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DBro
9
Sep 4, 2017
Other than the price difference, would you guys say this is comparable to the Schitt Modi 2 or is this of superior quality? I'm trying to decide between the two.
Nosaj1969
104
Sep 4, 2017
DBroWithout any real subjective listening test, it would be hard to say one way or the other. I think you can assume that this will be nearly identical musically though. Z-reviews did a comparison with a normal ODAC, the Modi Multibit(which I have and love) and an Ifi model. His thoughts are that they all sound pretty identical, with the multibit having just a tad more bass. That being said, I think you will not go wrong with this. I'm buying one specifically for the fact that it works with any USB source for power, and doesn't require drivers. My corporate IT has locked down my ability to add a driver, so this is the only way I can get good sound. Sweet price too IMO.
DBro
9
Sep 4, 2017
Nosaj1969That makes sense. Thanks again! I've been re-ripping all my CDs in uncompressed files and I'm planning on getting a DAC, amp, and higher end headphones in my new quest for audio fidelity. It's kind of a rabbit hole and overwhelming. If I was listening to ALAC files using Audio Technica's AT-SR9, do you imagine I'd hear the difference between the Modi 2 and the Modi Multibit? Sorry for all the questions...
Nosaj1969
104
Sep 4, 2017
DBroCan't really speak to the AT's since I don't currently own any, but my thought is that you would still hear the difference with the Multibit. I also have a Jotunheim, and it has dual mono dacs that are pretty fantastic, and provide more of what is needed for the fully balanced connections, but I hooked my multibit up to it though the balanced inputs, and I think it's Dac sounded more warm and full, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. Separation isn't as good as with the full balanced setup, but still very very good and very musically accurate, and the amplifier in the Jotunheim is very clean and powerful and would I believe show off any flaw in the source as well as you can. At the end of the day, I can hear the difference between the amplifiers I have pretty easily through any of the headsets I have (HD6XX, Monolith 1060s, HD600, Noble Masssdrop x, K7XX's). Between this and the regular modi, I believe this is going to sound closer to the $250 mutibit, which is why I'm willing to join the drop. I really hope that Grace nails this one. What amp are you planning to use with this?
DBro
9
Sep 4, 2017
Nosaj1969I had been looking at the Magni 2 and the Modi 2 for the "Schitt Stack." But if I get this Grace SDAC, I was assuming I'd get the JDS Labs Objective 2 unless the O2 is available on Massdrop. I'm looking more at the aesthetic match since I have no idea what I'm doing. Haha. This whole setup would be primarily for headphones and the computer since I already have a setup with a receiver, record player, and Klipsch speakers that I'm happy with in the living room.
Nosaj1969
104
Sep 4, 2017
DBroYeah, I'll definitely be getting the amp when that drops. Would be really sweet if Massdrop decided to make it an add-on with this. Just hope the ship date isn't like March of 2018 or something. It will be a sweet little setup, and powerful! Great for work for me. I have a Vali2 with my Modi Multibit, and it' s pretty awesome, but not taking it to work! This has a nice small form factor, and less cables without the extra power cord. Only one going to the amp this way and an RCA or 3.5 to 3.5 between the two. I'm actually glad there is no power button, the idea that you can get this to be pretty low key looking is great. Keeping my fingers crossed for the add-on option.
madmax69
0
Sep 10, 2017
Nosaj1969hi there,i am new to DACs and have bought this,i hope it sounds ok with my hifi,laptop-DAC-pre amp power amp floor standers,you mention about changing the rca outs {unballanced}in {ballaced} XLR,how do you do that,what piece of kit do you use and is it true ballanced outs,kind regards mk
Nosaj1969
104
Sep 10, 2017
madmax69 Glad you asked! It's an interesting thing. So I have a Monoprice cable for the RCA to 3Pin XLR specifically for this application:
1.5ft Premier Series XLR Female to RCA Male Cable, 16AWG (Gold Plated) aprox $4.50ea. (and a total &*$@ steal!)
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So there are three ways you could terminate this cable, two of which are in the diagram here:
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Both of these show the + (positive for the channel going to the Tip), but the - and ground go to the same connection on the RCA side or jumpered at the XLR side but still connected together. A little nicer picture of the first one above:
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However, there is a third way to do this that is built into the Monoprice cable, and was what I preferred about it. If you look at what is inside the Monoprice cable, you would see this:
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The un-protected wire (bottom) is actually a shielded wire mesh that wraps the two inner cables (the + and -). The advantage of the shield is that it rejects most interference that would potentially be picked up by the two wires running in parallel inside. Since any two conductors or wires running in parallel normally pick up RF from other sources (power wires, cell phones, etc...) the more you can keep them from being parallel or shielding them, the better the RF interference rejection, and thus sound quality. So, in the Monorpice, the shielded cable is connected on an XLR pin as in the diagrams, but on the RCA end, it runs right up to the connector, but is not terminated on that end.
