[Soundofmusic]

Any comments on how this dac/amp will suit the HD650, LCD-2F and X2 respectively? I currently have the X2 and a Soundblaster E5, and I kinda long for a bit more analytical sound along the lines of what my cheaper AKG271S give me.

I'm considering these upgrade combos, buying second hand headphones:
Jotunheim + Mimby + HD650 = $950
Jotunheim w/internal dac + LCD2-F = $1250

 

[EtRec]

  The fact that you perceived Bimby to be "Louder" tells me that the volume was not probably 100% matched, and I'd wager if you had the equipment to properly get a perfect volume match between the two dac's and A/B them, the perceived differences would all but vanish. I'd wager the bimby would be more resilient to bad power sources, and give less problems when hooking up to a laptop, or bad power, just based on it's beefy power supply, your less likely to experience any issues there - however if you've got a nice computer system, or an enthusiast class motherboard, many of witch specifically state "Clean USB Power" as a selling feature,  your much less likely to notice a difference, also WYRD helps with the power issues if you've already got a JOT/DAC and are noticing strange things with a laptop. I wouldn't spend money on a decrapifier though, unless you've identified a specific need.
 
Your not the first one who's bought both units at the same time with no bias, and returned the separate dac. It's mostly people that already owned a Multi-Bit Dac that are saying OMG it's so much better, yadda yadda yadda, you will see in time many of these people will go back and forth between the dac's, and one day they will want new headphones, or speakers, or computer parts, or cash for another hobby, that dac will be the first thing to go
 
I do have a technical question, the Schiit boy's have stated that D/S dac's are 3-5 bits of resolution, does that mean balanced Jotunheim is 6-10 bits because of it's balanced design? I don't get to hung up on bits, as there's a point of diminishing returns/no returns, maybe around 14 bit, maybe less. That's why you can't tell a difference between 16/44 and 24/96, or 32/192
 
Edit** many 24/96 recordings are execeptionally good, because they were designed to be "hi fi" 24/96, close attention was paid to the recording/mixing. This has nothing to do with 24/96 or 16/44 and everything to do with the recording. Some recording's are just really well done, i've heard good recording's on 128 KB MP3's that sound better then FLAC's that are highly compressed and schiit recordings.
 
Furthermore, people need to learn how to EQ. If Jotunheim's not a good match to the HD800 or "Bright phones" just EQ that **** down a bit. We've got really really good parametric EQ's that are available for free, and very powerful/transparent. If your source is a PC, whats the big deal? I get it if your using something else as a source, but on PC there's no excuse.

Thank you for explaining the 24-192 flac sound. I did notice that the Jazz recordings I bought do say Hi-Fi. Never understood what they imply but the seperation and clarity sound really good. As to testing the Bimby against the internal dac, the volume difference did make that a hard task, and yet when I compared my old Audioengine D1 dac to the Jot's internal DAC I could hear a clear difference. Was so used to the more laid back, muddled sound of the D1 that I almost didn't like the Jot, but after burning it in for a few days, the clarity and brightness grew on me. Now I can't see myself going back. The sound is coming from a Workstation PC I built myself last year. I think the louder Bitfrost comes from it's power supply and maybe the Jot's internal DAC being USB powered. The volume on my Jotunheim more then meets my needs and rarely needs to go past the 1/4 turn . I do find that when I want to play music at low volume levels, either as a preamp or through my headphones, that it sounds fuller in high gain. In short I am really happy with the Jot+internal DAC.
 PS I recently bought a pair of Shure SE425 earbuds and I love how they sound with the Jot.

 

[MikeW]

The volume difference is more likely the gain stages just outputting more or less gain in one configuration or the other. It's got nothing to do with the power supply or anything else. Maybe one outputs 2.1 volts RMS and the other is 2.0.. something like that is going on.
 
@ thesoundofmusic The HD 650 is said to be made for the jotunheim, and an excellent pairing, I think that's the way I'd go, maybe even Jotunheim + Internal dac, and used HD650's for ~200$ for a 700$ combo, you can buy some nice craft beer with the savings ;p

 

[EtRec]

  The volume difference is more likely the gain stages just outputting more or less gain in one configuration or the other. It's got nothing to do with the power supply or anything else. Maybe one outputs 2.1 volts RMS and the other is 2.0.. something like that is going on.
 
@ thesoundofmusic The HD 650 is said to be made for the jotunheim, and an excellent pairing, I think that's the way I'd go, maybe even Jotunheim + Internal dac, and used HD650's for ~200$ for a 700$ combo, you can buy some nice craft beer with the savings ;p

Thanks, I already have the HD650 with balanced cable. Maybe because they are new, I am enjoying my Shure SE425 earbuds with the Jot. Meant them for my mp3 player but they sound so much better with the Jot. If it wasn't for the short cable I could forget I'm wearing them.

 

[Kenneth Tang]

  I have a Bifrost Multibit arriving on Tuesday, so I'll weigh in later with a comparison with the internal DAC.
 
