[spw1880]

Happy to do so - but note that mine just came in today, and I sold my A90 a few weeks ago. Ie, I can't give you a direct comparison, and I need to put some more hours on my Jot 2.

Stay tuned...

Just wondering as well why you sold the a90? I am actually looking to buy a second amp to my wells milo running off bifrost2 dac. I consider the milo an extremely powerful and slightly warm solid state amp. I am looking for an amp that is more transparent for critical listening. Was thinking about a90 or jot2.

 

[Soundmancan]

And why will the Asgard 3 never sound as good as the Jotunheim 2?

Well like everything audio related, everything is subjective. Perhaps you prefer the Asgard 3's sound to the Jot2 and that's fine. From a technical perspective, the Jot2 is the superior amp and thus will never be as good. As far as sound quality goes, I have not had an Asgard to compare to but I have had the Magni 2 uber, Magni 3, Magni Heresy, OG Jotunheim, Lyr 3 & Vali 2. Most people tend to compare the Asgard 3's sound to the Lyr 3 as it incorporates the same tech. The general consensus is that the Asgard is maybe 90% of the Lyr3 which is a good thing especially for the price. The thing is the Jot 2 just beats out all of these amps on sound quality, either single ended or balanced. I am not a hype machine and I don't buy into alot of the rhetoric out there. From a technical perspective, the Asgard is just not as good. From a preference perspective, it may be better. I am sitting here listening to the Jot 2/Gungnir Multibit through single ended headphones, HD600's and Beyer DT770's 80ohm. The Jot 2 just sounds fantastic. And they sound even better through the balanced out. Perhaps you should check out different threads with comparisons on the sound quality of each. I believe you will find the overall consensus is the Jot 2 is superior. Do you believe the Asgard 3 to be superior?

 

[AppleheadMay]

Well like everything audio related, everything is subjective. Perhaps you prefer the Asgard 3's sound to the Jot2 and that's fine. From a technical perspective, the Jot2 is the superior amp and thus will never be as good. As far as sound quality goes, I have not had an Asgard to compare to but I have had the Magni 2 uber, Magni 3, Magni Heresy, OG Jotunheim, Lyr 3 & Vali 2. Most people tend to compare the Asgard 3's sound to the Lyr 3 as it incorporates the same tech. The general consensus is that the Asgard is maybe 90% of the Lyr3 which is a good thing especially for the price. The thing is the Jot 2 just beats out all of these amps on sound quality, either single ended or balanced. I am not a hype machine and I don't buy into alot of the rhetoric out there. From a technical perspective, the Asgard is just not as good. From a preference perspective, it may be better. I am sitting here listening to the Jot 2/Gungnir Multibit through single ended headphones, HD600's and Beyer DT770's 80ohm. The Jot 2 just sounds fantastic. And they sound even better through the balanced out. Perhaps you should check out different threads with comparisons on the sound quality of each. I believe you will find the overall consensus is the Jot 2 is superior. Do you believe the Asgard 3 to be superior?

No I don't think the A3 would be superior, I have not heard it either.
It just so happenes I have/had all the same Schiit amps as you but driven by a Bifrost2 (smaller ones were driven by Modi2 and 3+) instead: Jot1, Jot2, Lyr3, Magni2, Magni3+, Heresy and Vali2 driven by the Bifrost2.
I didn't like the smaller Schiit stacks but I like the Lyr3 just as much as both Jots, which makes me wonder about the A3.
I don't think the Jots sound better than the Lyr3 or vice versa, just different, I like them both.
I said it before and I said it again, these mid-sized Schiit stacks are very high value for the money when I compare them to much more expensive amps I had that I value way below their price. No, they don't beat my Luxman gear, but that's 10 times the price ...
Let's just say if a mid-sized Schiit stack is the maximum I could afford to spend I could happily live with it and called it a day.

 

[TheAuthor]

I just noticed an issue when using my Jot 2, if I use either balanced out or SE out, one at a time, both sound as expected, but if I use both at once (two headphones, one through Bal out and another through SE), the SE output starts to distort pretty badly. It goes away if I unplug the XLR out. The exact same thing happens through the SE preamp outputs. Does anyone know if I should be worried about that?

