[Louisifer]

@Louisifer - Have you got the optical or coax inputs on the your Modi? Your computer should at least have an optical out. If you're getting too much noise from USB I'd suggest going optical if/when you have the option to!

Very cool site, might have a read through it later.

Volly:

I do have a recent and nice video card. I will check for an optical output. I have the basic Modi (no optical).

Please go thru the site. Like I've stated, the graphs do represent what I am hearing. There is more than one testing for Schiit DAC's (and the amps, check for build quality). End result for the DACs, they all suffer from engineering shortcomings (to a lesser degree).

Although I have abused my hearing, I still best my 21 years old son and my 18 year old daughter.

 

[chef8489]

I never thought of that solution. Very creative. My thought was that the DAC only took the data from the USB and that was all. Too me, the implementation from Schiit was very poor (to be nice).

Please take a look at the links that I posted. Makes me think. Look at the other post on Schiit stuff. I know now why there was current flowing thru my fingers.

Nonetheless, I am going to a powered USB hub as you suggested. Very cheap and practical solution in the meantime.

Hype. I've seen so much as this old fart thought was immune.

In car stereo, you would start with the head unit (usually), and build up from there. The weakest link would provide your end results.

I have a distaste for that website. It is by no means objective by its members. There is a lot of Schiit hate over there.

Part of the problem with dacs that do not seperate the power and the usb is noise can travel over the power section of the usb cable, especially if you have a crappy implimented circuitry on your mobo. Using a powered usb hub is an easy work around. The better modis have dedicated power bricks so do not get power from usb and this effect is greatly reduced if not all together eliminated unless for some reason a ground loop is formed.

 

[Louisifer]

I have a distaste for that website. It is by no means objective by its members. There is a lot of Schiit hate over there.

Part of the problem with dacs that do not seperate the power and the usb is noise can travel over the power section of the usb cable, especially if you have a crappy implimented circuitry on your mobo. Using a powered usb hub is an easy work around. The better modis have dedicated power bricks so do not get power from usb and this effect is greatly reduced if not all together eliminated unless for some reason a ground loop is formed.

Agreed.

I am an engeneer not an engineer.

My thoughts on external DACs (the computer already does that, and why not used it?) it should take the pure digital data and convert. Yes, on the site, to much, "Schiit no good DAC", and build quality even on amps. I still got current thru my fingers when I first got the Vali.

My current amp has 3 tubes. I would expect some ground loops if not careful. I understand that lower voltage going into the amp will make it much more prone to interference and ground loops. That is why in the dying age of car audio, the output from RCAs jumped from less than a volt to more than 4 volts. That also makes I easier for gain matching.

In trying to match gain, that is why I am looking for a preamp. But if the DAC has already distortion and other artifacts, it will just be amplified. "Choppy", that is what I described originally what I heard. Worst, it is on the same frequencies.

 

[volly]

@Louisifer - What headphones you running with your setup? Also, what music you jamming to?

 

[luckybaer]

I never thought of that solution. Very creative. My thought was that the DAC only took the data from the USB and that was all. Too me, the implementation from Schiit was very poor (to be nice).

Please take a look at the links that I posted. Makes me think. Look at the other post on Schiit stuff. I know now why there was current flowing thru my fingers.

Nonetheless, I am going to a powered USB hub as you suggested. Very cheap and practical solution in the meantime.

Hype. I've seen so much as this old fart thought was immune.

In car stereo, you would start with the head unit (usually), and build up from there. The weakest link would provide your end results.

If USB is an issue, I'd give a Schiit Eitr a look: PC to Eitr via USB, Eitr to Modi via Coax.

 

[Louisifer]

@Louisifer - What headphones you running with your setup? Also, what music you jamming to?

Beyerdynamics T1.2, then Icon Audio HP8 Mkii, then Modi2, then PC.

 

[Louisifer]

If USB is an issue, I'd give a Schiit Eitr a look: PC to Eitr via USB, Eitr to Modi via Coax.

