Modi Multibit: Multibit for the masses.

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by MrTie, Jul 25, 2016.

  1. I_want_all_the_tacos

    I_want_all_the_tacos Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    440
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    It seems like you have done your research, but I just want to make sure you didn't overlook @Torq's very comprehensive and thorough comparison of all the Bifrost versions compared to Modi Multibit? From that post, he specifically said this about Bifrost Multibit vs Modi Multibit:

    "The short version is that, with the vast majority of music I sampled with, using short-passages of music (15-20 seconds) I was simply not able to reliably discern a difference between the Bifrost MB and Modi MB."

    Basically, don't overthink it in terms of sound quality. They are so similar that it isn't worth stressing over. Pick the one that fits your setup the best in terms of functionality, form factor, upgrade ability, price, etc.
     
  2. n2n

    n2n New

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Kuwait

    Thanks man. I did read @Torq's review line by line. To be honest, that was one of the first review that convinced me for Modi Multibit. Well... I still wanted to dig some more coz he was using all Gen-2 plus "No USB widgets, re-clockers, conditioners, filters or other such were employed". I just wanted to be sure it would still be the same with Gen-5 Bifrost Multibit and Eitr+Modi Multibit. Another reason is he mostly used headphones for his tests. Somewhere I read that results can vary and differences might be more apparent with Headphones vs 2 Channel systems. Honestly I've no idea if there is any truth to that since I've no experience with Headphones whatsoever.

    But you are right. I guess I was overthinking it. :)
     
  3. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2018
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Central PA
    I got a B-stock Modi Multibit just a couple weeks ago. Let it run for a while, and just started listening to it today. Having read loads here about its USB input being worse than its SPDIF, especially susceptible to noisy laptops, etc.; I did a fairly simple test. I use an original Microsoft Surface to a USB hub with separate wall wart. I connected the Modi Multibit directly via USB to the hub, and compared to putting a cheap portable DAC with USB in/SPDIF coax out in between. Super budget decrappifier. Listening to various sources of nothingness with the Garage 1217 amp fed by the Modi Multibit at full volume, I couldn't hear anything in either case. Am I just lucky to have good isolation in my USB chain, or am I deafer than I thought?

    I will add that just cruising through YouTube to listen to some tracks I really like, I noticed immediately when the content was noisy as when someone uploaded from an LP.
     
  4. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    681
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    Which cheap portable DAC? There are different qualities of USB to SPDIF conversion or decrapification. With USB from my two crappy laptops, the USB>SPDIF in my AMB gamma2 doesn't do much for my ears at all, whereas Eitr makes a dramatic difference--dramatic for the HD800, more subtle for the HD600/650*. I had bought an Atticus and was legitimately ready to sell the HD800 SDR/Anax for being flat, dry, emotionless, etc. out of a pimped out Crack, and when I put an Eitr in, it was like a veil had been lifted, like I had a completely different DAC. Audiophiles like to exaggerate, I am guilty of this too, but I honestly went from "HD800 are resolving but cold, empty and flat" to "HD800 are glorious".

    Of course not all USB sources are as bad as my laptops, so if it sounds good then imo don't sweat it too much.

    * I didn't listen to the gamma2 SPDIF>Modi MB on the HD800, so it's possible the difference between it and Eitr isn't as dramatic as my comment implies.
     
  5. FallingObjects

    FallingObjects Pay It Forward

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,235
    Trophy Points:
    93
    YouTube is pretty awful for overall audio compression: you can hear a noticeable difference between 480/720/1080p depending on the source.

    Pretty easy to compress audio data to save on bandwidth space, I suppose. And now your chain might just be revealing enough to highlight that effect. Same thing happened to me with a bunch of old digital albums I had had since middle school; spent a long time finding RHCP stuff that wasn't encoded in 128!
     
  6. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2018
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Central PA
    Brookstone Big Blue Bluetooth DAC/AMP. I have spent more at a Panera than this thing cost on closeout.
    To be clear, I did not do any comparison between the two chains with music. I figured if the Modi Multibit USB input was gonna be noisy, I'd hear background noise when it was plugged into the USB hub with the amp maxed out. I actually queued up a silent YouTube track, to be sure the laptop was connecting to the Modi Multibit. When I didn't hear any noise on either chain, I removed the Brookstone and then just listened non-critically for a couple hours to some favorites. As I said, differences in YouTube file quality were pretty apparent, but I don't know if they would have been more or less apparent using the USB > SPDIF coax.
    I suppose my real question is, can you make any judgement on USB implementation quality on background noise alone in the absence of any music information or are the artifacts only evident as part of the music?
     
