Hidizs AP 80 Pro - Alternative to Laptop with long USB cable and Schiit DAC?

I think that this dac as a fixed dac not as a DAP , because his mechanical volume pot is not trusty, but the touch screen control is very good, will be perfect especially if you dont look for a "warm" sound but a more cleaner one...

-- Battery put you out of the main electrical grid

-- Files bank put you out of the computer noise

-- Equalizer basic but very well done..,, and necessary for me...

Sound quality is more than acceptable, i use it in my main system instead of the excellent Nos french battery dac TDA 1543 which is more "warmer" but dont read high resolution files ...

In my model the Ap 80 pro there is even a useful radio... Is there all that in the schiit modi 3 ? 😁

What dac is more useful at this price ? NONE... if there is one with the same functionalities, at this price, please inform me right now...

i own 4 dacs... I use all of them... I use 2 Hifime chinese dac , good one, as dac for my computer headphone...And one as a useful USB/optical toward toslink transport for my french dac which serve my self powered speakers...

The most refined is the Hidizs i use with my TOP AKG K340 ... Very revealing headphone ...The only upgrade from the Hidizs  will be many thousands dollars more , the BACCH filters of Choueri, anything else is throwing money in a garbage can for me...

Under 200 bucks right now ... But if you need bluetooth you will need to upgrade to the more costlier Ap 80 pro X ( without radio )

Your Onkyo doesn’t seem to support LDAC Bluetooth codec, which means the Hidizs would need to use a lossy compression algorithm to send the audio to your receiver. Not exactly ideal.

There are two ways to cut down on the cord length. You can connect a streamer to the Modi 3 or you can connect your receiver to your network and stream directly from the PC to the Onkyo. Either method would utilize a protocol called DLNA / UPnP which is lossless and bit perfect.

The streamer can be a PC that you don’t use a lot anymore or something like a WiiM Pro or a Raspberry Pi. The WiiM Pro would be the easiest to set up. Just connect it to your network and link it to the Modi with a digital coax cable.

Alternatively, you can connect your Onkyo to your network and send the audio directly to your receiver. Unfortunately, this also means you’re completely bypassing the Modi 3.

If you want to stream from your PC, I suggest a Windows app called Stream What You Hear (link). This sends all your computer audio to a DLNA / UPnP device.

@kraftwerkturbo -- "alternative (storing and playing my files, converting to analog, feeding my receiver) to my current setup"

How about the following option -- share the music folders on your laptop so they are accessible to your local network. (Or alternatively, buy an inexpensive NAS and store your files on that.)  Then, purchase one of the inexpensive Wiim players which can be located right by your Onkyo. The Wiim has a built-in DAC (OK quality, but your Modi is better) or it can feed your Modi via an optical or coax cable.

Such a setup would give you access to your local files as well to a number of quality streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz, etc. Wiim are also one of the easiest players to set up. All of this is controlled by an app on your iPhone or Android phone.

Connect Onkyo to Network: need find out how 'convenient' acces to music is via Onkyo on network. How does the Onkyo DAC compare to the Modi?

Will look into cost of a Wiim (is that a "streamer" or a "netowork player" or ???)

I assume music 'control' is then still through the laptop? Or through the Wiim 'app' by phone?

Wiim Pro 

Air Play 2 receiver

Would this (are same model) do?  I have Android phone. 

https://reverb.com/item/72742633-wiim-pro-wi-fi-hi-res-streamer?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=18078399966&utm_content=campaignid=18078399966_adgroupid=145854276928_productpartitionid=1726287611010=merchantid=780401392_productid=72742633_keyword=_device=c_adposition=_matchtype=_creative=617058724078&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_5unBhCMARIsACZyzS2htP7pCjfJ4HIHsBllk03UbaNEcEp0MaKeLwKOJywhpZT4sewMniEaAqGxEALw_wcB

Or this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125856946672?hash=item1d4da899f0:g:QtEAAOSwB1xkBtRE&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwMMTLNCjEV7qsBL7OEDHc4yxe395liAbzYsa2S60lBpZzoV9Lbf5WLInLGkvB8trHEgValT5hBc49BwCVkp%2BFg1IvyiRKlbgnkPCn%2FKPY1%2FlYbOMfVwGM4r776qRH9CoVnXh6rA7WYCvErKiVQDJD5D6g4OlhlHre9ZyupQvNqyRke5edKmE%2B6ClyO%2FlV8E1tte7jod5PwhcTE7TkfCooFtHreTbiN2zu7FX3x34CbAlTK01tnZQgFy4Y%2FyCsQdmiA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6bGuoLFYg

What is the expected benefit regarding audio quality: Laptop/25ftUSB/Modi3 vs Laptop/network/Wiim Pro ? 

Is the the Wiim Pro "streamer" and its DAC better than long USB C and Modi? 

Alternatively: 

Laptop/Onkyo (use Onkyo DAC), but not sure how music is controlled then (onkyo display is marginal). 

I believe USB specs state that the cable should not be longer than about 16'.  You increase the risk of data errors and noise pickup with runs longer than that. The Wiim simply allows you to have the streamer sitting next to the DAC, with a very short cable. And, unlike a laptop which is designed to do all things computerish, most of which have nothing to do with audio playback, the Wiim and its OS are designed to do only one thing - audio.

You can always buy a Wiim on Amazon and return it for a full refund if you find it doesn't improve your listening experience.

Going off the computer with a battery dac which is also a big files bank is unvaluable...

Computer noise is a hidden killer...

My only connection is the amplifier to the wall... It is why Hidizs is a good choice...

The WiiM Pro is a streamer. It looks like you found some listings on Reverb and eBay with good pricing. The only thing is if you buy used or off eBay and get a defective unit, it might be hard to return and get a replacement.

If you were to get a WiiM and you want to use the app on your phone to control playback, you’ll need to enable ’Media Streaming’ on the Windows PC that stores the music files. This will turn on the UPnP server. The WiiM app should then be able to locate your Music library on your PC. There are plenty of how-tos if you do a search on Google.

Otherwise, you can install Stream What You Hear (SWYH) on your laptop and stream all the audio on your laptop to the WiiM or the Onkyo (if you connect it to your network). SWYH is a UPnP streaming app for Windows. Have a look at the ’Getting Started’ guide - link.

If you want to experiment without having to buy anything, try connecting your Onkyo receiver to your network. Here are the instructions for setting up the wi-fi connection - link. If the receiver is close to your router, then try a wired Ethernet connection instead. Download and install SWYH and follow the steps in the Getting Started guide. See if you can successfully find the Onkyo as a UPnP renderer and stream to it. I’ve done this before with my PC and a Raspberry Pi as well as an Oppo UDP-203. It was pretty straightforward to get everything working.

Thank you for the tips. 

I will start with connecting the Onkyo to the network (hardwire or wireless, not sure yet). See how it 'feels' (ease of use) and sound. 

Wiim is the next option; I like hte (likely userfriendly) control via Android app.