MattTCG
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2012
- Posts
- 15,685
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- 3,874
Here are my stream of consciousness thoughts on Jot 2. This unit has been "burned in" for about a week and most testing was done with an hd650/ETHER 2
Cons: (start with the not so great)
* I don't like the light on the front as it's just too bright. I though they fixed this with the newer schiit?
* Not great as a pre-amp. Functionally the pre-amp is just decent, but if I had a real need for a good pre-amp, I would feel compelled to get something better.
* Performance is not quite as good through SE outs vs balanced. Not nearly as good actually.
* Takes a good hour to warm up, reach thermal equilibrium and sound/perform it's best. I can certainly see some people using this amp initially and jumping to conclusions about it. It would certainly be easy to do. I plan to leave mine on 24/7.
* Maybe a 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm output would have been appropriate
Pros: (the good stuff and there's a lot of it)
* the performance and sound of the amp has exceeded my expectations. If I'm being honest, I somewhat expected another "decent" mid-fi product from Schiit. The Jot 2 is much better than "decent" and just might be my favorite Schiit amp. The lyr3 has held this title for a good while, beating out the mjo 2 with choice set of NOS tubes.
* volume control works WELL. The potentiomer is both smooth and linear. The volume/SPL level tracks well even at the bottom of the range and holds it's composure nicely as you get past 12:00.
* speed and quickness are exceptional. This is what I expect from a good SS amp and Jot 2 has this in spades. I get a good sense of instruments and air as they trail across the stage. Speaking of stage, it's not bad here. Not great, but not bad. Better than most Schiit amps in fact.
* tonality, timbre, and grip on the driver are all excellent. It's not easy to get a SS amp to have that dash of lushness that comes with a tube amp or hybrid. Jot 2 offers just enough of that warmth to make it a very engaging and enjoyable experience. Vocals can be shockingly convincing and realistic. Listening to Gregory Porter I can easily make out the tone of that deep husky baritone. Porter is known for his ability to change pace and level very quickly. And those dynamics play out effortlessly on the jot 2. Great punch with this amp. In fact, if you take the dynamic capacity of the mjo 2 and add the subtle sweet tone from the lyr 3 you'd be getting close to the sound of the Jot 2.
* For me, the real magic with the jot 2 is through the balanced out. The SE is fine, but somewhat unremarkable. I started out with this amp on SE. Switching to balanced and letting the amp warm for better than an hour began to really impress me. I also appreciate that you get the balanced output no matter what is source is used.
* Jot 2 treats high impedance Senns and planars equally well. This put the amp into a good "all rounder" territory.
X Factor:
* Well, if you can't tell by now the Jot 2 certainly has the X factor IMHO. It's engaging, with no fatal flaws sonically to detract from it's excellent performance. When I'm cueing up music with a new amp, and find myself mouthing the word "wow" involuntarily I can tell I'm listening to something special. At $400 the jot 2 is a no brainer and quite possibly Schiit's best amp. Well done Jason and team Schiit.
Edit...I also appreciate that the jot 2 does not get as hot as most all of the older Schiit amps. I was never comfortable leaving them on for any extended period of time. This amp only gets a fraction as warm as those amps, so I won't worry about leaving it running. I will be reporting back with more details after listening and testing for the rest of the week. I want a chance to test with different headphones and DACS. Check for potential synergies and the like.
Cons: (start with the not so great)
* I don't like the light on the front as it's just too bright. I though they fixed this with the newer schiit?
* Not great as a pre-amp. Functionally the pre-amp is just decent, but if I had a real need for a good pre-amp, I would feel compelled to get something better.
* Performance is not quite as good through SE outs vs balanced. Not nearly as good actually.
* Takes a good hour to warm up, reach thermal equilibrium and sound/perform it's best. I can certainly see some people using this amp initially and jumping to conclusions about it. It would certainly be easy to do. I plan to leave mine on 24/7.
* Maybe a 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm output would have been appropriate
Pros: (the good stuff and there's a lot of it)
* the performance and sound of the amp has exceeded my expectations. If I'm being honest, I somewhat expected another "decent" mid-fi product from Schiit. The Jot 2 is much better than "decent" and just might be my favorite Schiit amp. The lyr3 has held this title for a good while, beating out the mjo 2 with choice set of NOS tubes.
* volume control works WELL. The potentiomer is both smooth and linear. The volume/SPL level tracks well even at the bottom of the range and holds it's composure nicely as you get past 12:00.
* speed and quickness are exceptional. This is what I expect from a good SS amp and Jot 2 has this in spades. I get a good sense of instruments and air as they trail across the stage. Speaking of stage, it's not bad here. Not great, but not bad. Better than most Schiit amps in fact.
* tonality, timbre, and grip on the driver are all excellent. It's not easy to get a SS amp to have that dash of lushness that comes with a tube amp or hybrid. Jot 2 offers just enough of that warmth to make it a very engaging and enjoyable experience. Vocals can be shockingly convincing and realistic. Listening to Gregory Porter I can easily make out the tone of that deep husky baritone. Porter is known for his ability to change pace and level very quickly. And those dynamics play out effortlessly on the jot 2. Great punch with this amp. In fact, if you take the dynamic capacity of the mjo 2 and add the subtle sweet tone from the lyr 3 you'd be getting close to the sound of the Jot 2.
* For me, the real magic with the jot 2 is through the balanced out. The SE is fine, but somewhat unremarkable. I started out with this amp on SE. Switching to balanced and letting the amp warm for better than an hour began to really impress me. I also appreciate that you get the balanced output no matter what is source is used.
* Jot 2 treats high impedance Senns and planars equally well. This put the amp into a good "all rounder" territory.
X Factor:
* Well, if you can't tell by now the Jot 2 certainly has the X factor IMHO. It's engaging, with no fatal flaws sonically to detract from it's excellent performance. When I'm cueing up music with a new amp, and find myself mouthing the word "wow" involuntarily I can tell I'm listening to something special. At $400 the jot 2 is a no brainer and quite possibly Schiit's best amp. Well done Jason and team Schiit.
Edit...I also appreciate that the jot 2 does not get as hot as most all of the older Schiit amps. I was never comfortable leaving them on for any extended period of time. This amp only gets a fraction as warm as those amps, so I won't worry about leaving it running. I will be reporting back with more details after listening and testing for the rest of the week. I want a chance to test with different headphones and DACS. Check for potential synergies and the like.
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