  7. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2018
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Central PA
    Totally agree. Even when I just fed the headphone out jack of the Surface to a cheap Sony AVR and used the Sony's headphone jack to drive my Beyerdynamic DT880s, these differences were very noticeable. I perceive that the Modi Multibit > Garage 1217 combo sounds much better than the AVR, but haven't done any direct comparisons to define the differences.
     
  8. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    489
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    London
    I'm currently using the ZX2 line out with Arcam rHead + HD650. Also 64 Audio u12t.. I'm finding bit of grain in the ZX2 which can be tiring for my gentle ears.

    The rHead is quite nice and has certain calmness to it, I wouldn't necessarily call it smooth, just very controlled and neutral - combined with the ZX2 (line out dongle) I wish for a more smooth/romantic sound which I'm hoping the Modi Multibit can provide. I do have a reasonable (low budget) pro-ject turntable player, which sounds great through the rHead.
     
  9. Screwdriver

    Screwdriver New

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2018
    Likes Received:
    41
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    North Hollywood, CA
    Using a Modi 2U and am thinking of getting a Modi Multibit, but not sure if it is worth it.
     
  10. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,274
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Bird-watcher's paradise
    Nobody can help you with whether something is "worth it." Is it a significant improvement? I thought so. Some people like d/s dacs better than multibit dacs. Am I one of them ? No. But you might be. Order it, and if you don't like it, send it back and pay the restocking fee. If you can't find some other way to hear one, that's all you got, man.
     
  11. Pogo

    Pogo Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2018
    Likes Received:
    494
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    SoFla
    Good advice, I followed it. Replacing a basic Modi2. Its worth it so far in my office system.
    Will use in my home rig vs an older Teac UDH01 which never really impressed me.
     
  12. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2017
    Likes Received:
    7,736
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Just noticed there's a good deal on a bunch of b-stock Mimbys from Schiit today (weren't there a couple days ago) for $199 in case anyone's interested:

    http://www.schiit.com/b-stocks
     
  13. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,773
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    small island claimed by China
    Does anyone know when the the v2 firmware that @atomicbob measured was updated and how to tell if the Modi Multibit I bought earlier this year has it?

    Thanks Bob, and hope your recovery is progressing well.
     
  14. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,773
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    small island claimed by China
  15. Nbees

    Nbees Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2017
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    US
    I can only second all the posts here, the "Modi Multibit" gives glorious, natural analog like digital sound. Back in the day sometimes had to decide between a 12 pack or just a 6 pack 'N a pack of cigarettes. Well the Modi Multibit isn't much bigger than a pack of cigarettes and it's a no brainer.
     
  16. HotRatSalad

    HotRatSalad Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    May 4, 2018
    Likes Received:
    1,684
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    NH
    I absolutely love my Modi Multibit after going on 3 months. My spinning of records has reduced drastically and I've actually begun hunting for various cd masterings to add to the collection. Purely coax, never used the USB connection .
     
  17. klyrish

    klyrish Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    May 4, 2018
    Likes Received:
    167
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Nowhere
    Same for me. It hasn't been three months yet but still: I absolutely love how music sounds through this DAC. And after getting the Loki and HiFi Man 400i headphones, it's very difficult to go back to vinyl. Plus, Roon is f'ing amazing and has gotten me back deep into NIN bootlegs. It's so good I've mostly stopped thinking about my next upgrades entirely. I'd be fine with this setup for a couple years before splurging on a Gungnir Multibit or Yggdrasil and new amp.

    Love, love, LOVE the Modi Multibit!
     
  18. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,426
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I turned my work setup on this morning and had a ringing sound in the left channel. I assumed the tube was going bad and switched it out, but that wasn't it. I found it highly unlikely that my new-ish HD650s had some kind of driver failure.

    Finally, I turned the Modi Multibit off and back on and that solved it.

    It finally dawned on me that this has happened once before (and I probably posted about it on here somewhere). It was long enough ago that I had completely forgotten about it.

    Has anyone else experienced anything similar? I wonder if it should be a cause for concern or simply a glitch that needs a restart in the same way that restarts fix 95% of computer problems out there.
     
  19. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

    Pyrate BWC MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    18,652
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    On planet
    version 1 firmware needs an occasional reboot. Have yet to experience it with v2 firmware.
     
  20. obsiCO

    obsiCO Thai Fish Experiment Gone Wrong

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2017
    Likes Received:
    634
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Mine does from time to time as well, once every two months or so. From then on, I've been rebooting Modi Multibit once every week just for the heck of it.
     

Share This Page