to get one when available in the UK, and use it as a reference point to test and listen against some of the more traditional HiFi kit like a Qutest. I want a good external DAC upgrade but worry about getting needlessly shafted in cost by some of the UK brands, but equally I just can't bring myself to buy CiFi - I think this could perfect potentially.

 

[T.M.Noble]

There really needs to be different official wording for different levels like if a company simply attaches the outside shell to the product in the US and calls it "Assembled in the USA" it should have different wording. It looks like Schiit means a lot of it was done in the USA.

From schiits site:
"That's why we design and produce our stuff here in the USA, with the vast majority of parts cost going to US-based companies manufacturing in the US. We need all of that clarification in there because some people have played games with what "Assembled in USA" means. When we say it, it means that our chassis guys are right over the hill in the San Fernando Valley, our transformers are made here in California, our boards come from the east coast (of the USA), and we design, assemble, and test everything here in Valencia, California. "

I would assume since components on the boards come from a variety of different countries it can't be called "made in the USA" as there are specific requirements for that:
What is the standard for a product to be called Made in USA without qualification?
For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. The term "United States," as referred to in the Enforcement Policy Statement, includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories and possessions.
What does "all or virtually all" mean?
"All or virtually all" means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content.

And I'm sure there is a load of paperwork and proof required if someone challenges the full "made in the USA" claim.

You would shudder at the sight of paperwork mountain. Sourcing as much as we can from the USA and keeping the price low is one of our core principles. Most people do not realize how difficult that task can be.

 

[Theriverlethe]

So given the measurements are we expecting this to sound better than say the Bifrost 2, and maybe even the best sounding DAC Schiit makes perhaps?

No.

 

[Theriverlethe]

Honestly, we thought the little blue light totally threw off the aesthetics.

Is that a licensing requirement for MQA?

 

[MingChops]

No.

Thanks for the insight.

I'm not trying to be contentious, but I thought measurements were everything here and that multibit DACs (i.e all the ones above the Modius) were basically something that did not measure well?

 

[WonderBoy]

Is that a licensing requirement for MQA?

probably

 

[T.M.Noble]

Is that a licensing requirement for MQA?

That was, most certainly, sarcasm.

 

[Veri]

Thanks for the insight.

I'm not trying to be contentious, but I thought measurements were everything here and that multibit DACs (i.e all the ones above the Modius) were basically something that did not measure well?

They could measure really well, with very serious de-glitching and feedback. It's not impossible but would cost a lot. Think holo spring price class. The question with multibit in 2020 is rather... "why". Except for their cult-like Sony-TDA-era-nostalgia-driven modern presence I'm not aware of anything a multibit dac would be doing.. better

 

[Theriverlethe]

Thanks for the insight.

I'm not trying to be contentious, but I thought measurements were everything here and that multibit DACs (i.e all the ones above the Modius) were basically something that did not measure well?

It's silly to see a multi-hundred dollar device measuring so poorly, but I'm highly skeptical that Amir's Bifrost measurements showed audible problems.

 

[Veri]

It's silly to see a multi-hundred dollar device measuring so poorly, but I'm highly skeptical that Amir's Bifrost measurements showed audible problems.

So by saying "No" to his "better" question, you mean to say it sounds the same. Right?

 

[McFly]

That was, most certainly, sarcasm.

Careful, a lot of readers here don’t understand sarcasm or English isn’t their first language. Helps to put an emoji somewhere. Painful, I know.

 

[T.M.Noble]

Careful, a lot of readers here don’t understand sarcasm or English isn’t their first language. Helps to put an emoji somewhere. Painful, I know.

Noted.

 

[Theriverlethe]

So by saying "No" to his "better" question, you mean to say it sounds the same. Right?

Correct.