Modi 2 and 2U discontinued, Modi 3 now live.
Nov 12, 2018 at 3:14 PM Post #31 of 77
Wallboy said:
Kind of OT, but I see Modi 2 Uber listed in their closeout deals for the exact same price as the Modi 3. Why would someone purchase a Modi 2 Uber for the same price as a brand new revision Modi 3 which has the same additional inputs as the Uber now? What am I missing?
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Power supply is different between Modi 3 and Modi 2 Uber. Modi 2 Uber was on sale at $150. I guess something to do with the powersupply. Someone can shed some more light on this.
 
Nov 13, 2018 at 12:28 AM Post #32 of 77
MonoOno said:
Awesome. He is one of Schiits biggest critics and gave this a great review. Seems like S/PDIF is the way way to go.

Also, goes to show how being genuinely critical of products can lead to improvements for us as consumers because no doubt Schiit took to heart some of his criticisms.
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I doubt it had anything to do with Amir’s opinion. From what I gather, his opinion means little to Mike Moffat.
 
Nov 13, 2018 at 12:29 AM Post #33 of 77
Big BD said:
Power supply is different between Modi 3 and Modi 2 Uber. Modi 2 Uber was on sale at $150. I guess something to do with the powersupply. Someone can shed some more light on this.
Click to expand...

It does have a better ps but had caps in signal path.
 
Nov 16, 2018 at 7:32 PM Post #34 of 77
I just got the modi 3 and auditioned it against My Topping D50. I will start off by saying that the modi 3 is the better value between the 2 right off the bat. I tested both units on my laptop using USB and both units were using my ifi ipower 5v power supply. The only difference in cables were the stock cable from schiit and a .5 meter pangea se usb. The I left the sound at the same level on the THX 789 amp and was using some Audeze LCD2C headphones. I started by hooking up the modi 3. I put the volume to lowest gain and had the pot at 12:00. The sound was very good straight off form my initial impression. I was listening to In praise of Bacchus from Type O Negative. The male voice in the begining was slightly pushed back but still very clear and discernible.

The melding of the typical distorion from rock instruments was pleasant and did not have any kind of grating quality to it. There is a good sense of separation and the music seemed smooth and organic which reminded me of the presentation of my audioengine D1 that also uses AKM chips. The modi 3 also seems to retain the trademark "velvet sound" from AKM. I usually base my opinions on How long I keep analyzing, keep wanting to listen to a song, or forget that I'm trying to analyze the song in the first place. The modi 3 left me between wanting to listen and had moments of me forgetting my original purpose, which is a good result.

I switched to the D50 and left the volume the same and I immediately noticed that more volume was coming through. The bass had a bit more impact and slam vs the Modi 3 and the treble was sharper as well. There also seemed to be a certain spacial quality that was added to the recording reminiscent of some kind of 3d dsp effect that made the sound king of swirl about inside my head, if that makes any sense what-so-ever. The volume was a tad out of my sweet spot however and I needed to lower the volume to around 11:30-45 to make listening more pleasant. I continued and then I was really sucked in again. The D50 manages to reveal more from the recording in slight ways and create a better overall presentation however slightly. It could be a simple issue of a better pairing with the THX as I think the mimby I have is better with my asgard 2 at lower volumes, and the D50 is better for listening at higher volumes on the THX. The Modi 3 might also pair better with the Asgard 2, but i've not tested them yet. I did wonder if the perceived volume difference had anything to do with the dac decoding or if it was some other reason. I went to audiosciencereview and looked at the vrms output on the rca and did see that the modi 3 puts out less power than the D50, which should account for the difference in volume from the amp at the same pot setting. That was a neat find to see that I was hearing the difference when there was data to explain it as well.

Like I said earlier though, for the money I still think the Modi 3 is the better value. The Topping is more than twice the price of the modi 3, and for the same money I suspect getting an Eitr could beat the Topping in SQ in a closer price vs performance test especially if you like the SPDIF sound more than usb audio in the first place, which I'm pretty sure many people do including Mike at schiit based on an interview I saw with him and Jason recently. I'll probably get an Eitr soon enough, but I'm moving the modi 3 to another location and most likely won't be able to do that test in any sort of reliable manner. I hope this helps anyone interested in the modi 3 especially since the audiosciencereview test was mentioned here and the person there still recommended the D50 over the modi 3. I'll agree with the fact of a base modi 3 being inferior to the topping D50, but for the same money spent there might be a better option as well.
 
