[tincanear]

Haha it's not an issue at all to be honest, just being cheeky,

I'm from the UK, crap is $100 more on average here, if it's even in stock (none of it is with no eta) so even if I hadn't bought anything I doubt I'd be able to buy one of these for months

maybe in ~20 days (after the return window), there will be a Modius for sale on ebay

 

[tincanear]

Of course I do. I graduated from High School in 1971.

… as he ages himself

 

[tincanear]

And add a remote for source switching.
.

wattsamatta with Bifrost 2 multibit? 2-channel PCM audio data, even at 24/192 (excluding overhead, etc, 9.216 Mbits/sec) does not need USB3.x as USB2 is rated to 480Mbits/sec, presuming your SOURCE can sustain such a rate.

 

[blackdragon87]

So now we just need a Schiit Balanced AMP at same price point and competition of sound quality as the THX 789 AMP.

Yes!

 

[tincanear]

Came across this video the other day that talks about the effect on streaming for modern mixing and mastering... I found it pretty interesting... YMMV

I prefer the old days, before streaming, when the physical media and your playback hardware determined exactly what you got for your dollar. the streaming services are just another link in the chain that dinks with the sound (and likely not for the better)

 

[Rattle]

2020, Chapter 9
The DAC You Need?


Let’s get this out of the way: we have a new DAC, and it’s called Modius.

Yes, Modius. As in, “Modius Maximus.” It was a pet name used in development, because, hey, you know, this is a bigger, better, badder-ass Modi, so hey, Modius Maximus. Which quickly got shortened to Modius.

Which, er, stuck.





“But Modius Maximus is clearly a Roman-influenced name,” the more pedantic will bleat. “That doesn’t exactly fit with your Norse-inspired naming scheme, bub!”

Yes, sir, you are 100% correct. It’s a mess. It’s all mixed up.

But this is also coming from:

1. A company named “Schiit.”
2. People who get most of their Norse mythology from comic books and Wikipedia.
3. Guys who thought it would be funny to call their cables PYST and used Cthulhu as a pet name for an AC adapter.

But it’s also a good descriptor. Modius is simply a bigger, better Modi.

• Instead of an AK4490 D/A converter, it uses an AK4493.
• Instead of being single-ended only, it has single-ended and balanced outputs.
• Instead of having 3 inputs, it has 4 (we added AES).
• Instead of C-Media’s USB input receiver, it has Schiit Unison USB™.
• Instead of fitting perfectly under a Magni or Vali, it fits perfectly under Asgard, Jotunheim, and Lyr.

Like Modi, Modius can still run it off of a single USB input, or use a separate USB power in to get it to report as a 0mA device. And, like Modi, it’s super-high-value—this designed-and-built-in-California (or Utah) product is $199.

“Huh. A new delta-sigma DAC, seems a bit boring,” some are saying.

And yeah, I hear you. It’s so tempting to say, at this specific point in time, “this may not be the DAC you want, but it’s the DAC you need.”

But that really under-sells Modius. Modius is a great DAC. It is packed with amazing technology, from a 200MHz, 32-bit microprocessor to the high-performance AK4493 DAC to the excellent TI LME49724 differential amplifier, with precision thin-film resistors and film capacitors. It has our exclusive Unison USB™ input, as well as optical and coaxial and AES. It runs off of USB power alone. It sounds very, very good. It is designed and made right here in California. And it’s $199.

Stop. Go back. Read that again.

A feature-packed, high-performance balanced DAC, made right here, for $199.

And yeah, I know, some people don’t care where it’s made, and that’s perfectly fine too. But I’m proud of what we did with Modius, and I’m proud we’re doing it locally, just like all of our other products. It’s important to me. It’s important to the people who work for us. And it’s important to our suppliers, and the people who work for them. Hopefully this will also be important to some of you.

But, bottom line: Modius really hits the sweet spot for affordable DACs…without compromising on how we make it.


Quest for Measurements

“That’ great and all, but how does it measure?” some are asking. “Better than Modi 3?”

Yes. Modius is our best-measuring DAC. We made sure of this.

And that’s a story in itself.

It’s December 2019. We’re getting ready to launch Modius in January. Everything is cool. We’re ready to roll. We just need to confirm one last thing—does this perform as we expect? So I have Dave drop by the latest version of the board, and run it on the AP.

Looks good! Looks really good…

...except, wait…

…oh hell…

…except not as good as Modi 3.

Yeah. Modius, the bigger better DAC using a better D/A converter and a more exotic output stage, couldn’t beat Modi 3.

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Mike and Dave and I had words. One point of view was, “Well, it sounds great, who cares?” I put my foot down and said, “If we cannot make it better than Modi 3, we failed.” There was additional discussion about how making the datasheet numbers was difficult with a switching supply, cost constraints, etc. But I stood my ground.