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I found the internal DAC generally indistinguishable from the Chord Mojo, which impressed me since I can hear the difference between the Mojo and some lesser DACs.  Granted, this was done in a fairly brief comparison, with the Mojo volume matched to the internal DAC, and A/B'ing them for around a half-hour.  Maybe over a more extended period of time I would perceive a difference.  But I found it inconvenient to use the Mojo with the Jot due to the differences in form factor and power.
 
If the Bifrost does provide a noticeable difference, the combination with the Jot will likely be my end-game DAC and amp.

 
Please let us know your finding. I am very interested to know.

 

[Fred Wang]

Any comments on how this dac/amp will suit the HD650, LCD-2F and X2 respectively? I currently have the X2 and a Soundblaster E5, and I kinda long for a bit more analytical sound along the lines of what my cheaper AKG271S give me.

I'm considering these upgrade combos, buying second hand headphones:
Jotunheim + Mimby + HD650 = $950
Jotunheim w/internal dac + LCD2-F = $1250

I can't comment directly on them, but I'm currently using the Bimby + Jotunheim + Audeze EL-8O, and love the combination. The Jotunheim has a tendency to push out a little bit more clarity, especially in the treble, which I find balances well with the Audeze. I know the EL-8 has a different sound than the LCD-2, but I would say that, when I demoed them, the EL-8 (2016 revision) have a similar sound signature (though definitely still different). It seems to help tame the bass more on the EL-8's, and make it sound more rich while maintaining a lot of detail. 

I've tried it with the HD650 before as well, and it's done a lot to open up more space in the HD650, and help deal with the so-called "Sennheiser veil."

 

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I echo that sentiment about EL8 and Audeze generally. Jotunheim reveals about as much as you can, short of Ragnarok. I'd also stick with the internal DAC; it's the best value in Schiit's DAC lineup by far.

 

[earnmyturns]

  Anybody using the Jot balanced with Ether C Flows? Impressions? Sorry if I missed it in the thread. Thanks in advance.

See my sig for full gear lineup. I listen mainly to modern jazz, world, select classical. What I like about Jot + C Flow is the clarity, fast attack, controlled decay across the frequency range, no excessive emphasis anywhere . Jazz bass, percussion (especially cymbals), guitar show this combo especially well. I also own a Cavalli Liquid Carbon, which does well with the C Flows, especially on voices and strings, but overall, for the music I listen to, the Jot is a better fit. 

 

[AverageGuyNC]

See my sig for full gear lineup. I listen mainly to modern jazz, world, select classical. What I like about Jot + C Flow is the clarity, fast attack, controlled decay across the frequency range, no excessive emphasis anywhere . Jazz bass, percussion (especially cymbals), guitar show this combo especially well. I also own a Cavalli Liquid Carbon, which does well with the C Flows, especially on voices and strings, but overall, for the music I listen to, the Jot is a better fit. 

How good of a fit is Jot for new top 40 stuff? Rap, rock, pop, dance-electronic? What's a good amp for that?

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Jot would be fine if you're using LCD3 or hd650. If you wanna use an hd800, I'd go for vali, Valhalla, or mjolnir.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Why not the hd800 with jot? Is the Jot a bright tilted amp?

 

[AverageGuyNC]

Jot would be fine if you're using LCD3 or hd650. If you wanna use an hd800, I'd go for vali, Valhalla, or mjolnir.

Right now I have he400i and th900 (with balanced cable) and o2/odac. Ordered a Jot and it's about 100 miles from me now (tracking) but I can't get it. Estimated delivery is Thursday! (4 days).

 

[MikeW]

Why not the hd800 with jot? Is the Jot a bright tilted amp?

 
More like the HD800 is a bright headphone and the JOT does nothing to amend it. Nothing you can't fix with Good EQ if your determined to use them together though ~ some headphones and amps just don't go great together, but once you reach a high level of performance, they can be EQ'ed quite effectively. This is true for the entire high end spectrum of gear. People spending so much money/time/effort to synergize  their gear, seriously need to read the headfi thread on how to eq your headphones.
 
Your in for a treat AverageGuyNC, I came from the O2/Dac combo and have been quite happy with the JOT. The 02's no joke, but I prefer the musicality of this combo, I mostly upgraded for practicality reasons, my O2 was the original version and those wire's going all over the place were un-managable, I also needed a pre-amp for my JBL LSR305's, and this combo is excellent as a one box solution, robust volume control, excellent pre-amp, balanced cables to my JBL's is nice too.. The audio improvements were just icing on the cake.

 

[lentoviolento]

More like the HD800 is a bright headphone and the JOT does nothing to amend it. Nothing you can't fix with Good EQ if your determined to use them together though ~ some headphones and amps just don't go great together, but once you reach a high level of performance, they can be EQ'ed quite effectively. This is true for the entire high end spectrum of gear. People spending so much money/time/effort to synergize  their gear, seriously need to read the headfi thread on how to eq your headphones.

What's best for my lcd2 in your opinion? Lyr2 with LISST or jot with balanced cable? Thx

 

[MikeW]

I've not heard the LYR2, or the LCD2, im not really qualified to offer a serious opinion. However, Jotunheim's been compared favorably to that combo (ie better) by other's in this thread.