 

[tincanear]

I just noticed an issue when using my Jot 2, if I use either balanced out or SE out, one at a time, both sound as expected, but if I use both at once (two headphones, one through Bal out and another through SE), the SE output starts to distort pretty badly. It goes away if I unplug the XLR out. The exact same thing happens through the SE preamp outputs. Does anyone know if I should be worried about that?

what headphones? any adapters? using TRS unbalanced headphones off the XLR output with an adapter should not be done (shorts half of the XLR output stage)

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

@AppleheadMay I posted this in the Vali 2 thread, but since you have experience....

Guys I have somewhat of a desire to have a Vali 2+ as a preamp between my Modius and Jotunheim 2. I don't NEED the Vali 2+, obviously, but I figured it'd be cool introducing a tube in the chain.



Is this a good idea for flavoring? And if so, what tube that isn't expensive gains a tubey sound to contrast from the solid stateyness of the Jot 2?



My Jot 2 has two free RCA inputs (one via addin rca board), so it'd be something I use every once in awhile.



It would look something like:



Modius RCA out to Vali 2+ to Jot 2 RCA in for tubey duty.



Also, Modius balanced out to Jot 2 balanced in for SS duties.



If all sounds good, what would line level be? Low gain, max pot?





I did have an og Vali, and it's still my fave sounding amp despite its shortcomings.

Mind you guys, I've used headphone amps as pre-amps to other headphone amps for years due to them being the only way to use virtual surround (so stuff like the Astro Mixamp or Senn GSX1000) into another headphone amp. Mainly because the formers were very weak amps. I'm well aware that I'd be adding all the distortion and bad traits of the Vali into the Jot 2. I'm just saying if it's worth it for the tubey nature. I'd still have the Modius straight to Jot 2 via balanced interconnects for clean listening, so to speak.

 

[In1unison]

Just wondering as well why you sold the a90? I am actually looking to buy a second amp to my wells milo running off bifrost2 dac. I consider the milo an extremely powerful and slightly warm solid state amp. I am looking for an amp that is more transparent for critical listening. Was thinking about a90 or jot2.

I had both Jot2 and A90 (and some other apps) for evaluation and decided to keep Jot2. Got tired of A90 sound fairly quickly, however that doesn't mean it is a bad amp. Not at all. It is very clean, resolving, extended etc. I would say, it is perfect if one wants to evaluate different components in the system, both upstream and downstream. To my preferences in music and expectations from the gear (classical choral, chamber jazz, down-tempo electronica and replicating natural sound of the instruments) Jot2 is much better fit. I am also biased toward gear with LPS which A90 lacks, which might explain somewhat two dimensional sound. I have also found that Topping L30 sounds slightly richer (and therefore better for my ears) than A90, although they share the same SE circuit, and it only costs $130 here in the US.

 

[TheAuthor]

what headphones? any adapters? using TRS unbalanced headphones off the XLR output with an adapter should not be done (shorts half of the XLR output stage)

Sundaras, using a custom balanced cable from Periapt. There should be no adapters in the chain at all.

 

[TheRealDz]

Mine probably still only has about 20 hours on it, so I hesitate to make any major judgments. But a few things stand out:

1) I can hear deeper into the music with the Jot2. Regardless of the A90's lower measured distortion, the Jot2 seems to have better resolution and is more transparent - based on my ability to hear musical details that I couldn't hear on the A90.

2) Concurrent with the additional detail, is a greater sense of dimensionality. I am not ready to say the Jot2 is particularly good with imaging or soundstaging, but I will say that regardless of the A90's amazing measurements, imaging and soundstaging never stood out on the A90.

3) The A90 was sterile, but the Jot2 is not. I am hesitant to throw around the "musical" descriptor without backing it up with examples. But the Jot2 does in fact seem better at replaying music.

This is all via the Jot2's balanced outputs - and the A90's for the matter (never actually even tried the A90 single ended).

Just wondering as well why you sold the a90? I am actually looking to buy a second amp to my wells milo running off bifrost2 dac. I consider the milo an extremely powerful and slightly warm solid state amp. I am looking for an amp that is more transparent for critical listening. Was thinking about a90 or jot2.

