[Sonic Defender]

L30 is out now and pretty good tooo if you don't need 4.4mm Bal out...

For sure, it is supposed to be a very nice little device.

 

[Sonic Defender]

For what it is worth, I don't own and have never owned a Topping device. I have purchased several Schiit pieces of gear though so I rather doubt anybody could support the notion that I'm advertising for Topping.

 

[Makiah S]

For what it is worth, I don't own and have never owned a Topping device. I have purchased several Schiit pieces of gear though so I rather doubt anybody could support the notion that I'm advertising for Topping.

Functionally L30 is great, built around and for Single End. I don't quite understand A50S... it's got the same output as L30 Single Ended... but you can feed it balanced[4V] and the Circuit will output more power within almost the same spec... the problem is you can NOT run balanced out of a DAC single ended into an amp... PERIOD

Now you can run Balanced Out into a 1:1 transformer and THEN single ended out of that into an ampflier... but the Transformer has it's own audio properties and you'll be degrading the DACs output... not to mention the cost...

You can run Single Ended out of a Dac INTO the Balanced Input of an amp but NEVER the other way around, that said why would you buy A50s when you could buy Schiit Magnius? Subjectivity aside, Magnius accepts 3pin XLR and would be a much smarter buy for Modius...

Alsooooo back to Modius talk, the Loxjie P20 with the $30 GE Tube Replacements and the little iFi xPower is VERY nice with Modius! About half the price as my modded SET but honestly it's almost 98% as resolving with XLR from modius... VS SE into said modded Single Ended SET amp.

I would really love to see Schiit put out their own Hybrid Tube with XLR Inputs and 4pin XLR Out! Another excellent companion for an already amazing DAC

 

[Esers]

I had both briefly and it was a very subtle difference. The Modius I think had better definition but the multibit card sounded richer and warmer. To hear an improvement you really ought to get a magnius , aaa 789 or topping a90. The Jotunheim amp section is really lacking imo.

What? Jot's amp is far better than Topping A90, it isn't lacking anything. Also dac module (both ak4490 and multibit) uses usb gen 2 which is really old. DAC module (both ak4490 and multibit) in Jot can't outperform Modius. I'm using Modius and Jot with ak4490 dac module and I can say that the dac card is clearly not a competitor to Modius.
Modius is better DAC, it has a new usb input - Unison which is head and shoulders above usb gen 2 in dac module ak4490. You can see that dac modules in Jot are really small, they smaller than Modi 3. They just for convenience, for people who want all in one device. Both ak4490 and multibit cards are compromises. Even Modi 3 is better DAC than any of dac modules in Jot.

 

[ev666il]

Gotta agree there, with the caveat that DAC cards use USB Gen5. They just aren’t as good as a dedicated DAC, but Jotunheim is an amazing dedicated amp.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@Mshenay absolutely valid critique of the A50s not functionally being able to accept a balanced input. Saying that it probably isn't really that important unless fed single ended the user finds there to be not enough power, other than that it is technically quite an accomplished device. Saying that, I will happily walk things back a little and acknowledge that really there are many great little amps that are already capable of audible transparency while having distortion below what we can really notice (as opposed to measure). I haven't really looked at the new Magnius so that will be something for me to investigate. I like how strong Schiit has been coming on with their newest gear in terms of not only being marketable, but also measuring really well and for a company that clearly has the engineering chops it is nice to see Schiit delivering on the potential.

 

[omniweltall]

Guys, quick questions. The Modius doesn't care for 110/220v difference right?

 

[Esers]

Guys, quick questions. The Modius doesn't care for 110/220v difference right?

Right. But you may need a plug adapter.

 

[thebkt]

I haven't really looked at the new Magnius so that will be something for me to investigate.

So yeah, maybe hold off on further emphatic recommendations of gear that serves a different purpose.

 

[Sonic Defender]

So yeah, maybe hold off on further emphatic recommendations of gear that serves a different purpose.

Why? First off, this isn't a Magnius thread, please note that and it doesn't serve a different purpose, the Magnius is an amp same as the A50s. So what different purpose does it serve? This is head-fi, the most subjectively experienced driven headphone community on the Internet. If you don't like emphatic recommendations you might not want to follow too many threads here.

 

[blackdragon87]

What? Jot's amp is far better than Topping A90, it isn't lacking anything. Also dac module (both ak4490 and multibit) uses usb gen 2 which is really old. DAC module (both ak4490 and multibit) in Jot can't outperform Modius. I'm using Modius and Jot with ak4490 dac module and I can say that the dac card is clearly not a competitor to Modius.
Modius is better DAC, it has a new usb input - Unison which is head and shoulders above usb gen 2 in dac module ak4490. You can see that dac modules in Jot is really small, they smaller than Modi 3. They just for convenience, for people who want all in one device. Both ak4490 and multibit cards are compromises. Even Modi 3 is better DAC than any of dac modules in Jot.

hmmm. it might be worth getting a modius to use with my multibit jot then. i really want bifrost 2 but its kinda expensive shipped to canada lol

 

[ev666il]

hmmm. it might be worth getting a modius to use with my multibit jot then. i really want bifrost 2 but its kinda expensive shipped to canada lol

My advice: save up to the Bifrost 2. It is well worth the wait and extra buck. No point in acquiring a different product just to sit there, wondering what could have been.

 

[blackdragon87]

My advice: save up to the Bifrost 2. It is well worth the wait and extra buck. No point in acquiring a different product just to sit there, wondering what could have been.

ok thanks. i do have enough saved up already for the bf2 lol.

 

[emilsal]

What? Jot's amp is far better than Topping A90, it isn't lacking anything. Also dac module (both ak4490 and multibit) uses usb gen 2 which is really old. DAC module (both ak4490 and multibit) in Jot can't outperform Modius. I'm using Modius and Jot with ak4490 dac module and I can say that the dac card is clearly not a competitor to Modius.
Modius is better DAC, it has a new usb input - Unison which is head and shoulders above usb gen 2 in dac module ak4490. You can see that dac modules in Jot are really small, they smaller than Modi 3. They just for convenience, for people who want all in one device. Both ak4490 and multibit cards are compromises. Even Modi 3 is better DAC than any of dac modules in Jot.

To each their own then. To me the Jotunheim sounded congested and harsh compared to the the thx 789 and A90. I did use it with both the add on multibit dac and Modius dac. As soon as i switched over to the other two amps I felt the music opened up and lost the harshness that I heard with the Arya and Elegia. I’ve since bought the bifrost and that’s obviously another level from the Modius both in sq and price.

 

[Sonic Defender]

To each their own then. To me the Jotunheim sounded congested and harsh compared to the the thx 789 and A90. I did use it with both the add on multibit dac and Modius dac. As soon as i switched over to the other two amps I felt the music opened up and lost the harshness that I heard with the Arya and Elegia. I’ve since bought the bifrost and that’s obviously another level from the Modius both in sq and price.

The Modius measures better than the Bifrost.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/schiit-modius-balanced-dac-review.13769/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-and-measurements-of-schiit-bifrost-dac.7206/