[WardrumMastodon]

Please do open them, and tell what you think, cause i have the stack in my cart and the e10k on my desk.

So I have been switching back in forth between the E10K Olympus 2 and the Schiit stack for about an hour now. 
 
Here's my conclusion...
 
E10K is warmer, less clean. Sound feels closer. Can get a little muddy at higher volume. 
Schitt is brighter and cleaner. Bass is slightly less but tighter. Sound feels slightly farther away but there is more separation. Sound is cleaner at higher volume. 
 
Not sure its worth the 300 dollars. Plus it does not come with cables so I had to buy a usb cable and rca cables. So now with shipping/tax and extras its closer to 350. 
It also sucks having power cables and wires all over my desk now. I also will need to buy a larger power strip to fit this damn power bricks. 
 
The Schiit makes my X2s slightly too bright and a little fatiguing. Maybe they would be better on a higher end set of cans or a more sensitive set of cans. 
 
Overall not really blow away like I expected to be. Maybe if I hook them up via my optical it would change the sound? 
 
WdM

 

[Shogster]

So I have been switching back in forth between the E10K Olympus 2 and the Schiit stack for about an hour now. 

Here's my conclusion...

E10K is warmer, less clean. Sound feels closer. Can get a little muddy at higher volume. 
Schitt is brighter and cleaner. Bass is slightly less but tighter. Sound feels slightly farther away but there is more separation. Sound is cleaner at higher volume. 

Not sure its worth the 300 dollars. Plus it does not come with cables so I had to buy a usb cable and rca cables. So now with shipping/tax and extras its closer to 350. 
It also sucks having power cables and wires all over my desk now. I also will need to buy a larger power strip to fit this damn power bricks. 

The Schiit makes my X2s slightly too bright and a little fatiguing. Maybe they would be better on a higher end set of cans or a more sensitive set of cans. 

Overall not really blow away like I expected to be. Maybe if I hook them up via my optical it would change the sound? 

WdM

My main concern is how will the e10k drive the th-x00.Thats why i want to upgrade, plus there is some channel imbalance, and there is a slight hissing sound when i turn the volume knob.I would not mind a brighter sound and a bit more soundstage, though the fostex is not known for its soundstage. The fiio has 10ohm output impedance, and the x00 seems to be pairing well with a lower impedance amps.

 

[WardrumMastodon]

My main concern is how will the e10k drive the th-x00.Thats why i want to upgrade, plus there is some channel imbalance, and there is a slight hissing sound when i turn the volume knob.I would not mind a brighter sound and a bit more soundstage, though the fostex is not known for its soundstage. The fiio has 10ohm output impedance, and the x00 seems to be pairing well with a lower impedance amps.

My Th-X00's sound fine on either. Same changes that I mentioned before. 
Driving my Shozy zeros and Piston 3s there was no real difference. 
No hissing on my E10K

 

[rez11]

So, i just recently got my Modi 2 Uber 4490, i dont have a schiit amp paired with it but, I'm having a problem. Randomly from 5min-1hour of listening my playback and sound will suddenly cut off and i hear pops. I can turn the volume knob down and not hear the popping but still sound is terminated, I have to restart anything i was doing with sound Youtube/Spotify etc to get sound back OR i found the sound comes back after a few mins by itself. I have Modi using USB A-B to my PC (monoprice cable) back of motherboard USB 2.0 port. 
 
I have tried unplugging both my AMP and the Modi's power boxes into another outlet's surge protector and it still happens. A note, my desk is less than optimal with electronics, wifi router on left side of desk, underneath left side my Modem, right side of desk is the AMP+Modi with my PC raised on a table and the side of PC is inches from both amp+modi. Any ideas what I should do? How can i tell if its DAC-side or AMP-side? or a cable issue?

 

[Letmebefrank]

  So, i just recently got my Modi 2 Uber 4490, i dont have a schiit amp paired with it but, I'm having a problem. Randomly from 5min-1hour of listening my playback and sound will suddenly cut off and i hear pops. I have to restart anything i was doing with sound Youtube/Spotify etc to get sound back OR i found the sound comes back after a few mins by itself. I have Modi using USB A-B to my PC (monoprice cable) back of motherboard USB 2.0 port. 
 
I have tried unplugging both my AMP and the Modi's power boxes into another outlet's surge protector and it still happens. A note, my desk is less than optimal with electronics, wifi router on left side of desk, underneath left side my Modem, right side of desk is the AMP+Modi with my PC raised on a table and the side of PC is inches from both amp+modi. Any ideas what I should do? How can i tell if its DAC-side or AMP-side? or a cable issue?

 
Email tech@schiit.com and ask them, Nick usually responds pretty quickly to customer questions/complaints so definitely give that a shot.

