Schiit Modius Balanced DAC Review

[BDWoody]

It's not a bad DAC, I just don't think it matches the ESS chips with most rock and synth material.

Uh huh...

 

[BAMCIS]

nah man

just nah

edit: I do agree with you on the too-fast volume control on the d90. I use an analog preamp so non issue for me.

I used it pre mode and I may end up going back to that in the future. In my head the 121 SINAD D90 going thru my 112 SINAD Freya S seemed counter productive. I'll try the Magnius soon and may even get the Benchmark LA4 in the next few months

This type of unsubstantiated talk is great over at places like head-fi where people do not want to see or gather actually evidence. I come here to escape that subjectivist love in.

I like this site for the same reasons. Have you seen any substantiated data on love, laughter or fear? Our emotions and our senses are just that, unsubstantiated and qualitative yet they are quite real and much more important than numbers on paper. Imagine playing a song after unplugging your speakers to stare at a display of Audio Precision results in real time, taking comfort that it simply must sound as good as it looks. This runs counter to what what hi-fi audio is all about. There is a good reason blind listening tests result the way they do. Would you choose a better sounding item or an item with better specs? Ideally an item would have both but SQ nullifies bad specs not the other way around

 

[Shazb0t]

It lacked bass punch and mid mid bass. I assumed it had to be at least as good as my DACs with the ESS 9038PRO & 9018 so that would make me happy. It should sound better, considering it was Topping's latest and greatest. It didn't even have a headphone section so it seemed dedicated to purpose utilizing more space inside to get the best sound. It was heavy, looked awesome, super well made. But it's the sound that matters and the D90 was the first and only item I have ever returned in 30 years....so bass should have been there in spades as it was with the ESS chips.

You understand what frequency response is right?

 

[win]

112 SINAD Freya S

not in the passive mode, that should be even better than the d90

 

[RichB]

With respect, you are speculating with hubris to actual first hand testimony. I admit I don't know what a 'sighted listening test' is. I'm guessing it's either reading what someone else heard or imagining the sound based on measurements? Neither of those has any value, objective or otherwise. I took a lot of time to make this determination. I admit I bought the D90 based on reviews but I sent it back based on massive critical listening in several configurations. I think people living with bookshelf or other speakers that roll off around 50 hertz probably wouldn't notice a difference with the 4499's bass since those speakers cannot produce the bottom octave. My Magnepan 3.6 really don't produce the bottom octave, I love them but even with subs they can't match the Double Impacts below 200 hertz. This is not a jab at limited range speakers so please do not stand reality on it's head extolling the virtues smaller speakers. If you like your speakers that's all that matters. Listeners of orchestra or jazz wouldn't either. I never said the 4499 is void of bass, it just didn't make what the 9038PRO chips did. In all fairness, the ESS chips could be exaggerating this range and the 4499 might actually be the arbiter? No way to really know without being present when the material was recorded. I can say the bass difference was obvious right away and the rest of the spectrum sounded so good with the D90 I spent a lot of effort moving my system around to try and get the bass areas corrected, it was that good. I can also say no other DAC chip I'm aware of dares suggest much less flaunt anything like AKM's 'Velvet Sound', which you have to admit is a not to subtle way of saying their design is coloring the sound at least to an extent. Sure taking the edge off some bad recordings is good, but you get a marshmallow sound from exceptionally recorded material and that's a trade off I didn't think was worth it. This was not a 'wild' claim, I had several DACs and different amps and speakers to do direct comparisons with and evaluate the D90 with, (not as in background listening either) and it was the same every time. It's not a bad DAC, I just don't think it matches the ESS chips with most rock and synth material. Some vocals and classic guitar music didn't do as well either. I hear some tube pre amps like Schiit's Freya + make up for the slightly lighter bass response by the D90. I can't say I won't try that combo in the future, the overall sound of the D90 really is that good and it was not an easy decision to send it back. In fact, if the volume had not been so insanely fast compared to my other adjustable volume DACs I would probably kept it. I wasn't trying to ruffle feathers so you AKM / D90 fans out there keep your shirts on and enjoy the music.

Please consider breaking up your post into paragraphs, that is if you want people to read them.
Sighted or not, you would have to level match both DACs and compare them.

- Rich

 

[cathodeb]

Please consider breaking up your post into paragraphs, that is if you want people to read them.
Sighted or not, you would have to level match both DACs and compare them.

- Rich

Totally anecdotal, but I had a Modius/SYS combo for a while and was getting a little tired of getting up to change the volume, so I bought an E30 based on the recommendation of ASR. This is totally anecdotal and not tested in any way, but my feeling right off the bat was that the E30 lacked the bass of the modius BUT was much clearer, cleaner and a pleasure to listen to. I adjusted my woofer and wow, I unhooked the Modius for good immediately and never looked back. Again, just an anecdote, probably not worth much, but there it is.

