[Meep_Meep]

Hey all! New to the audiophile community... like a lot of people here i joined the Sennheiser HD6XX drop & they'll be my first pair of "high-end" headphones.

Previously had a pair of 598's which i enjoyed well enough but am looking forward to the upgrade

Biggest concern now is possible DAC/AMP combinations (budget is entry level)

So far i've decided on the new Magni 3 amp, but am still unsure about DAC pairing. Ideally i'd get the matching Schiit Modi but i've heard mixed reviews about the quality compared to other similarly priced DACs, especially regarding jitter/noise etc...

ref: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/budget-dac-review-schiit-modi-2-99.1649/

Now maybe this isn't as big a deal as the site makes it out to be, and maybe it won't be as bad if i use a separately powered USB hub, but the concern at least has me looking at other options – particularly the newly released Massdrop x Grace SDAC (~ ODAC), ref: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-grace-design-standard-dac

Any thoughts or advice between the two are much appreciated.

 

[sheldaze]

Don't fret over the DAC decision. Let your budget be your guide, and get the Modi. Until you've heard a little more, there's no real concerns. What you will have in terms of sound quality in the Modi 2, with just plain USB input from your computer (no hub necessary), will likely be leaps and bounds above what you've heard before. One of the guys at a recent meet said comparing DACs is akin to comparing things on the head of a pin. While the differences are there, these are really small deltas.

Entry level these days is very, very good!

 

[cossix]

Modi 2 is a great entry level DAC! I've heard most dac's in that price range sound about the same in terms of resolution so I'd stick with Modi because it'll look the best paired with Magni 3. Good luck, I think you'll love the combo!

 

[mindbomb]

The sdac uses an xmos receiver with good clocks, so I think it's going to do really well in the jitter area. The o2 amp has really good performance into 300 ohm loads, so that would make a good combo for the hd6xx. There also is the ol dac, which comes with an external psu, but lacks the xmos receiver and is more expensive.

 

[franksj]

Hey all! New to the audiophile community... like a lot of people here i joined the Sennheiser HD6XX drop & they'll be my first pair of "high-end" headphones.

Previously had a pair of 598's which i enjoyed well enough but am looking forward to the upgrade

Biggest concern now is possible DAC/AMP combinations (budget is entry level)

So far i've decided on the new Magni 3 amp, but am still unsure about DAC pairing. Ideally i'd get the matching Schiit Modi but i've heard mixed reviews about the quality compared to other similarly priced DACs, especially regarding jitter/noise etc...

ref: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/budget-dac-review-schiit-modi-2-99.1649/

Now maybe this isn't as big a deal as the site makes it out to be, and maybe it won't be as bad if i use a separately powered USB hub, but the concern at least has me looking at other options – particularly the newly released Massdrop x Grace SDAC (~ ODAC), ref: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-grace-design-standard-dac

Any thoughts or advice between the two are much appreciated.

I concur with the others here who recomment the Modi 2. I have the Modi 2 Multibit. I also have the Fulla 2 Delta Sigma which is excellent as well, but there is a slight but clear improvement with the Modi Multibit. I was a digital signal processing engineer at IBM for many years and understand the difference and I am still amazed that delta-sigma dacs sound as good as they do, knowing how they process the signal. Technically I know the multibit dacs are better and my ears can tell the difference. If 56 year old ears can tell, I'll bet you can too. I liked my Modi 2 MB so much I just got another.

There's quite a bit of drama surrounding the audio science review and as an engineer I can tell you there is some slight of hand going on. Techical measurements like that have to be scrubbed to the nth degree to be valid. Even the scale they display on their charts can be misleading. After spending way too much time looking at all the data and seeing the flaws and the reality, I'd go with superior engineering with R-2R Dacs like the Schiit Multibit and you'll be set for a very long time.