[bosiemoncrieff]

  Still, it looks like the future of digital music is higher then CD 16bit. Even the Yaggdrasil is only 21bit. What about mutibit tech keeps it from sampling at 24bits or higher

At the risk of self-aggrandizement, I will quote myself from another thread, when someone suggested that we invest in 32-bit DACs. 24-bit DACs are likewise ridiculous, but not quite so egregious. Anyway:
 

  32 bits?! Even 24 bits are a pointless waste of time. Bit depth is NOT bit rate (resolution, detail retrieval); it is noise floor, lack of quantization noise. At 32 bits, the signal-to-noise ratio is 192 decibels, meaning that you must listen to your music at 192 decibels above your ambient environment or the ambient noise (refrigerator, traffic, kids, your dac and amp) would mask the quantization noise (which is why 16 bit is fine in real life).
 
What is 192 decibels? Well deafness occurs at 180 db, so even if you listened to your 32-bit recordings in an anechoic chamber, if you heard their full dynamic range, you're not listening to them now. If you're listening in a university library, at a quiet 30 decibels, even a Saturn V at launch can't quite give you 192 true decibels of dynamic range to overcome the noise floor, though its 200-odd decibels would certainly kill you.
 
32 bits are bullschiit. 24 bits are bullschiit. Buy an Yggy and call it a day. But be safe out there: sound over 85 decibels can lead to hearing loss.

 
I add only that hearing 144 db of dynamic range (the SNR of 24 bits) in a quiet environment would likewise put you over the 180db threshold for eardrum rupture and permanent deafness.

 

[EtRec]

 Thank you for the thorough explanation. I'm still not understanding what happens when a Bitfrost Multibit  takes 24bit music and transforms it to 16bit (from Schitt's website). Sorry for my ignorance but does some of the music get thrown out or compressed? Personally, I heard very little difference, from the Bitfrost Multibit 16bit and the Jot's internal 24bit dac, except in volume level (had to turn the volume knob up a little when using the internal Jot dac to compare at the same sound level) .The Bimby played back louder. This while playing 24bit classical music.
  I'm afraid I've caught a bug many on this site seem to have. Instead of just enjoying the music, I'm worried I'm not hearing it at it's full potential.

 

[theveterans]

   Thank you for the thorough explanation. I'm still not understanding what happens when a Bitfrost Multibit  takes 24bit music and transforms it to 16bit (from Schitt's website). Sorry for my ignorance but does some of the music get thrown out or compressed? Personally, I heard very little difference, from the Bitfrost Multibit 16bit and the Jot's internal 24bit dac, except in volume level (had to turn the volume knob up a little when using the internal Jot dac to compare at the same sound level) .The Bimby played back louder. This while playing 24bit classical music.
  I'm afraid I've caught a bug many on this site seem to have. Instead of just enjoying the music, I'm worried I'm not hearing it at it's full potential.

 
Upsamling DACs work by doing mathematical solutions to fill in the gaps in the sample rate then goes through a signal filter (in this case the burrito filter) and Baldr's filter preserves the original samples so nothing is thrown out when fed in to the DAC chip. The DAC resolution itself is 16-bit so it makes 65536 different voltages to represent the analog signal. The point is no samples are thrown out in the digital realm where as D/S use noise shapers and dithering to form the analog signal since most D/S chips have only about 6-bits of resolution.

 

[MarkF786]

I just ordered a Jotunheim with the DAC module.  The wait is on until mid-February.
 
I'll spend some time with the DAC module and compare it to my Chord Mojo.  And if I feel the desire to get something more, maybe by then Schiit will have released a balanced multibit DAC in a similar form factor as the Jotunheim, maybe a Bimby 2.  It would only make sense for them to release such a product to pair with the Jotunheim.

 

[NemanVtc]

I can't wait to get my

 

[andrejc]

Does anyone have a Fostex Th-x00 mahogany with Schiit Jotunheim? My DAC is Modi MB.
Do they pair well?
Considering to jump on the mass drop today. The thx00 have a permanently attached cable, should I wait for a e-mu teak drop instead?
My other HP are HD650 & T90. Also considering Focal Elear in the future. Possibly HD800.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Does anyone have a Fostex Th-x00 mahogany with Schiit Jotunheim? My DAC is Modi MB.
Do they pair well?
Considering to jump on the mass drop today. The thx00 have a permanently attached cable, should I wait for a e-mu teak drop instead?
My other HP are HD650 & T90. Also considering Focal Elear in the future. Possibly HD800.

they should pair very well.

 

[maxh22]

Does anyone have a Fostex Th-x00 mahogany with Schiit Jotunheim? My DAC is Modi MB.
Do they pair well?
Considering to jump on the mass drop today. The thx00 have a permanently attached cable, should I wait for a e-mu teak drop instead?
My other HP are HD650 & T90. Also considering Focal Elear in the future. Possibly HD800.

I saw some available on the FS forum.

 

[Vigrith]

My other HP are HD650 & T90. Also considering Focal Elear in the future. Possibly HD800.