Tried to show you here how it looks, but hard to see other than the mesh jacket shown coming out of the cable that the opaque plastic isolates from touching the rest of the jack...
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This makes the cable directional, meaning that it is only really used for one way connection to benefit properly from the added shielding (don't ask me why it doesn't work the other direction, because I think it does anyway) provided by this configuration and not being tied to the ground of the - on the RCA and into the DAC. Essentially, the idea is that the jacket mesh which doesn't run in parallel and goes directly to the ground in your house, and provides better interference rejection. A normal RCA cable can't provide this type of full shielding since both conductors are used, and even if there is a shield, it could only be terminated to one side as a in a Kimber Kable interconnect for partial isolation, or sometimes both sides go to the same termination point as the - wire which arguably provides almost no gain from the shield wire. There are endless debates on whether any of this helps in a normal RCA cable, and all I can say is what I think sounds better to me which is the Kimber way.
You can see in this photo better the arrows on my Monoprice XLR cable (first marks past the RCA end) showing the direction the audio should flow from component to component:
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So the RCA end on this cable being connected to the ModiMultibit output, and the 3pin RCA on the input of the Jotunheim allows for the ground in the Jot to isolate all the way back to the connection at the DAC, and helps eliminate any potential noise picked up between the two.
Does it work? IMHO, Yes.
I also show the RCA that I used to hook up in the same way to the Jotunheim, but using the unbalanced inputs on both sides instead. There was an audible difference not only in the sound quality, but I could hear noise when I turned up the volume to higher levels off the RCA to RCA. Both Monoprice cables are very good for very inexpensive cables, and both did sound good if not comparable to other more expensive RCA cables I have and tried like my Kimber Kables. The Monoprice RCAs were not the same as my Kimber interconnects, but those are on duty in my home theater system anyway, and cost more than the DAC and AMP combined. The Monoprice RCA you see is only a few dollars, and probably one of the best for the money period.
The RCA to balanced did not have any noise and the background was dead silent and I think still sounded better than my Kimbers, which did not have the noise at least but not the fullness. I felt that the imaging, detail etc were all better using the the Monoprice balanced to RCA. I believe that it also essentially keeps it as much balanced from the DAC as you can have in this kind of setup, but you are still taking advantage of the superior isolation inherent in a fully balanced system all the way though the dual amplifiers in the Jotunheim, and the huge power gains on the headphone side which I find extremely desirable (the amp is a monster). I could tell a difference with the balanced audio from my Modi from a direct comparison to the Vali2 single ended configuration in terms of separation no doubt. Much better separation with the balanced, and a different listening experience which I'm now addicted to. But there is a distinct difference in the fully isolated system built into the JOT that gives it a major edge IMO.
All that being said, I'm using this DAC since I have no reason to believe that in all senses it will sound better than anything else in the price range up to the Modi Multibit, and doesn't require PC drivers. I will plug it into my SMSL SAP-9 Balanced Headphone Amp (https://www.massdrop.com/buy/smsl-sap-9-balanced-headphone-amp), which is almost the same size form factor as the SDAC, and I think will outperform for my purposes the O2. For $100 price, the SMSL is a pretty sweet pairing for this for a work setup, and low key/high performance. Even the sizes are very similar. I may still try to pick up an O2 to compare, but I already have the SMSL and love it! Also will use the Monoprice RCA to XLR to hook them up.
Can't wait for this though, as if I do add an O2, I can stack all three and do some fun comparisons from jack to jack without having to switch anything on the stacks backside.
Also was very tempted by the drop happening tomorrow which has this Grace SDAC inside an Alex Cavali amp, the Massdrop CTH + SDAC DAC/amp:
(https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-cth-sdac-dac-amp?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ccu_massdrop_CTH_SDAC_DAC_Amp&referer=H7BG7Z&mode=guest_open&iterableCampaignId=163856&iterableTemplateId=236814)
It would I'm sure sound wonderful, and is also balanced with tube! I have to think that the setup that I'm doing is effectively similar to how the innards of the Massdrop CTH + SDAC DAC/amp will be setup since it's hardwired to the amp inside in the same way. But it would be too nice to leave at work. Also the SMSL has a nice 2.5 TRRS balanced headphone jack too! There are some good options at the moment for an inexpensive high performance setup that will drive most anything well. Sorry for the long winded answer, but hope it helps. Good luck to you with your system!
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