Which would you pick between the two DAC.

Eddy,

I have enough experience with Ayre and Wadia to comment that both will give you a great balance between air and open-ness, detail, and warmth. Can’t go wrong with either from where you are now.

I have never heard Schiit, so cannot say, but some I trust (david_ten for one) are very happy with their Yggdrasils.

Dave

I've been mostly an Ayre guy, all my electronics is Ayre and I've been using the Ayre Codex for the last 1 1/2 and it has been a great ride.  Unable to spend money for the Ayre QX5/20 and getting the itch for something new, I ended up buying a DAC from a Chinese company called Denafrips. Granted, I blindly bought their top line DAC the "Terminator", what a nice surprise, the sound quality is exceptional.  It easily beats the Codex and in my opinion it's sounds even better than the QX5 for pcm files. If I was in the market for a new DAC, I would definitely put one of the Denafrips DACs in the running.  Btw, I'm keeping the Codex has a headphone DAC/amp.  Lots of good choices out there.  Buy what sound good to you.  Good luck! 

nycjlee,

I too went off the beaten path for my most recent computer audio DAC purchase: the Exogal Comet Plus (made in America). It does some things better than anything else I have yet heard, but I had to work with it considerably (cables, cords and fuses) re: tonal balance to get the rightness in that one (important to me) attribute that I always experienced "out of the box" from Ayre. FWIW.

Dave

Eddy,

Just ran across a test/review/blog on the ISO Regen that, among other things, showed a test of noise within the Schiit Modi2 DAC with and without the ISO Regen in the USB signal path.

Bottom line, according to the author, the Schiit Modi2 does a very poor job of reducing/eliminating noise on its own and was dramatically improved by the ISO Regen. Rather than buying a new DAC, you might consider first trying the ISO Regen for $325 (30 day 100% money back guarantee) and see if your Modi2 then provides the sound you seek.

The article is beyond reproach as to "audiophile tainting" since the author pretty much judges the ISO Regen to be a complete waste of money with other modern DACs.

I would never suggest that this is also a shortcoming in Schiit’s better DACs like the Yggdrasil so hold your fire George.

The article can be found on audiosciencereview.com.

Dave

Neither ,by far the most natural sounding, the Lumin D-1 Dac streamer 
It does it all , and if you buy the great add on power supply from Linear Tube Audio. It us a Force ,Lapizator7 territory for under $2500
Try the stock D-1 first and the App the best for Album art I have seen,roon,-yes,
MQA- Tidal-yes. Droid,or Ipad- phone . You can thank me later.