Features:

  • Featuring the AK4490 delta-sigma DAC and DC-coupled output, Modi 3 delivers great sound for its price.
  • Plug Modi 3 into any virtually any computer with the included USB to micro cable and you’re ready to go.
  • Use the included wall power supply when connecting to an optical or coaxial digital source or when you connect to your phones and tablets that need a low-power-draw device.
  • Select different inputs by using the toggle switch conveniently located on the front. On the back, you'll find Coaxial SPDIF, Optical SPDIF, and USB inputs, and single-ended RCA output.
  • Modi 3 ships with a USB to Micro USB cable and a universal 5V USB wall power adapter
Works great with Echo Link! Best bang for buck.

Great little DAC to add in between an Echo Link and your good old-fashioned stereo receiver. Significantly improves audio presence and clarity. This really is the best bang for the buck if your speakers are good enough to capture the difference that this little box can make with digital sound. A+ Be careful with the Modi’s TOSLiNK connection - the flap is fragile. The Modi and Echo Link are a killer combo for adding good quality streaming audio to your wired stereo.

True High End DAC For $119

Schiit always has had good value for the money. I realize they hang their hat on Multi Bit dacs. I can appreciate the sound of the Multibit DAC's-but not over time. Too "real to life", in a nut shell, if that makes sense-which leads to fatigue for myself. I have had all the Schiit MB dacs in my system, including a borrowed Yaggy. The Modi3 is another story. This is what I high end dac is supposed to sound like!! Smooth life like with natural attacks. and decays. Sounds as good on USB, as SPDIF-no need for upgrade power supplies etc. You could run a separate power supply to feed the USB portion-but I didn't see and improvement, like some other DACS. Long story short-I think most will be happy with this DAC...and spend your hard earned cash some where else. It's now my go to dac. I get the reasoning on the micro USB. I just purchased a AQ adapter, as I like my Wireworld USB cable, that has a full size b plug. Well, thanks Schiit, for getting that some of us just cannot wrap our ears around a MB dacs. It is what it is. But your guy's talent really shines in this bargain unit. IMHO it would still be a bargain at 3 times the price. Thanks again!!

Better sounding and functioning than $3,500 DAC

My audiophile Theta Gen Va DACs were very expensive ($3,500 each back then), very high current and admittedly great sounding. After a few loud pops when turning them on (probably my fault in the order of turning on the DAC and Amp), I blew the right channel out in my Classé 200 watt stereo amp. I replaced my beloved $3,000 Classé, and was just thankful that I hadn’t fried any tweeters in my great Avalon Accoustic speakers. I decided to replace the DAC to prevent this from happening again. After researching tons of brands, I kept noticing the excellent reviews for this very inexpensive, funny sounding DAC. So i gave it a try and installed it yesterday. In short, after only an hour burn in time I was taken aback by the exceptional sound stage and detail of my CDs. I added XLR cables to my new, far less expensive Marantz 140 watt amp and the sound is simply spectacular. The lesser wattage doesn’t matter, there’s very tight bass, no trace of hiss or hum and just about the best sound I have ever heard. I’m going to replace my other Theta in my critical music listening room with another one of these DACs and sell both Thetas. It’s too early to predict longevity, but early listening far surpasses any expectation for great sound staging.

Good DAC compared to stock tv or emotiva TA-100 DAC

Just got this DAC today and I believe it sounds better. I think it has little more meaty sound and thats what I was looking for. Before I was using DAC built in emotiva TA-100 and it sounded little thin. FYI: i also have schiit loki eq control and in combination with the schiit dac i was geting lots of distortion when knobs were turned clockwise on positive side and loki was conected between dac and pre-amp. I tried to connect schiit loki between pre-amp and power amp and I was getting buzz in my speakers when eq was engaged. So I removed schiit loki completely and my system sounds fine. UPDATE: This dac is improvement over build in dac in Emotiva TA-100 for sure. I did A/B testing and Modi 3 sounds definitely cleaner. I also Put back loki in my system and I don’t have any audio issues anymore. My setup: Fire stick tv to tv. Tv to schiit modi 3 via optical cable. Modi 3 to loki to emotiva ta-100 (pre-amp). Emotiva ta-100 to emotiva A-300 (power amp). And finaly Zu Omen mk2.

A great purchase

Incredible piece of equipment with amazing sound. I'm blown away by the price to quality ratio here. With this, I honestly don't see the need to spend hundreds if not Thousands on anything else. I'm more than satisfied and that says a lot because I'm quite picky and detail oriented. I highly recommend this. A must buy

Fantastic DAC!

