Schiit Modi Multibit 2 DAC

[JAnonymous5150]

@JAnonymous5150 Ops sorry to side tracked a bit, I previously asked you about going from MM2 -> Denafrips Ares II in the Piety thread. Figure it's more "on the topic" if I ask you in the MM2 thread.

To recap, I feel like MM2 a tiny bit thin sounding where as I just want a bit more rich mids and was thinking to go Denafrips Ares II. But I read somewhere that Denafrips Ares II might be too "soft". Would the Musician Draco or Pegasus (I'm poor so maybe Draco) a better middle ground in terms of sound? Though someone warned me about not buying from Musician since their support is non-existent so they suggest I go Denafrips instead.

Thanks!

I think that was actually in this thread because I don't think I've posted in the Piety thread. I did mention selling my piety in this thread. Anyways, I do think that the Draco or Pegasus represents a kind of middle ground where they incorporate some warmth and musicality, but they don't go as far into the lush and sometimes soft territory of the Ares 2. TBH, I personally don't think the Ares 2 gets super warm and soft like I have heard in other R2R DACs so I'm betting you'd be fine with it and perhaps even really like it since it seems richness through the mids is a priority for you.

That said, the Musician DACs are a bit cleaner than the Ares 2 and I tended to like their "house sound" a bit better than the Denafrips stuff I have tried. All three are good DACs that would make most people very happy. I never had to deal with support from Musician or Denafrips so I can't comment on that. Although, when I had questions regarding drivers and their filter implementations I got answers over email from Musician fairly quickly. Also, you can buy Musician DACs off of Amazon now so maybe that's something worth looking into.

Edit: I just noticed that the Musician DACs are sold through Amazon by Dilvpoetry, one of the first US distributors for SMSL and some other Chinese brands, so you might want to check with Musician to make sure they're an authorized dealer/distributor before you buy from them, if you go that way, to make sure the DAC will come with the full warranty and support attached.

 

[Hyde00]

I think that was actually in this thread because I don't think I've posted in the Piety thread.

I'll be turning 40 this year and I'm already starting to forget where I post things or who I talked to LOL.

So you could be right maybe it was in this thread.

All three are good DACs that would make most people very happy.

Also, you can buy Musician DACs off of Amazon now so maybe that's something worth looking into.

lol cool it most likely will be down to Ares II or Draco then, I'll go do some soul searching this weekend and see if I'll have some answer. Thanks again!

 

[JAnonymous5150]

I'll be turning 40 this year and I'm already starting to forget where I post things or who I talked to LOL.

So you could be right maybe it was in this thread.


lol cool it most likely will be down to Ares II or Draco then, I'll go do some soul searching this weekend and see if I'll have some answer. Thanks again!

What it would come down to for me is if I want a warmer DAC that comes off a bit focused on its lush midrange (Ares 2) or a musical, but less warm, DAC that sometimes seems a bit more detailed by virtue of sounding cleaner (Draco). Again, the differences are pretty darn small and both are more just slightly different flavors of a pretty typical R2R sound. I never owned the two together so these are just my opinions from memory and my impressions.

As a side note, I remember the Draco having larger staging.

 

[XERO1]

Try this. I forgot Amazon will load up the item description ahead of the link address

Amazon Pro Tip: Never buy anything that only has CG and/or Photoshopped images of the product. It will almost always turn out to be total garbage.

 

[Hyde00]

What it would come down to for me is if I want a warmer DAC that comes off a bit focused on its lush midrange (Ares 2) or a musical, but less warm, DAC that sometimes seems a bit more detailed by virtue of sounding cleaner (Draco). Again, the differences are pretty darn small and both are more just slightly different flavors of a pretty typical R2R sound. I never owned the two together so these are just my opinions from memory and my impressions.

As a side note, I remember the Draco having larger staging.

Yeah I was reading around the Draco thread on Head-Fi it sounds like Draco do have larger staging and slightly higher resolution. But for the most part it's a very small difference.

