Which would you pick between the two DAC.

I own the Ayre Codex DAC and highly recommend it.  Ayre Acoustics is a great company and all their products are excellent.  I have used my Codex DAC as a preamplifier/DAC and also a standalone DAC.  It is an outstanding performer in both applications. 

Please see:

https://www.audiostream.com/content/ayre-acoustics-codex-usb-dac-headphone-amp-digital-preamp

Someone on Audiogon has an Ayre Codex DAC listed for sale at $1,100.  Please see:

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-ayre-codex-2017-08-16-digital

George, my Modi Multibit look and feel just like a toy to me

HiFi to me is all about the sound, I couldn't care if it looks likes a ratz a**e.
Some like to listen, some like to look. It's what's on the inside that counts, the circuitry is all that matters, the rest is WAF, or show off material.

Cheers George

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