Bought my first DAC

Shaffer · Jul 23, 2013

It's a $100 Shiit Modi. I plan to use it with my desktop, as the MAudio soundcard fried itself after ~12 years of flawless service. I also want to try it in my main system in conjunction with my laptop and Spotify. I'm not expecting much in a hi-fi application, but I do hope to get a taste of what the whole thing is about. Ultimately, I want to purchase an OPPO-105, which should provide all the digital ins/outs I'd need. Wish me luck. I'm pretty excited. It's the first DAC I bought with my own money. lol

Odysseus · Jul 23, 2013

Looks like an American company, when they came up with the name of the company, did they realize they might sell to the English-speaking community? Can you imagine: "Hi guys! I just bought an awesome piece of Schiit equipment, can't wait to immerse myself in it! " LOL!

garylkoh · Jul 23, 2013

They must have named it to bring attention to themselves, but from all that I've heard (even though I have not heard one) they are very good value for money, and also very good period..... I'd get one for myself to try, but I just can't bring myself to shell out good money for a piece of Schiit.

Felix, congratulations! Welcome to the dark side. Please don't sell digital short. When you're ready, optimize a computer for music server duties, and you'll be surprised how much music you enjoy from 1's and 0's.

JackD201 · Jul 23, 2013

Odysseus said:
Looks like an American company, when they came up with the name of the company, did they realize they might sell to the English-speaking community? Can you imagine: "Hi guys! I just bought an awesome piece of Schiit equipment, can't wait to immerse myself in it! " LOL!

It was reportedly done on purpose. The story goes that the owners of the company horsing around with tag lines (The main one involving the phrase "You ain't heard Schiit") and it just stuck.

Odysseus · Jul 23, 2013

That makes sense. I guess this changes my first impression about the people running that company from "total idiots, what were they thinking? " to "they're clever, or at least bold"... I still think I'd have a hard time buying something with that name.

audioguy · Jul 23, 2013

The name does present an interesting dilemma. If you had someone over to listen and they said: "what a piece of Schiit", you would not know if they did not like it or were just making a statement of fact.

Shaffer · Jul 23, 2013

Odysseus said:
That makes sense. I guess this changes my first impression about the people running that company from "total idiots, what were they thinking? " to "they're clever, or at least bold"... I still think I'd have a hard time buying something with that name.

The name was a selling point for me. Love it! I get a big kick saying, "I just bought a Schiit piece of gear."

FWIW, the DACs are designed by Mike Moffat (Theta).

Shaffer · Jul 23, 2013

garylkoh said:
Felix, congratulations! Welcome to the dark side. Please don't sell digital short. When you're ready, optimize a computer for music server duties, and you'll be surprised how much music you enjoy from 1's and 0's.

Gary, it's interesting that you mention a music server idea, as I've been struggling with how I would actually use one. I mean, now I select a recording, either drop it into the CDP or cue the 'table, and away we go. With a server I'd first have to upload all of my CDs, then use an interphase (smart phone?) to select a title to play. Maybe I'm missing something, and I probably am, how is that better? I realize that I'll be able to stream the music all over the house, but it's not like we live in the Versailles. Hell, my system energizes the whole house. I'm not sure there's a benefit in my situation. Of course, I may be missing a crucial piece of information.

Shaffer · Jul 23, 2013

BTW, IIRC, a Schiit DAC - a more full-fledged model than mine - was reviewed in Stereophile this month.

Shaffer · Jul 23, 2013

The guts: I have no idea what I'm looking at. Not really. Worth $100?

garylkoh · Jul 23, 2013

Shaffer said:
Gary, it's interesting that you mention a music server idea, as I've been struggling with how I would actually use one. I mean, now I select a recording, either drop it into the CDP or cue the 'table, and away we go. With a server I'd first have to upload all of my CDs, then use an interphase (smart phone?) to select a title to play. Maybe I'm missing something, and I probably am, how is that better? I realize that I'll be able to stream the music all over the house, but it's not like we live in the Versailles. Hell, my system energizes the whole house. I'm not sure there's a benefit in my situation. Of course, I may be missing a crucial piece of information.

