Schiit Modi Multibit 2 is a digital to analogue converter that is made by the company that has already visited our premises once. It was when we reviewed the Schiit Gjallarhorn, one of the brand’s small power amplifiers that despite its modest size offered really serious sound and had some clever technical solutions under the hood. The DAC in question here seems to be, at least on paper, quite similar to the amplification from Schiit turned out to be so good. Starting from what we can clearly see, Modi Multibit 2 is also small, actually much smaller than the reviewed some time ago Gjallarhorn. It’s size is comparable to other smallest offerings in the Schiit range, like the Rekkr power-amp (probably the smallest power amp made today) or the Vali headphone amp and preamp. But what’s really important is what’s less visible to the naked eye here.
Schiit Modi Multibit 2, despite it’s modest – 299 USD – price tag boasts some intricate technology that is actually exclusive to the American manufacturer. And that is also something that sets it apart not only from the similarly-priced DASs, but also from many of those that are good few times more expensive. First things first, Modi Multibit 2 is – as the name clearly suggests – a multi-bit DAC. Or a 2R2, or a resistor-ladder DAC, if you prefer to call it that way. Of course, we don’t have the discrete resistor ladder here (please note the price point), but it’s not what’s really important here. The thing with Modi Multibit 2 is that it combines, in one device – a Multi-Bit conversion scheme, a custom, Analog Devices SHARC DSP based and proprietary as well digital filter with one design choice that is even more unique that all those two mentioned together.
It’s the fact that the Schiit Modi Multibit 2 doesn’t use any off-the-shelf audio DAC chipset, but goes for a specialized military or medical grade solutions. Those are not easy – as we will describe later – to implement in audio. But, when applied correctly, may offer some unique benefits of being the most honest and technically capable conversion silicons when used properly. This technology was actually introduced a few years ago in the flagship Yggdrasil converter that in its first version entered the marked in April 2015. It had, together with the custom “closed-form” digital filter four Analog Devices AD5791BRUZ DAC chips that were created for a mission-critical application like military and MRI imaging. Schiit calls it TrueMultbit, but what should also be noted is that this description applies not to the converters used, but rather to an entire combination of digital filter and the digital to analogue conversion together.
What’s important here is that the Modi Multibit 2 is currently the most affordable – as I mentioned, the asking price is 299 USD – DAC with such interesting technology mentioned above in the company’s quite an interesting list of products. When you consider what’s inside, like the SHARC DSP or custom implementation of Analog Devices AD5547 – it really seems that one of the goals of getting this DAC to the market was to stir it a bit. You see, in the price range of Modi Multibit 2 you will usually get some ESS Q2M (the last three signs meaning that it’s the mobile version of the chip) or AKM-based DACs that just use off-the-shelf chip with some circuitry usually derived from an application note. In the light of that, the amount of engineering here that you get – is just astounding.
Of course, as usual, it will all boil down to the sound, so let’s take a closer look at this small DAC and see how it performs.
Technical deep-dive
But before delve upon the sound, it’s really worth to take a look at what’s under the hood. And also answer the question in more detail: why? This is where Jason Stoddart of Schiit came up with some – as usual – interesting answers. When I asked him in, why “did you opt to not to use some known delta-sigma chip from one of the well-known manufacturers and went for a Multibit instead?” this is what I got:
“Snarky: because we already have a Modi+ for $129 that uses an ESS DAC.
Longer, less snarky: because we believe True Multibit (what we call our combination of unique digital filter and an integrated, deep-bit-depth approach, is the most “correct” and “real” approach to digital. We initially introduced this approach with Yggdrasil, our top DAC, and then brought it down to the most affordable price point possible, which is Modi Multibit.”