[MikeW]

I owned the UpTone USB Regen when my Jot with DAC first arrived. The Regen worked wonders with my previous DAC but I couldn't confidently say it did the same for the Jot's DAC. I figured the Jot's DAC was the limiting factor.

I do however, notice a difference between feeding the Jot from my Macbook's USB or from my iPad mini 2 via CCK USB cable. iPad as source is noticeably smoother. My Macbook's USB is a tad gritty and slightly fatiguing in comparison.

I leave my Jot powered on too. It certainly sounds better than when listening to it after no warm up but it also seems more effortless even compared to when its clocked a few hours warm up.

 
That's interesting, as the Recovery and Regen are very similar devices, performance should be similar. I must have a specific issue with my setup, related to power or motherboard that is specifically addressed by Recovery.

 

[RiflemanFirst]

So I'm currently using my HD598 SEs and HD650s on a Mimby/Vali 2 stack and really like the sound. What differences/improvements can I expect if I were to replace the Vali 2 with the Jotunheim and get a balanced cable for the HD650s?

 

[earnmyturns]

   
I noticed you have a career in comp sci, so I'm sure you're familiar with troubleshooting; it's a skill I've excelled at in my own long career in the field.
 
I've repeatedly been trying to troubleshoot this problem, adjusting many different variables to try eliminating the issue, and the one consistent factor is the Schiit's USB Gen 2 interface on both the Jot & Bimby.  Changing any other variable doesn't fix the problem, but if I switch to another USB DAC (four others that I have on hand, and others in the past) the problem doesn't occur.  So granted, the root cause may very well be a combination of factors, part of which could be something unique in my setup (which is pretty darn vanilla, being an iMac), but there's no denying that Schiit's USB implementation is a factor.

Having just ended many frustrating hours of trying to figure out why Roon on my Macbook kept failing to connect to my Roon Core Linux server, to discover after much messing around with routers, switches, Preferences and Library folder contents, logs, and long exchanges with Roon devs, that the problem was that this Mac -- just this Mac among the several I have at home -- had "decided" to block incoming IP requests to Roon in its firewall -- which I had never done explicitly -- I'm now more than familiar -- if I wasn't already -- with the way each Mac behaves as a unique precious child with its peculiar foibles 

 But yes, the Schiit USB 2 audio implementation seems a bit touchier than others I've used. I just feed it from nice Linux boxes, I'm careful with powering down around cable exchanges, and all has been well (so far).

 

[dr cornelius]

  My problem with the Jot's USB input is I get intermittent pops that I haven't been able to eliminate despite various troubleshooting - and this is with an iMac, with which I don't have a problem with other DACs.  I thought the problem would go away when I upgraded to a Bimby, but it has the same problem (and they both share the same USB implementation).

I noticed that with mine - I have a 2 year old MacBook Pro my and my fix was simply toggling between the internal speaker and the Schiit USB settings in System Prefs... 

 

[piokuro]

 
I am using the HD650 with a stock cable I re-terminated in 4-pin XLR. It is a fantastic pairing and I wrote several impressions of the combo in this thread. You can buy a Neutrik 4-pin XLR male for $8-$10 and an extra stock 650 cable for $20-$25, use some soldering skills and you're good to go. The HD650 cables the red is right+ and green is left+, copper is negative. To solder the HD650 cables you have to get the wire pretty hot (but not too hot or you will burn up the copper) to melt off the laquer on the wires. You will know its melted off when the solder on the tip of your iron absorbs into the wire. Here is the image I used to solder my XLR on and it worked out great. You dont use the shield ground for the headphone cables.
 

 



I agree, the 650/6xx sound much better balanced with the jot. And yeah the stock cable is annoying to mod to xlr, definitely requires a little more patience.

Thanks for the pinout info, it was definitely helpful on my cable

 

[CarlosUnchained]

   
Just a thought, you may be able to acquire the LCD-X on the Head-Fi forum for around $700-1000.  The X, as well as the LCD-2, benefit from a brighter amplifier that's got power, like the Jot.
Good luck with the search!
 
Cheers,
RCB
 
ps. Matt has so much experience and good advice...a trusted source for me over the years!  

 
 
IMHO I found more pleasing the LCD-X out of the Lyr 2 than the Jot. Once I tried high power tube amps on them it's hard to come back with solid state.

 

[Letmebefrank]

 
I am using the HD650 with a stock cable I re-terminated in 4-pin XLR. It is a fantastic pairing and I wrote several impressions of the combo in this thread. You can buy a Neutrik 4-pin XLR male for $8-$10 and an extra stock 650 cable for $20-$25, use some soldering skills and you're good to go. The HD650 cables the red is right+ and green is left+, copper is negative. To solder the HD650 cables you have to get the wire pretty hot (but not too hot or you will burn up the copper) to melt off the laquer on the wires. You will know its melted off when the solder on the tip of your iron absorbs into the wire. Here is the image I used to solder my XLR on and it worked out great. You dont use the shield ground for the headphone cables.
 

 



I agree, the 650/6xx sound much better balanced with the jot. And yeah the stock cable is annoying to mod to xlr, definitely requires a little more patience.

