[BabylonDown]

I am looking for an Amp/Dac all in one combo with the performance of a Magni/modi stack at the minimum. I prefer if it had balanced outs for monitors and the ability to switch between headphones and monitors. My budget is around $500 or less.

I'm having a hard to finding anything that matches that description except for the folowing:

Scarlet 2i2
Fostex HPA4

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[judson_w]

The Schiit Jotunheim with Balanced DAC is $499: balanced ins and outs for both headphones and preamp outputs for powered monitors, cuts out the preamp outs whenever headphones are plugged in.

Note about the Scarlet 2i2, those are balanced inputs it has, not outputs. As far as I can tell the Fostex does not have balanced outs either.

 

[ksorota]

The Schiit Jotunheim with Balanced DAC is $499: balanced ins and outs for both headphones and preamp outputs for powered monitors, cuts out the preamp outs whenever headphones are plugged in.

Note about the Scarlet 2i2, those are balanced inputs it has, not outputs. As far as I can tell the Fostex does not have balanced outs either.

The pre-amp outs do not cut out when headphones are plugged in...all outputs are always outputting!

I used a kinetic switch to power a power switch for powered monitors attached to my Jotunheim to keep music playing where I wanted it too.

 

[judson_w]

The pre-amp outs do not cut out when headphones are plugged in...all outputs are always outputting!

I used a kinetic switch to power a power switch for powered monitors attached to my Jotunheim to keep music playing where I wanted it too.

I stand corrected. I made a false assumption that it functioned like the other headamps I have and have looked at from Schiit.

 

[BabylonDown]

The Schiit Jotunheim with Balanced DAC is $499: balanced ins and outs for both headphones and preamp outputs for powered monitors, cuts out the preamp outs whenever headphones are plugged in.

Note about the Scarlet 2i2, those are balanced inputs it has, not outputs. As far as I can tell the Fostex does not have balanced outs either.

Im under the impression that the line outs on the 2i2 are balanced. Maybe its the 2i4 I'm talking about?

Edit. Checked Amazon and it mentions the line output being balanced.

Unfortunately its reall not powerful enough to drive the headphones I have ie HD650, AKG7xx.

 

[judson_w]

Im under the impression that the line outs on the 2i2 are balanced. Maybe its the 2i4 I'm talking about?

This is not my morning. I apologize. Looking at the manual of the 2i2, it does state balanced out. You were right in the first place, and I will back out since clearly I am flailing around a bit this morning.

 

[BabylonDown]

The Schiit Jotunheim with Balanced DAC is $499: balanced ins and outs for both headphones and preamp outputs for powered monitors, cuts out the preamp outs whenever headphones are plugged in.

Note about the Scarlet 2i2, those are balanced inputs it has, not outputs. As far as I can tell the Fostex does not have balanced outs either.

This is not my morning. I apologize. Looking at the manual of the 2i2, it does state balanced out. You were right in the first place, and I will back out since clearly I am flailing around a bit this morning.

Haha. Don't feel bad. Third times a charm anyways right?

Would still love to hear suggestions. I guess I could live with the unit not having a physical switch as long as it auto switches like the Schiit stack.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I am looking for an Amp/Dac all in one combo with the performance of a Magni/modi stack at the minimum. I prefer if it had balanced outs for monitors and the ability to switch between headphones and monitors. My budget is around $500 or less.

Schiit Jotunheim

I'm having a hard to finding anything that matches that description except for the folowing:

Scarlet 2i2

That's about as far as you can get from the Magni in the wrong direction - 30ohm output impedance, AFAIK less than 50mW output - you might as well just use the Magni and Modi and not have balanced out to the monitors.

 

[BabylonDown]

Schiit Jotunheim





That's about as far as you can get from the Magni in the wrong direction - 30ohm output impedance, AFAIK less than 50mW output - you might as well just use the Magni and Modi and not have balanced out to the monitors.

I dont think the Jotenheim has switching between phone and monitor. Am I wrong?

I know I'm probably asking alot. It really comes down to height restraints. The Schiit stack is just a little too tall for my setup.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I dont think the Jotenheim has switching between phone and monitor. Am I wrong?

You unplug the headphone to switch to the monitor output. You plug in the headphone to switch to headphone.

If you want just a switch there's the NFB-11 but you don't get balanced output. You'll have to go with the NFB-28 for both those features.

I know I'm probably asking alot. It really comes down to height restraints. The Schiit stack is just a little too tall for my setup.

They don't need to be stacked. If you can fit a Jotunheim's width you can probably fit the Magni and Modi side to side.

 

[judson_w]

Well, the Schiit stack is 2.5 inches tall when stacked or 10 inches wide if side by side, and the Jotunheim is 2 inches tall and 9 inches wide. The Fosteck is 3 inches tall, and the Scarlett is just shy of 2 inches tall. (I have double checked these figures so hopefully I have them right).

 

[BabylonDown]

You unplug the headphone to switch to the monitor output. You plug in the headphone to switch to headphone.

If you want just a switch there's the NFB-11 but you don't get balanced output. You'll have to go with the NFB-28 for both those features.




They don't need to be stacked. If you can fit a Jotunheim's width you can probably fit the Magni and Modi side to side.

Seems there are mixed opinions of the Notunheim.

Ksorota said it doesnt switch to headphones when they are plugged in and vice versa.

 

[ksorota]

Seems there are mixed opinions of the Notunheim.

Ksorota said it doesnt switch to headphones when they are plugged in and vice versa.

That is correct...it will play out of the SE and Balanced Headphone jacks as well as the RCA and XLR outputs all at once. No switching in play on the Jotunheim.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Seems there are mixed opinions of the Notunheim.

Ksorota said it doesnt switch to headphones when they are plugged in and vice versa.

That's how everything else normally works, but if that's the case with teh Jotunheim you're really stuck with the NFB-28 or the Violectric V200 with the DAC option.

Or just use SE preamp outputs to your monitors and go with the NFB-11 or the Schiit stack but don't stack them.

 

[BabylonDown]

That's how everything else normally works, but if that's the case with teh Jotunheim you're really stuck with the NFB-28 or the Violectric V200 with the DAC option.

Or just use SE preamp outputs to your monitors and go with the NFB-11 or the Schiit stack but don't stack them.

If I were to use the stack, how do I connect my Yamaha HS5's? Will an RCA to XLR work?