I have been using the Schiit Modi DAC for several months now. Im using it with other related Schitt components. (See attached photos) I have nothing but good things to say about it. For the money, it represents a beautiful solution for playback of digital streaming that is breathtaking in its detail and sonic quality. I also love the look and the aesthetic of the Schiit brand. Flat out Cool! The patch cords Im using are made be Seismic. Also pretty bad-ass looking. I opted for the Vali 2 headphone amp. It lends a warmth and texture to the sound that sounds more real. One VERY important note! Be sure to power your digital source sufficiently when using this DAC. Particularly when using an iPhone! If you dont, the DAC will choke and simply crap out. You need to use the "Camera Adapter" that enables powering the iPhone while being connected to the DAC. (See attached adapter image.) This is critical. If you dont use it, you will be disappointed. Like most things in Audio, the more power you give it, the better it will sound. Basic physics at work... Get the Modi. You can not lose.

Surprisingly Made a Difference

I used this D/A converter to connect my mac book air, running Audirvana, to my Kenwood KA-7100 & KEF Q150. Previously I was using a RCA to 3.5mm to connect to the mac book's headphone jack. The D/A converter in the mac book was already pretty good and I didn't expect this one to make that big of a difference, but I can honestly say it did. Everything I listened to had more detail and sounded clearer. The soundstage was better defined with a more believable placement of sounds effects, instruments, etc. The silent parts of songs where definitely quieter (blacker) and added to the overall sound. Although I was rewarded with more details while using this D/A converter, my speakers never became bright/ fatiguing; if anything I got the “let me try one more song” bug mainly because of the amazing imaging. Now this is my first D/A converter and I must say, I’m currently not in a rush to upgrade. The build quality of my unit was excellent and I have not suffered the breaking optical port. I also tried my Pixel 3a as a source using UAPP and it worked flawlessly and sounded just as great (albeit a tad clearer than my mac book). Another thing that has to be heard to be believed was burn-in/ run-in. On my unit the sound gets better the more I play it. I’m very satisfied with my purchase and will consider Schiit for any future audio equipment purchases.

Great improvement in sound for its cost!

I purchased this DAC to give it a try on my Audioengine B1 BT interface. I was happy with the overall sound through this digital interface, but all the hype about the Schiit Modi 3 reviews, I ordered it through Amazon to give it a try. If it didn't make a positive improvement in my system, I'll just return it. I connected it through the TOSlink connection which the B1 offers, and then connected to my Yaqin MC-13s. I selected s Diane Shuur recordings that i'm very familiar with and it took me about 2 minutes to realize that the Shiit Modi 3 opened up and gave her piano "air" and more depth. The B1 is no slouch in its DAC, the Modi 3 just seemed to give the sound more clarity, and in my system, cleaner low end. More depth. I removed it, listened even more closely to the B1 on its own, then put the Modi 3 back, and to me, the Modi 3 improved the sound overall. I kept in in my system listening to Classical, Jazz, and Rock. I really like what everything this DAC does. I was so impressed, I recently purchased a NAD C538 and its Wolfson internal DAC is very good. Very satisfied with the sound of this CDP. Well,...lets see what the Shiit DAC does for the NAD. The NAD has a digital coax out and the Modi 3 also offers a digital coax in. The Shiit DAC killed it again. The Wolfson DAC is rated very highly, but the Shiit..is the Shiit. It performed again in adding its "air" and "depth" in my system. I highly recommend giving this DAC a listen. System: Yaqin MC-13S, NAD C-538 CDP, Emotiva Audioengine B1, Snell CII, Klipsch RP-600M, Adcom GCD-575 CDP

A truly fantastic little DAC!

It is significantly smaller than my old Topping D30 which it replaced (my old D30 died, was replaced free of charge by Topping, and the second one died again within only three months of service, so roughly 11 months of actually working total between the two identical DACs before they took a crap and stopped working). Overall, I'd have to say that the Modi 3 is a very musical, warm and engaging DAC. Whereas my older D30 was a bit more clinical, and offered a little bit more insight into a given recording, but it could also come across as being a little on the clinical/analytical side as well. For those of you who want to analyze the daylights out of the songs you play, then I highly recommend that you move on to something else--and significantly more expensive. Now, for those of you who simply enjoy listening to great music, and you want your music to sound like MUSIC, complete with good dynamics, some warmth and "meat on the bones" then this is the DAC for you. It is very warm (but not overly so), engaging and simply is a lot of fun to listen to--which I believe is what the good people over at Schiit intended for this little magic box to do for those of us on a budget all along.

Just great

It's a great small dac. Beats my mobo dac in every way. For some it's a start but for me it's the end of the journey in searching audio equipment. Probably not going to buy anything better than this in a very long time.

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