Nov 20, 2018 at 7:16 AM Post #35 of 77
From what I have read, the JDS Labs Atom amp is better than the Magni 3. If I go the JDS route with the atom amp is it best to get the OL DAC or the Modi 3? I was planning to get the Magni 3/Modi 3 until I saw this amp review for the Atom.

I am powering a couple cans, HE4XX and X2. X2 are easy to drive.

Any thoughts would be great!
 
Nov 28, 2018 at 11:28 PM Post #37 of 77
Found a review shared on reddit where they compare the stats on the jds atom and Magni 3.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-new-jds-labs-atom-headphone-amp.5262/

I’m in the same boat as you. I’ve been running a modi multibit dac with my darkvoice 336 (tube amp) and little dot 1+ (tube hybrid amp). Been wanting to add a solid state amp and had been looking at the Magni 3. I was about the pull the trigger on it when someone on massdrop suggested the jds atom.

I also have the he4xx.

Did you end up getting one or the other yet?

ngs428 said:
From what I have read, the JDS Labs Atom amp is better than the Magni 3. If I go the JDS route with the atom amp is it best to get the OL DAC or the Modi 3? I was planning to get the Magni 3/Modi 3 until I saw this amp review for the Atom.

I am powering a couple cans, HE4XX and X2. X2 are easy to drive.

Any thoughts would be great!
Click to expand...
 
Dec 7, 2018 at 9:31 PM Post #40 of 77
Deftone said:
The problem I have with Amirs measurements is that they’re always different than everyone else’s or is everyone else’s wrong and his is right... :thinking:
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Yea, I take his reviews of schiit products with a larger than average grain of salt. Also I don't really put much stock in them anymore due to my own experiences in listening to good vs 'bad' measureing gear. For example, I own a topping D50 and Modi multibit. From measurements the d50 should be miles away in sound quality from the mimby. Is it though? Nope, not at all. They both have their differences, but they are small without the addition of other equipment like usb cleaners or spdif converters and using either depends more on headphones and amps than their measurements.

There are good things that I guess can come from his measurements though and might have some validation to them. I got the THX AAA amp that he measured to be extremely low in distortion, and from the way it sounds to me seems to fall in line with the extremely low distortion found in tests. It has nice treble, but its very smooth unlike my magni 3 (which I hate with everything except my senn hd6xx) that has harsh and grainy treble as you raise the volume(which coincidentally Amir also perceived in his impression and found it to have a corresponding trend in his measurements of distortion). I want to point out that I was unhappy with magni 3 before I even saw Amir's review of it less you think I was somehow influenced. I was expecting the magni 3 to be amazing since the master switch dude liked it so much. At least his 2nd fav headphone pick was very much to my liking(lcd2c).

So its really up in the air to me which of his measurements really mean anything if at all. All I can say is that my favorite system at the moment is made up of equipment which he thinks is both trashy and golden. I'm currently using my Audeze LCD2C with the Mimby and EITR hooked to the THX AAA 789. Absolutely amazing sound for the price. Much better than the THX and D50 to me or the thx and SMSL- SU-8. So that's why I take measurements with a grain of salt. They are a nice thing to make you go hmmm, but ultimately I let my ears to the deciding.
 
Dec 7, 2018 at 9:43 PM Post #42 of 77
Thanks for the reply,I definitely prefer Schiits digital over their analog with the exception of the Vali 1, I really miss that little thing.

I’ll keep an eye out for the THX and see if I can get a listen.
 
Dec 7, 2018 at 9:49 PM Post #43 of 77
Deftone said:
Thanks for the reply,I definitely prefer Schiits digital over their analog with the exception of the Vali 1, I really miss that little thing.

I’ll keep an eye out for the THX and see if I can get a listen.
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I like the thx aaa 789 alot. Before I got it I really liked the asgard 2 with the mimby and lcd2c. Wth just amp and dac I liked the d50 and thx, but after I got the Eitr I went back to the mimby. I've not tried the eitr ad d50 yet, but they are kinda hard to stack so I just let it slide. I'd say the biggest difference was between the thx and asgard 2 instead of between any of my dacs.
 
Jan 16, 2019 at 2:38 PM Post #44 of 77
I'm floored by how good this is coming from Mimby. It's actually replacing my Mimby on the desktop. Cleaner in every regard. Not slightly either. $99 miracle.

edit: mids are recessed a bit. There's more low end than mimby.

edit 2: hmmm. maybe it's just badly mastered stuff mids sound recessed on. random access memories sounds fantastic. follow up: the new juno reactor stuff sounds fantastic too. It's just badly mastered stuff that sounds recessed.
 
Last edited:
Feb 5, 2019 at 5:27 PM Post #45 of 77
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