jfoxvol said:

  Lots of gear changes coming in my different setups.  I wanted to give a few impressions of the amp before too many variables changed.  The amp out of the box sounded strident.  I let it cook overnight and came back the next morning.  Better.  Something still strange.  I think this amp is just really revealing of upstream source.  I took my Bimby and threw in a Wyrd.  There.  Much better.  One thing I found again is my HD600 and HD650 really (to me) sound better single ended.  I had that experience with several other amps.  I think perhaps the brute force this amp unleashes may push the already lush mids and upper bass too forward on some recordings.  Just my two cents.  Both are still good.  That said, I'm very impressed with this amp.  I'll be bringing my Yggy back into the office and out of my speaker system to see how much this amp scales with improved sources.  So far, I've tried all my cans in my list.  Each one of them sounded fantastic.  So, right now with single ended in and out, I've got plenty of juice to power all my SE cans.  

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I started a little lower than you, but was running Wyrd into my Mimby. Definitely try the Yggy. It's where I ended. And I agree, the revealing nature of this amplifier is such that better input provides better output. And oh...the output from the Yggy is oh so pleasurable through the Jodie.

sheldaze said:

  I started a little lower than you, but was running Wyrd into my Mimby. Definitely try the Yggy. It's where I ended. And I agree, the revealing nature of this amplifier is such that better input provides better output. And oh...the output from the Yggy is oh so pleasurable through the Jodie.

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Excellent.  I gotta go find my cable ties now.  I use the Mimby/Wyrd combo at work to feed a Vali2.  Great sound into PM3s for just rocking out while I work.  I am ready to hook the Yggy up using balanced input.  I think the output power jumps up a sconce.

@Allanmarcus

jfoxvol said:

Question for other folks out in the field with their Jotis: Is there a noticeable amount of noise floor increase as you raise the volume? With some of the cans I'm using, I can hear quite a bit as I roll up the volume. One caveat. I have dirty power in my apartment. I suspect a bad ground somewhere. It may just be attributed to that. I'm not sure. I haven't used at the office yet. Perhaps this topology might be more sensitive to that. I do recall the original Mjolnir didn't enjoy being on circuits with a dimmer switch colocated. That aside, the sound quality is pretty darn good.

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Update and also someone else please chime in if you've experienced similar.  When switching to a balanced input from the Yggy versus the BifrostMB SE, the noise absolutely disappeared.  Like gone gone.  So, I'm not sure what the cause was.  Perhaps something in the input stage.  Anyway, maybe Jason has some idea.  Perhaps just good common mode rejection on my crap power?

mwsvette said:

It may be an additional expense, however the Biforst is still fully upgrade-able.  And when Schiit has their next breakthrough may it be 3rd gen USB or possibly an even better multibit board you can upgrade.  And it still has a far better power supply.  Much better than any wall wart.

And in the end Mimby will still be just another disposable DAC when technology moves on...

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I think calling a DAC, that by all accounts is on the same level as Bimby at half the price, "disposable", is going a bit too far. Mimby is going to be relevant for a very long time. Multibit goodness for the masses who don't want to drop major coin on gear. Its a breakthrough product.

mwsvette said:

It may be an additional expense, however the Biforst is still fully upgrade-able.  And when Schiit has their next breakthrough may it be 3rd gen USB or possibly an even better multibit board you can upgrade.  And it still has a far better power supply.  Much better than any wall wart.

And in the end Mimby will still be just another disposable DAC when technology moves on...

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Some people aren't always looking for the next piece of gear to devour. Some people want something that sounds great at an affordable price and they just want it to work. The Momby delivers all of that in spades. You make it sound like it's a BIC razor.

The Momby sounds amazing with the Jotunheim. It will sound amazing with the Jotunheim a year from now, two years from now, even ten whole years from now!

guidostrunk said:

Mutech MC 1.2
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/SPDIF-USB.htm
Cheers

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Thanks, unfortunately it's way more box than I want for that particular location, and for that price I might as well get the Jodie without built-in DAC and a Mimby (I like the multibit sound better anyway, only reason to get the Jodie with built-in DAC would be to save space).

sheldaze said:

dglow said:

 
Any Ragnarok owners out there planning to order or otherwise spend time with a Jot? Would love to hear how the two compare.

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My opinion - Ragnarok sounds ever so slightly polite in comparison to the Jotunheim, and this using the HE-1000 headphones and Yggdrasil as source. It feels like there is something getting between me and the Yggdrasil source sound when playing through the Rag. Jot does not have this issue, and the sound is just full-impact Yggy.

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Thank you, sheldaze, that's highly interesting. I'm inclined to order a Jotie and have a listen for myself.

Tell me, with which gain settings did you compare the amps?

dglow said:

Thank you, sheldaze, that's highly interesting. I'm inclined to order a Jotie and have a listen for myself.

Tell me, with which gain settings did you compare the amps?

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Low High gain on Jodie (ha - I like my ears, thank you!) and medium on Rag, which is just what I've always used for HE-1000.
 
