Schiit Modi Multibit

You quote a comment from a year ago? Then after being called on it, you get indignant. It's obvious that some people do nothing but troll on Schiit threads. I guess everyone needs a hobby!
You mean after dumpster diving for 'scroes' :rflmao:
 
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My Modi Multibit came thru the mail today. I just got it hooked up. It's working excellently with RuneAudio. I am not going to do a full review until I live with it for awhile.

But I can say I am blown away by the superb sound. I am coming off an eleven year old PSAudio DLIII Dac. The improvement is obvious listening thru my speakers. I will try the headphones later.

Listening to the Cowboy Junkies Trinity Sessions is jaw dropping. I've never heard this recording with this high quality.

This is my third Schiit Audio purchase after the Mani and Saga.

Peace.
 
I am considering picking up one of these. One hesitation is that while I have a reasonable amount of digital music, very little of it is lossless or uncompressed. I understand that this will not elevate those files to lossless quality, but would it be an improvement or a waste?

In a few months I may just try ordering one to check and return it if it is not significant or worthwhile, but I wanted to check before doing so.
 
I am considering picking up one of these. One hesitation is that while I have a reasonable amount of digital music, very little of it is lossless or uncompressed. I understand that this will not elevate those files to lossless quality, but would it be an improvement or a waste?

In a few months I may just try ordering one to check and return it if it is not significant or worthwhile, but I wanted to check before doing so.


I can't answer if the MultiBit will be an improvement with compressed files. My music is lossless.

My question for you is what do you plan to do going forward? Will you start ripping your own files losslessly? Do you plan on re-ripping your music losslessly? Would buying a Multibit encourage you to go thru the trouble of re-ripping?
 
My question for you is what do you plan to do going forward? Will you start ripping your own files losslessly? Do you plan on re-ripping your music losslessly? Would buying a Multibit encourage you to go thru the trouble of re-ripping?

Those are good questions. There are some things I would be more than willing to re-rip. There are some that I would not be able to as I either bought the album digitally or it was the download offered with the vinyl and I do not have the means presently to rip from vinyl. It probably would encourage me to update that which I can. I admit I have a subjective preference for vinyl, but not everything I want is available on vinyl and there are times when I do not want to get up and flip the record several times an hour; digital offers convenience for that.

Regardless, it will be a bit before I actually order a DAC so there is time for me to research more.
 
I got the Modi 2 Uber (non multibit) last week and have been streaming Spotify (i.e. not lossless) from a Mac mini though USB. The improvement in sound has been major, as I have reported elsewhere. Very satisfied with the purchase.
 
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Borrowed a Schiit Modi 2 Multibit DAC and ran some comparisons with a Geek Out 2A Infinity DAC (not pictured).
System chain: PC > FLAC/AAC/OGG > DAC > Valhalla 2 tube amp [stock tubes] > Senn 600 headphones. Did NOT use the USB Decrapifier as shown in the picture for this review/comparison.

EDIT: I used the middle gain (line level out) on my 2A Infinity into the Valhalla.

Impressions are as followed, as quickly as possible:

Schiit Multibit: brighter sound signature, more digital sounding, very good detail. Very good tonality, very articulate and pointed sound signature. Sounds very clear. Everything is extremely succinct. Vocals seem a tiny bit harsh at the tail end of them. The Schiit seems to emphasize the music, especially percussion/bass, pushing the vocals to the back a bit. It's a very “in your face” type sound, very relentless in exposing what's happening in the music.

The Geek Out 2A is smoother, “darker” and more natural sounding. More of an analogue sound. The Schiit may edge it out slightly in detail and spaciousness, but can be slightly-to-fairly ear fatiguing (depending on equipment). The Schiit has a taller soundstage, while the Geek Out sounds thicker with tighter, smaller bass, a shorter soundstage ceiling, and more weight behind the music and vocals. The Geek Out also emphasizes the vocals (pushing the music back a bit) and they're more pleasing to listen to, with zero harshness. Soundstage depth probably goes to the Geek Out.

My preference: the Geek Out 2A. Keep in mind, the Geek Out is more expensive (about $300) vs the $250 Schiit and there's not an enormous difference between the two, honestly, unless you have extremely revealing ($$$) equipment or you're doing A/B comparisons with specific attention to the sound signatures.

You'd probably be happy with either one - neither is “better” than the other, it all boils down to personal preference in how you like your music presented. Both are great values and should give you a wonderful experience. If I needed another DAC, I wouldn't mind owning the Schiit for a backup in another system.
 

