SchiitModius E Balanced DAC Digital to Analog Converter D/A Converter (Black)

Now that I'm retired I've been downsizing my office and have retired my custom built tower computer and replaced it with a refurbished laptop and docking station. I had grown accustomed to playing my extensive digital music collection through a vintage Onkyo stereo and a pair of Panasonic CS607 speakers but noticed a significant reduction in sound quality when playing from my laptop. It turns out that laptops are notorious for this due to the proximity of the power lines, hard drives, fans, etc to the onboard DAC chip. A friend suggested getting a external DAC and so I started researching. Prices range from less than a hundred to thousands of dollars! I found this Modius from Schitt, manufactured in Texas, at a very reasonable price and after reading a lot of reviews, threw my money down and bought one. It arrived very promptly (~72 hrs) and in great condition. All new, solidly built, and had it connected in less than 5 minutes. Very simple. Restarted my Dell 7470 and booted into Linux Mint 21.3 which immediately recognized the Modius. Wow, what a difference! Full, warm, detailed sound with the depth and character I'd been missing. Highly recommended! If you've converted your music collection to 1's and 0's and are playing them from a computer, you gotta get one of these.

My first DAC experience was the Modi from schiit audio. I noticed a difference in the sound quality right away. I had that for about almost 3 years. And because of operator error I short-circuited it. I called, emailed because I wanted to upgrade to the next model. But never got a call back or an email. So I went and bought a PS audio preamp DAC. For quite a bit more money. My whole system changed the sound was incredible. Then I had that11 months and went to turn it on. No sound came out. So I sent it in for repair. In the medium I figured I would try a couple other DACs. So I bought an Emotiva preamp DAC. The sound from that did not even come close to the PS audio. So I sent it back and ordered another DAC from schiit. I Had schiit send me a modius. It is a happy medium in between the PS audio and the Emotiva. I will use the modius for my second system. Good solid unit. It is not a preamp and I understand that so I'm only comparing the DAC. You can't get a better one for the money. May the force be with you!

i have modius in a stack w an amp and eq both from the same manufacturer, and this balanced trio has exceeded my expectations. for modius in specific, it provides a nexus for anolog headphones signal to be read digitally, or by a computer, via its proprietary conversion topology. it's v difficult to review an individual piece of the proverbial pie because the stack operates in synergy.all i can really say is that it's got balanced xlr inputs and is bus-powered so a connection to the computer is all you need to power this behemoth—in its small form factor—and paired w magnius (balanced headphone amplifier), you can get the most affordable audiophile equipment around for the price schiit are asking.the physical dimensions are even equal, so when i say "stack," you quite literally stack them on top of ea other. a power duo, but this review is for modius.

I use this for my office speakers which use a Class D amplifier fed from my computer sound card. So the Schiit Modius input plugs into the computer's sound output and the Modius output goes to my amplifiers. I use Amazon Music to listen to HD qualty music and I couldn't be happier.

After all the lauditory reviews online, I expected a lot more. But for the price I guess I can’t be faulted. For classical music the dated DAC in my Sony SACD player sounded much better. It was also handedly beat by Marantz ND 8006, which admittedly cost $1500 new, so for the price I guess it’s good. But if you listen to a lot of classical music, especially with complex full orchestra, I would look elsewhere.

Had to return. Didn't work for my application.

I upgraded from a Zen dac signature v2. reviews of the zen being warmer may be true, or not true, but are definitely misleading. the Modius is light years closer to reference. A joy to listen to. its accuracy may be impacted by my Macintosh tube amp and tube preamp, but what wouldn't be. unless you are willing to pay $2000 or more. buy this DAC. Buy it right away!!

The brilliant little unit failed after two weeks of use. This was confirmed by testing with another DAC and checking all the optical cables. Done multiple times with consistent notes. This is a great company, but the unit went T.U. Probably will upgrade to Freya anyway.