Because there was so much power available on low gain, I figured high gain would be too much. This is not the case!
I actually prefer the high gain, by far, through the HE-1000. My mistake for not trying this sooner.

sheldaze said:

dglow said:

 
Any Ragnarok owners out there planning to order or otherwise spend time with a Jot? Would love to hear how the two compare.

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My opinion - Ragnarok sounds ever so slightly polite in comparison to the Jotunheim, and this using the HE-1000 headphones and Yggdrasil as source. It feels like there is something getting between me and the Yggdrasil source sound when playing through the Rag. Jot does not have this issue, and the sound is just full-impact Yggy.

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I never did like the Rag it is a lotta hype and not able to convey anything impressive except bass punch to me..

Now I just come back from listening to the yggy / Jotunheim combo with the HEK, Ether Flow, HD800 & HD650.

The Jotunheim hits a home run.(!)

Headphone Improvements are:
HD650 = increased dynamics

HD800 = increased bass and presence

Ether Flow = increase fluid detailing

HEK = EXPLOSIVE EFFORTLESS SOUND.

The greatest change in headphone was the HEK.

The HEK + Jotunheim is a match made in heaven..

I assume it is because the HEK have the lowest impedance of the bunch, so the Jotunheim just gives it all the power it could possibly require..

The sound of this Jotunheim is pretty amazing as all detail and good soundstage came across effortlessly and to my biased memory this unit should CRUSH the Ragnorok and anything up to $1k unless it's tube gear, and that is saying alot.

I am a tube head, and for me to like ANY sold state amp is almost an impossibility for me.
This amp breaks that barrier and will be my next purchase.

I read the last few pages and I see a lot of posts seem to shy away from stating just how good this amp is .
So I won't name the competition,
But *redacted* this Jotunheim will be a game changer..

In time with more reviews,
this post will not sound as fantastic as it does right now..
But I stand by my impressions.
Jotunheim will be a standard for amps to compare to..

maxx134 said:

I never did like the Rag it is a lotta hype and not able to convey anything impressive except bass punch to me..

Now I just come back from listening to the yggy / Jotunheim combo with the HEK, Ether Flow, HD800 & HD650.

The Jotunheim hits a home run.(!)

Headphone Improvements are:
HD650 = increased dynamics

HD800 = increased bass and presence

Ether Flow = increase fluid detailing

HEK = EXPLOSIVE EFFORTLESS SOUND.

The greatest change in headphone was the HEK.

The HEK + Jotunheim is a match made in heaven..

I assume it is because the HEK have the lowest impedance of the bunch, so the Jotunheim just gives it all the power it could possibly require..

The sound of this Jotunheim is pretty amazing as all detail and good soundstage came across effortlessly and to my biased memory this unit should CRUSH the Ragnorok and anything up to $1k unless it's tube gear, and that is saying alot.

I am a tube head, and for me to like ANY sold state amp is almost an impossibility for me.
This amp breaks that barrier and will be my next purchase.

I read the last few pages and I see a lot of posts seem to shy away from stating just how good this amp is .
So I won't name the competition,
But *redacted* this Jotunheim will be a game changer..

In time with more reviews,
this post will not sound as fantastic as it does right now..
But I stand by my impressions.
Jotunheim will be a standard for amps to compare to..

Click to expand...

Can we get your impressions without the use of a 2300 dollar Dac?

Nope!
Lol!
There was no other DAC.

But the use of a balanced DAC like yggy made it sing

maxx134 said:

Nope!
Lol!
There was no other DAC.

But the use of a balanced DAC like yggy made it sing

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With gumby I have very similar findings to Maxx. 

I forgot to add that the 650 were moded.

For those that have tight budget there is good news..

With the Jotunheim, I felt the HD650 benefited the most because the 650 sounded much more controlled on the lower spectrum and had a deep tight bass..

I would say the 650 and the HEK benefitted most in low end punch and discernable in instrument separation,
Followed by the Flow and HD800 .

The Flow was really supple in breath and bass presentation.
The fullness of bass that the Flow has on other amps,
was replaced with a really nice supple controlled bass breath you could sense, which also the HEK had.

The 650 also conveyed nice controlled bass extension which was really SO impressive it made my HD800 anemic .

Usually I do not like the 650 because it always came across in the past as a dark, thick , or a bit dull headphone to me.
But thru the Jotunheim, it came across as very natural, almost neutral(!)
My Second fave of the bunch!

As for the HD800
The increased treble presence and lighter, quicker bass made it less neutral, and less powerful sounding than the others,
And made the HD800 the last choice here...

Not because it was stock, as my HD800 has ALL the mods and more than any other I know or ever read, but I still not completely happy with it.
The 800 is an never ending work in progress that in the end needs amp matching.
So it was still the last pick here..

The point is that the Jotunheim has great authority over all these headphones and makes all of them climb higher than you would imagine.
I'm not saying it is the best amp,
But it has the clarity, power, and control of a high end amp.

So...Jot 
 
or Lyr2 with great tubes?