Schiit Modi Multibit vs. Maverick D2 (or Xiang Sheng DAC-03A)

dogwan

Dogwan
Looking for an inexpensive DAC with multiple inputs for the living room. It ia a 2-channel speaker based primarily vintage system.

Up until now I have gotten by with a Fiio D3 Taishan DAC stuck to the back of my TV and routed trough the AUX in of a Hitachi HA7700 integrated. This took care of TV audio out. Also have an old Powerbook and Oppo dvd player both using line-level out to the integrated. For a CD player I have an old Pioneer PD-M50 which is surprisingly good, but does not have digital out. If the DAC sounds better than the CD player I could go to just using the Oppo for a transport.

Now thinking of stepping up the game in LR. But, it does not need to be over the top. I have a separate listening room where I use a hot-rodded Philips TDA1541 based cd player and a Cambridge DacMagic for the occasional 'puter input (I'm predominantly an analogue guy). I much prefer the native out of the Philips CD player to the DacMagic.

I am also a tube fan where practical. Based on that I think I might like the Maverick. However, I do realize it's mostly a buffer on the output.

Then again, anecdotal evidence tells me that I will probably prefer a multi-bit (r2r ladder?) dac over a delta-sigma based dac. My fear is the Schiit might be a little bright which is not my taste.

Whichever one I choose could end up in the listening room system and the DacMagic would probably satisfy me in the living room where it is mostly passive listening.

My tonal preference is for detail and neutrality with timbral accuracy. I also like super tight and deep bass where it is actually present in the recording. In other words.... I want my cymbals to sound real, not like air being let out a tire. I want my bass to be the foundation of the melody I can follow and to be able to hear the textural differences between a kick drum and the bass player.

Anyone have experience with both of these dacs?

I also see I can get the XiangShen DAC-03A for about the same price. I understand the design is virtually the same, but supposedly the Maverick has higher grade components and better specs. But, it looks like the XiangShen would have a better USB card.

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Looking for an inexpensive DAC with multiple inputs for the living room. It ia a 2-channel speaker based primarily vintage system.
....
My tonal preference is for detail and neutrality with timbral accuracy. I also like super tight and deep bass where it is actually present in the recording. In other words.... I want my cymbals to sound real, not like air being let out a tire. I want my bass to be the foundation of the melody I can follow and to be able to hear the textural differences between a kick drum and the bass player.
There will be no delta-sigma DAC that will sound correct. Hence not really "inexpensive" - you need to define that.
I have multiple high end players with delta-sigma DAC's and even if with SACD (DSD) they might sound all right, for CD originated material, a parallel multibit DAC is needed.
Noiseshaping combined with 1 bit DAC (d-s) doesn't make the cymbals sound right. Couple of DACs that you linked are better delta-sigma (the top 6 bits are multibit, so at large signals sounds right), but... Schiit Modi Multibit is closer of what you want.

Now, at beginning, a parallel/multibit DAC it might sound "bright" because your brain will be used to overcompensate for the older D-S DAC's (especially if you are used to hear cymbals "live", but after a few hours of listening all will be back to normal. The attack and decay or bass will also sound better, but here other factors play part - low frequency jitter rejection (inexisting for simple SPDIF receiver chips), quality of power supply...
 
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Fwiw, I do not use the tube buffer in my DAC, because I cannot hear the difference. I would be happy NOT to have a tube in my DAC.

Because of that, I am leaning towards the Schiit. (I really wish they would change their name though.)
 
Because of that, I am leaning towards the Schiit. (I really wish they would change their name though.)

Amen to that. I understand why they did it, since having a "shocking" name drew attention, but at this point they're an established player and it's starting to feel really immature.

At least they only put the S logo on their gear, as opposed to the full name.
 
The Xiang Sheng DAC-03A has option for USB XMOS U8 instead of Tenor TE7022 chip. This is different than Maverick. In other post Sonic67 bagged the Tenor chip and I respect that opinion. The Tenor chip is pretty popular though. Even so I can't find reviews or tests with the Tenor chip that discuss the issues.

My music files are all CDs ripped lossless and I connect via USB to my Maverick DAC from laptop. I do not have hi-res files or use CD player.

There is all kinds of debate on how to connect computer to DAC. Basically SPDIF or USB. From reading all this, I appears that USB is preferable or has the greatest potential of the two. I know this is generalization, no matter I need USB because that it what my laptop provides.

Then there is debate whether a conditioner gizmo is needed - for power, jitter, noise etc. There are several gizmos on the market for both SPDIF and USB.
These devices usually connect between source and DAC . Some folks combine several gizmos. Most folks say they improve sound (but usually not via any sort of blind testing). There are testing reviews that say they do nothing or even add noise and there tests are that say the opposite. Some say the gizmos help crappy systems but not high end. It is difficult to dig out what is real.

"My wife says it sounds better", is not a valid test.

From a general perspective I have to wonder why add on gizmos are necessary? To me it says either your source or DAC has issues or poor design. There is logic to idea that noise/jitter could be transferred from USB to DAC. Is this like an old wives tale, makes sense but actually inaudible or properly dealt with by the DAC?

My Maverick DAC sounds fine, no apparent noise, jitter etc. But maybe there is and I just don't realize it. I'm kinda bored anyway, so willing to try something different.

I am interested in USB. The Tenor TE7022 is used in many USB DACs which was supposed improvement over previous chips. Now it is XMOS. I have been searching for an XMOS USB DAC. I can't find many choices. Xiang Sheng 03 is one option but the web ads seem confused and my impression is to wait. In some threads folks ordered Xiang Sheng 03 and came with Tenor chip - ad titles are misleading so have to be careful what you order.

Meanwhile Schiit Modi Multibit is recommended. I can't find any information as to what USB chip it uses. How is USB implemented and why is it superior to Tenor USB? Are external gizmos recommended or required?

So it gets down to what USB DAC should I be interested in?
 
Based on your replay preferences I think you'd be very happy with the Modi Multibit. My system is very resolving [before the addition] with plenty of powerline conditioning. Due to the low noise floor whatever you add to it will be revealed. The Schiit is not bright. I also have the iFi SPDIF iPurifer jitter filter / reclocker. Was it required to enjoy the dac? No, but it does improve on it. The MB was built to a certain price point. I've heard from end users their TOTL dac doesn't benefit from jitter filters.
 
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