[StanD]

  Just got my Magni/Modi, but have no headphones to power yet  

Looks like you need to consult with Amazon.

 

[Traum]

What kind of cable did you use? I purchased a mediabridge 2.0 gold plated one, pretty sturdy material from the looks of it and it's working flawlessly at the moment.

As of right now, the playback has been going without any sort of microstutter. It might have been an in-game glitch, but I have never encountered it in game before at all until I got my modi. I may have described it incorrectly, it wasn't a "stutter," more like a very brief moment where the audio just stopped playing for that moment.

The initial problematic cable that I used was just a random no name brand kind of thing that I have lying around the house. Obviously, it didn't work well...

The subsequent cable that I used is taken from my rather old Canon flatbed scanner. It was a thick, sturdy cable with good shielding, and as I was saying, had the ferrite beads at either end to passively filter out some of the electrical noise.

 

[NoSo]

The initial problematic cable that I used was just a random no name brand kind of thing that I have lying around the house. Obviously, it didn't work well...

The subsequent cable that I used is taken from my rather old Canon flatbed scanner. It was a thick, sturdy cable with good shielding, and as I was saying, had the ferrite beads at either end to passively filter out some of the electrical noise.

Unfortunately, I have encountered that very brief microstutter. Went back to make sure it wasn't just the song itself and confirmed. I have taken it out of the USB 3.0 Port on the motherboard and I have plugged it into the 2.0 port on my front panel. Sure looks ugly but... oh wow as I was typing this I just encountered it through the 2.0 Port.
 
Perhaps a faulty cable? Or maybe it's not getting enough power? Just eliminated that it doesn't matter if it's between 2.0 or 3.0 for me.
 
This is very strange.
 
Edit: So I disabled some audio settings around in the device manager, and took out one of my usb cables that was connecting as speakers. Plugged into a different 3.0 port as well, and set it to 24/96, but WITH exclusive mode checked for applications.
 
Seems to be working perfectly fine now... It has been working for a record length of time without any sort of microstutter. Let's hope that fixed the issue entirely.

 

[hsubox]

   
I don't think I've seen anyone try it with the Surface Pro (at least no one has posted about it)...are you having trouble getting it to work, or are you preemptively asking?

 
 

  Sounds like you have your answer. Most OTG type USB ports really can't power much.
 
I couldn't even convince my iPad or iPhone to use a CCK to read a thumb drive.

 
Well, I solved the problem of the Modi not working straight off the Surface Pro 2's USB.... by getting a Bifrost. Womp womp.
 
But it sounds great! Haha

 

[turbo911]

For some reason when I plug Modi into USB 3.0, the computer won't recognize it, but works fine with USB 2.0. I tried different USB 3.0 ports and same issue.
 
Anyone have same thing?
 
Also how do you guys set it up? (what options you choose in sound/speaker settings in control panel).

 

[StanD]

  For some reason when I plug Modi into USB 3.0, the computer won't recognize it, but works fine with USB 2.0. I tried different USB 3.0 ports and same issue.
 
Anyone have same thing?
 
Also how do you guys set it up? (what options you choose in sound/speaker settings in control panel).

In theory USB 3.0 should be backwards compatible. Sounds like a driver issue.

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

I cannot be sure this is the same issue you are experiencing but be aware there is a known issue with USB 3.0 and async USB DACs.
 
Intel claim USB 3.0 to be backward compatible with 2.0 and below. Except they claim the standard only covers Bulk Data Transfer Mode. Not the async transfer used by most decent DACs. They aren't likely to change their mnds either because they are selling Thunderbolt as a replacement.
 
RME sorted it out on their gear almost overnight. Apple issued a OS update because they have a large audio following in the audio community. Other manufacturers have been a little slower to respond but most pro companies have sorted out their drivers by now. The cheapskate manufacturers who used generic Microsoft drivers are ****ed though. You might not be able to do anything except disable USB 3.0 and revert to 2.0. Hope not but it's a sad possibility.
 
much more info available if you do a search so I'll stop here.....

 

[ninjames]

Hey so what's the general opinion on leaving the Modi plugged in? I've finally got myself a proper desktop PC and will be using my Magni+Modi with it. I obviously turn off my Magni when I'm not using it via the switch in the back, but what of the Modi? Should I consistently unplug that when I'm not using it, or do people leave it on all the time?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Hey so what's the general opinion on leaving the Modi plugged in? I've finally got myself a proper desktop PC and will be using my Magni+Modi with it. I obviously turn off my Magni when I'm not using it via the switch in the back, but what of the Modi? Should I consistently unplug that when I'm not using it, or do people leave it on all the time?

 
Doesn't the modi switch off when the computer shuts down or hibernates? It's powered by USB, no need to unplug. The only way it'll get fried for being plugged in would be if a surge went up and fried the computer too.

