Schiit modi/magni 3 vs Audio interfaces. Witch one is better?

Zombiesnax · February 24, 2020

Hello.

I'm looking to upgrade from a Asus Essence STX to the Schiit stack. But one of my friends are saying that i should get the Universal Audio Arrow, or the Native instruments Komplete audio 6 instead.

Do anyone know if there is any difference between The schiits or the two interfaces?

Cheers!

RasmusDC · February 24, 2020

the audio 6 seems to be USB powered only.. they call it "high output" headphone but seems really underpowered

Maximum output level

2x 25mW @ 33 Ohms

both of these seems to be for a different job, if you want to control more with the setup.. if you just want sound, and you want to drive a headphone with a power requirement the MODI/MAGNI stack is a fine combination the Magni 3 actually has pretty beefy output power for it´s price.

if you want to invest mere, i would still look away from these solutions. then look at the Monoprice THX 887 or the older often on massdrop THX 789, which is a really good headphone amp.

hell even a cheap M3 SMSL does a decent job compared to the STX essence..

Personally i have a Magni 3 running of a M3 at the moment, new dac/amb combo on the way. but it works fine, running Hifiman HE400, Fostex TR-X00, Monoprice M1060´s, K712´s pros and X2´s and have NO problem driving all these extremely clean at EXTREME volumens, don´t use high gain that much.

i would never disregard the Magni3 as a GREAT product, but would maybe look elsewhere than Schiit if you go expensive, since there are so many great amps at a higher pricepoint, DAC wise i don´t really care, i don´t really find that my M3 does worse than any other DAC i have had. had the HD-DAC1 for a while, and it did not sound any better.. the AMP is in my world, where you invest, and again the Magni3 is a GREAT starting point. since it does have more power, than most "cheaper" amps.

Zombiesnax · February 24, 2020

Yeah looking around i might even go for a Asgard 3 with the dac card, instead of a stack. Im running Sennheiser hd660s so its not that bad on the power requirement.

food158 · February 26, 2020

Audio interfaces have a completely different purpose than a Schiit stack. If you are looking for headphone DACs and amplification, audio interfaces aren't the way to go.

mtssler · June 28, 2020

In my opinion,this is a very old yet still a very relevant question !!!! Listen folks, the original Xonar Essence ST and especially the subsequent Essence STX were both great cards and had the best Burr-Brown DAC's, best signal to noise ratio, lowest total harmonic distortion and highest db ratings at that time HANDS DOWN !! (and even until today in most situations). All Japanese capacitors and gold plated everything as well !!!!!!! Especially the PCIE version STX. I question if one still has one of these....... if getting an external setup is worth spending ANY money and also cluttering your desktop. DAC tech has not changed much and you basically get what you pay for...........hey try to buy a new STX version 2 today.........its much more bucks than the 'schiit stack'. And by the way I have read the original two ST and STX were better cards !!! Only lacking 7.1, but hey folks these cards are truly for audio-buffs who only run 2 channel, Stereo anyways to be honest !!!

While some praise the Shiite stack, I have not heard it myself and would love to............ and have heard a couple who have who know the older premium products too and think this new stuff is in fact really just Shiite !! Hey just their opinion and again I would love to hear more who have owned both.

I for one who still owns the 2013 Xonar Essence STX PCIE have still migrated this card on a PCIE-1 slot to a Z490 setup 2020 !!! Am I crazy???? Yes I have done this in favor of external dacs and yes far in favour still of even the latest onboard sound. I am a very discerning listener and use the Senns Hd Pro headphones but much better my GENELEC near field monitors at my PC thorough the old Xonar STX. Umb, nothing better than the Genelecs with the STX.

If a reader has actually heard both setups and can objectively comment, I am fully in favor of hearing this, but as such, peeps on every thread including this one mostly just seem to say what they have sounds great without being able to compare.

For me, While i also do not own both setups.......I can say my setup is SUPERIOR sounding for sure to my buddies Tidal MFX $700 dollar decoder for 24k tracks (Blusound Node 2i) , that I have listened to. And it is not the way cheaper and well mentioned Modi/Magni Stack. It is suppossed to be superior to the stack yet still inferior by far, even he agrees to my old dusty STX.

To the OP.......hey man.........stick with what you have!!!.........and if we ever get a subjective comparison from some more who have already tried to upgrade.......lets consider strongly what they say and make an opinion at that point.

