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Schiit Modi USB DAC
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:39 PM Post #272 of 870
Could anyone comment on how this performs in comparison with the DAC in the HRT Microstreamer in terms of SQ (portability is not a factor)? I just need a good DAC for some easy to drive cans. 
 
Nov 27, 2013 at 6:54 PM Post #273 of 870
Sound quality is great but it is JUST a DAC there is no headphone out on it at all so do remember that is you don't have something to plug the headphones into just having the Modi won't run the headphones.
 
Nov 30, 2013 at 12:30 PM Post #275 of 870
I was wondering if anyone with Modi could comment on the PYST USB Schiit cable. I have a couple non-audiophile cables sitting around, and most audiophile grade USB cables seem to cost more than the $20 these guys are charging for this Schiit. Can anyone comment on perceived sound quality vs. printer cables and also comparing to higher-end USB cables? Wondering where these fit in.
 
Nov 30, 2013 at 2:11 PM Post #276 of 870
I just bought a $3 USB cable from Monoprice. I did however, buy the 6" PYST RCA cables to connect the Modi and Magni. Seem like decent enough cables.
 
Dec 4, 2013 at 7:37 PM Post #278 of 870
Hi,
 
Quick question...I can set both my player from 16bit 44.1 up to 24bit 96, as well as the Modi.
 
I only play 16 bit 44.1 encoded data.
 
Now, my understanding is then to leave the player at native rate but set the Modi at 24 bit....at least from what I have read.  The question is, do I set the Modi at 24 44.1 or 24 96?  And if you have the patience to explain it, why?
 
Thanks very much.
Darren
 
Dec 5, 2013 at 2:42 AM Post #279 of 870
So far i prefer O2/ODAC combo to the modi/magni stack.
 
really wish Schiit would do a combo unit, they could certainly fit it in one enclosure instead of two plus RCA cables. 
 
wasted opportunity IMO
 
Dec 5, 2013 at 9:47 AM Post #280 of 870
warmuth327 said:
  Hi,
 
Quick question...I can set both my player from 16bit 44.1 up to 24bit 96, as well as the Modi.
 
I only play 16 bit 44.1 encoded data.
 
Now, my understanding is then to leave the player at native rate but set the Modi at 24 bit....at least from what I have read.  The question is, do I set the Modi at 24 44.1 or 24 96?  And if you have the patience to explain it, why?
 
Thanks very much.
Darren
Click to expand...

 
 
Since all your music is 16 bit 44.1 I'd leave the Modi at 24/44.1
 
Going from 16 bit to 24 bit doesn't change the data in any meaningful way, and gives you extra bits to play with if you want to turn the music down in software. All it does to the data (if all software volume controls are turned all the way up) is pad it with 8 extra zeros at the end; for example:
 
1010101010101010                              - Your 16 bit piece of data
101010101010101000000000                - Your 16 bit piece of data when sent as 24 bits.
 
That's all it does, every chunk of data is sent with an extra 8 zeros tacked on to the end, so while it's not technically the 'same' data (since those zeros weren't in the original file), it is effectively the same thing and, if your DAC behaves the same in both 16 and 24 bit mode, will sound exactly the same.
 
 
Now, sample rate does affect things. Whether you'll ever hear a difference is debatable, but it can. 44.1 means the DAC gets 44,100 samples sent to it every second, where 96 means it gets 96,000. If your music only contains 44,100 samples a second then your computer will have to create new samples to provide the DAC with 96,000 a second. It's effectively the same as resizing an image to larger than its original size, the computer generates in between values for the new pixels.
 
For example, if three samples have these values (at 44.1):
0, 10, 50
 
Then if your DAC is set to 88.2 the computer has to generate extra in-between values, doubling the sample rate so that the DAC gets its 88,200 samples a second. That data might look like this:
0, 5, 10, 30, 50          (new samples in red)
 
These new values aren't really useful information, since they didn't exist in the original file. Same as resizing an image; it's bigger but there's no new actual detail. In this example they wouldn't necessarily cause any harm, though, except for one specific (and fairly important point).
 
In the example above Instead of 44.1 -> 96 I did 44.1 -> 88.2, a doubling of sample rate. Doubling just means you get an extra sample in between each existing one; all the existing values are also intact. However, 44.1 -> 96 would not let you keep the original samples since it isn't a nice 2:1 ratio. Actually, for 44.1 -> 96 for each sample you have to create 2.176871 samples (96 / 44.1). Since that's not a nice even number you've now drifted noticeably away from being even close to bit perfect. As stated previously, you may never notice (the waveforms, which is what ultimately matters, should be indistinguishable in theory), but it is something to consider.
 
 
Anyways, hope that helps at least a little. Personally I'd set the Modi to 24/44.1 and leave it there unless you get some high-res files in the future.
 
Dec 5, 2013 at 11:57 AM Post #281 of 870
defiant00 said:
   
 
Since all your music is 16 bit 44.1 I'd leave the Modi at 24/44.1
 
Going from 16 bit to 24 bit doesn't change the data in any meaningful way, and gives you extra bits to play with if you want to turn the music down in software. All it does to the data (if all software volume controls are turned all the way up) is pad it with 8 extra zeros at the end; for example:
 
1010101010101010                              - Your 16 bit piece of data
101010101010101000000000                - Your 16 bit piece of data when sent as 24 bits.
 
That's all it does, every chunk of data is sent with an extra 8 zeros tacked on to the end, so while it's not technically the 'same' data (since those zeros weren't in the original file), it is effectively the same thing and, if your DAC behaves the same in both 16 and 24 bit mode, will sound exactly the same.
 
 
Now, sample rate does affect things. Whether you'll ever hear a difference is debatable, but it can. 44.1 means the DAC gets 44,100 samples sent to it every second, where 96 means it gets 96,000. If your music only contains 44,100 samples a second then your computer will have to create new samples to provide the DAC with 96,000 a second. It's effectively the same as resizing an image to larger than its original size, the computer generates in between values for the new pixels.
 
For example, if three samples have these values (at 44.1):
0, 10, 50
 
Then if your DAC is set to 88.2 the computer has to generate extra in-between values, doubling the sample rate so that the DAC gets its 88,200 samples a second. That data might look like this:
0, 5, 10, 30, 50          (new samples in red)
 
These new values aren't really useful information, since they didn't exist in the original file. Same as resizing an image; it's bigger but there's no new actual detail. In this example they wouldn't necessarily cause any harm, though, except for one specific (and fairly important point).
 
In the example above Instead of 44.1 -> 96 I did 44.1 -> 88.2, a doubling of sample rate. Doubling just means you get an extra sample in between each existing one; all the existing values are also intact. However, 44.1 -> 96 would not let you keep the original samples since it isn't a nice 2:1 ratio. Actually, for 44.1 -> 96 for each sample you have to create 2.176871 samples (96 / 44.1). Since that's not a nice even number you've now drifted noticeably away from being even close to bit perfect. As stated previously, you may never notice (the waveforms, which is what ultimately matters, should be indistinguishable in theory), but it is something to consider.
 
 
Anyways, hope that helps at least a little. Personally I'd set the Modi to 24/44.1 and leave it there unless you get some high-res files in the future.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed information.  Confirmed what I had heard before...just wanted to make sure :)
 
Cheers,
Darren
 
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