[16610]

Friends,

I am about to pull the trigger on a good occasion hd800s. It will be my first pair of open cans.

I can buy them together with the HDVD 800 at a fairly OK price. They're made for each other so they must be the best loving partners

But honestly, my technical knowledge is rather thin to quickly decide. Differences like multi/single bit, delta-sigma, digital filters, etc. I really need to dig into these matters to decide what dac/amp combo I should buy.

Right now I'm in between the Jotunheim and the hdvd800. Can I ask straight up what the practical differences may can be between these 2 dac/amps + hd800s and how it may the performance? I am going to use the setup in a small room with fairly short cables. I've already ordered a set of balanced cables for only 120 euro. Not that I need it, but just in case.

In photography there's such statement as "rather a high end lens on a low end camera, than vice versa". How does this hold up to headphones and amps?

The Jot is not cheap but there are units double the price like the hdvd 800. Not to mention the Yggdrasil. more than 2 grand for just a dac?.. Wow.... Will the Jot do the hd800s too short in any way?

Thank you.

 

[16610]

Anyone?

 

[Arniesb]

HD 800 is bright! It dont need Bright Amp like Jotunheim! Better buy Feliks audio Elise if you can have tube amp. Elise would be much better match with HD800 than Jotunheim.

 

[Andrew Nguyen]

HD 800 is bright! It dont need Bright Amp like Jotunheim! Better buy Feliks audio Elise if you can have tube amp. Elise would be much better match with HD800 than Jotunheim.

This. The pairing with the Jot may make the headphones too bright. The HD800 would probably pair better with a warmer amp or a tube amp. The Elise or maybe a Bottlehead Crack?

 

[sup27606]

First of all, Jotunheim is not bright, that's a misconception which has trickled down from the general notion of Schiit gear being harsh on treble. I regularly use the Jot with cans like the Audeze EL-8, which has quite good treble extension and does not sound bright to me.

I heard the HDVD800 with the Senn HD800 at a trade show and my general feeling was that the bass was a bit emphasized to make the HD800 sound warm. With the same amp, the Senn HD6XX sounded remarkably warm and the 6XX are more bass heavy than the 800s. Jotunheim sounds less warm than the HDVD800 with the Senn 6XX, but definitely not bright.

So it comes down to your sonic preference. If you prefer warm sound (female vocals having emphasized low end etc), HDVD800. If you are OK with a more neutral presentation, you can surely try the Jotunheim since it is one fifth the price of the HDVD800. BTW, pairing the Jot with a dedicated DAC (like Schiit Modi Multibit) will give a better soundstage than the built-in DAC and is a general consensus among the community as being money better spent.

 

[wasupdog]

The best choice with 800s are tubes. My last choice would be the Jot. It's a great amp at the price but it does sound bright and hard if you don't pair it with headphones to balance these traits out.

 

[banco-sg]

He is getting HD800S, so it's not that bright
My suggestion is to save your money, and just get ifi micro idsd black label. I can personally vouch for it, it can drive HD800S better than my Sony TA-ZH1ES. I totally recommend it and you can get it for around $400

 

[Arniesb]

Agree to banko. Good choice for a money! Just let you know that HD800 series is very revealing and those headphones dont pair well with delta sigma dacs. If you will pick dac in the future i suggest Multibit dacs or Chord dacs.

 

[koven]

My opinion is that HD800S is not an ideal pairing with any Schiit amp. I remember the Mjo2 + HD800S was hard to listen to and quickly fatiguing.

 

[adydula]

HD800s with Schiit Audio Jotenheim is SUPERB!!

I have this setup as 12 other amps....and the Bifrost 2 feeding into a JOT is nice to me than BH Crack! On High Gain it tames down this bright thing people think is associated with HD800s...the s of course has been re-designed to attenuate this issue....Jot is actually a bit warmer than most think and it works very well with the HD800s. I have a Vahalla 2 here as well and on high gain side by side they are very similar believe it or not....really very similar....the Jot with these cans has the edge over the V2....simply good with either of them....350 mw vs 300 mw at 300 ohms....not alot of a real difference here....If I had to choose one over the other it would be the "either!!!" ha! its that close IMO.

Alex