 
Can confirm they both pair very well with the Jotunheim (wonderfully so for the 650). Same goes for the Elear (don't own these but had a pair at home for a while), the HD800... Well, thing is, the Jotunheim's characterless, if you actually do like the 800s the way they are (as in murderous) then it'll do its job but it won't do you any favours. 

 

[i20bot]

  First listen to the Jot today. What immediately stands out is how precise and tightly controlled the presentation is. If the Valhalla 2 is like having an alcohol buzz, in the way that echo and reverb lingers a bit longer and more loosely, as if you have the faintest sensation of being underwater... the Jot is like taking uppers: intense focus and no time for nonsense. I'm really enjoying it so far. It kicks ass for high intensity digital-heavy production like Death Grips. I like both amps; the Valhalla is more relaxing and the Jot is more aggressive, so can easily see both filling specific moods for me. If you like uppers... try the Jot!

Try connecting the Jot to the Valhalla so it tube buffers it.

 

[MarkF786]

Do you guys hear a big difference between the SE and balanced headphone outputs (other than differences in output level)?  I've heard some different opinions in general about the benefits (or lack thereof) of balanced outputs.

 

[Alchemist007]

It's definitely an audible difference to me.

 

[JLoud]

Does anyone have a Fostex Th-x00 mahogany with Schiit Jotunheim? My DAC is Modi MB.
Do they pair well?
Considering to jump on the mass drop today. The thx00 have a permanently attached cable, should I wait for a e-mu teak drop instead?
My other HP are HD650 & T90. Also considering Focal Elear in the future. Possibly HD800.

I have the Jot as well as the Elear, HD650, and Th-x00.  They all sound wonderful on the Jot. The HD650 really benefits from the power available from the balanced output.  The Fostex and Elear are more subtle improvements.

 

[a44100Hz]

  Try connecting the Jot to the Valhalla so it tube buffers it.

 
I tried this and I do not like the Valhalla 2 as a pre-amp for the Jotunheim (using SE out to HD650M). When separate, the Valhalla 2 highlights the euphoria of tracks and the Jot highlights the energy signature of tracks. The Val reproduces instruments and the space they contain by adding 3D realism to their sonic qualities* such that vocals take a back seat to and can be swept up by vibration and decay (akin to the vocals in a Radiohead track -- they're more like part of the music than the focus). The Jotunheim presents vocals in a crisp aggressive manner that reminds me of hip hop where instrumentation is part of the "beat" and supports or sets the rapper's pace. These amps produce different sensations when listening, both pleasurable; the former engrossing and the latter invigorating, deep relaxation vs toe tapping. You'd think that subtly blending the two would create the best of both worlds but the combination shortchanges both amps to my ear.
 
The combination "improves" the Jotunheim in the sense that the Valhalla 2 adds height to the soundstage, but this comes at the expense of 1) the full immersion of the decay and placement of instruments from the Vallhalla and 2) the energy and attack of the Jot. So it doesn't maintain the best qualities of either amp, it just rounds everything out. The result is sort of bloated or fluffy sounding, but worse, mostly boring. You lose the spatial immersion of the Val and the immediacy of the Jot. A few times per track I'm teased by glimmers of the aspects I like about the individual amps, but this is just irksome; I would rather listen to the amps separately.

* The Valhalla 2 clearly has a taller and deeper soundstage than the Jotunheim so you can better place yourself relative to sounds you hear in 3D space (e.g. "I hear someone talking 2 feet behind and 3 feet to the right of me"). With the Jot, it's more like sounds slide left-to-right in 2D space (e.g. "I hear someone talking into my ear"). It's similar to the difference in immersion between the HD650 and cheap headphones that constantly remind you that you're listening on headphones -- you don't "disappear" into the music. The Jot constantly reminds me that I am no longer immersed in 3D sound space as far as live recordings go... but for digitally produced music with a lot of reverb this isn't an issue and I think if I didn't have the Valhalla 2 for comparison, I wouldn't miss the 3D effect as much. My volume limit is lower with the Jot due to the more aggressive treble, which also doesn't help for immersion purposes. Stock Russian tubes
 
Now the Vali 2 (same input tube) is hitting the spot as a pre. I'm getting about 80% of the instrument and spatial realism I expect from the Valhalla 2 and 90% of the attack I expect from the Jotunheim. Instruments and vocals feel roughly balanced in presentation; treble is taken down a bit, hurts less at high volumes. The combination immediately felt good in the way a suit jacket that fits right in the shoulders does. It doesn't have the same soundstage depth of the Valhalla 2 to create the "I feel high right now" immersive space but it has enough to not sound like you're obviously listening on headphones. This now sounds like a souped-up Vali 2 to me instead of nerfed versions of the Val and Jot like the other combination. I'm not yet sure if I will eventually prefer this to the Jot alone, but I'm digging it right now.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Now that's interesting. My question is how close you get, with Vali and Jotunheim, to Mjolnir 2 driven by the tube/s in question.