 

[StanD]

   
Doesn't the modi switch off when the computer shuts down or hibernates? It's powered by USB, no need to unplug. The only way it'll get fried for being plugged in would be if a surge went up and fried the computer too.

Some USB ports provide power for charging external devices when the PC/Laptop is suspended/hibernated/shutdown. One needs to check to be sure.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Some USB ports provide power for charging external devices when the PC/Laptop is suspended/hibernated/shutdown. One needs to check to be sure.

 
Yes but when you shut it down where does it get power? When my surge protector and voltage regulator are switched off, my computer doesn't get any power. And I unplug it all the same because 1) there won't be any surge protection going on if it's switched off and 2) why make it protect gear that isn't in use, when I can protect even the protector from damage when not in use? Besides if a surge happens while I'm out of the house what happens and its strong enough to damage the surge protector, what happens when a second surge happens?
 
Does everyone really just leave their stuff perpetually running in some way? Has anyone actually claimed $75,000 worth of equipment from Belkin and such? Because I don't think of, say, fire insurance as an excuse to not make sure I don't have a gas leak (I don't even use gas for cooking, I'm all electric).

 

[StanD]

   
Yes but when you shut it down where does it get power? When my surge protector and voltage regulator are switched off, my computer doesn't get any power. And I unplug it all the same because 1) there won't be any surge protection going on if it's switched off and 2) why make it protect gear that isn't in use, when I can protect even the protector from damage when not in use? Besides if a surge happens while I'm out of the house what happens and its strong enough to damage the surge protector, what happens when a second surge happens?
 
Does everyone really just leave their stuff perpetually running in some way? Has anyone actually claimed $75,000 worth of equipment from Belkin and such? Because I don't think of, say, fire insurance as an excuse to not make sure I don't have a gas leak (I don't even use gas for cooking, I'm all electric).

You actually unplug your PC, etc? I don't live in Spike CIty and never had a problem with transients. Do you have a laptop? If so, don't you have to charge it?

 

[hsubox]

  Hey so what's the general opinion on leaving the Modi plugged in? I've finally got myself a proper desktop PC and will be using my Magni+Modi with it. I obviously turn off my Magni when I'm not using it via the switch in the back, but what of the Modi? Should I consistently unplug that when I'm not using it, or do people leave it on all the time?

 
Mine has been plugged in for months straight. Still sounds great! (Mine is plugged into a powered USB hub)

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  You actually unplug your PC, etc? I don't live in Spike CIty and never had a problem with transients. Do you have a laptop? If so, don't you have to charge it?

 
Not the PC itself. The PC, monitors, and speakers are all plugged into a surge protector, which in turn is plugged into a voltage regulator. I switch off the surge protector than the voltage regulator, then unplug the latter. I have the socket installed above the desk when we built the house so I don't have to crawl under anything.

I charge my laptop but I don't leave anything plugged into its USB ports. I bring my charger to work but since I don't stay in the office, and usually get sent out for most of the day, so I have to make sure the laptop and smartphone are both fully charged just in case I don't get time to plug in between meetings. Imagine having a meeting with the mayor or Congress representatives, or my professors, and I have no juice in the battery or I arrive late and everybody else is already plugged into the outlets. We don't get government subsidized MacBook Airs/Ultrabooks over here so that's one problem (hell even Congress reps are on thick Thinkpads usually for reliability, and the females have their male staff hauling them). Even if I leave the laptop plugged in and a smartphone into it it just trickle charges the whole time. Easier to buy a new Samsung battery for $25 (hell I might replace the phone before I get to my third battery, considering I'm still on my first) than hunt down a compatible $100 laptop battery. When I'm working at home I remove the laptop's battery when it's fully charged; learned my lesson from when I was in college and I wore out my laptop's battery within six months, only to find out my classmates who do the same thing don't give as much of a rat's ass about it because their dads get them new laptops every year (or new batteries).
 
In any case spikes don't happen too often to call it "Spike City" but when it does then I'm out of luck, since I don't get subsidized computers. I once came home to a computer hit by a spike and had to say goodbye to a 12gb 3DFX VooDoo, which is reeeeeealllly expensive for a then-high school student, even if I pool computer parts expenses with my brother. Even local hi-fi stors advise we either leave our surge protectors running or we unplug them. The way I see it if it strikes twice, then the surge protector might be busted by the first strike.

 

[HPiper]

Something caught my eye tonight so I had to try it. I have a HiFiMan EF2a sitting on my desk and I happened to look over at my Modi and said, "Those two look like they were made for each other!"
I got my shortest interconnects and in about 5 mins I had an M&M stack but with a tube amp instead of the solidstate Magni. Sound very good too. The main problem with the EF2a was the dac not the amp. Now I have the best of both worlds with the Modi taking the place of the HiFiMan's dac section.