Last point if you do not know. DAC's are tiny and super cheap circuitry. Even the 5000 + range of these have a production cost little bucks to manufacture !! Really !! Be careful what you end up spending your hard earned money on.......do research and listen and see what you like....dont ignore specs, even if from a decade ago in the case of the STX, remember in the OLD days.......things were made much better in many cases.....not all, but MANY CASES especially audio related......man there is millions who know this and swear by their older amps/dacs/speakers etc. Don't be afraid to try used if your research is strong and hey.............

Cheers and be safe all. !!

Madmike Plungerhead

Highend-Audio and gaming-buff with great ears still.

(.....and old Fart who knows a thing or two.)

Derkoli · June 28, 2020

40 minutes ago, mtssler said:

In my opinion,this is a very old yet still a very relevant question !!!! Listen folks, the original Xonar Essence ST and especially the subsequent Essence STX were both great cards and had the best Burr-Brown DAC's, best signal to noise ratio, lowest total harmonic distortion and highest db ratings at that time HANDS DOWN !! (and even until today in most situations). All Japanese capacitors and gold plated everything as well !!!!!!! Especially the PCIE version STX. I question if one still has one of these....... if getting an external setup is worth spending ANY money and also cluttering your desktop. DAC tech has not changed much and you basically get what you pay for...........hey try to buy a new STX version 2 today.........its much more bucks than the 'schiit stack'. And by the way I have read the original two ST and STX were better cards !!! Only lacking 7.1, but hey folks these cards are truly for audio-buffs who only run 2 channel, Stereo anyways to be honest !!!

While some praise the Shiite stack, I have not heard it myself and would love to............ and have heard a couple who have who know the older premium products too and think this new stuff is in fact really just Shiite !! Hey just their opinion and again I would love to hear more who have owned both.

I for one who still owns the 2013 Xonar Essence STX PCIE have still migrated this card on a PCIE-1 slot to a Z490 setup 2020 !!! Am I crazy???? Yes I have done this in favor of external dacs and yes far in favour still of even the latest onboard sound. I am a very discerning listener and use the Senns Hd Pro headphones but much better my GENELEC near field monitors at my PC thorough the old Xonar STX. Umb, nothing better than the Genelecs with the STX.

If a reader has actually heard both setups and can objectively comment, I am fully in favor of hearing this, but as such, peeps on every thread including this one mostly just seem to say what they have sounds great without being able to compare.

For me, While i also do not own both setups.......I can say my setup is SUPERIOR sounding for sure to my buddies Tidal MFX $700 dollar decoder for 24k tracks (Blusound Node 2i) , that I have listened to. And it is not the way cheaper and well mentioned Modi/Magni Stack. It is suppossed to be superior to the stack yet still inferior by far, even he agrees to my old dusty STX.

To the OP.......hey man.........stick with what you have!!!.........and if we ever get a subjective comparison from some more who have already tried to upgrade.......lets consider strongly what they say and make an opinion at that point.

Last point if you do not know. DAC's are tiny and super cheap circuitry. Even the 5000 + range of these have a production cost little bucks to manufacture !! Really !! Be careful what you end up spending your hard earned money on.......do research and listen and see what you like....dont ignore specs, even if from a decade ago in the case of the STX, remember in the OLD days.......things were made much better in many cases.....not all, but MANY CASES especially audio related......man there is millions who know this and swear by their older amps/dacs/speakers etc. Don't be afraid to try used if your research is strong and hey.............

Cheers and be safe all. !!

Madmike Plungerhead

Highend-Audio and gaming-buff with great ears still.

(.....and old Fart who knows a thing or two.)

Yes, your soundcard will genuinely be better than the Bluesound Node 2i. Not being sarcastic. That Bluesound unit measures terribly.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-bluesound-node-2i-streamer.6631/

Also, ASUS stuff tends to have great audio. The owner of ASUS is a pretty big audiophile iirc.

We have gotten better with DAC performance, up to 21 bits of Dynamic Range in well performing DAC's, and mucher better SINAD's than we used to have. But honestly progress has slowed down now, compared to 20-30 years ago.

Alot of expensive DAC's now use FPGA DAC's, or very custom stuff such as dCS' Ring DAC. Off the shelf chip's measure really well now, but FPGA's can be made so good with the correct software running on them, but the DAC is only ever as good as it's implementation, and accompanying analog circuits.