I mean something inexpensive, 200$-ish, for a good ālo-cost hi-fiā combo.
Oh, OK. But, do you really need balanced? Itās nice and all and I get what the benafits are but isnāt a well implemented single ended amp just as good as balanced in most cases?
The way I see it is that the Modius is meant to stack with the Asgard 3 and the balanced output is for a later upgrade/sidegrade that happens to be balanced like a Rupert Neve RNHP or a Geshelli Erish.
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Iām just wishing for more low-cost balanced amps for everyone 
heh
But yeah, thereās the Erish now 
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Still not convinced there is a good argument for balanced at the $200 price point, your fundamentally trading off component quality for any advantage you get from a differential amp.
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The idea behind the modius was to design and deliver a low cost dac that was not Multi Bit or R2R that measured very well for the ASR crowd that only looks at specs for the most partā¦
This was accomplished in spades.
Adding a balanced function is just icing on the cakeā¦not at all expected for a $199 dac.
It does pair well with the Jot (for full balanced interconnects). But I am thinking your going to see a similar physical size amp coming out soon? that will match the Modiusā¦just my feelingā¦hmmmm.
Jason Stoddard did reply to a comment on head-fi regarding a ā$199 Magniusā, but only said he written another chapter of ābookā but canāt release it yet.
So I do agree a balance version of either a heresy or a magni might fill the role of a $200 price point balanced amp. Since something that has a modular dac like the asgard/jot lines would drive the price too high.
It looks like the modius is on backorder, placed on the 10th and they said its expected to ship mid September. Just a heads up
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This dac has sold out!!!
Amazing reception for a stellar product!
Cant wait for the matching amp being alluded to!!
:>)
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That was INCORRECT, Jason just posted and corrected it, its now Aug 7th!
Alex
For anyone who havenāt seen this. Schiit gets their PCB boards done by Jaxx, a manufacturer about 30 minutes away.
Iām sure there are so many components and parts downstream that have been delayed, let alone covid and staffing related issues or adjustments that need to be made by Jaxx.
Hopefully this can provide insight on why it might take time to deliver their products.
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Pick&Place machines can be STUPID fast.
People seem to forget there still is a global pandemicā¦
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Anecdotal addition: my dad is a retired electrical engineer. He told me recently that his old work buddies and professional contacts are seeing supply shortages starting to show up more frequently. In the first few weeks of the pandemic the factories that did assembly of smaller parts had supplies on hand and were able to carry on with some planned runs. But now those supplies are drying up. 18-20 weeks into this mess (at least in US) and weāre starting to see the lockdownās effect on supply chains in earnest.
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Curiously, people didnāt buy all of Schiitās toilet paper when covid started.
Sheer luck I guess. 
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More intelligent smart buyersā¦share the Schiit!
Iām currently running a Grace SDAC which has been okay, but I would like a little more detail and separation. Would the Modius be a step up here, or am I better off saving the extra $500 and going for the Bifrost2?
I guess what Iām really asking here is: Is there a bigger jump from SDAC to Modius or from Modius to Bifrost2? I know the BF2 is the superior DAC but Iām not sure I can really justify $700 for my current setup which Iām mostly happy with.
Thatās a hard one tbh, the modius would be a step up form the sdac, but the bf2 is a noticeable step up from the modius. I would say the modius is more bang for buck, but the bf2 would give you a larger jump in performance. It would honestly depend on what the rest of your signal chain is
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Hey @M0N, thanks for the reply. Yeah, currently itās Amazon HD -> SDAC -> JDS Labs Atom / CTH / Dark Voice. The upper echelon of my headphones are the HP-3 and Elegia, but I probably listen to the 177X GO the most. I also signal out from the DAC to Kanto YU2 speakers on my desk.
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Holy crap.
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Personally for what you have imo I might say consider getting a higher end amp, you should be able to get some pretty nice options in the 500 range, then wait and grab a bf2 later on, I think that would offer you a larger performance jump than focusing on the dac right now
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