okay, so it’s a niche case where you like having the option of optical.
and this is using the new XMOS USB setup, which is supposed to solve the USB pains of the past.
lastly, surely there are simple options for a USB switcher too.
but I do understand your complaint…to change anything on your end involves a lot more than it would for most. 
Topping E30.
Like I said, nothing meaningful. The E30 is nice and has some decent features, but I highly doubt it sounds any better than the modi 3. Unless you can hear the reversed polarity the e30 has. 
Not to mention warranty and service after the sale. It would be a decent competitor at $100 (I’d probably gran one at that price), but at $130, one would have to really think about whether or not they need the remote and screen, and if the after sale service risk is worth taking.
Remember, measurements are not everything. Both the e30 and modi 3 measure audibly transparent. At this level of performance, you’re shopping on features and nuances.
that’s funny…since the Modi 3 is badly panned by almost everyone when compared to similarly priced options from others. biggest complaint being the sound suffers from compression…which was a Schiit trait / house sound thing, but one they’re working on fixing.
For the Chromecast Audio dongle to simply be a passthrough, it needs a toslink to mini-toslink cable. It can turn your DAC into a media streamer with no jitter for as high a playback as your DAC can handle, especially if you have Roon. Chromecast Audio Dongle + Topping E30 for ~$150 gives you as good of a media streamer as you can find under…$1K(-ish?) or even more, IMO.
Without an optical in, just limits the DAC’s versatility.
Could roon or Chromecast be better than streaming from an xbox1 or iPad? Would be going into a dac.
Roon is software, Chromecast is hardware…and you can set up a wireless stream of your music (and if you use Tidal or Qobuz, etc) as one big library.
I’m not sure of your set up, but, yeah, I’d assume its better.
Was wondering how the quality of the digital signal was going into the dac mattered i guess and which service would be best. Like would a spotify stream be the same coming from any source/device to a dedicated dac.
Any “house sound” or compression they’re hearing is placebo, or better yet, mental remnants of some of schiit’s products not measuring as well as the chi-fi products, yet not necessarily sounding inferior. The modi 3 is as audibly clean as any well-made $100 dac.
Also, by that way of thinking, the atom dac should get the same panning as it uses the same chip and measures roughly the same.
Atom DAC has already shipped! In fact it was out the door only an hour and a half after I ordered it! 
Topping D10 or the JDS ATOM DAC?
anyone know what chipset they used in the Atom DAC?
D10 is damn fine…but until we have reviews / measurements on the Atom, we can’t say if it’s better or not. the Topping E30 is a very safe bet though, if you can swing the bit extra coin it needs.
Doesn’t seem to specifically say on the page. I tried zooming in on the board but not sure if any of the chip numbers are what we’re looking for. Both Atom & OL DAC’s use “AK4490EQ” but don’t think that’s the chipset you’re asking about. What chipsets do their other DAC’s use?
My experience with JDS Labs customer service has been top notch so far. Part of the reason why I support them.
that’s what I meant when I said chipset…AKM or other. no reference in the specs on what they used.
They posted measurements on the announcement blog–SINAD 106:
There are a few pieces to the digital head-end:
The first is the source recording itself–either a music file like a FLAC or MP3 or a streaming service. As far as I know, Spotify is still not serving up lossless audio, so that’s one bottleneck.
The second puzzle piece is the local stream over your home network. XBox would likely use DLNA, an iPad might use Apple’s proprietary protocol (Airdrop?). DLNA, at least, has some unfortunate limitations in audio resolution, but it should support lossless CD quality (16/44.1). Meanwhile, Roon implement their own custom streaming protocol called RAAT that not only will do all forms of hi-res audio, but can stream to multiple devices at the same time and adjust quality to whatever each endpoint can handle. It’s a bit expensive, but honestly some of the best money I’ve ever invested in HiFi.
And, finally, the last puzzle piece is how the audio gets from whatever host device to the DAC (i.e., typically USB, optical or digital coax). Both optical and coax are about the same in terms of quality. Both support 24/96 hi-res audio, and I think there may be some limited support for 192kHz? But source material is kinda scarce at that rate and beyond. USB, meanwhile, is the most robust and highest-bandwidth interface. It’s the way to go for a no-compromise audio stack, but for a DAC at the range of Atom, E30, etc., I wouldn’t worry too much. The practical gain boils down to a little extra sense of security and compatibility with the silly tier of hi-res formats.
That was execelent thank you
