[cheesegrados]

In the market for new DAC but don't know which one to go for as they are the same price. 
 
1. Chord Mojo 599.99
or
2. Schiit Bifrost Multibit 599.99
 
 
MY Current Dac is a Schiit Modi 2. 
 
Any advice would be wonderful, thanks!

 

[Mr Rick]

  In the market for new DAC but don't know which one to go for as they are the same price. 
 
1. Chord Mojo 599.99
or
2. Schiit Bifrost Multibit 599.99
 
 
MY Current Dac is a Schiit Modi 2. 
 
Any advice would be wonderful, thanks!

 
I will take the contrarians position. Do you think those DACs will give you six times the performance of the Modi ?

 

[cheesegrados]

I have no idea, i never try to compare it. 

 

[Rhamnetin]

I will take the contrarians position. Do you think those DACs will give you six times the performance of the Modi ?

Only his ears can tell!

 

[cheesegrados]

   
Only his ears can tell!
 
I'd choose the Parasound ZDac or ZDac v.2 over both of them.  The v.2 has the benefit of having a well regarded headphone amp (albeit with 10 Ohm output impedance, not good for very low impedance headphones).  Both DACs (which are essentially the same) have features and build quality rarely seen in sub $1000 DACs, like jitter reduction for all inputs, a respected upsampling design, PSU with a large toroidal transformer, high quality components throughout according to reviewers who have broken it down, and a sound that's described as "analog" by people who normally aren't impressed by digital audio.

Sounds great!  Is the ZDac's better than the magni for headphone amp? Should i keep my Magni 2 uber or sell it after getting the ZDac?

 

[Rhamnetin]

  Sounds great!  Is the ZDac's better than the magni for headphone amp? Should i keep my Magni 2 uber or sell it after getting the ZDac?

 
The ZDac v.2's amp is way better than that of the original.  As for the original vs the Magni 2, I've never tried either but I'd wager they're on the same level.  If you get the v.2, you can test both and I'd bet money on you trying to sell the Magni 2 Uber afterwards.

 

[SeaWo|f]

   
The ZDac v.2's amp is way better than that of the original.  As for the original vs the Magni 2, I've never tried either but I'd wager they're on the same level.  If you get the v.2, you can test both and I'd bet money on you trying to sell the Magni 2 Uber afterwards.

I don't know about this.. the magni 2 is a pretty good upgrade sonically from what i have read, especially the uber with its feature set. As for the amp in the v2 its the TI TPA6120. An off the shelf all be it quality piece for what it is, but it is also found in many cheaper dac/amps like the fiio e9. I do not think that matches up to quality discrete amps.

 

[Rhamnetin]

  I don't know about this.. the magni 2 is a pretty good upgrade sonically from what i have read, especially the uber with its feature set. As for the amp in the v2 its the TI TPA6120. An off the shelf all be it quality piece for what it is, but it is also found in many cheaper dac/amps like the fiio e9. I do not think that matches up to quality discrete amps.

 
The amp chip isn't everything, it's also how it's integrated.  The amp in the v.2 is said to be good enough for current hungry planars. 

 

[SeaWo|f]

Implementation does matter, but you are ultimately limited by what you are starting with; its inherent limitations will never go away. Also just because something has power to drive high energy headphones like planars or can drive high impedance headphones like T1s does not mean a thing. There are plenty of amps that meet the specs for that, it says nothing about what the final sound quality is like.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Haven't heard the mojo, but I recently put my Zdac up against the Bifrost multi-bit. I chose the Zdac , and sent the Bifrost , back. The Zdac is a hidden gem of a dac. I think I'm done with dacs for a while.

Only his ears can tell!

I'd choose the Parasound ZDac or ZDac v.2 over both of them.  The v.2 has the benefit of having a well regarded headphone amp (albeit with 10 Ohm output impedance, not good for very low impedance headphones).  Both DACs (which are essentially the same) have features and build quality rarely seen in sub $1000 DACs, like jitter reduction for all inputs, a respected upsampling design, PSU with a large toroidal transformer, high quality components throughout according to reviewers who have broken it down, and a sound that's described as "analog" by people who normally aren't impressed by digital audio.

 

[Rhamnetin]

  Implementation does matter, but you are ultimately limited by what you are starting with; its inherent limitations will never go away. Also just because something has power to drive high energy headphones like planars or can drive high impedance headphones like T1s does not mean a thing. There are plenty of amps that meet the specs for that, it says nothing about what the final sound quality is like.

 
I didn't mean it simply had enough power for those headphones, I was saying that amp is known to perform well with hard to drive headphones like the HE-560 (in other words, final sound quality is highly regarded with hard to drive headphones such as this).
 
Quote:

Haven't heard the mojo, but I recently put my Zdac up against the Bifrost multi-bit. I chose the Zdac , and sent the Bifrost , back. The Zdac is a hidden gem of a dac. I think I'm done with dacs for a while.

 
Yeah I plan to get a ZDac v.2 next month, unless I see another great deal on a Timbre TT-1 or something else in that league.  It will be my last DAC for years.

 

[cheesegrados]

I'm planning to get the Zdac v.2 in a couple of days. Should I buy balance cables for it? I'm planning to use it with power amp that has xlr balance. I think the magni and modi is going on sale soon. I will update once i order it. 

 

[Rhamnetin]

  I'm planning to get the Zdac v.2 in a couple of days. Should I buy balance cables for it? I'm planning to use it with power amp that has xlr balance. I think the magni and modi is going on sale soon. I will update once i order it. 

 
In that case I'd go with balanced XLR cables.  

 

[cheesegrados]

Okay i'll report back soon. Thanks for great advice on such a hidden gem. 

 

[Rhamnetin]

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