shenan24Over the Ubers? Not at all. The Modi 2 uber has the same DAC chip as this Dac/Amp and the magni 2 uber has more output power (which is better) and just as clean an output. The only reason you might want this amp is for the filters, but why? I find them useless.
Edit: My unit is sold
UzuzuGrace is better quality and somewhat HIFI... Schiit is MidFi at best... You get what you pay for... My experience with Schiit was negative and I would not recommend them to anyone... Spend a bit more for Grace and and enjoy high quality product.
ld100I see. I already have the schiit uber stack. They have been pretty good. Maybe they aren't as good but I wouldn't know cause that's the only one I have lol 😂. I'm thinking of getting the chord mojo. Any ideas of how good that is?
ld100And my Schiit experience has been great. I know it isn't the Magni, but my Lyr 2 is a much better sounding amp than the Grace.
You have to shove bias to the side.
He isn't going to get a better sound from the m9xx over the ubers. The ubers DO sound equal and they amp higher impedance headphones better than the m9xx.
There's really no point in anything else unless he wants to go tube or go with a fully balanced Dac and Amp.
Despite the 4490 on the m9xx sounding good, I still use the ODAC over it because it sounds more natural.
More money doesn't always mean better.
UzuzuMassdrop is not a good place for discussion if it is to Schiit or not to Schiit... I had my experience with them and frankly I will not let anyone schiit on me especially for my own money... But majority absolutely loves them and they have a devoted following. One thing from my personal experience is that Schiit sound is on the brighter side... Keep that in mind.
ld100Still the M9XX certainly isn't warm. It's natural sounding but bordering on clinical/cool. I would definitely not call the Schiit products any brighter, lol. And if you are running a vali//valhalla/lyr with a half decent tube it is so good. I would call Schiit neutral, not bright.
Again I prefer the sound of the ODAC at 100 dollars even though it's a fraction of the cost and not as detailed, it just sounds more fun and has a better soundstage (probably my biggest gripe with the m9xx is it's smaller soundstage, I do like the sound).
Just my preference and opinion of course, but I don't enjoy music any less out of a 40 dollar SMSL SAP6 with an ODAC vs my LYR2 paired with the M9XX. I think it's dumb to say one product is clearly better but given how both the m9xx and entry Schiit amp/dacs compare so similarly the favor is with the Schiit. The output power is just going to drive headphones better, especially ones with high resistance.
I'd say though that given the easy to drive nature of most modern headphones though, a lot of people aren't going to need anything more than the m9xx unless they want to use 300-600 ohm headphones.
UzuzuHey, I love my Dragonfly black. But when I switch to my higher end Dac/Amps I think how mediocre Dragonfly sounds... ;) Just saying... Lots of people enjoy ODAC. And Schiit... The question was about Schiit lower end products and in my opinion Grace is better... As for higher end units it is my understanding after a lot of research that they are bright (call it clinical/cool). My sound preference is not bright, clinical and cool and I am quite happy that I never got any Schiit products as I probably would be not happy with them. I might be wrong...
shenan24I got to demo it in the Audio46 store in NYC. I used the Beyerdynamic dt 1770, 1990 pro, and the Audeze sine on-ear. I really enjoyed the sound of the Chord Mojo but the complaints of RF noise with alot of mobile products are true. I had a-lot of RF noise with my wife's iPhone. It was mostly unplayable with my Lumia 950xl the static was most of what I could hear. I also demoed the ifi micro idsd BL and it was clearer (to me) and no static issues with any of those two phones.
UzuzuGood explanation. I got to admit, though. Reading your love of the Odac made me think NwAvGuy came back from the dead. LOL I agree with what you wrote, though.
jefe32;-) I do believe there are differences in DACs but given the fact most people own and use mid-fi equipment in the headphone community the ODAC could very well be an end all for a great price. I enjoy it immensely.
And I'm about to get a Gungnir Multibit, l o l.
UzuzuNice, congrats! Yeah as i try different Dacs (akm, Burr-Brown) i am seeing the differences in at least how every Audio dac company implements the chips differently.
jefe32Yeah and I tend to enjoy any and every decent dac out there. It's like picking out the differences in origin between two cups of fine tea... you can enjoy them both but appreciate what differences there are.