Does anyone else think the Modi has very good and smooth treble? I don't know how it could be considered bright, harsh or treble happy. It's not at all for me and never has been.
I think i've had it for maybe over a year now or more and it's been a keeper even after finding a better DAC.
The thing I noticed only after a year and with some very bright/trebly headphones is that it has much smoother treble than other DACs.
The T90 is especially good on the Modi, but for the T90 the Modi is kind of not good enough, but still fun to listen to.
The Modi compared to better DACs seems a little more forgiving and sort of a tiny bit more "fuzzy" sounding in music with a larger soundstage in the recording.
Slightly less clear sounding. The Modi is much better for harsh material and is not as revealing as my other DAC. I probably couldn't tell the difference in bitrate with the Modi.
I always wondered why the Modi sounded like it had better soundstage depth in comparison to the ODAC. What fools the brain into thinking this?
I think it's due to perhaps .5% less treble on the Modi. ODAC and Modi sound about 95-98%% identical to me, but ODAC possibly has more extended treble. Not sure.
I think if the Modi + Magni sounds bright to some it's probably not the Modi's fault at all.
I think the Modi should be amazing to pair up with a brighter Grado like the SR-325i.
I think now it makes sense why the Magni would be best with the Modi. The Magni with some other DACs just doesn't sound as good.
Nope, i'm not saying the Modi is dark, warm etc. Just very smooth treble. It's a very fun DAC, but yet neutral and sounds great and it's very smooth sounding.
The best thing about it I think is really in how natural it sounds with EVERYTHING. It's also sort of forgiving and totally NOT like putting your music under a microscope.
Sometimes when I listen to my Micro DAC it's like my music sounds harsher, thinner, brighter depending on the recording. This is actually 100% how the recording sounds.
The Modi certainly doesn't tame the treble on a Q701, HD-650 or my DJ100. If it ever did it would have to be something like a T1, HD-800 or Grado SR-325i. I'd love to try those on the Modi.
My newest DAC uses the CS4398 DAC chipset and that's much more analytical sounding and often makes music less fun to listen to. I sometimes switch to the Modi when I don't want to be bothered by my lower quality crap or harsher tracks.
BTW I also think the ODAC is also not too revealing. I think the HRT MSII was a little more revealing of recordings, but overall that DAC didn't last more than a year. It made some headphones sound harsh and added more warmth to headphones than I prefer. It actually made the soundstage of my Q701 sound much more closed in which is bizarre. I didn't realize what I was missing until I ugpraded to the ODAC (and later the Modi).
I hope the Bifrost is more revealing/less forgiving than the Modi, but has a similar sound. A mix between my CS4398/Micro DAC and the Modi might be interesting.
Oh and I'd definitely say the Modi is slightly better than the ODAC and well worth the $99. I'd actually pay $150 for a version with both optical AND USB. Not even sure if it's possible. I also have the E17 but the Modi is far better in every way. The E17 does have more features though and is slightly warmer sounding (who cares!). I use the E17 for my bedroom due to it's optical connection.
It's usually sent to the O2 as a backup amp since I don't really like the Q701/HD-650 with just the E17 alone. I believe the E17's amp part also has some treble roll-off but probably not audible. I usually disable that and use just the DAC.
Sound wise (personal preferences) I prefer ODAC. More detail, cleaner and better separation. However Modi give more power to bass section and managed to tamed the treble. YMMV... Plus, I like bright sound. 
