This isn't really a comparison between the Magni/Modi and E17/E09K (i know that this page is about the E07 and E09K, but at least i have one of them). Just wanted to point out that more people here on Headfi should consider Magni and Modi separately; the same company making two products designed to be used together doesn't mean they actually do work well together.
I first bought the HD600, then i bought the Magni/Modi combo. Then i noticed a big difference (not placebo for sure) between:
Onboard sound (ALC892 from Asus Z87-a mobo) -> Magni :
bass relatively weak, some details harder to pick up from songs compared to the other two, music not as lively
Modi -> Magni:
Bass was sweet and controlled and highs were good, detail was good; sound stage seems to be the worst out of the 3 though(felt very constricted and vocals were coming as if close to the back of my ear)
Xonar DX -> Magni:
Soundstage best of the 3 (relatively spacious), but the highs were piercing.
Obviously I wasn't very happy with the Schiit purchase but I don't want to return them because of the shipping + 15% fee, and also I was trying to convince myself that the Modi/Magni combo should sound the best because most people on head-fi say so.
Just a week ago I bought the FiiO E09K and E17 from a local store that I can return with 5% restocking fee and I have to say
The Schiit Magni isn't as amazing as everyone says, but the Modi should't be tied to it because the Modi by itself is great. Don't be offended if you own a magni and absolutely love it. I'm just saying this because the Magni was claimed to work well with pretty much everything, and it didn't for my HD600. In fact, it was pretty bad for me (definitely not placebo, I don't need a blind test to hear the differences I was hearing)
Trying things out with E09K and E17 at my disposal
Cannot distinguish between: (even if i think i can, I am not confident that it is not due to placebo)
Modi -> E09K -> HD600
E17 -> E09K -> HD600
Xonar DX (when it doesn't suffer from slight buzzing noises when my GPU is running 100%) -> E09K -> HD600
and they
all sound best out of the possible combinations i have (good bass and treble (not piercing), warm, and good sound stage)
Xonar DX -> Magni -> HD600: piercing highs
Cannot distinguish between:
Modi -> Magni -> HD600
E17 -> Magni -> HD600
Very constricted soundstage and slightly brighter than Modi -> E09K -> HD600...etc, but bass and mids are good
Conclusion (TL;DR):
Magni doesn't work well with my Modi and HD600 OR I have a defective Magni.
Modi -> Magni -> HD600 and E17 -> Magni -> HD600 both gave me sound that was very bright and the vocals feel like they were coming slightly behind my ears (constricted sound field)
If it is not defective, then I suspect that's the aggressive or bright nature that these reviewers are describing of the Magni: http://www.head-fi.org/products/schiit-magni
Either way, I have learned my lesson of spending money doesn't mean that it will give me better sound. Since I had no way to do a blind test, every time that I think the Magni was giving me worse sound I would try very hard to convince myself it's just placebo (I know it's the opposite of what most people here would experience, since I am thinking Magni gave me bad sound) and it made my days hell. Thank you Schiit for giving me the good schiit and bad schiit.
Also as mentioned before, Just wanted to point out that more people here on Headfi should consider the Magni and Modi separately more; the same company making two products designed to be used together doesn't mean they actually do work well together.
The Schiit Magni and Modi and FiiO E17 and E09K (Monoprice RCA cables and Audioquest Forest USB cable for connecting computer to the DACs)
Sennheiser HD 600 with stock cable
