I need some help again:
I need a DAC for my Asgard 3, because when I got it, I was actually quite dissapointed as the upgrade over the FX Audio Dac X6 was not as big as I hoped. I figured it’s the DACs fault. So I quickly got a Topping E30 of Amazon, just to see what a DAC can do. As it turns out I was right. Now I do really get the diffrence.
So I guess now I am in the marked for a DAC to pair with the A3. With this setup (A3 + DAC) I want to future proof myself a little bet, set it up and be done, so I can worry about other things. Thus I am breaking my head about finding the right DAC. The options I come across are for now the E30 and the Modius as they seem to be the best budget recomendations (Are they?). I don’t want to pay more for the DAC than I did for the A3.
To decide I need you help. I just lack experience with DACs and Amps and doing reseach about these two DACs gave me very mixed results. Some say there hardly is a diffrence and some say the Modius is way better than the E30 in Detail, Stage and Size. What do you think how they compare? Which one is more aggresive/sharp in the treble?
My Cans are: HD660s, Sundaras, Beyers.
Maybe this does not matter at all and is just a fight in my head, but I kinda wanna do this right because I plan to get this DAC and be set for a long time so I can mostly focus on my cans & speakers.
I would second the opinion of the Bifrost 2 as THE choice. I originally ran the SMSL SU8 DAC and it was decent but changing to the BF2 was the single largest improvement … Adding space and character to my source (pc) like no other. IMHO I feel it brings out the best in the Asgard 3. It is a steal at its asking price and will hold its own very well. I use iot to power my desktop monitors, my A3 of course as well as a Monoprice liquid platinum and Feliks audio echo. All through a switch of course. Buy it , you will not regret it. Just my 3 cents!
LOL I was saying that was what I was running and that the Modius was a better choice over the E30 but I mean if they got the funds then absolutely the BF2.
Yeah I got that a lot about the Bifrost 2. It seems to be THE one dac to stack with the Asgard 3. But thats a whole other price area and just not something I can jump onto right now. Maybe one day…
So for now I kinda have to keep it smaller.
I’ve head from “GoldenSound” the Modius leans a little bit into what the BF2 does. On the other hand I’ve read a guy saying that (at least with <500$ cans) telling the diffrence between the Modius and E30 is splitting hair… I don’t really know what to belive.
I like the smoothing and staging a lot, but sometimes also need punch and detail when I go for electronical music. I just listen to almost every genre from Classical to Electro up to Rock.
It’s gonna be a lot easier getting a Bifrost, too…Schiit kept stringing out my Modius backorder status for 3 months before I gave up. Their current ETA is end of May for the Modius, Bifrost is supposed to ship within a week or so.
I’m the same as you on this, I would love a Bifrost 2 but I don’t earn enough as a graduate student to justify spending that much money on a DAC, even if I save for it. Maybe after I graduate and get a proper job…
I joined his Discord, where he has said he didn’t like sound the sound of the Modius single-ended, but he may not have noticed my message when I asked him why. So I’m not really sure if there are big differences between balanced and single-ended for Modius.
I own an E30 with my Asgard 3, and I think it’s a great single-ended DAC. I would like a Modius and I have tried to justify to myself why I would want one. Honestly, the only real justification I can make is that “it would look cooler as a stack” and maybe “USB on Modius measures super well”. I’ve never used a Modius, but I feel like the improvement from the E30 would not be much (if at all). I would personally stick with the E30 for now and save up for a more substantial upgrade (like the Bifrost 2). Note: I may say this today but so many times I have found myself eyeing the Modius and wanting to buy it…
As hard it can get to resist the urge to “buy the very best” and upgrade, I think E30 (or Modius) / Asgard stack would be an amazing budget setup that does not need to be upgraded unless you start buying headphones which require more resolving DACs and amps. I myself have this fight in my head all the time. But I always tell myself that my most expensive headphones are DT880 250ohm (black) and TYGR 300R, and so I would probably see way more difference if I get better headphones rather than make small improvements (price-wise) to my signal chain.
From what I’ve heard the diffrences are minor. As I remember he did really praise the Modius in his review.
I am sure the E30 is good. It’s just the wondering “what if…”. I do really enjoy a good soundstage and I’ve come across people stating that the Modius does widen everything a bit.
Yeah I also think it’s substentional until you go for headphones twice as expencive as the stack.
Maybe I get lucky and can get @WaveTheory to comment here. He surely heard both DACs on the A3 a lot (:
E30 is great with A3 (the display is a nice touch you don’t get that on many devices in this price point). If you go this route you won’t be disappointed. You could probably pick one up second hand on this forum if you ask on Buy/Sell thread. Then you could flip it for little to no loss if you don’t like it.
I personally use both an E30 and a Soncoz LA-QXD1 with my A3 (and the internal multi-bit DAC, but I’m honestly very disappointed in the internal DAC performance). My perception is that the E30 is slightly warmer than the Soncoz. The Soncoz is very neutral, and the warmth of the A3 plays very very nicely with it. The benefit of the Soncoz (similar to Modius) is a balanced output for future expansion. I prefer the sound of the Soncoz with the A3 over the E30. But this is very much to taste. Both are great.
Maybe worth considering - the E30 stacks nicely on top of the A3. The Modius also stacks well. The Soncoz really doesn’t. It sits next to my A3, which is fine. Just not the “almighty stack”.
I can’t compare to Soncoz to Modius, I’ve not used Modius… yet…
Alright, thank you. Good to know considering the Soncoz is mroe expencive than the E30.
I was actually wondering if the E30 or the Modius is warmer/less trebley, because I don’t want to go to far away from neutral with the Asgard already beeing a bit warm.
If you like the E30 (AK4493), it’s probably best to stick with AKM based DACs. Next step up from here would be the SMSL M200 and M300, both AK4497 chips with additional features to “future proof” yourself for awhile (both under $300). Personally, I liked the Schiit Modi Multibit at the same price range as the SMSL’s. The Multibit is a beast that no one talks about and a solid option if the Bifrost is out of your reach.
I dunno…I get the impression that dude is not as smart as he thinks he is.
If you’re gonna use the SE outputs (which you will for A3), the Modius and E30 are very close. I might give a slight edge to the Modius, but it’s tiny. For SE use I would argue the E30 is the better value. However, the Modius leaves you more upgrade paths if that matters down the road.
Oh yes! The Modi Multibit also leaves me curios! Uh how I would love to have Schiit stuff easly availible so I could just try everything and make my own opinion! Audio stuff is just so subjective.
Haha maybe… But even Zeos would wish to be as convincing in makeing me buy stuff as he is.
Good to know! So E30 is probably better value right now, I guess.
Also one thing I was thinking about… Maybe tubes one day?! But to keep my life simpler right now I tell myself I wont do that for a while… Just as I ONLY need headphones for my piano …
On that note: I was actually wondering if you loose the balanced benefit here if you use balanced to SE adapter calble, so connect Modius balanced out into Asgard 3 via adapter.
Well, that changes things! For piano music you have to stick to Steinway:
The vast majority of tube amps are SE. I was thinking more if you stepped up to mid-tier amps like the Liquid Platinum (not a true tube amp), the balanced connections could be handy.
Hard to say, I didn’t have them side by side. What Modius does better than any other <$200 dac I know of is low end dynamics. The bass punch/slam is class leading. I would give it a tiny edge in detail retrieval over E30 as well. They will both have the AKM smoothness. The E30 can be made slightly warmer using its digital filters.