From what little I understand, the DAC should just convert to analog and pass to the amp. Perhaps gain is an issue. The Denon's are very easy for this amp to drive. The Beyers are hard to drive. I am hearing the same artifacts from the Denon's, Focal Elear (returned), and the T1's. Once I heard the "jitter", I heard it on other cans but not as evident. Overall distortion is easy to spot, but this type of distortion is at certain frequencies all the time.

 

[chef8489]

What are the quality of the files you are playing?

 

[Louisifer]

What are the quality of the files you are playing?

CD. I am using as reference In Rainbows from Radiohead.

I found a simple solution. I "borrowed" my daughter's Dragonfly Red. Website states to turn the level of the computer and player all the way up so it will function as line level source. I may have turn both down a notch. I think there is a times there is a little distortion.

This thing does sound good! The texturing in the song Weird Fishers sound so good.

I may make this permanent. Now how to make the borrowing permanent.

 

[Mike-WI]

(deleted)

 

[musicfan145]

CD. I am using as reference In Rainbows from Radiohead.

I found a simple solution. I "borrowed" my daughter's Dragonfly Red. Website states to turn the level of the computer and player all the way up so it will function as line level source. I may have turn both down a notch. I think there is a times there is a little distortion.

This thing does sound good! The texturing in the song Weird Fishers sound so good.

I may make this permanent. Now how to make the borrowing permanent.

So you are playing CDs in a computer to a USB DAC to the Vali 2? If so, I think your problem is a combination of 1) the CD-ROM drive being a terrible transport mechanism for audio CDs, and 2) the computer being a really noisy source of USB audio. Laptops and desktops are generally very noises sources to begin with, and playing directly from a CD (instead of a ripped lossless file) is going to make things much, much worse. The Modi doesn’t have the best USB receiver chip, and the basic one is bus powered (power comes from the PC), so it is very susceptible to noise.

The Dragonfly Red and Vali 2 make a great combination. I’ve tried many other DACs (including the Modi Multibit) but I keep coming back to it. (Especially now that Roon can make it play MQA from Tidal.) However, it is still bus powered, so it sounds noticeable better when connected to less-noisy sources such as an iPhone or a Raspberry Pi.

My first suggestion would be to try downloading, streaming, or ripping some music in a lossless format and see how that sounds compared to playing direct from the CD.

 

[musicfan145]

So you are playing CDs in a computer to a USB DAC to the Vali 2? If so, I think your problem is a combination of 1) the CD-ROM drive being a terrible transport mechanism for audio CDs, and 2) the computer being a really noisy source of USB audio. Laptops and desktops are generally very noises sources to begin with, and playing directly from a CD (instead of a ripped lossless file) is going to make things much, much worse. The Modi doesn’t have the best USB receiver chip, and the basic one is bus powered (power comes from the PC), so it is very susceptible to noise.

The Dragonfly Red and Vali 2 make a great combination. I’ve tried many other DACs (including the Modi Multibit) but I keep coming back to it. (Especially now that Roon can make it play MQA from Tidal.) However, it is still bus powered, so it sounds noticeable better when connected to less-noisy sources such as an iPhone or a Raspberry Pi.

My first suggestion would be to try downloading, streaming, or ripping some music in a lossless format and see how that sounds compared to playing direct from the CD.

Or if you prefer to stay with CDs, get a good CD player and connect it directly to the Vali 2.

 

[ToddRaymond]

For those who haven't happened upon the new 'b-stock & closeout' section on their site, they've got b-stock Vali 2s for sale at $99 right now. That's very few clams for a rather fine sounding and versatile amp.

 

[h.rav]

I just got a Vali 2. I notice the volume knob has been changed to something similar to Magni 3, Loki Mini.

 

[riffrafff]

I just got a Vali 2. I notice the volume knob has been changed to something similar to Magni 3, Loki Mini.

Huh. Cool. The knob on my Vali 2 is the only one (out of six) on my Stack that doesn't match.

I wonder if it's too much to hope that I could purchase a knob separately...