 

[Smoothstereo]

@AppleheadMay I posted this in the Vali 2 thread, but since you have experience....



Mind you guys, I've used headphone amps as pre-amps to other headphone amps for years due to them being the only way to use virtual surround (so stuff like the Astro Mixamp or Senn GSX1000) into another headphone amp. Mainly because the formers were very weak amps. I'm well aware that I'd be adding all the distortion and bad traits of the Vali into the Jot 2. I'm just saying if it's worth it for the tubey nature. I'd still have the Modius straight to Jot 2 via balanced interconnects for clean listening, so to speak.

I ordered a Jot2 and waiting for it to be shipped. I currently have a Vali2 (not the +) and will be planning to do what you described to see if the Vali2 will inject enough tube traits to the chain in between the Jot2 and my Marantz HD-DAC1. I love my Vali2 with the dual Zenith 6J5G tubes (with adapter) , sounds really good fed from my Marantz HD-DAC1.

 

[spw1880]

I had both Jot2 and A90 (and some other apps) for evaluation and decided to keep Jot2. Got tired of A90 sound fairly quickly, however that doesn't mean it is a bad amp. Not at all. It is very clean, resolving, extended etc. I would say, it is perfect if one wants to evaluate different components in the system, both upstream and downstream. To my preferences in music and expectations from the gear (classical choral, chamber jazz, down-tempo electronica and replicating natural sound of the instruments) Jot2 is much better fit. I am also biased toward gear with LPS which A90 lacks, which might explain somewhat two dimensional sound. I have also found that Topping L30 sounds slightly richer (and therefore better for my ears) than A90, although they share the same SE circuit, and it only costs $130 here in the US.

Thank you for sharing. I am myself lean heavily toward proper linear power supply. I have went as far to have a dedicated 3 phase panel and wire to my audio room and an assortment of diy powercords. Its good to know that the a90 does not have the 3D soundstage.

 

[spw1880]

Mine probably still only has about 20 hours on it, so I hesitate to make any major judgments. But a few things stand out:

1) I can hear deeper into the music with the Jot2. Regardless of the A90's lower measured distortion, the Jot2 seems to have better resolution and is more transparent - based on my ability to hear musical details that I couldn't hear on the A90.

2) Concurrent with the additional detail, is a greater sense of dimensionality. I am not ready to say the Jot2 is particularly good with imaging or soundstaging, but I will say that regardless of the A90's amazing measurements, imaging and soundstaging never stood out on the A90.

3) The A90 was sterile, but the Jot2 is not. I am hesitant to throw around the "musical" descriptor without backing it up with examples. But the Jot2 does in fact seem better at replaying music.

This is all via the Jot2's balanced outputs - and the A90's for the matter (never actually even tried the A90 single ended).

Thank you. The jot 2 may be worth a try. Btw what headphones is your jot 2 powering?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I ordered a Jot2 and waiting for it to be shipped. I currently have a Vali2 (not the +) and will be planning to do what you described to see if the Vali2 will inject enough tube traits to the chain in between the Jot2 and my Marantz HD-DAC1. I love my Vali2 with the dual Zenith 6J5G tubes (with adapter) , sounds really good fed from my Marantz HD-DAC1.

cool, keep us posted.

 

[In1unison]

Thank you for sharing. I am myself lean heavily toward proper linear power supply. I have went as far to have a dedicated 3 phase panel and wire to my audio room and an assortment of diy powercords. Its good to know that the a90 does not have the 3D soundstage.

It is not that A90 doesn't have depth in the soundstage, but comparatively Jot2 is notably better on Arya and LCD-XC. On T1 2nd and LCD-2 there was not much difference. Go figure.

 

[TheRealDz]

I am using Focal Elegia. I also have Senn HD650 (also balanced) , but haven't tried them with the Jot2 yet.

Wow - I am a big believer in upgraded power. Your efforts with the dedicated line must sound amazing!

I have my Jot2 plugged into a vintage Monster Cable power conditioner (designed by Richard Marsh of Marsh Sound Design and Damian Martin of Spectral), with an Analysis Plus IEC power cable.

Thank you. The jot 2 may be worth a try. Btw what headphones is your jot 2 powering?