So Hi, I’m Jeff. I’ve been in this hobby since the Headwize days and I still find I like to tinker on the DIY side of things. DIY audio has always been a tweaky hobby and it’s all too easy getting lost trying the latest FOTM capacitor or wire or potentiometer that’ll FINALLY give the sound you’re looking for. As a reality check I’ve always wanted a somewhat “neutral” reference for my DIY builds as well as something that gives me decent sound without the obsessive tweaking. It’s why I recently made two purchases; the Modi Multibit 2 DAC and the Asgard 3 that reviews suggested make a decent pairing.
I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. The Modi was painfully bright hooked up to either the PASS diy ACP+ or WHAMMY for amplification. The Asgard goes too far in taming the Modi with the combined sound turning to bland mush. Taking the pair to a recent headphone audio meet confirmed my thoughts. Now this thread isn’t meant to bash Schiit Audio, but to question budget specialty audio in general. In all the time I’ve been in this hobby I don’t think I’ve heard any budget product that sounded balanced enough that I wanted to listen to it as my main rig. I’ve been to 6 headphone audio meets in the Toronto area over the years so I’ve heard enough budget, mid-fi and high-end audio gear to know what they can sound like. I KNOW that specialty audio can sound amazing, but it can also sound incredibly bad.
So what products do I listen through? Until I downsized my PC recently 100% of my listening happened on various Apple products. Before iPods came out I used a lot of Discmen. Lately it’s been the iPad Air 3 which does very little wrong. TBH in recent memory I don’t think I’ve heard vocals sound as sublime as the iPad Air 3 through HD-650s. I’m now writing this listening to the on-board audio coming out of an ASROCK H670M-ITX motherboard through the Sundaras. Though not the smoothest sound, the motherboard utterly SLAUGHTERS the Asgard in every aspect I can think of. The Modi and Asgard both have stayed boxed-up since they were taken to a meet I went to in June. That’s how bad I thought they sounded.
My question is does anyone else hear the same? I’m not saying that ALL generic audio sounds good. My previous PC build used an Asus ROG STRIX motherboard, and the on-board audio was bright, rough and unlistenable. I know economies of scale benefit the mass-produced stuff but it’s like specialty audio is made intentionally bad on the low-end so users are always tempted to upgrade. It’s kinda galling. Anyone else feel similar?
-poor guy’s rant ends.
I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. The Modi was painfully bright hooked up to either the PASS diy ACP+ or WHAMMY for amplification. The Asgard goes too far in taming the Modi with the combined sound turning to bland mush. Taking the pair to a recent headphone audio meet confirmed my thoughts. Now this thread isn’t meant to bash Schiit Audio, but to question budget specialty audio in general. In all the time I’ve been in this hobby I don’t think I’ve heard any budget product that sounded balanced enough that I wanted to listen to it as my main rig. I’ve been to 6 headphone audio meets in the Toronto area over the years so I’ve heard enough budget, mid-fi and high-end audio gear to know what they can sound like. I KNOW that specialty audio can sound amazing, but it can also sound incredibly bad.
So what products do I listen through? Until I downsized my PC recently 100% of my listening happened on various Apple products. Before iPods came out I used a lot of Discmen. Lately it’s been the iPad Air 3 which does very little wrong. TBH in recent memory I don’t think I’ve heard vocals sound as sublime as the iPad Air 3 through HD-650s. I’m now writing this listening to the on-board audio coming out of an ASROCK H670M-ITX motherboard through the Sundaras. Though not the smoothest sound, the motherboard utterly SLAUGHTERS the Asgard in every aspect I can think of. The Modi and Asgard both have stayed boxed-up since they were taken to a meet I went to in June. That’s how bad I thought they sounded.
My question is does anyone else hear the same? I’m not saying that ALL generic audio sounds good. My previous PC build used an Asus ROG STRIX motherboard, and the on-board audio was bright, rough and unlistenable. I know economies of scale benefit the mass-produced stuff but it’s like specialty audio is made intentionally bad on the low-end so users are always tempted to upgrade. It’s kinda galling. Anyone else feel similar?
-poor guy’s rant ends.