 

[jodia54d]

Any Modius owners having problems with their micro USB ports crapping out?

I've been a happy Modius owner/user since Jun, and despite no repeated plugging and unplugging (I literally plugged in once to a PC and have not touched since), the micro USB port audio port has failed very suddenly today. Managed to "diagnose" that the micro USB was the problem by firmly pushing the micro USB male connector in place, then the PC detects the Modius. Sadly, if this pressure is not placed, the PC is unable to detect the Modius.

 

[GDK]

Any Modius owners having problems with their micro USB ports crapping out?

I've been a happy Modius owner/user since Jun, and despite no repeated plugging and unplugging (I literally plugged in once to a PC and have not touched since), the micro USB port audio port has failed very suddenly today. Managed to "diagnose" that the micro USB was the problem by firmly pushing the micro USB male connector in place, then the PC detects the Modius. Sadly, if this pressure is not placed, the PC is unable to detect the Modius.

I don’t have that issue with mine, but I think that if you review the entire thread here, there was some concern expressed about the fact that the micro-USB port was not a particularly robust choice.

 

[jodia54d]

I don’t have that issue with mine, but I think that if you review the entire thread here, there was some concern expressed about the fact that the micro-USB port was not a particularly robust choice.

Yes, I did see quite a few comments and fair warnings regarding the robustness of microUSB, but I knew I wouldn't be touching the ports nor the cables very much. Quite surprised that it would suddenly fail, and so quickly too. I bought my Modius pretty quickly after it was launch, so I'm likely in the first few batches of units produced. Hope the subsequent batches don't have this issue!

 

[Helicopter]

...How Modius' a 5 volt supply is generating two 4 volt outputs defies logic, unless I'm not seeing it right? In my head expensive power cords are a hard habit to kick, I'm biased in that area.

You might be mixing up voltage with current or energy. You can not get more amps out, that is, electrons per second and you can't get more energy out, but you can increase the voltage/potential, that is like increasing water pressure with a nozzle... more energy per electron coming out, but fewer electrons out than in and less total energy out than in still. A transformer or capacitor readily increases voltage. Think of sparks from carpet or big vacuum tubes running off 120v mains, both very high voltage.

I don’t have that issue with mine, but I think that if you review the entire thread here, there was some concern expressed about the fact that the micro-USB port was not a particularly robust choice.

I bought mine early on, have left it on constantly, and it is working perfectly.

 

[PuX]

problems with their micro USB ports

did you contact Schiit support? this definitely should be a free repair.

 

[Theriverlethe]

Yes, I did see quite a few comments and fair warnings regarding the robustness of microUSB, but I knew I wouldn't be touching the ports nor the cables very much. Quite surprised that it would suddenly fail, and so quickly too. I bought my Modius pretty quickly after it was launch, so I'm likely in the first few batches of units produced. Hope the subsequent batches don't have this issue!

Stupid question, but did you try a different cable?

 

[jodia54d]

Stupid question, but did you try a different cable?

Yes I did. I also tested the power micro USB port, it's working fine. Doesn't require the forced insertion to work. I also opened the case to see if the PCB shifted and caused the port to misalign, but it didn't.

did you contact Schiit support? this definitely should be a free repair.

At this point, I think I'll have to raise a warranty claim with Schiit.

 

[A Surfer]

While it feels like a slap in the face and perhaps unfair, it is nonetheless absolutely normal for the customer to pay one direction of shipping for warranty work unless the unit is dead on arrival. It is part of the responsibility and cost of taking a chance with ownership of electronics. For an unlucky few they will experience failures and require warranty service fairly early on in their ownership, and while that is very regrettable and something companies try hard to avoid, it is a known and acceptable risk.

 

[BAMCIS]

Totally anecdotal, but I had a Modius/SYS combo for a while and was getting a little tired of getting up to change the volume, so I bought an E30 based on the recommendation of ASR. This is totally anecdotal and not tested in any way, but my feeling right off the bat was that the E30 lacked the bass of the modius BUT was much clearer, cleaner and a pleasure to listen to. I adjusted my woofer and wow, I unhooked the Modius for good immediately and never looked back. Again, just an anecdote, probably not worth much, but there it is.

Careful with "E30 lacked the bass of Modius" type comments, people will come out of the woodwork with protest signs here. I mentioned my Topping D90 was soft compared to some other DACs and it was not well received at all.

 

[Veri]

Careful with "E30 lacked the bass of Modius" type comments, people will come out of the woodwork with protest signs here. I mentioned my Topping D90 was soft compared to some other DACs and it was not well received at all.

Note his " This is totally anecdotal and not tested in any way ". Also did you just look for a subjective comment just to call it out because someone else did yours? Gosh.

