Meridian 588 vs Schiit Modius

Recently purchased an earlier modius with ak chipset for audio duties from the optical output of my tv and so I could play with the second balanced input of my Ayre k-5xemp pre. Did some A/B comparison. This was not a level matched test, but I did attempt to compensate for the difference in volume for each of the balanced outputs from the meridian and modius. The output on balanced from the meridian seemed a few db louder than the schiit. System is Ayre pre /Coda Amp/Thiel Cs1.6 speakers. For this test, I was using the balanced outputs of the meridian to the ayre, and the coaxial digital output from the 588 to the modius then balanced to the pre.

Initially they sounded very similar, but once I tried some better source material the difference became pretty obvious. The meridian had a much smoother presentation and had a taller sound-stage, the bass was cleaner, the modius seemed to have slightly heavier bass but it wasn’t as pleasing as the 588.

On the modius the soundstage was located between the speakers and on the meridian it was 2-3ft above the speakers. Vocals were also noticeable much smoother it is kind of impressive that a 20 year old cd player was more enjoyable than an relatively budget but modern dac. The modius had a more grainy sound than the meridian. I do like the modius for the TV, it seems to be better than the analog outputs on the TV, its just sounds more real and works pretty well for movies and streaming audio apps on the TV. Before I had everything connected for the comparison, I was assuming the modius would be better and I would end up using that as a dac for the both the TV and cd playback but the difference is big enough that I am going to continue to use the meridian 588 for CD playback. I am curious to try a newer CD player if anyone has any recommendations for something in the class of the meridian, i am sort of tempted to try an ayre, but there is probably no way for me to do a demo locally, I do really like the ayre pre.