Schiit Audio Modi Multibit (aka Mimby)

A couple of years ago I purchased a Schiit Magni 2 Uber that I didn't really like and to top it off, I had a bad experience with customer service that just put me off Schiit all together.

Fast forward a couple of years later, I purchased a Chromecast audio device that sounded decent, but not great. I also purchased a vintage Sony CDP-608ESD cd player that sounded very dynamic, but was a little too bright to my ears. Now that I had these two devices, I felt they both would benefit from a new external DAC and the Schiit Modi Multibit seemed like the best value out there.

I'm not disappointed with this purchase at all. For the price, I'd say the sound is very good and definitely helps my Chromecast audio and Sony CD player sound a whole lot better. When compared to my Bluesound Node 2 streamer, the Schiit is quite comparable and seems to offer slightly better bass. My only qualm is with the input selector which just seems really fiddly and doesn't work too well. Also, the little graphics to indicate the input type, don't really make sense to me and could be better. I wanted to use this with my iMac, but this DAC has a USB-B connector and a cable isn't included, I'm not sure why this type of a USB connector is included and not a more conventional type.

By offering a true R2R ladder DAC for $249, Schiit has once again raised the bar. Those who argue that all DACs sound alike have probably only heard the nearly universal delta-sigmas, since multibit DACs pretty much disappeared after the mid-1990s. The Modi Multibit sounded quite different right of the box, much more lively, harmonically full, and rhythmically precise than any reasonably priced delta-sigma. I heard these traits even more clearly through my Schiit Vali 2 and Meze Neo 11 IEMs, which I acquired shortly after the Mimby this past December 2016.

My FLAC files helped make such a good first impression. MP3s and other compressed digital sound very much that way by comparison, but the Mimby does not add more grain or harshness than what already exists. Higher sampling rates provide a slight benefit, but keep in mind the R2R ladder offers only 16-bit resolution. If you already own a lot of 24/96 PCM files then multibit might not be your best choice. Listening to 24/96 files through the $399 Pro-Ject Head Box DS, I heard more fine detail and decay than the Mimby, but otherwise still preferred the Mimby's livelier presentation. Listening to 16/44 PCM and MP3, the Mimby won hands down, especially with compressed digital sources, minimizing listening fatigue without maximizing boredom.

As the Mimby broke in, textures from good sources became even more fine-grained and vivid but not harsher. Its transient response rivals a good moving-magnet or moving-iron cartridge, but of course it can't match a good low-output moving-coil. The classic Denon DL-103 provides an apt comparison, combining a robust, vivid midrange with transient speed. But for less than the cost of even a rebuilt DL-103, let alone the turntable, tonearm, and phono preamp, the Mimby offers a good glimpse of sonic heaven.

I had the Modi 2 Uber and the Multibit side by side for a couple days hooked up to my Asgard2 feeding Hifiman HE400i cans. I use a Mac running Audirvana+ in Integer Mode and stream 44.1 FLAC from Tidal. I don't upsample/oversample and I don't dither unless I use the software volume (which is like never).

After warming both of the DACs up for 24 hrs and comparing them, I could hear a sweetness to the treble (less splashy and "digital") in the Multibit, along with a fuller mid section and rounder bass. The difference between the two was more apparent than the difference between a good quality 320AAC and 44.1 FLAC file. To my ears, it was a very easily discernible sound depth change, and for the better!

The multibit made it sound as though the music went through some sort of DSP that created sonic layers adding more separation to each instrument, but it sounded more organic than DSP - like it was revealing the source better than the M2U. I'd venture to say anyone with an ear for music and a precursory understanding of frequency response and stereo imaging could hear the differences - provided they could hear up to 16-17Khz as I can. Dare I say it made the digital signal sound more vinyl-like? Yeah, I think I just did and I stand by it.

Now, keep in mind, this was a purely subjective test with no control. I couldn't volume match as the two have different output voltages at the RCA outs. Also, I couldn't do a true A or B = X test because I live alone and most people who know me would laugh hysterically if I asked them to administer such a test (though my neighbors are probably happy that I'm into phones now vs home theater surround, ha).

I've heard many people argue that old school tech R-2R "ladder" DACs aren't any better sounding than a good quality Delta/Sigma DAC and that it is all expectation bias. Maybe that's true of the best quality Delta/Sigma DACs, but I'm comparing these two pieces of Schiit. No perceived increase in sound quality could also be because they aren't feeding their DAC with the best signal possible from their computer. I found that integer mode will make a difference - so will allowing the resistors in a "ladder DAC" to do their thing to the native sample rate and that upsampling/oversampling only confuses the sound.

For me, it's a clear win at $100 more than the modi 2 uber. Even if all of the sound improvements are psychological, I can't say I give a darn, because I sleep better at night with no regrets floating about. That's worth $100 alone. So there.