If you enjoy the music, why not stick with what you have? While I'm happy with my Schiit Modius DAC + Jotunheim 2 headphone amp combination, I don't think you will hear a significantly different sound with a Magnius or Jotunheim that would justify new equipment. It's not clear from your post why...

I suggest it's best to bite the bullet and get a replacement. In the long run, a complete and working unit will be appreciated long after the delay is forgotten. Not only will the resale value be lowered as @Smoothstereo mentioned, but someday you might want to power speakers with it. You never...

Perhaps not originally intended for audio, but the latest Bluetooth standards are pretty good for audio: Qualcomm’s aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codecs support audio at 24-bit/48kHz and 96kHz respectively. Like any technology, it’s evolving and you have to be careful to make sure any Bluetooth gear...

Another thing to test: if using a laptop, disconnect the power brick; if you only get hum when the charger is connected, then something like the Hum-x will likely resolve the issue.

A ground loop isolator like the Hum-X is connected between the power cord and AC source. PC USB connections are famous for causing hum issues. You can also do a test with a ground lifter (3 prong to 2 prong adapter) but should not be used as a permanent solution with gear designed to be grounded.

You need to rule out a group loop issue; which is likely. Test with only the SE or Balanced input. No hum? Then likely with USB input. I used to have a hum issue with my powered monitors which was cured by powering them through an Ebtech Hum x that safely filters out ground loop hum.

According to the Schiit website, mono is not a mode but the result of driving each channel with one-half of a truly balanced signal; so it goes without saying that you'll need a preamp with REAL balanced outputs (any of the Schitt products with balanced outputs qualify).

Happy to see the evolution of Vidar, which explains the premonition that I had when I clicked "Add to Cart" on a B-Stock Vidar offered yesterday at a great price: That the moment I purchase a Vidar, Vidar 2 would come out. It can take me years to make a high-end audio purchase decision, so I'm...

Yay, or better put, “Hi Yo Silver, Away!"

I agree that "truth" rarely lies halfway between two opposing viewpoints; however, it certainly does not lie at either extreme of any polarized debate, there are so many factors to consider, and we humans are rarely aware of all of the implications of our ideological stance. The challenge of...

Hard to go wrong with the Modius, it’s a great balanced DAC that measures well and provides no coloration to the sound. Right now I’m listening to music playing through Modius + Jotunheim, a great value combination, a DAC with four inputs (I’m using the USB input to connect to iPad tablet, the...

What’s wrong with the Soloist? I have been listening to music with my Jotunheim 2 for just over a year now and I love it. Great sound with my Sennheiser HD 650s, no buyers remorse, no desire to go seeking anything fancier, happy with the purchase. I shopped for a year before I purchased it, so...

I can confirm this; I’ve used mine with combinations of SE and Balanced inputs and SE and Balanced outputs; always sounds great.

I would say the Jot 2 is a good example of a laid back solid state amp, clean but without the “extra crispy” high end of some solid state amplifiers, so from that perspective, it is a good compliment to a tube amp. On the other hand, the experience is in the listening, words don’t do justice to...

Has anyone done extensive comparisons of the Jot2 with the Multibit card vs. Jot2 and Bifrost 2? I have the Jot2 with the Mulitibit card, happy with the current configuration for the most part but on rare occasion I do hear some D-A conversion artifacts I don’t hear on my other system, so I find...

I purchased a Jot2 in December and this is what it looks like: Right now here's how it is connected: Apple Airport Express (Gen2) => Jot2 SE input (we have several AirPort Express units around the house as our whole-house AirPlay 2 music system) Mac Pro (2019) => Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 =>...

I found a connector that may work that I've used myself. You may need to cut the strain relief to accommodate thicker cables, but this is easily done with a sharp knife. I've used this connector myself in making cables: Switchcraft TA3FLX Connector (link to Mouser page)

Oops, sorry, I specified the wrong one but as you found they also make a three pin model. The one I specified has a large opening. Hopefully it can work. Let me know what you discover.

I think the Tini-QG "Mini XLR" 4 Pin Female Connector with Large Flex Relief will work for you, https://www.markertek.com/product/ta4flbx/switchcraft-ta4flbx-large-flex-tini-qg-mini-xlr-4-pin-female-cable-mount-black

I use dBpoweramp to rip CDs. It performs accurate rips and gives you a choice of audio encoders, including WAV (uncompressed), MP3, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, etc. It also supports ripping to multiple formats. To have dBpoweramp create uncompressed (PCM, 16/44.1 files) choose Uncompressed for the...

That is good to know. Hopefully, a future update will support lossless all around, all of the time and more people will be happy :) I'm waiting for a device to replace my aging Airport Express (Gen 2) nodes (not impressed with the current Belkin offering), but so far, I'm getting a lot of...

Good luck finding this creature, sounds like a fun project. I recall circa 1999 before the dot.com crash there were quite a few 2.1 desktop systems introduced in the marketplace, elevating computer-based music listening including the Monsoon 500 Speaker System and the Harman Kardon Soundsticks...

What you say is true and I agree. I am aware that when I stream straight out of my Mac via USB to my DAC/Amp I'm getting a higher-quality stream than when I stream from a MacOS or iOS device to my Airport Express Gen 2 units around the house. That said, what is true, at least for my own use...

Have you tried searching on eBay? It's a good place to look when searching for photos and information about obsolete gear.

If you ripped your CDs to bit-perfect files (WAV, uncompressed) then it's highly likely that when you compared them in a listening test to a streaming service, you were hearing the difference between lossless/uncompressed and lossy/compressed. Apple certainly knows how to market, but they also...