So today I got an email from Schiit telling me that the Magnius for my Modius/Magnius stack order had been again delayed from tomorrow to April 26th. At this point I was so tired of waiting that I was willing to abandon the Magnius and shell out another $200 for a Jotunheim 2. This was when the rep from Schiit informed me that there was no Modius allocated to my order and it is also backordered into April. I’ve canceled my order and am now left trying to decide what to get instead. So, as the title says, help me out.
The stack is going to be connected to my desktop PC (USB preferred), primarily listening to music on Spotify and a good deal of casual gaming (desktop USB mic so no need to worry about mic in). My current headphones are a Fidelio X2HR and Sundara. Budget wise I can deal with $600, maybe a little more. I’d like to run a balanced stack, and I’d like to have the option to output to external monitors.
As mentioned I’d like to do a balanced stack (if it were just about the amp I’d have a Jot2 on the way). Also I’m not sure how I feel about going and placing another order with Schiit after this debacle…
The SMSL SU-8 DAC and SH-8 amp was my first balanced stack. I love them, and still use them in the home office. They’re actally connected with Schiit PYST XLR cables I believe I saw the DAC on Drop recently for cheap. Since SMSL has come out with a new series, you might look into the new ones to see if you can get them for less than $600, or get the old ones for $300-$400.
hey Black…a very well implemented SE output can work / sound as good as a good balanced output and the Asgard 3 is a perfect example of that.
maybe take a gander at the iFi Zen stack? I have the Zen that’s a combo and LOVE it! it’s balanced out is definitely better than it’s SE, but I have no complaints on either output.
You could also take a look at the JDS Labs Element II or EL DAC II and EL AMP II.
or, throwing another US based solution, the Geshelli Labs JNOG DAC and ERISH Amp. granted, you’ll need to get the JNOG used as it used AKM DAC’s which aren’t available since their factory burnt down.
in fact, looking at the used market you can save yourself a mint and perhaps get several options so you can start to learn the flavors of audio! warm / fun to neutral to cool / analytical / detailed, etc!
Sense of deja-vu here. Same exact problem I am having. I’m going to stick it out though and go the Jot2/Modius route.
Can’t be mad at Schiit…I watched Jason’s video on this a while back and he explained the delay issues. Supply and demand is just nuts right now due to the pandemic and other factors.
Well, your Jot2 should be available to ship, and the Modius is back to April 22nd if that date holds…
I’d have been fine if the backorder dates were changed in a timely manner. But I’ve had the dates change about 4 or 5 times since I ordered in January and they always updated the day before the backorder was to end…
Yeah, I seriously thought of just getting the multibit and skip the Modius just so I could get it sooner. I’ll wait and see if the new April 22nd date holds. Same as your experience though, I ordered on 1/31 and been getting updates the day before ship date too. I think they are just being “hopeful” but then have no choice but to update again the day before.
Hey, at least its not a new series GPU! Screw that mess lol
The smsl m300 mkii and a90 is a super clean combo and tons of power. If you find them used you might be able to squeeze in under budget. You wouldn’t get stack aesthetics but I put my tube preamp beside my m300 on top of my a90 and it fits pretty nice. I actually like the m300 mkii more than my m400 which hurts a little. Might sell the m400 honestly.
That sucks. When I ordered my Jot2 and Modius on February 10th they shipped out a week later on the 17th. I knew that they were having issues with supply, but I had no idea there were people being back-ordered like that. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that.
When I first ordered my Asgard/Modius, it said it would ship in 2 weeks. When 2 weeks came, it got pushed back another 3 and a half weeks. Shit sucks but It eventually shipped on the second week, instead on the 3 and a half mark. It was a pleasant surprise and I love this amp and dac so I guess it was worth the wait. Schiit addressed this whole back-order stuff on their Youtube channel.
That sounds to me like in order to save shipping costs they pool orders together. So since you did a combo they had in stock they shipped it. Makes sense since they do have to charge shipping…though I suppose they could email the customer to ask if they prefer items to be separate. Had you ordered a Magnius instead of the Jot2, you would have been waiting like the rest it seems.
The problem there though is if they are not allocating stock to existing orders it leaves the possibility for certain combinations to remain unfulfilled for an extended time.
It’s obvious that Schiit did not allocate a Modius to my order, as the response to my question of changing the Magnius to a Jot2 was:
"Jotunheims have been shipping within 10 business days.
Unfortunately Modius are experiencing delays and are anticipated around April 22."
Yet @Michael ordered a Modius over a week after I did and got it.
I believe I saw the DAC on Drop recently for cheap. Since SMSL has come out with a new series, you might look into the new ones to see if you can get them for less than $600, or get the old ones for $300-$400.