Schiit Has Competition: A Review of the Massdrop x Grace Design SDAC

For a long time, anyone looking for a truly competent DAC for under $100 had one obvious answer: the Schiit Modi. But now, a serious contender has emerged from an impressive collaboration between Massdrop and Grace Design, a company I know is run by a true engineer, Michael Grace, who cares deeply about building gear that measures well.

My friend Christian sent me the Massdrop x Grace Design Standard DAC (SDAC) to evaluate. As many of you know, I don’t care for marketing fluff or packaging; I go straight to the sound and the measurements. All I knew going in was the respected name behind it.

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The most pressing question is, how does it stack up against its biggest rival, the Schiit Modi 2?

To be honest, the two are remarkably close in performance. Both are powered solely by USB, making them incredibly simple to integrate into any desktop setup. After many listening sessions, I can say the differences are nuanced, but they are there. If I had to choose, I’d dare say that I slightly prefer the SDAC.

The SDAC presents a sound that is slightly warm with a gentle and pleasant treble—a signature that I find preferable to many Sabre-based DACs. What sets it apart is a little bit more sweetness to the sound. This isn’t a night-and-day difference, but a subtle quality that makes the music feel just a touch more engaging. I would wager that, like the Modi 2, the SDAC probably uses one of those excellent AKM “Velvet Sound” chips to achieve this character.

Time permitting, I will run some measurements on the SDAC soon to see how it performs on the bench.

In closing, the sub-$100 DAC market is no longer a one-horse race. The Massdrop x Grace Design SDAC is a fantastic product that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in its class. Schiit finally has some real competition.