Happy as a Pig in Schiit: Introducing Modi Multibit

[jamor]

Received my multibit!
 
Are these the best windows drivers?  They were automatically installed. 
 
 

 

[droopy1592]

I posted this on reddit, just gonna leave this hear
 
Seriously, thanks Schiit. I'm totally impressed. I haven't done Schiit all day other than listen to all of my music over again. I should be doing yard work and work related stuff. 

  My grado ps500e and sr325 sound great through the macbook pro. PM3 not so much. I was blaming the phones (because my other phones sounded great) and just thought others that had reviewed the pm3s were just happy they had some ok sounding Planar headphones on a budget. I couldn't understand the hype with the Oppos. I didn't know if it was because they were closed (hell, my Momentum 2s are closed and sound great) or just not a great sounding phone.

I had packed the PM3 up to sell because they just didn't float my boat. I tend to like a dark sound but with detailed/airy treble. There was something missing and I never really reached for them much at all except for very specific tracks.

I ordered the modi MB/magni combo as my first headphone dac/amp since 2008 (lost $6000 in hometheater/audio equipment in a flood) and wow. Just wow. The soundstage is way better and the airy/detailed top end is back. I'm a/b-ing with my macbook pro and it is a night and day difference with the PM3. The grados have improved with the M/M stack but only slightly. The PM3s, however, have just come to life. I now see what other users mean when they say some phones need a good dac/amp to get them to sound great. They are becoming neck and neck with the grado ps500e, and dare I say, starting to like them more and more, maybe becoming my favorites.

I've heard others have the same complaints about the PM3s and have read a few bad reviews and I'm wondering if it was just because of the dac/amp.

I'm going to keep them. I love them. I'm being very unproductive today.

 

[luckyeights]

The number of processors does not really matter as the yggy only uses all of them in balanced mode.  The moderate difference is the processor itself is better but the big difference is the 4x burrito vs 8x megaburrito. I believe this is where the extra details are coming from.  Though i doubt the mimby is any slouch in detail compared to any other dac under $500.  But i guesss we will ahve to wait and see the big comparison im waiting for is the m9xx vs mimby. 

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

  I do not think Jason et al should worry about cannibalizing sales. Moby is a gateway drug to Gumby and Yggy. 

and more to the point, steve jobs reminds us that if we don't "cannibalize" ourselves, someone else will. I suspect that even if every Bimby customer were to get Moby instead, so many more will buy Moby that could not afford Bimby in the first place that it will be a net positive—even discounting the customer loyalty, goodwill, etc. that will bring customers to future purchases.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Mimby has arrived, and it works

Going to let 'er burn in a bit, before commenting further.

 

[MothAudio]

 
 
I do not think Jason et al should worry about cannibalizing sales. Moby is a gateway drug to Gumby and Yggy. If people are interested, I can try this test on a larger system.
 
Thanks

 
Speaking for myself I'm currently messing around with multi channel playback since my 2 channel is inactive. So far I'm surprised by the SQ of components far less revealing than my SET system. The Mimby will see service there and once I get the 2 channel up and running I may throw some cash into my front end and demo the Gumby as I'm very happy with the other pieces in my system.   

 

[koven]

is anyones front button really loose? is it suppose to be like this? 

 

[MothAudio]

The button on my Modi 2 Uber was not loose, worked flawlessly the short time I own it.

 

[sheldaze]

  is anyones front button really loose? is it suppose to be like this? 

The button can be loose. It is not an issue.
 
When comparing my Modi 2 Uber (4490) against a local member's original Modi 2 Uber (4396) he noted that my button was worse. Sorry, but I've not actually touched the button on my Modi Multibit to compare it against my Modi 2 Uber (4490). I'm just enjoying the music.

 

[JazzVinyl]

is anyones front button really loose? is it suppose to be like this? 

Mine does not feel loose.

 

[koven]

Mine does not feel loose.

 
yeah, that is what i assumed. it almost rattles on touch. i am going to RMA it. thanks.

 

[mysticstryk]

yeah, that is what i assumed. it almost rattles on touch. i am going to RMA it. thanks.

It varies from unit to unit, but the loose button is normal.

 

[DonQuijote]

The Mimby replaced a Modi 2 in the chain.  I fed the USB from a Galaxy Tab (streaming the local classical station) via a Wyrd and fed the optical from a Marantz SA8004 (CDs and hybrid SACDs).  I will use the coax in with a FIIO X3 but I haven't tried that yet - 90% of the music on the FIIO is CD FLAC rips anyway.  The output of the Mimby/Modi 2 goes to a Little Dot MK III.  The Little Dot's pre-out goes to a pair of Monoprice studio monitors.  That's the most surprising thing I found - fed with a classical stream through the Mimby, those speakers never sounded so good.  The improvement was immediately noticeable.  The headphones plugged into the Little Dot are HD600s.  My personal music tastes run to classical, jazz and progressive rock, although I have been known to sample blues, metal, folk, ambient and electronika.  I am particularly fond of female vocals.  I tried the Chesky Ultimate Demonstration disc. This a pretty good test disc as it has female, male and group vocals plus jazz and classical ensembles.  I found the Mimby to be much more detailed - I could hear the wind players catch their breath (also the vocalists) and hear the pluck of the strings.   Going on to other recordings, I heard the keys strike in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1.  Someone on one of the multibit threads mentioned a Dire Strait's 1986 CD for drums/percussion.  Since I don't have this CD, I improvised - went to YouTube and found a drum solo by Meytal Cohen.  The drums are much tighter with the Mimby with the attack and sustain of the cymbals more noticeable.  The drums on the Chesky disc were the same.  I am going to look for more acoustic music as well as some of my favorite symphonies to compare.  This review(?) took longer than I expected, so I'll leave now

 

[Arthrumus]

Impressions compared to the multibit Bifrost would be awesome if anyone ends up with both. As an existing Bifrost owner seeing that the multibit upgrade is the same price as the entire Modi Multibit dac it would be good to have an idea of what disadvantages come with the going the Modi route. Reading the specs on Schiit's site it looks like both the Modi Multibit and Bifrost Multibit use the same DAC chip and closed form filter. 

 

[estreeter]

If it was 70 all-year it wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, it ain't.

 
I hear ya, but isnt everyone in much the same boat for at least 3 months of any given year ?
 
FWIW, I came up here to get away from southern Winters, and anything resembling 70 deg F is starting to get to the point where I need to wear socks to bed
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin,_Northern_Territory#Climate
 
For us, that '3 months' becomes 10 months, but I'm not moving to Hobart just to listen to a few tunes.