The All Purpose Advice Thread

Discussion in 'Advice Threads' started by purr1n, Sep 26, 2015.

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  1. señorhifi

    señorhifi Friend

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    Has anyone here compared the Modi and Modius DACs to the FiiO K5 Pro? The FiiO unit uses an AKM 4493 just like the Modius and costs 200€ + comes with a very capable amp, which from what I have read, is similar to the Magni 3.
     
  2. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    If a DAC (like most) sounds better with spdif than usb, would a usb > coaxial cable adapter offer any improvement until I get a pi2aes up and running? These adapters seem questionable for the sole reason that large units are sold for high prices that do the same thing. But if it might be a small improvement it would be worth it until I get my pi2aes up and running.
     
  3. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    They are completely different. What you are looking at is a USB to digital audio transmitter. Depending upon the quality of the clocks you could get decent results or you could get really bad results. Essentially while it duplicates some of the functionality of the PI2AES, it likely does not do so with the same level of quality.
     
  4. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    USB to Coaxial adapters have to convert usb packet format to S/PDIF and must embed a clock in the stream. You can easily find low cost TI chip based units that can do this for $100 down to about $12. And trust me, I have used them and they are garbage!

    In other words it will sound worse than through your "not so great through USB dac".
     
  5. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    Whatever you do., do not buy this crap. It I went through 3 warranty repairs before it failed completely. And getting those repairs done was fun.
    DacMagic Plus is not that bad in terms of sound and features but I would consider Modius first.
    I own DacMAgic Plus and heard Modius. It was a short audition, I did not hear much sonic difference but I would trust Schiit quality way more than Cambridge Audio.
     
  6. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    We will know the Zen DAC Signature > SW51+ when I get my Zen DAC Sig next month.
     
  7. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    well I didn’t expect them to compete with or compare to your PI2AES ;) but maybe be a stopgap measure.

    thank you! This is exactly what I wanted to know.
     
  8. farbinator

    farbinator Facebook Friend

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    Speaking of converters, anyone else ever use an HDMI audio extractor that outputs a Toslink signal? In this case, going from an HDMI port equipped laptop out to a Toslink input on a DAC. The extractors in questions have their own DC wall warts for power.

    I'm not familiar enough to understand the implications of using HDMI as the jumping off point as opposed to USB to comprehend what the downsides or considerations might be.
     
  9. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    I have used an HDMI/optical splitter, but it was to feed a soundbar that only had optical in. It seemed to work fine, but that setup was only for casual use (hence the soundbar).

    There are limitations of the splitter, like only doing Dolby Digital and not DD+. That may not matter to you if you are feeding a DAC.
     
  10. magnium

    magnium Facebook Friend

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    I have an HDMI switch + audio extractor on order and can report back in a few weeks. I want to try feeding audio through my SFD-1 DAC from my Apple TV and Cable TV box. The potential hiccup is that this DAC only handles up to 16/48 audio so will play around with downsampling.
     
  11. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Did you ever try the Schiit Eitr?
     
  12. Erroneous

    Erroneous Friend

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    I recently used an HDMI audio extractor to send audio via Toslink to my DAC to watch the ACL Festival stream and listen on my 2-channel system. Worked fine. I wasn't doing critical listening though, just enjoying the shows.
     
  13. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    I wrote about some higher end USB to SPDIF units I tested on my blog digitalaudiodirections.blogspot.com but never had the opportunity to listen or test the Eitr.

    Maybe some of the cheap Chinese xmos units that popped up recently under $100 might be workable. I used to use a Halide way back in the day, then an Audiophileo until I discovered some dacs actually have USB inputs that are as good or better than spdif coax.
     
  14. RenEH

    RenEH Acquaintance

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    You can see my introduction here:

    https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...rs-introduce-yourself.17/page-187#post-323093

    I'm looking for a step up from my modi 3 in the following set up.

    Allo Digione->Monoprice Coaxial->Schiit Modi3->Monoprice 1 foot RCA's->THX 789->Periapt balanced cables->Anandas | LCD2C | Balance Modded NAD HP50

    Right now, when I'm listening to father and son by cat stevens on my headphones the dynamics in the vocals are very flat. They don't convey emotion as well as my very modest Edifier S3000Pro active speakers. I find it hard to believe my headphones or amp are not up to the task. Is this the limitation of the Modi 3? Should i just get a Bifrost 2 and call it a day? How much money is too much money to spend on a dac given my amp and headphones? Thank you for any help, it is much appreciated.
     
  15. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    I don't think your DAC is at fault for flat sound dynamics. did you try to listen to the modi from your speakers?

    If you are in toronto I can let you listen to some gear. if I had to blame something in your chain it would be the THX amp or the LCD2. you should try a class A amp or some electrodynamic headphones.
     
  16. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

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    If you get a chance try some other amp. I never enjoyed music out of THX 789.
     
  17. RenEH

    RenEH Acquaintance

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    Noted, but options right now are limited. Elderly parents and young kids means I'm limiting all non-essential contact right now.

    Thank you for the generous offer, but I'm based out of BC. I did audition the HD800S, Entire Focal line up to Clear and a few others before I bought the Ananda's, but I still fell in love with their sound. My NAD HP50's also suffers from the same flattening through the modi3/thx 789 even though they're dynamic. Bass region is VERY dynamic but mids seem flat with my current electronics. I should have mentioned I switched the power supply of the modi 3 to a 2 amp apple charger. Clarity and slam improved, but perhaps it's messing with the dynamics.
     
  18. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    The 789 I think should really be considered an iem amp. You should get a different amp, especially if you’re complaining about flat sound. There are too many options to recommend something but get a tube amp or something with moar power. A Schiit Lyr maybe. That would resolve the flat sound issue. And don’t buy based on f'ing measurements (I’m guessing that’s why you have the 789 in the first place).
     
  19. RenEH

    RenEH Acquaintance

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    Appreciate the advice. Actually I bought the amp since both a few prominent members here liked it as well as the measurement crowd. I'm somewhat adverse to tubes with the odd horror story of them killing headphones when they blow. I think a friend has a Vali I could try to borrow to see if that fixes things. However, I do remember the magni 3 I had before having even less dynamics than the thx 789, especially over balanced.
     
  20. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    The 789 has exactly the problem you’re having with full size power hungry headphones. Exactly. This is the easiest fix ever. Get a different amp.

    and f**k the measurement crowd.
     
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