[LM358]

>They seem to make decent products

I don't agree with that sentiment. Their designs are subpar and the quality of the soldering is (maybe was) unacceptable:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/h...

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/b...

The above review specifically goes into the problem from OP.

There's also their amplifier with a rather non-standard architecture that tries to solve a non-problem (injecting feedback in a NFB loop - I might remember wrong, if so, forgive me) which leads to it measuring double digit (!) THD if you feed it a sine wave. I'm not an experienced engineer but it is IMO a non-starter to have an amplifier try to decide what is and isn't a musical signal as part of its protection circuitry, short of detecting DC offsets or shorts (pun not intended). I'm not in the market for a 1800$ amplifier that goes bzzzt if you feed it music it disagrees with [1]

https://www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-ragnarok-in...

>Noise from using USB power delivery for audio devices is common.. that’s why you can (and should) use the dedicated power input to you DAC/amp

I don't disagree with your point. However, a company designing products like these should be able to design a filter for this usecase unless you're trying to use your DAC as a a measuring device, or there is something seriously wrong with your motherboard. I honestly haven't heard of any other brand product with this problem unless it's ~20 years old and in need of repair. It doesn't cost much in the BOM, however it does cost in engineering hours/competence and QA and this is something that should have been caught by the latter.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzMbY4sZvIw

Edit: I just want to add that I don't want to hate on Schiit. Honestly I'd like new audio companies to succeed and I applaud them for rejecting MQA back in the day and for not going all-in on the audiofool bullshit one sees too much of. But seeing such poor engineering and QA leaves a sour taste in my (electronics engineering) mouth. Maybe they have improved lately, I wouldn't know. I'm not really in their market anyways.

[scrlk]

Schitt did step up their engineering and quality in the last few years, in response to Amir/ASR reviews.

E.g. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/s...

> No doubt you have noticed my frequent use of terms "nice" and "excellent" and that sums up the performance of Modi+. At this price point, we don't expect objective perfection but competent engineering and that is what we have. Physically, the unit is solidly built and of course supported by an English speaking US company. For people with such preference, the Modi+ provides an excellent option. That they can stay competitive with far east audio companies is definitely a feather in their cap.

> I am going to recommend the Schiit Modi+ DAC. Great to see Schiit continue the (new) tradition of optimizing objective performance as they cater to their traditional audience.

[pacificat0r]

Wow, that's exactly what I have, a MODI 2. Time for a change I guess

[LM358]

Look, if it works for you and you're happy with it - keep it. More power to you.

I just know that if I handed over something with such shoddy soldering to a customer, I'd lose my job or at the very least lose soldering privileges. But I am working with things that cost slightly more than 99$ that you can't find on store shelves :)

[snvzz]

Topping DX3 Pro+[0] is a well-reviewed alternative.

0. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/t...