With my music server, any CD I buy is immediately ripped and loaded. All my CDs, SACDs and DVD-A's have already been loaded over the past few years. I'm also slowly ripping my vinyl collection to DSD and PCM 20/176.4.

Anytime I feel like listening to any music, I pick up either my smart phone, iPad, iPad mini, Android tablet and pick something to play. I can sort by genre, album, artist, composer, conductor, soloist. Best thing about putting everything in a music server is that I listen to things that I wouldn't have picked up, and re-discover CDs I had bought years ago. When I hear something I like, I can easily segue into another artist/album in my server, or through Pandora or Spotify into something I don't have, and if I like something I can order a new album with one click.

Hard to do that with physical CDs.

Bruce B · Jul 23, 2013

garylkoh said:
Hard to do that with physical CDs.

The only person I've seen do that is Ted, with his 20? jukeboxes!

amirm · Jul 23, 2013

Shaffer said:
The guts: I have no idea what I'm looking at. Not really. Worth $100?

Not sure how he makes a living given what is in there

. Kind of hard to see the chip markings but looks like the main processor/USB interface is the cmedia 6631a: http://www.cmedia.com.tw/ProductsDetail.aspx?page=p&C1Serno=25&C2Serno=27&PSerno=43

This is a $10 part in single pieces. In quantity it is probably $5 to $6. There is an SST part next to it that may be flash memory to store its program. And an AKM DAC. It is probably $30 in parts plus the cost of case, packaging, assembly/test. Hard to understand how he is making any reasonable amount of money given the low volumes in this crowded market.

MylesBAstor · Jul 23, 2013

audioguy said:
The name does present an interesting dilemma. If you had someone over to listen and they said: "what a piece of Schiit", you would not know if they did not like it or were just making a statement of fact.

Or this Schiit stinks!

Bill Hart · Jul 23, 2013

One of the most underrated things in life. Enjoy it in good health.

(FWIW, i haven't fooled around with any of the current digital separates, so it will be interesting to get your take on budget DAC in the context of 'serious' hi-fi.)

Shaffer · Jul 24, 2013

OK, I got my Schiit a few hours ago. Its build quality is terrific, not only for its $100 price, but for similarly box-enclosed components at several times the cost. Impressive at first touch. It locked onto my laptop immediately and my impressions are solely based on very familiar tracks using Spotify as a source and a generic USB cable.

No real bass. Not a problem in its intended place on my desktop, but still. Complex vocal passages sound homogeneous, compared to what I heard through the MAudio card and a lesser resolving system on my desk. Nearfield, farfield, etc... give me time.

This being said, it's an absolute hoot playing songs almost instantly, especially those I'd likely never own.

Shaffer · Jul 25, 2013

Odd effect in the system: most male singers sound like tenors. Winwood, on John Barleycorn, sounds like a 17 year old girl. Almost a soprano. Cable issue, maybe, possibly, hopefully?

garylkoh · Jul 25, 2013

I encountered something like that many, many years ago. The files were 44.1kHz but the DAC was 48kHz (or was it the other way around). May be Windows is resampling to 48kHz but the DAC is fixed at 44.1kHz??

Shaffer · Jul 31, 2013

I've donated the Schiit to my 11 year old son. He's a gaming addict and this will make the experience a lot more fun for him. Got him some MAudio speakers, too.

As for me, I picked up a HRT Music Streamer II. It will soon find a permanent home behind my desktop, but for now I'm trying it out in the main system. The HRT's sound is at least a grade above the entry-level Schiit. Everything is better; the presentation is so much less etched and more dimensional. Much better delineation of individual tracks, if you will. Complex passages no longer sound like a big blob of sound, but the bass is still a bit weak. Perhaps it's due to a lack of a real power supply, but what do I know.

Inspired by all this, I may be buying an Oppo 105 in a couple of weeks. They seem to be out of stock.

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