[Delirious Lab]

Sure, just connect Modi's output to one of the speakers' RCA inputs. This will bypass the speakers' DAC.

[Edit] Or will it? How do the speakers talk to each other? If they do with a digital signal, does the master speaker convert the analog signal with an ADC, only to be DAC'ed by the slave speaker? That would defeat the purpose of using Modi...

 

[kh6idf]

I've ordered a modi 3, and it will work connected to my computer using the micro usb to usb-A cable, but I am wondering if it will work connected to my Moto G7 phone? Is anyone using a modi 3 with a Moto G7?

 

[Rensek]

I've ordered a modi 3, and it will work connected to my computer using the micro usb to usb-A cable, but I am wondering if it will work connected to my Moto G7 phone? Is anyone using a modi 3 with a Moto G7?

I've used my Modi 3 with a fire tablet, a pixel 1, pixel 2 and an iPad air. As long as your phone allows audio to be sent through usb, it should work.

 

[kh6idf]

I wonder if I need an 'OTG' cable or just a regular USB cable with a micro usb plug on one end and a usb-c plug on the other end?

 

[Rensek]

I wonder if I need an 'OTG' cable or just a regular USB cable with a micro usb plug on one end and a usb-c plug on the other end?

I use the following in my office.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00UUBRX0Y/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o1_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also use the USB micro to usb A cable that Schiit supplies. With a google pixel adapter. USB A female to USB C male.

I have found that alot of the USB A to Micro cords I have don't support audio standards. They are just for charging/power. The cables that come with Google Chromecast Audio for example.

 

[kh6idf]

I use the following in my office.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00UUBRX0Y/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o1_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, I ordered that cable from Amazon and will see if it works when it gets here.

 

[kh6idf]

Thanks, I ordered that cable from Amazon and will see if it works when it gets here.

Got the cable today and it does work. No need to do anything related to the usb port on the phone other than plug in the cable. At first the volume was very low - I discovered I needed to set the volume to maximum then everything was good.

I tried streaming an album that was available in 24/192 (Qobuz) which worked, but I could detect no difference in the sound from 16/44.1 using my Stax SRM-252II/SR202 so I am leaving everything set at 16/44.1.

 

[luvmusik]

Modi 3 connection help, please...

I have a blu-ray player which plays blu-ray AUDIO discs well, but only has a HDMI out jack (female), no other output port.

How can connect my Modi 3 to this blu-ray players HDMI port ?

Would an "audio extractor" box work ? (HDMI in to coaxial audio out). Since the ones I've seen also have analog outputs, there is a really cheap DAC inside. If going HDMI in & Coaxial out, would that bypass the cheap internal DAC, just to use this box as an adapter to connect cables ? If it does not bypass the internal DAC, and the cheap DAC is active, it seems a bad idea to run that audio signal into MODI 3 then ?

I did find an audio extractor box, gofanco HDAudExt, Amazon $65, with a 3 way switch - EDID (for video display I think), Bitstream audio output, or PCM settings. In Bitstream mode there is no audio output to the analog connectors (maybe bypassing internal DAC). If the bitstream signal is not decoded yet from the blu-ray & using the box coaxial output to pass into the Modi 3 coaxial input, will the Modi 3 decode the blu-ray audio signal ? The final gear in chain is an analog not digital receiver, so the receiver won't decode the signal.

I think Bitstream delivers a better sound thru coaxial outputs than PCM does, not sure. On the PCM extractor box setting, analog audio output goes to all connectors so cheap internal DAC must be active in PCM mode for this box.
https://www.gofanco.com/products/audio/hdmi-2-0-repeater-with-audio-extraction-hdaudext.html

link to gofanco unit from their site, the diagrams & fotos help a lot.

also pdf of owners manual below.

The coaxial audio output of gofanco seems to suggest 5.1 channel audio only, but 2 channel audio should output fine ?

The Modi 3 analog outputs would run into a vintage 2 channel hifi receiver.

Or is there a better way using something else ?

 

[audiobomber]

I received a Modi 3 yesterday. I compared it to a couple of DAC's that sell for approximately double the cost; the iFi Audio nano iOne and Korg DS-DAC-100M. It beats both, and has displaced the Korg in my main headphone system.