Someone is selling Ares II locally in my city for about $950 CAD ($713 USD), so I can save shipping and tax and possibly asked to be a little bit cheaper too. Where as Linsoul is having Chinese New Year sale so Draco is at $750 (base) - $38 (discount) +$28 (shipping) = $740 USD (before customs charges). Amazon Canada shows Draco as out of stock.

So it is pretty close but probably slightly cheaper and easier to get Ares II for me.

Why is audio hobby always about the struggle between splitting hair differences?

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Yeah I was reading around the Draco thread on Head-Fi it sounds like Draco do have larger staging and slightly higher resolution. But for the most part it's a very small difference.

Someone is selling Ares II locally in my city for about $950 CAD ($713 USD), so I can save shipping and tax and possibly asked to be a little bit cheaper too. Where as Linsoul is having Chinese New Year sale so Draco is at $750 (base) - $38 (discount) +$28 (shipping) = $740 USD (before customs charges). Amazon Canada shows Draco as out of stock.

So it is pretty close but probably slightly cheaper and easier to get Ares II for me.

Why is audio hobby always about the struggle between splitting hair differences?

LOL! It's always like that, isn't it?

If you can get the Ares 2 for that price, I would probably jump on it based on what my buddy who's also Canadian says they gor for used up there. Worse case scenario, if you end up feeling like it doesn't fit you and you want to try the Draco or something else then you can sell it and basically get your money back.

My guess is that you'll probably like it quite a bit though just based off some of the comments you've made about what you're looking for. The Ares 2 is definitely a good DAC.

 

[Hyde00]

LOL! It's always like that, isn't it?

If you can get the Ares 2 for that price, I would probably jump on it based on what my buddy who's also Canadian says they gor for used up there. Worse case scenario, if you end up feeling like it doesn't fit you and you want to try the Draco or something else then you can sell it and basically get your money back.

My guess is that you'll probably like it quite a bit though just based off some of the comments you've made about what you're looking for. The Ares 2 is definitely a good DAC.

SOLD! That settles it LOL.

Yes us Canadians always pay worse prices and crappier selection up here at least audio wise. I guess I'll take what I can get at this point lol.

 

[pavnobi]

Amazon Pro Tip: Never buy anything that only has CG and/or Photoshopped images of the product. It will almost always turn out to be total garbage.

do you have a link for one you recommend?

 

[pavnobi]

SOLD! That settles it LOL.

Yes us Canadians always pay worse prices and crappier selection up here at least audio wise. I guess I'll take what I can get at this point lol.

wait…are you guys talking about other DACs you want because the MMB2 doesn’t quite do it for you? anything r2r outside of MMB1 or 2 would cost at least twice as much, right?

 

[adias]

do you have a link for one you recommend?

THESE look pretty good.

 

[pavnobi]

THESE look pretty good.

I ordered them, thanks! i can compare them
with the cheaper ones I ordered and return one of them

 

[adias]

Notice that those are directional... if that matters.

 

[XERO1]

do you have a link for one you recommend?

This one uses a Mogami coax cable. It's a good quality entry-level cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Foot-High-Definition-Interconnect-Amphenol-Connectors/dp/B01GNXO67K

This one uses a Canare star-quad cable, which is better for an analog audio signal, but it's shielding is directional, so it's a little more finicky to deal with.
https://www.amazon.com/Foot-RCA-Cable-Pair-Interconnect/dp/B07ZKF94FR

They both come in different lengths, so just search for the length you want.

 

[pavnobi]

This one uses a basic Mogami coax cable. It's a good quality entry-level cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Foot-High-Definition-Interconnect-Amphenol-Connectors/dp/B01GNXO67K

This one uses a Canare star-quad cable, which is better for an analog audio signal, but it's shielding is directional, so it's a little more finicky to deal with.
https://www.amazon.com/Foot-RCA-Cable-Pair-Interconnect/dp/B07ZKF94FR

They both come in different lengths, so just search for the length you want.

https://a.co/d/hMeKEPq
do you think these just are comparable?

 

[XERO1]

https://a.co/d/hMeKEPq
do you think these just are comparable?

Yeah. The Canare and Gotham cables both have star-quad type conductors, so they should perform nearly identically.