Topping D90 vs SMSL SU-9 vs SMSL M500v2 vs Schiit Modius

[Green7]

I hate to resurrect an old post... but I will.

I picked up an SMSL SU-9n and an SMSL SH-9 to pair with my Hifiman Arya's. Been listening to that for a bit and sure, the display can tell me when it's receiving HD audio and what rate, etc. and that's nice. Then I found a second hand Schiit Modius for $100 and bought it. I notice literally no discernible difference. I don't have an A/B switch but swapping the XLRs from SU-9n to Modius I've got 10 secs of forget time and when it comes back in.... no difference to me.

I have until 6/21 to return the SU-9n and I am leaning toward it - $423 with tax vs. $100. What am I missing? Where will I regret? Neither have MQA (good!), but SU-9n supports DSD which I have nothing recorded in.

Haha! I am in the same boat. I have a Modius, but saw the excellent reviews and low price point on the SMSL DO100. Just got the SMSL today. Will see how this compares with the Modius over the next 30 days.

 

[5mall5nail5]

Haha! I am in the same boat. I have a Modius, but saw the excellent reviews and low price point on the SMSL DO100. Just got the SMSL today. Will see how this compares with the Modius over the next 30 days.

Good luck! I confirmed the return on my SMSL SU-9n not because it was bad or anything, but after testing it back to back more with this $100 second hand Modius I cannot hear a bit of difference. Sure, I can't play DSD, but I don't own any anyway. I think the Modius "only" goes to 24-bit/192 kHz while the SU-9n goes to 32-bit/768 kHz, but again, can I hear that? I personally cannot tell the difference! The only thing the SMSL SU-9n did, and its smart marketing, is put the kHz and format right there in front of you on the LCD. Maybe if I found the right tracks to demo I could tell the difference but so far I cannot, and for that reason, I am going to send back the $400 DAC for now and use the $200 one (which was $100 for me).

This is through Hifiman Arya, SMSL SH-9 amp, and now Modius DAC.

 

[Green7]

Good luck! I confirmed the return on my SMSL SU-9n not because it was bad or anything, but after testing it back to back more with this $100 second hand Modius I cannot hear a bit of difference. Sure, I can't play DSD, but I don't own any anyway. I think the Modius "only" goes to 24-bit/192 kHz while the SU-9n goes to 32-bit/768 kHz, but again, can I hear that? I personally cannot tell the difference! The only thing the SMSL SU-9n did, and its smart marketing, is put the kHz and format right there in front of you on the LCD. Maybe if I found the right tracks to demo I could tell the difference but so far I cannot, and for that reason, I am going to send back the $400 DAC for now and use the $200 one (which was $100 for me).

This is through Hifiman Arya, SMSL SH-9 amp, and now Modius DAC.

Thank you. Your headphone has pretty impressive specs.

I will start comparing the two DAC's this weekend; I doubt I will hear much of a difference. I have a Topping E30 on my desktop setup, and when I compared the E30 to the Modius, the Modius has a more laid-back sound stage. The singer in my reference song takes a few steps back with the Modius vs the E30, everything else being the same. It was immediately obvious.

I am not a headphone guy. My setup is Spendor S2 speakers (Pinnacle Baby Boomer sub) driven by 100 WPC Rotel amp, Anthem Preamp fed by Modius.

 

[wacomme]

Thank you. Your headphone has pretty impressive specs.

I will start comparing the two DAC's this weekend; I doubt I will hear much of a difference. I have a Topping E30 on my desktop setup, and when I compared the E30 to the Modius, the Modius has a more laid-back sound stage. The singer in my reference song takes a few steps back with the Modius vs the E30, everything else being the same. It was immediately obvious.

I am not a headphone guy. My setup is Spendor S2 speakers (Pinnacle Baby Boomer sub) driven by 100 WPC Rotel amp, Anthem Preamp fed by Modius.

So what are your thoughts on the DO100 vs Modius?

 

[Green7]

So what are your thoughts on the DO100 vs Modius?

The reason I was checking out the DO100 was that it had both single-ended and balanced output, which I need for my setup. It had intermittent dropout issues, so I returned it. Perhaps the unit that I got was glitchy. Apart from the dropouts, audible differences between the Modius and DO100 were almost non-existent. The Modius does not have remote, volume control, Bluetooth or DSD support. If those are some of your requirements, Modius might not be the right solution for you. I rarely change my input source and control the volume on my preamp, which also takes care of switching input sources. I do not have any DSD music and bluetooth is not a requirement for my setup. I have been happy with the Modius and it meets my needs perfectly.