Thanks for the pinout info, it was definitely helpful on my cable

Awesome, glad I could help.

 

[soundman414]

Loving my work setup. It goes together with my iMac so well.

 

[Soundofmusic]

It's not the Jot that's too bright, it's the headphone. The Jot isn't rolled off at either end of the spectrum, nor does it colour the mids with "warmth" not present in the recording.

After spending a few days with the HD650 and Valhalla 2, finding that combo fatiguing as well and realizing the Valhalla is unsuited for my lower impedance X2, I couldn't resist the urge to go back and pick up the last Jotunheim in stock in my country.

I then had the chance to try the Jotunheim out with HE-500 and of course my own X2's, and I must say you are spot on with the statement that the Jotunheim is neutral. It sounds great to me with all but the HD650, which I have come to conclude have a sound signature my ears can't get on board with.

In the HD650 thread there are reports of driver changes and production variances within the same driver versions that make some of them fatiguing, I guess there's a possibility I may have a bad one.

Anyway, I retract my earlier comment about the Jot being too bright, it's the headphones.

I'll be keeping my Jotunheim and X2, selling my Valhalla 2 and HD650, and maybe look about for a used set of LCD2-F or something similar.

 

[EtRec]

Has anyone tried the Audioquest NightOwl or NightHawk Carbon with the Jot with internal DAC ?  Thinking of finally getting a end all headphone for myself. Been using the Sen HD650. I like Jazz and classical. Looking for a very comfortable headphone that does not color the music. Love separation. Not a Bass head. Thanks for any input, $700 is a lot of money for me and I don't plan on getting another headphone after this one.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

After spending a few days with the HD650 and Valhalla 2, finding that combo fatiguing as well and realizing the Valhalla is unsuited for my lower impedance X2, I couldn't resist the urge to go back and pick up the last Jotunheim in stock in my country.

I then had the chance to try the Jotunheim out with HE-500 and of course my own X2's, and I must say you are spot on with the statement that the Jotunheim is neutral. It sounds great to me with all but the HD650, which I have come to conclude have a sound signature my ears can't get on board with.

In the HD650 thread there are reports of driver changes and production variances within the same driver versions that make some of them fatiguing, I guess there's a possibility I may have a bad one.

Anyway, I retract my earlier comment about the Jot being too bright, it's the headphones.

I'll be keeping my Jotunheim and X2, selling my Valhalla 2 and HD650, and maybe look about for a used set of LCD2-F or something similar.

Hd650? Fatiguing? By my ears, It's one of the most euphonic, almost suffocatingly syrupy headphones ever made.

 

[GearMe]

Hd650? Fatiguing? By my ears, It's one of the most euphonic, almost suffocatingly syrupy headphones ever made.

Just goes to show how we all hear differently...really like it with my Vahalla 2

 

[alpovs]

Hd650? Fatiguing? By my ears, It's one of the most euphonic, almost suffocatingly syrupy headphones ever made.

If you read his post carefully his HD650 may be a bad one.

 

[MattTCG]

  Has anyone tried the Audioquest NightOwl or NightHawk Carbon with the Jot with internal DAC ?  Thinking of finally getting a end all headphone for myself. Been using the Sen HD650. I like Jazz and classical. Looking for a very comfortable headphone that does not color the music. Love separation. Not a Bass head. Thanks for any input, $700 is a lot of money for me and I don't plan on getting another headphone after this one.

 
First of all, the Jot makes an excellent companion for the NH (and for the 650 for that matter). The "synergy" between the headphone and amp is simply exceptional. I also listen to jazz and classical and often use the NH to listen to this type of music. 
 
With this being said, I don't think that it's fair to say that the NH is "uncolored" as you say you're looking for. IMO it certainly has an added level of warmth but so does the hd650. For me, the NH is a fair bit better with classical which I wasn't expecting. BUT, my go to headphone for classical is still the hd800 with a little gentle EQ. The Jot with DAC is near perfect with the NH even outperforming AQ's own DFR in terms of synergy to my ears. 
 
I enjoy the NH and it's in regular rotation for me. My advice is to find an original wood version at half the price (or less) than current NH Carbon. 
 
Good luck! 

 

[DavidA]

   
First of all, the Jot makes an excellent companion for the NH (and for the 650 for that matter). The "synergy" between the headphone and amp is simply exceptional. I also listen to jazz and classical and often use the NH to listen to this type of music. 
 
With this being said, I don't think that it's fair to say that the NH is "uncolored" as you say you're looking for. IMO it certainly has an added level of warmth but so does the hd650. For me, the NH is a fair bit better with classical which I wasn't expecting. BUT, my go to headphone for classical is still the hd800 with a little gentle EQ. The Jot with DAC is near perfect with the NH even outperforming AQ's own DFR in terms of synergy to my ears. 
 
I enjoy the NH and it's in regular rotation for me. My advice is to find an original wood version at half the price (or less) than current NH Carbon. 
 
Good luck! 

​do you use the Jot with your HD800?  for me it was not good at all.