[John Q Lin]

as of right now I have a grace m9xx as my only dac/amp. I wish I would of gotten a single Dac and Amp.

I'm looking at what Schiit have to offer and the price is excellent.

Would a Jotunheim and a Bi-frost multi-bit be a upgrade to the grace M9xx and how much of a upgrade it would be?

The Massdrop X Alex Cavalli amp looks like a good deal as well, any thoughts on that?

Is there any other options out there? I'm looking at a under $500 budget.

 

[cossix]

With a budget of 500 bucks you won't be able to get both the Jot and the Bimby :/ I'd highly recommend the Jot with balanced dac honestly. It could be the only dac you'll ever need. It's also somewhat modular so if they ever do come out with a bi-mono Multibit dac module, you can just have it slapped in pretty easily.

On the topic of the Jotunheim, are you planning on running balanced in that case? That's the main reason to buy it in the first place. Also, the balanced Jot absolutely smushes the Grace in terms of sheer power output. 5W vs 1W at 32 ohms respectively.

 

[Music Alchemist]

A Jotunheim and Bifrost Multibit would cost over $1,000, so that's not an option in your stated budget.

I owned the Modi Multibit and Magni 2 Uber, which are within your budget. But if you are planning on driving some of the hardest-to-drive headphones, the Jotunheim with DAC module might be a good option, as cossix said. (I started typing this reply before his post came up. lol)