Schiit Modi + DV-393-S Pioneer DVDP or Yamaha CD-S300 ?

Given all the lemons posters here have reported here and on Amazon and unreliability of nowadays budget CDPs, would the Modi provide me with decent sound combined with the Pioneer or should I go for the Yamaha and get a one-box solution ? (waaaaaaay more expensive)

 

Bump.

 

I have a Modi 2Uber. Most of my use of it over the past year or so has been for the optical input while watching TV. I have the coaxial output of the CD player hooked up to the Modi but I rarely use it that way. Instead, I use the internal DAC of the CD player. Even inexpensive CD players have pretty good internal DACs nowadays. Unless you need the external DAC for some other reason I would skip it if you mainly play physical discs.

 

Yes I play physical discs only; thanx. It's just nowadays CD players seem to be so unreliable as opposed to DVD players. The Pioneer is my old DVD player I'm about to replace. Bought it in 2007 but still goes strong, dunno for how longer though, hence contemplating the purchase of the Yamaha. Seeing the Modi is just U$ 99 it's kind of a bargain.

 

I have not had any reliability issues with my Onkyo C-7030. If you want one though, I would recommend buying a refurb. Any problems are likely to have been sorted out. I think Amazon got a bad batch of them and that is where the issues come from. Similar problems have occurred with other brands/models too, not just Onkyo.

At some point I will replace the Modi2Uber, but I'm in no rush. Most of my DAC music listening is now done through either my LGV20 (which will eventually be upgraded) or my small SMSL IQ DAC that I keep at my desk and use with headphones.

If you want to read a lot of DAC reviews with bench tests, check out Audio Science Review. They cut through a lot of the BS.

 

I'd take anything Amir from ASR takes with a grain of salt. He is a controversial figure. Measurements aren't the end all be all of how a component sounds.
I'd get the Modi (multibit if you can afford it). Provides flexibility and a cost effective upgrade path in the future.

 

One disadvantage with using an external DAC with a transport for playing CDs is that few DACs will properly handle de-emphasis if you have a CD that has pre-emphasis. Few CDs have pre-emphasis. And those that do are generally old from the early days of CD mastering. But they're around. And some happen to be the good masterings that we like.

Similar issues with HDCD. Few external DACs will decode HDCD. Few modern CD players will decode HDCD, but there are more modern CD players that decode HDCD than there are affordable modern DACs that decode HDCD.

One advantage to using an external DAC is that there are many more affordable good DAC options than there are affordable CD players. There's just more choices in DACs than CD players. And more choices in finding certain sonic signatures in affordable DACs than in affordable CD players. So if you're looking for certain styles of sound with digital you're more likely to find what you want in a DAC than in a CD player.

 

I found the Modi3 to sound no better than my Sony ES CD player. Although the Modi does work well at converting Toslink optical signal from TV into older two channel receiver. Great for viewing smart tv.

Have you seen this review? I have been thinking seriously about buying one.