[Luckyleo]

My Arya Stealth sound fatiguing on high gain off my Jot 2. Low gain smoothes the sound a little, makes it a little less dynamic, but more easily digestible. I do not notice any bloating in the bass at all, quite the contrary. Also, on my AresII DAC, I activate the OS filter on slow and it also helps with fatigue.

Hmm, thanks for that info. Appreciate it. I wonder what's going. The only change on my audio stream is replacing the Schiit Bifrost 2/64 with the Yggy + GS2. In that regard there is a huge difference in many surprising ways (for me). The last couple days were the first I've listened via balanced since swapping the DACs. Could that account for what I'm hearing? As many here on the forums say "YMMV". I guess my milage is different for sure.

Leo

 

[r343]

I prefer low gain, high gain makes sound more up front as often happens with Schiit amps.

Jotunheim 2 is easy listening specially in low gain, comparison Liquid Platinum has clearly hotter vocals and lower treble.

I've been thinking of upgrading but Jotunheim 2 is hard to fault.

 

[szore]

Hmm, thanks for that info. Appreciate it. I wonder what's going. The only change on my audio stream is replacing the Schiit Bifrost 2/64 with the Yggy + GS2. In that regard there is a huge difference in many surprising ways (for me). The last couple days were the first I've listened via balanced since swapping the DACs. Could that account for what I'm hearing? As many here on the forums say "YMMV". I guess my milage is different for sure.

Leo

Plus on Low Gain i am still at 11:30 on the volume pot, so i'm right in the sweet zone.

 

[psy472]

I totally agree that Jot 2 is best on low gain. It’s even better with a Loki or Lokius for EQ.

 

[Neweymatt]

Hi All,

I've been enjoying the Jot 1 and now the Jot 2 since they were released on day 1. Tremendous amps. I've read various comments through the years discussing peoples experiences listening to the amp. Recently I started using the Balanced output almost exclusively for the last couple days with my Focal Clears OG, HD 660s2, and HD 600. I was very surprised to find a huge difference in sound quality between balanced low-gain vs. balanced high-gain. On low gain I found the bass to be bloated, unfocused, and generally unpleasing (at least to my ears). Switching to high-gain, I find that bass is tight, deep, and very focused and detailed. As mentioned I was blown away. These are nuanced differences, but instead are immediately noticeable. I generally am one to explain that there is no difference between SE and Balanced (after sound level matching). I expected no difference between low-gain balanced and high-gain balanced (again after level matching the sound).

Have any of you noticed this in your listening experiences? Just curious.

Leo

I prefer low gain, high gain makes sound more up front as often happens with Schiit amps.

Jotunheim 2 is easy listening specially in low gain, comparison Liquid Platinum has clearly hotter vocals and lower treble.

I've been thinking of upgrading but Jotunheim 2 is hard to fault.

I totally agree that Jot 2 is best on low gain. It’s even better with a Loki or Lokius for EQ.

I almost never use SE on the Jot2, I prefer balanced by a significant margin. At best SE gives me a softer, rounder sort of sound that could pair well with some headphones or IEMs. For example my 64 Audio U6t and A12t work ok, but I can hear some background hiss from the high noise floor. If I really need to use SE, I either put up with that or use the Vali2+ instead, as it's SE is much better, sharper, clearer with a lot more punch and dynamics. I bought the Jot2 for it's balanced out, and that I think is excellent with pretty much everything I've ever heard with it.

Low gain vs high is a different story, and I think is highly dependent on the headphone or IEM as far as which sounds better. I always use high-gain with the 2 planar headphones I currently have, the Meze Empyrean OG and Audeze LCD-2C. Both of them benefit similarly in high gain with an expanded stage in all directions, better dynamics and more clarity of resolution across the FR. The Campfire Cascade, being made by an IEM company, seems designed for low-power sources, and Jot2's low-gain is just fine for that headphone; high-gain feels a bit too aggressive with too much sharpness creeping in the upper midrange that makes it fatiguing pretty quickly.