Dave and I reconvened. Was the balanced LME47924 a problem? The datasheet never showed an output stage like ours. We built their recommended output stage. No dice. Was it noise from the switching power supply? I added a bunch of filtering. The power rails got cleaner, but the measurements didn’t. Was it compensation? Nope. Output filtering? Again nope. We literally tore the dang DAC apart, and found nothing.

Until I noticed that Dave and I had different datasheets for the part, and the later datasheets had some specific recommendations that hadn’t appeared in the (yes, manufacturer-supplied, supposedly good-to-go datasheet).

Double AAAAAAARRRGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

So yeah, the January DAC became more like an April DAC, which is the time it would take us to do a new prototype and make sure it worked. Long story short, we did a new prototype, using the additional information from the later datasheet (and a couple of secret-sauce tricks) and it worked as expected. Whew.

And then COVID hit.

So the April DAC became the maybe-never DAC, until we made all the changes we needed to make in order to operate in a world where states were busy shutting down the scourge of domestic manufacturing, while direct-ship-from-China companies were allowed to operate freely. But I digress.

Another long story short, we made the changes, and the April DAC is now a May/June DAC, and hopefully you will like it a lot.

“Well, that’s cool, but…why didn’t you use the AKM AK4499 instead of the AK4493?” someone asks.

“You try to convince Mike to use a $50 delta-sigma DAC,” I’m tempted to say, flippantly.

But, to be frank, using the AK4499 would mean that Modius was a much higher priced product. Like, a LOT higher. Modius is intended to hit the sweet spot of DACs in the $199 price range. It’s not 100% about measurements or the latest must-have chip. If that isn’t for you, that’s totally cool. There are plenty of other options out there. Though, hmm, none made in USA.

“So why not two AK4493?” someone else might ask.

“Because it didn’t really make any difference,” we say. Yep, the measurements might be a bit better, but in the end, it’s the unique output stage that probably makes the most difference.

So let’s talk about that.

As far as I know, Modius is the only DAC that has two separate output stages, one for balanced and one for SE. The balanced output stage is built specifically to the strengths of balanced—it uses the very good-sounding LME47924 balanced, differential op-amp, plus film caps and 0.5% precision thin-film resistors, and is DC-coupled. The AK4493 is inherently balanced output, so it’s balanced from start to finish.

Now, most of the time, you’d take the output of this balanced stage and sum it to create the single-ended output. Makes total sense. That’s what everyone does. Hell, it’s what we did, in some early versions of Modius.

But…Dave had a really interesting idea: There’s no reason the AK4493 can’t drive BOTH a balanced and single-ended output stage. So that’s what he did—he added a completely separate, parallel single-ended stage, based on the OPA1662, so that single-ended is as fully well-served as balanced.

The result? A DAC you can use the single-ended OR balanced outputs from…with NO nervosa. Both are fully optimized. Neither passes through a conversion stage. That’s one reason that Modius is a really good-sounding DAC.

Now, of course, there are other reasons as well, including our own Unison USB input (cue the barfing from the pure objectivist audience, but hey, we can believe in UFOs and Bigfoot and Elvis sightings just like we can believe we have a better USB interface, so there you go) and lots of other little tweaks and stuff that doesn’t show up on an APx, but that we believe is important. Again, maybe we are insane. You can be Scully. We’ll be Mulder. It’s fine.

Or, well, maybe we should talk about that a bit more.


Unison USB™ for Everyone

Modius is also important because it’s the platform that makes Unison USB affordable. This means you get the same unique, super-high-performance UAC2 USB input we’ve been shipping in Bifrost 2, Gungnir, and Yggdrasil for a while now—in a $199 DAC.

What’s more, it broadens how we use Unison USB—the same 200MHz, 32-bit microprocessor runs the whole show in Modius. That kind of efficiency is key to keeping the price down, while providing very high performance.

“So you’ve done your own USB input, we get it,” someone says. “So what?”

So it allows us to concentrate on just one thing: handling PCM digital audio. Which makes it a very, very good USB input, built for universal standards that will be current long, long after the latest unicorn formats die out. It also makes us one of just a handful of companies that have the expertise to do this in-house, and maybe only one of literally two or three that are doing it for USB Audio Class 2, rather than the slower UAC1 standard. It means we don’t buy our USB receiver from another company, which allows us total control over how it works.

In addition, for a UAC2 input, it’s very low-power. This allows us to run the whole DAC off of USB.

Yes, that’s right. Modius is just like Modi. It’s USB-powered.

Yes. Just plug it into your computer, and you’re off and running. Or, use an external USB wall-wart and cable (included) to power it for your SPDIF sources. When it’s run with external power, it reports as a 0mA device, just like Modi, so it's easier to use with phones and tablets.

All of this flexibility is now built into the Unison USB receiver for Modius. That’s a really neat accomplishment, and we’re very proud of it.

“Though you’re still using micro-USBs!” someone yells. “What a pain in the ass.”

And yeah, we hear you. It’s getting close to the point where we’ll start introducing products with USB-C, but for right now, they’re still a bit dear for a product at the Modius’ price point. We’re really, really, really trying to deliver huge value here.