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Schiit Multibit: brighter sound signature, more digital sounding, very good detail. Very good tonality, very articulate and pointed sound signature. Sounds very clear. Everything is extremely succinct. Vocals seem a tiny bit harsh at the tail end of them. The Schiit seems to emphasize the music, especially percussion/bass, pushing the vocals to the back a bit. It's a very “in your face” type sound, very relentless in exposing what's happening in the music.

My opinion about the MMB isn't very popular in this discussion but this is exactly what I experienced. Perhaps my other gear wasn't a good match and someone with a darker sounding amp and speakers could benefit from the "optimism" emanating from the Modi, but it wasn't for me.
 
Wow, I have to disagree with the previous two posters. The MMB is the least digital sounding DAC I 've heard. It has a silky sweet analog sound to my ears.

But everyone hears differently.
 
I have had mine a couple days and am enjoying the sound, but I can't get it to stop popping and clicking more than a dirty vinyl :(
Perhaps I should try a different program (am using J river)

edit: bad grammar
 
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I have had mine a couple days and am enjoying the sound, but I can get it to stop popping and clicking more that a dirty vinyl!
Perhaps I should try a different program (am using J river)

I was using Music Bee and I had that same exact issue (minor popping). I thought it was my imagination but now I'm glad to know it wasn't just me.
 
I have had mine a couple days and am enjoying the sound, but I can get it to stop popping and clicking more that a dirty vinyl!
Perhaps I should try a different program (am using J river)

I am using RuneAudio with a Raspberry Pi3 with no problems. I connect the hard drive and the Multibit USB cable to a powered USB Hub which connects to the Pi3. Of course the Pi3 and the Multibit have their own power sources as well.
 
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I have had mine a couple days and am enjoying the sound, but I can get it to stop popping and clicking more that a dirty vinyl!
Perhaps I should try a different program (am using J river)

Try changing your output to ASIO if using Wasapi or the other way around. Are you using any DSP in JRiver? You can experiment with the size of the buffers in JRiver, I was reading there are several places in JRiver you can tweak the buffers it but I had no need to and didn't spend any time to understand all the options.
 
The Modi 2 doesn't have the 5th generation USB tech that their upgradable dacs do. At the price point of the Modi, they can't include everything. Not sure if that would solve the clicking, but their newly released Eitr is being raved about by new owners reporting that it upgrades their various branded dacs.
 
Wow, I have to disagree with the previous two posters. The MMB is the least digital sounding DAC I 've heard. It has a silky sweet analog sound to my ears.

But everyone hears differently.

Well, with all these sentiments to the MMB I keep wondering if there is some variation across Schiit units that make them sound differently and I just had a dud in my hands. I kind of doubt it, but who knows...
 
Yea does anyone have any tips for cleaning up the USB output from the laptop e.g. drivers/services/external power supplies? It's just a Windows 10 laptop, about 2 years old w/ USB 3 etc.

I'll give the ASIO thing a go when I get home.

Another thing - I noticed a lot of people complaining about the device not being recognized when trying to install the Schiit drivers - Mine did the same. Try this - It was remedied, for me, by removing the wall power supply to the Multibit, and only connecting the USB cable to install the drivers. For whatever reason (separate power sections inside the modi i imagine) the drivers would crash and say the device could not be found with both the USB cable and the wall wart power supply plugged in. After the drivers installed successfully, reboot and connect the auxiliary power supply to the Modi.

I had no problems connecting the unit and the Windows drivers recognizing the unit straight away.
 
I had to install an earlier driver which had no problem recognizing the C-Media interface, the latest would say device not detected and no-go, same thing happened on 3 PCs. Didn't try the unplug trick. I had no popping sounds, if you're using the latest driver perhaps try uninstalling it and use the earlier driver and see if it cures them?
 
There is a very kewl way to run your DAC from your laptop, cell phone, ipad, etc. with no USB cable.

You need a wireless network.
You need a tiny computer called a Raspberry Pi. It's about the size of a pack of cigarettes. ($75)
You need some free software called RuneAudio.
You need an external hard drive with all your music files.

It works flawlessly with the MMB. The RuneAudio interface is super kewl. You can load music, control volume, skip around, from anywhere in the house with your cell, ipad, laptop.

You guys should look into it.
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Well, with all these sentiments to the MMB I keep wondering if there is some variation across Schiit units that make them sound differently and I just had a dud in my hands. I kind of doubt it, but who knows...

Are there other people reporting an up-front, digital sound besides us?
 
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