 

[BDWoody]

Careful with "E30 lacked the bass of Modius" type comments, people will come out of the woodwork with protest signs here. I mentioned my Topping D90 was soft compared to some other DACs and it was not well received at all.

Are you sure you wouldn't be happier at another site? Seems you don't want to do much other than cause trouble...otherwise known as trolling.

 

[BAMCIS]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Modius Balanced USB DAC. It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. The Modius costs just US $199 which is quite cheap for a balanced DAC from a western company.

The design language is Schiit all the way (sorry, could not resist ), which I tend to like in wider form factor:

View attachment 66866​

I am not a fan of symbols for input selection but I guess if you don't switch DACs all the time like I do, it is fine. There is no other input here so you can't change filters and such. No power switch either.

The back panel is as you expect except USB and power connections:

View attachment 66867​

A micro-USB jack is used both for USB connection and independent power input. A phone charger adapter comes which I used for all of my testing. But reading the manual after the fact, seems like this is optional and the unit works from USB port alone if there is sufficient power.

I was hampered a bit in my testing of Modius. My Audio Precision software only supports ASIO interface in talking to DACs on Windows. I usually use ASIO4ALL wrapper which normally works fine but in a few instances, mostly with Schiit DACs, it truncates samples to 16 bits. That happened here. As a work-around, I used my Roon player to send the static tones to Modius. For dynamic measurements, I resorted to using Toslink and Coax.

DAC Audio Measurements
Let's start with my favorite connection, balanced XLR output:

View attachment 66868

Very nice! Distortion is below threshold of audibility in both channels at around -120 dB. Noise is higher than it, setting SINAD to slightly lower value resulting in very good ranking especially for price:

View attachment 66869

Here is a zoomed version:

View attachment 66870

Here is the same using RCA outputs:

View attachment 66876

Jitter using USB is excellent:

View attachment 66871

Switching to either Coax or Toslink optical degrades performance a fair bit objectively:

View attachment 66872

But with levels near -120 dB, definitely not something you will hear.

Dynamic range is very good:
View attachment 66873

Intermodulation+noise versus level is in the same category:

View attachment 66874

Linearity is nailed:

View attachment 66875

Here is our 32-tone test signal:

View attachment 66877

There is a bit of weakness at lower frequencies where noise floor goes up. We see the same in THD+N versus frequency:

View attachment 66878

There is only one filter and that is the default in the DAC chip:

View attachment 66879

Conclusions
Just a year ago we could not imagine a balanced DAC at $199 let alone from a western company. But here we are with Schiit Modius. Company shows that when it focuses on excellent engineering together with great value, it can deliver.

As a big fan of balanced XLR outputs (to reduce chances of nasty ground loops due to connection to PCs), I am happy to recommend the Schiit Modius.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Was going to go and plant more seedlings in the garden but here I am, doing another review. This has to make you feel guilty enough to donate some money using : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

This $199 DAC has AES input but the $3,000 Matrix Audio Element X does not. Hmm... I wonder what the $$ offset would have been had Schiit went with regular mains input vice micro USB power and left out the AES. Maybe zero? Couldn't have pushed the Modius past $250 and it would be even more popular. Maybe the best selling DAC in a while, even as is there is a wait for them for the last few weeks. Due in no small part to the 'Amir effect'.

I love the guys at Schiit but the USB power is a head scratcher since some decide against the Modius for the USB power reason alone but but enough to hurt sales apparently.

I'd like to see a survey of how many have an AES transport. That's rarified beast. They start at around $800 then shoot to over $3K and people complain about some of those on the very site that sells them. And people will use them... on a $199 USB powered DAC? Nope. I do love my Modius, no complaints.

 

[Veri]

I'd like to see a survey of how many have an AES transport. That's rarified beast. They start at around $800

What? No, not really, there are more affordable digital converters. In any case.. AES is common with pro gear, if a person would already own such a source. Besides that there's no real reason to go out and look for an AES converter, though. The USB implemented here performs great.

 

[BAMCIS]

Note his " This is totally anecdotal and not tested in any way ". Also did you just look for a subjective comment just to call it out because someone else did yours? Gosh.

Heavens no kind sir. Hope things are well with you. I love the Modius and I check it's posts often to see what others say about it, for better or worse. This a forum after all, not a dogmatic echo chamber. BTW:

"Come here to have fun, be ready to be teased and not take online life too seriously."

I saw that somewhere... Where was it... Oh yeah! It's a the top of the banner for this site.

I'm not calling anyone out, I totally agree people really can hear things. Some don't think people can hear things, that's their opinion and this is a forum after all, right?

It's funny, the post I replied to that guy may have been thinking 'that's odd. I wonder what he' talking about there?' BAM beautifully illustrated in oh, less than a minute?

Cheers