 

[Spork67]

One way would be to grab a cheap DAC/amp combo to help with troubleshooting.
As an added bonus - you get a second setup for work / portable sound.  

 

[AviP]

So, i just recently got my Modi 2 Uber 4490, i dont have a schiit amp paired with it but, I'm having a problem. Randomly from 5min-1hour of listening my playback and sound will suddenly cut off and i hear pops. I can turn the volume knob down and not hear the popping but still sound is terminated, I have to restart anything i was doing with sound Youtube/Spotify etc to get sound back OR i found the sound comes back after a few mins by itself. I have Modi using USB A-B to my PC (monoprice cable) back of motherboard USB 2.0 port. 

I have tried unplugging both my AMP and the Modi's power boxes into another outlet's surge protector and it still happens. A note, my desk is less than optimal with electronics, wifi router on left side of desk, underneath left side my Modem, right side of desk is the AMP+Modi with my PC raised on a table and the side of PC is inches from both amp+modi. Any ideas what I should do? How can i tell if its DAC-side or AMP-side? or a cable issue?

I would start here

 

[bixby]

So, i just recently got my Modi 2 Uber 4490, i dont have a schiit amp paired with it but, I'm having a problem. Randomly from 5min-1hour of listening my playback and sound will suddenly cut off and i hear pops. I can turn the volume knob down and not hear the popping but still sound is terminated, I have to restart anything i was doing with sound Youtube/Spotify etc to get sound back OR i found the sound comes back after a few mins by itself. I have Modi using USB A-B to my PC (monoprice cable) back of motherboard USB 2.0 port. 

I have tried unplugging both my AMP and the Modi's power boxes into another outlet's surge protector and it still happens. A note, my desk is less than optimal with electronics, wifi router on left side of desk, underneath left side my Modem, right side of desk is the AMP+Modi with my PC raised on a table and the side of PC is inches from both amp+modi. Any ideas what I should do? How can i tell if its DAC-side or AMP-side? or a cable issue?

Go to support page and follow suggestions for PCs, pay attention to USB port power management

 

[Psalmanazar]

Modi 2 U 4490 is better but warmer. It has the AK4490 DAC chip's "inner bloom" which AKM calls "Velvet Sound". It's also slightly brighter maybe. Technicality wise it's just better with better separation, slightly cleaner, wider staging, but again slightly worse tone due to the "Velvet Sound" compared to the Modi 2 Uber 4396.

 

[rez11]

Ok think I diagnosed my problem, hooked into my laptop everything is fine. Apparently another guy had problems with his modi in the z87 Sabertooth motherboard from ASUS which is what I have. Just USB port issues which is strange cuz it's a expensive gaming motherboard lol. I guess some play weirdly with DACs and I have one. Should I get a powered USB hub?

 

[Letmebefrank]

Ok think I diagnosed my problem, hooked into my laptop everything is fine. Apparently another guy had problems with his modi in the z87 Sabertooth motherboard from ASUS which is what I have. Just USB port issues which is strange cuz it's a expensive gaming motherboard lol. I guess some play weirdly with DACs and I have one. Should I get a powered USB hub?

That might not help since the 4490 usb is powered through the wall wart, not self powered. The problem you are having is either the dac is doing something wrong to make the PC drop it, or the PC is doing something wrong to drop the dac. I don't think power is your problem, just the signal.

 

[bixby]

That might not help since the 4490 usb is powered through the wall wart, not self powered. The problem you are having is either the dac is doing something wrong to make the PC drop it, or the PC is doing something wrong to drop the dac. I don't think power is your problem, just the signal.

correct, using a powered hub did not solve my problem either.
 
Schiit dacs even the Gumby are very sensitive to noise on USB.  None of my other dacs ever had an issue.  Solved by disabling the USB suspend setting in advanced power management.
 
Then again, if the other person is not solely dedicating the pc to music and surfing etc. not sure anything will cure, you really need a quiet pc environment.

 

[rez11]

all my power settings are set right, so far so good with m2u plugged in a passive-usb hub i had laying around, it looks like just not being plugged directly into my motherboard is the solution which is odd, just plugged it all back in my main PC and been running for 15mins so still need to wait and see

 

[Letmebefrank]

all my power settings are set right, so far so good with m2u plugged in a passive-usb hub i had laying around, it looks like just not being plugged directly into my motherboard is the solution which is odd, just plugged it all back in my main PC and been running for 15mins so still need to wait and see

I also have a sabertooth motherboard but mine is a z97 mk1. Even with my system going full bore I don't get any usb noise through my modi2u. I was using toslink but i switched to usb for peace of mind since my usbs are dead silent.

 

[rez11]

well its been 5 or so hours and no issues at all plugged into a passive-usb hub, it was indeed my motherboard's usb ports for some odd reason, gee thanks ASUS!