As far as IEMs go, the more sensitive all-BA ones like the Campfire Andromeda2020, 64 Audio A12t and U6t tend to work better in low gain, in fact they all sound pretty amazing off the Jot2 balanced. Although there have been a few exceptions, like the Elysian Diva that oddly seems to scale like a planar headphone, it sounded best in high-gain. And then there are some of the less sensitive hybrid IEMs that seem to scale with as much power as you can give them. The Sony IER-Z1R I used to own and the Elysian Annihilator23 I've got now sound best in high-gain to get the most out of the dynamic drivers handling the low-end, and ESTs in the case of the Annihilator's treble; improvements to both of these IEMs in high-gain are very similar to what I hear with the planar headphones.

I know I'm in the minority using a fairly powerful desktop amp like the Jot2 with IEMs, but then again there has been a lot of interest recently in IEM-land using the line out of a DAP to a dedicated portable amp like the Mass Kobo 475, Brise Audio Tsuranagi, or Cayin C9, so there is clearly a case to be made for amping IEMs. I did hear the 475 once with my FiR Xe6 and it was great, but I can't justify the price of those, let alone having to deal with AA batteries, when I've already got the Jot2 on my desk anyway.

The Jot2's versatility is quite remarkable, it sounds fantastic with anything I've every wanted to use it with, and is priced very fairly. Love it!

 

[psy472]

Also to note, you can’t use the Mjolnir 3 with IEM since it’s too powerful. Which is why I’ll be keeping the Jot 2 and probably use it as preamp if I ever get something that’s difficult to drive.

 

[lukezi]

Alright guys newbie here and I need a bit of help. I am waiting for a pair of studio monitors (DynAudio LYD 5's) and a few people recommended pairing it with Jotunheim 2. Pretty much I only need output/volume control and wondering if Jotunheim 2 will give me a better audio experience than some other audio interfaces? Thank you.

 

[szore]

Alright guys newbie here and I need a bit of help. I am waiting for a pair of studio monitors (DynAudio LYD 5's) and a few people recommended pairing it with Jotunheim 2. Pretty much I only need output/volume control and wondering if Jotunheim 2 will give me a better audio experience than some other audio interfaces? Thank you.

Well, what's your budget?

 

[lukezi]

Well...let's say that would be max I'll be willing to spend as of right now as it's a bit of a jump from Motu M2. I decided to swap the Yamaha HS8 to the Dynaudio LYD 5, but still trying to figure out the best route for the DAC/Audio interface. I am confused and don't know what to do, as few people recommended LYD + Jotunheim 2 setup.

 

[PopZeus]

I feel like you're better off with a dedicated pre-amp with a headphone out, rather than the other way around if studio monitors are your mains.

 

[szore]

Well...let's say that would be max I'll be willing to spend as of right now as it's a bit of a jump from Motu M2. I decided to swap the Yamaha HS8 to the Dynaudio LYD 5, but still trying to figure out the best route for the DAC/Audio interface. I am confused and don't know what to do, as few people recommended LYD + Jotunheim 2 setup.

How much were the speakers? I saw the website. I have no experience with speakers like that, the Jot might be overkill...

 

[lukezi]

Thank you! Well...that's what I'm thinking. I'm ready to invest in some nice piece of equipment that will last me a long time as well. So overall there should be some differences in terms of audio quality between Jot 2 and let's say Motu M2?

 

[morpheus69]

Thank you! Well...that's what I'm thinking. I'm ready to invest in some nice piece of equipment that will last me a long time as well. So overall there should be some differences in terms of audio quality between Jot 2 and let's say Motu M2?

It's 2 different things, the Jot is a headphone amp that can be used as a preamp for monitor speakers. The Motu is an audio interface. used music production. If you are doing any sort of music production, then the Motu M2 is what you want to get, besides working with your computer DAW and recording external instruments it will also drive those monitor speakers.

 

[lukezi]

Yeah, I understand that they are different devices capable of doing different things, but in the case when they are used only as output and just to drive the studio monitors will there be any difference/advantage in using one over another?

 

[szore]

Yeah, I understand that they are different devices capable of doing different things, but in the case when they are used only as output and just to drive the studio monitors will there be any difference/advantage in using one over another?

I have to guess the Jot hands down...