Tom's Schiit Modi Multibit DAC (£250) Versus Justin's Lampizator Big 7 (£6K)
Tom (Montesquieu) sent me his Schiit Multibit DAC to play with for a bit.
The only other DAC I have in the house at the moment is a Lampizator Big 7.
So I thought it only reasonable to compare the two directly. Because, well, there aren't many reviews where two DACs of such massively different price points are compared.
My Big 7 is one of the very first made, and is quite different to the current production versions, which use PCBs and metal casing. Mine is hardwired, hand built throughout and built into a wooden chassis. I like it that way, TBH, and feel no need to upgrade it after two Golden Gates have been in my system for brief visits.
The point is, what does a technically competent but cheap multibit solid state DAC give you that is different to a not so test bench competent esoteric valve rectified triode output stage effort?
Well, I'll tell you when I have done some reasonable amount of listening to the Modi.
What's more, I'll just be totally honest about it, as I hear it. The comparison is made tough by the fact that the Lampizator changes its presentation so radically with different output triodes and rectifiers it isn't really a fixed sounding DAC. That is its huge plus IMHO, and an advantage the cheap Modi can never have.
Evaluation system is Cayin SC10 (almost) preamp->Austria Analogue 211 monoblocks->Apogee Duetta Interstella loudspeakers. Make no mistake, the system is extremely high resolution, and detecting differences is made very easy by that fact. That however does mean I will hear things that just won't be heard in other situations. Nevertheless...:)
Pics and thoughts later.