Again, all this tech philosophy may not matter to some of you. Or you may want the latest unicorn format. That’s perfectly fine, and there’s tons of great gear out there for you. This is something we believe in—something we spent two person-years developing—so it’s important to us. Hopefully some of you will find it important, too.

And…to have some fun with this…you can now compare Unison USB to AES on a DAC that costs less than 1/10 of an Yggdrasil!


Back to Stacks

When we introduced Jotunheim, we introduced the concept of a modular amplifier that could take a USB DAC or phono input as an option. I loved the idea, because I like single-box solutions; they’re simpler and neater.

A lot of people loved this, too, so we extended it across the line, to Lyr and Asgard. Now we have a line of modular desktop headamps/preamps.

But a lot of people hated this, too.

Because there’s only so much you can fit in a Jotunheim-sized chassis. More than one DAC input? Nope. Different cards for different DAC inputs (like optical) are also a no-go, because we didn’t want to have 12,423 different product variations. If you wanted phono, you couldn’t get a DAC. If you wanted a DAC, you couldn’t get phono. And so on.

So now there’s Modius. It’s exactly the same footprint as any Asgard, Valhalla, Jotunheim, or Lyr. It also matches any Saga. Stack any of those on top of Modius, and you keep your desk space…and gain 4 digital inputs. Stick a phono in the any of the modular products, and you have analog and digital inputs.

So now, if you want flexibility, you’ve got it…for $1 less than the single-input True Multibit™ card, and $500 less than Bifrost 2 (which is a great DAC, but can make for some pricey stacks!)

(And yeah, of course you don’t need to use it with only our products…it’s a great DAC for any system, balanced or single-ended.)

So, welcome back to the Schiit Stack…now jumbo-sized!


The DAC You Want vs The DAC You Need

Like I said, it’s unfair to say, “this may not be the DAC you want, but it’s the DAC you need,” when it comes to Modius. It’s a really excellent-sounding, great-measuring, super-affordable DAC, period.

So let’s change it up. Here we go:

“Modius: may not be the DAC you expected, but might be the DAC you love…”

Enjoy!

Ordered ! Appreciate all you guys do and your standards, this part here hits home.
"And yeah, I know, some people don’t care where it’s made, and that’s perfectly fine too. But I’m proud of what we did with Modius, and I’m proud we’re doing it locally, just like all of our other products. It’s important to me. It’s important to the people who work for us. And it’s important to our suppliers, and the people who work for them. Hopefully this will also be important to some of you."

 

[sam6550a]

… as he ages himself

Hell, I graduated high school 10 years before that youngster!

 

[Skaffeh]

if it's even in stock (none of it is with no eta) so even if I hadn't bought anything I doubt I'd be able to buy one of these for months

We live in hope there's a ship full of Schiit sailing east across the Atlantic sometime soon...

 

[rsnblmn]

Wow, Modius packs in some serious bang for the buck. Definitely surprised to see AES at that price.

I wonder if that means the reason Bifrost 2 didn't get AES was more due to space limitations than price.

 

[GearMe]

So now we just need a Schiit Balanced AMP at same price point and competition of sound quality as the THX 789 AMP.

Nah...need a balanced amp at $199...The Magnius!

 

[tincanear]

Wow, Modius packs in some serious bang for the buck. Definitely surprised to see AES at that price.

I wonder if that means the reason Bifrost 2 didn't get AES was more due to space limitations than price.

Bifrost 2 was the first to get a Unison USB receiver using the new PIC 32-bit processor instead of CM6631A. Perhaps the firmware for interoperability with AES sources took a while to develop (AES and S/PDIF frames have some differences) and Jason and Co. wanted to release the Bifrost 2 Multibit by mid 2019 (well in time for the Christmas buying season).

Modius looks like it will be a winner with all the input and both SE and XLR output options.

 

[tincanear]

Geez. I was about to buy a Topping D90...any thoughts or comparisons vs. that chi-fi beast?

(edited
Schiit Modius is:
designed and built in USA. matches mid-size amps like Asgard, Jotunhiem, Lyr series. 4 year warranty if you use a credit card that doubles the mfr's warranty (2+2).

 

[PrincessLeliana]

We live in hope there's a ship full of Schiit sailing east across the Atlantic sometime soon...

One day... One day.

I just want a mjolnir or valhalla or something nice :c

maybe in ~20 days (after the return window), there will be a Modius for sale on ebay

Hopefully!

 

[bcowen]

Somehow it’s changed from a bbq and condiment thread to a beer and weed thread

I'm OK with this.

 

[bcowen]

You inspired me! (here is my cleaned up schiit stack!)


next mission, find tubes that i like for the mj2 + hd800s
I'm not sure how i ended up with the Gold Lion.. but they make the HD800s painful. I just ordered some Tesla. Any other suggestions? (I have the JJ's but haven't tested them yet.)

Sweet!!