Yes, I have a pair as my computer desktop speakers, where they are fantastic. I put them on a pair of AudioEngine rubber speaker stands to raise them up two inches and tilt back a bit. I also have a small subwoofer, the XT2's by themselves don't have much bass response. I run them with a...

I just bought a MacBook Air M2, and the output from the headphone jack is fantastic with my Sennheiser HD-650's. Subjectively better than any DAC/headphone amp I own (my primary setup is a Parasound Zdac.) Apple's literature says the audio hardware was designed to adapt its output when using...

Agreed. Whoever is responsible for naming Sony products should be reassigned to the mailroom.

Well, I guess we know who’s a victim of ignorance now... I’m really surprised a DAC can be that tiny. My mistake.

Deleted.

I probably was a bit strong in what I said in my previous post.   The T51i does provide some isolation, and I have used them for years on a train (CalTrain in the Bay Area, specifically), which is an especially noisy environment. My Sony MDR-V6 provided more isolation, and Audio Technica noise...

Thanks for your comments, very interesting. I have the same setup (MacBook -> Audioengine D1 -> T51i) which I used for commuting by train for several years. I've also used the T51i on cross country flights.   My issue with them is that they have poor isolation in noisy environments (such as...

Thanks for your comments. I don't have a lot of high end experience to compare it to, but I have been very happy with the Zdac (v.2) in a desktop audio system. I think it is a very underrated product.

Congratulations! Hope you like the headphones. The Dragonfly Red should be a great combo, I've heard nothing but raves about that DAC.

In a word, no...

That's a good point. My understanding is the Jotunheim's DAC is powered by the USB connection, so it may in fact not work with an iPhone without a powered hub (or if it does, will run down the iPhone's battery charge quickly). That's a bummer if true. If anyone can confirm/disconfirm, I would...

Thanks. I have that adapter and use it with my Parasound Zdac, but hadn't seen whether the Jotunheim DAC supported this or not (perhaps it's intrinsic to the USB audio spec, I'm not sure.)   In any event, it's a really convenient way to stream from Apple Music. As I get closer to pulling the...

I haven't seen this discussed anywhere. Can you connect an iPhone directly to the Jotunheim's USB DAC using a USB - iPhone cable to play music? In other words, will the phone recognize the Jot as an external audio device when it is connected?

  Same here. I haven't heard a pair of powered near-field monitors that can compare to my Bower & Wilkins XT2's.

I use the Parasound Zamp for my desktop amp, and it's great. The Zamp is basically what everyone here seems to be describing, both in capabilities and price range.   As others have said, it doesn't have a volume control because it's a straight power amp, not an integrated amp. Put a Parasound...

  I have a D1 and the HD650. I would not recommend the combination (the D1 works great with my 32-ohm Beyer T51i's)   I drive my HD650's with a Parasound Zdac (v2), and think it is a great combo. The Schiit gear gets rave reviews here, so you probably can't go wrong with their stuff.

  A $5 cable doesn't make it the weakest link, nor does a $100 cable change that. Expensive USB cables are for people who don't understand the difference between digital and analog signal transmission. The only point to spending that kind of money on a USB cable has nothing to do with...

  Others will disagree, but don't waste your money on an expensive USB cable. A decent USB cable should only cost you a couple bucks.   In my experience, the main thing with regard to DACs and USB cables is "the shorter, the better". Buy the shortest USB cable that will work, and you...

  You can view/change this using the Audio MIDI Setup utility in macOS. If you are using iTunes, it does not automatically adjust this based on the source file, so it is worth knowing about this utility. If the USB port is set to one setting, and the source file is different, iTunes will...

  Is the bitrate/depth of your USB connection set to match the source file? Are you listening to 44.1/16 music, or higher fidelity (e.g. 192/24) files? If there is a mismatch, I could see how you might experience distortion like you describe.   I'm also curious whether people who are...

  The lack of optical and/or RCA DAC inputs is one of the reasons I haven't pulled the trigger on a Jotunheim yet, along with two other features I consider important: (1) muting the pre-out when headphones are plugged in, and (2) lack of line-out/pre-out switch. My Parasound Zdac v.2 has all...

  Not if you're a Mac user. Most recent Macs support Toslink through the 1/8" headphone jack, and using that doesn't tie up a USB port. It also provides complete electrical isolation between the DAC/amp and the Mac, which I consider a very important feature--especially when listening to...

Excuse me if this question has been answered already, but if you set the input to SE, can you listen to the balanced headphone output, or does it then only drive the SE output?

Please let me know if you have a chance to compare the Zdac v.2 and the Jotunheim. I see the two as pretty comparable, and aimed (roughly) at the same market. I have a Zdac v.2 and am pretty happy with it, but I am curious whether the Jotunheim is a worthwhile upgrade, mostly to try the balanced...