[Currawong]

there appears to be an adapter plugged into the Jotunheim 2's XLR-4pin. is that an XLR4 to 4.4mm pentaconn (TRRRS) ?

Yes. If I get aftermarket cables now, I terminate them all in 4.4 and use adaptors for everything else.

 

[Ripper2860]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to my Head-fi brethren and friends. It has been a difficult year, but may the joy of the season find its way to you. May the New Year bring a return to 'normal' for us all and allow us to segue from Schiit Happens to Schiit Happened.

 

[NewSchiithead]

Aeon 2 if you want foldability (portability), otherwise consider Aeon RT or pre-owned Ether 2 or Ether Flow Open 1.1 (but no warranty on those)

Thanks for all the advice guys. I ended up with the Ether 2 (Budget? What's that? Actually I found the non-system ones for less than 1900 so it wasn't WAAAAAY out of budget) and I can tell you the Jot 2 drives it EASILY. On high gain you MIGHT get as high as 10:00 on the volume. MIGHT. There is a TON of power for low-impedance (16 Ohms) phones like these.

Sound? The combination of the Ether 2s, the Jot 2, and the Bifrost 2 (yes, I like 2s, why do you ask?) sounds AMAZING. And I can hear them breaking in right now as they play, they are actually getting better each minute. Thank you Mr. TCE for mentioning the Ether 2s, they are very light and comfy for high end phones. And did I mention sounding amazing?

And thank you Jason for the Jotunheim 2, it is quite wonderful. No wonder you sounded so proud of it! $399 is INSANE for this thing. INSANE.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and now Merry Christmas to me too.

 

[darkarn]

Merry Christmas you all, hope you all are blasting those Christmas oldies with your newly found Schiit!

 

[Derrick Swart]

Excellent piece, and we are pretty civil
https://darko.audio/2020/12/ego-boner/

 

[wout31]

I kind of want the new Vali but I don’t really NEED it. Anyone else have this problem?

You need a Vali(um)

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

and a Merry Christmas to all.

JC

 

[Zojokkeli]

Jotunheim 2 is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. Might be a bit later due to customs and such, but hopefully I’ll receive it by weekend (and my birthday).

 

[Currawong]

Vali 2+ for the Uninitiated

= Sound is now "I've had a drink and am now relaxed." instead of "I've had 2 or 3, let's really relax and have fun."

 

[Ableza]

The 1300 strand cable from Sysconcept.ca. It should allow 192k through optical, but it doesn't seem to work with all DACs. The main thing is that you get electrical isolation from your source, which might reduce noise and hardness in the sound, though if the jitter is high, the DAC might generate noise itself as a result. They seemed to be best with portable gear that has optical output.

In general a good cable is not the issue bandwidth-limiting Toslink S/PDIF, it's the sender and receiver encoding modules. Toshiba originally designed Toslink to pass 48KHz signals, and it is generally limited to 24/96. Getting speeds higher than that via optical is a hit and miss proposition.

 

[ev666il]

Jotunheim 2 is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. Might be a bit later due to customs and such

Don’t say that, man. Mine’s also scheduled for delivery on Tuesday and I want it Monday evening. Slave away, you damn customs officials! No rest until I get my new toy.

 

[darkarn]

The 1300 strand cable from Sysconcept.ca. It should allow 192k through optical, but it doesn't seem to work with all DACs. The main thing is that you get electrical isolation from your source, which might reduce noise and hardness in the sound, though if the jitter is high, the DAC might generate noise itself as a result. They seemed to be best with portable gear that has optical output.

Speaking about optical cables, I am wondering if I should change from the "brandless" one I have for something else

Have you have any experience with those glass optical cables (e.g. Lifatec's) that I have been hearing about?

 

[darkarn]

In general a good cable is not the issue bandwidth-limiting Toslink S/PDIF, it's the sender and receiver encoding modules. Toshiba originally designed Toslink to pass 48KHz signals, and it is generally limited to 24/96. Getting speeds higher than that via optical is a hit and miss proposition.

Am I right to say that in terms of bitrate, most computers will be stuck at 24/96 (unless they use USB) due to them having only TOSLINK ports?

 

[Ableza]

Am I right to say that in terms of bitrate, most computers will be stuck at 24/96 (unless they use USB) due to them having only TOSLINK ports?

I don't know if you could make such a general statement, but most Toslink outputs on computers are set at 16/44 as a default since that is the "normal" audio requirement.