I use the Modi with an iFi iPurifier2, which cleans up the treble and removes a bit of sibilance. I am also using the iPower 5V instead of the wall wart supplied with the Modi, but I'm not sure I could hear any difference. The rest of my headphone station consists of a Dell 7000 laptop and Chromecast Audio streamer, with Hafler HA15 amp/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 headphones, and Asgard 2/Grado GH4.

I really like the sound of the Modi; kind of creamy, tight bass, good transient response, nothing bothersome, which is what I need. I can handle sins of omission, not sins of commission.

 

[Bassic Needs]

I recently got a Dragonfly Red and a Schiit Modi 3. Am I crazy to find the DF-R seems more resolving, and a bit more oomph in the bass? Has anybody heard both and have a preference?

DF-R chip: 32-bit ESS 9016 with minimum-phase fast roll-off filter. DF-R firmware = v 1.07
Modi 3 chip: AKM AK4490

Various ways I've run them:
1. Samsung S20 -> USB C to DF Red -> cans, or Atom & cans
2. PC -> DF Red -> cans, or Atom & cans
3. PC -> USB -> Modi -> Atom & cans

I used the wall wort power supply with Modi.

Music source:
PC: Google Play Music web page, on highest quality setting.
S20: USB Audio Player Pro app (which recognizes the DF-R is attached), using Google Play Music as the library, on highest quality setting.

 

[kh6idf]

I haven't heard any of the Dragonfly DACs so I can't compare to the Modi 3, but I would say the Modi 3 bass sounds fine to me. It is really well balanced across the whole spectrum. That's not to say the Dragonfly might have more 'oomph', but there is certainly nothing wrong with the Modi 3 low end response.

As for resolution, see if you can find a recording with some fine detail that is more clearly heard in one DAC vs the other. For example, I have noticed on some recordings of solo lute playing that were recorded either outdoors or with a window open, I can hear birds singing in the distance. Or maybe you can find a recording where backing singers stand out more clearly, etc. I think it is easier to hear these differences than it would be to try and measure them.

Music source: Qobuz windows 10 app
USB to Schiit Modi 3
Stax SRM-252II driver, SR202 headphones.

 

[Bassic Needs]

I'm a neophyte, so maybe bass "oomph" isn't the best description.
But for example, the bass heavy music by Haxan Cloak- such as the track "Excavation (Part 1)" and anything else in that album - the bass seems more nuanced, faster, and draws me in more than when I listen on the Modi.
I detect traces of this feeling in various genres of music but it's more pronounced in the kind of music I cited above.
(Note: Haxan Cloak will be a little strange to some. I learned about it in one of Joshua Valour's videos when he was talk about the performance of a headphone).

 

[kh6idf]

I find I can be 'drawn in' to the music one day and not the next. Also if I start to get sleepy (I often listen in the evening) the music doesn't sound as good. That's a sign to stop and go to bed!

 

[tmb821]

Modi 3 vs Fiio k3.
I currently have Fiio k3 using line out to magni heresy. Considering a modi 3. Would I gain anything besides visually by doing this? I find I don’t use the k3 as a amp anymore since getting my heresy.

 

[kh6idf]

Modi 3 vs Fiio k3.
I currently have Fiio k3 using line out to magni heresy. Considering a modi 3. Would I gain anything besides visually by doing this? I find I don’t use the k3 as a amp anymore since getting my heresy.

I think it would be hard to say whether you would hear an improvement with the Modi 3 vs using the AKM4452 DAC in the k3. It would also depend on the analog stage after each of the DACs. The distortion spec for the k3 indicates about four times the distortion of the Modi 3, but we are talking 0.004% vs 0.001%, both completely inaudible. I remember one of my Electrical Engineering college professors saying that distortion below 1% was inaudible.

Supposedly the AKM4490 DAC in the Modi 3 is "better" then the AKM4452, but it really depends on how well the rest of the circuitry (power supply, digital input receiver, analog output, etc.) is implemented. Imagine a $10,000 Mark Levinson DAC with AKM 4452 vs $50 Walmart DAC with AKM 4490 - which would sound better?

I think the best way to upgrade is to find out if there is any link in the whole chain that is substantially weaker than the other links and upgrade that one. You could try running the k3 digital out (coax or optical) through a DAC which is known to be very good, if you or someone else has one. If that doesn't make a noticeable improvement, then the DAC in the k3 is not the weak link. In fact you may not have a weak link, all links may be roughly the same and you would have to upgrade ALL of them to hear an improvement.