[ToTo Man]

What happened to USB Gen 4?

 

[CarlosUnchained]

What happened to USB Gen 4?

The gen 5 was too good to be named gen 4, apparently.

 

[showme99]

What happened to USB Gen 4?

https://www.head-fi.org/p/1121/schiit-happened-skipping-a-generation

 

[EricDH]

Hello,
I'm a satisfied owner of the Jot with internal DAC ( I tried the Bitfrost Multibit and sent it back) . Using my Audioquest Nightowl Carbon headphones through a 4pin XLR balanced cable (and the Jot as pre-amp to my Audioengine N22 AMP). Love the combo. I'm very curious to hear what tubes would sound like in the setup. Is there a reasonably priced way to introduce tubes to the mix? Thanks

I am looking at buying a Jotunheim with DAC module. Your post made me curious.....how can that internal DAC be better than a Bifrost multibit?

 

[Ninadada]

Thanks for your reply. I recently acquired a Jot+DAC and the JDS Labs Element. When I first heard the Element, I had it a whole week longer than the Jot, I immediately fell in love with how it sounded. My 48ohm Shure SRH-840 sounded full-throated and confident. I don't know how else to articulate that sound quality. It was not louder, it was fuller. And the soundstage was great.

Then I learned about the Jot. I was so impressed with the specs and Schiit seemed a favorite in the forum so I took a chance with the Jot+DAC. When it arrived, it was shrill. I could not stand it. My friend suggested burning it in. So I did. At high gain, I plugged in the SRH840. Turned the Jot knob to 3 o'clock or approximately 75% and played pink noise overnight. when I awoke, the sound was much better. But, it remains much brighter than the Element. The 3D imaging of sound also remains inferior to that of the Element. I have run the pink noise only for one night. I will run the pink noise exercise again for a total of five nights and then see whether the Jot improves further.

To diagnose, I isolated the Jot amp from its onboard DAC by using the Element as the source. Sure enough, the Element sound signature shined through which convinced me that the brightness was due to the Jot's onboard DAC. I tried to do the reverse; I made the Jot be the source for the Element. I had a little trouble at first until I figured out that the Jot controls the volume of the pre out RCA jacks. To get a listenable volume, I had to turn the Jot knob to 12 o'clock and the Element knob to around 6:30 or bearing 190 degrees. This is the position where the Element's volume becomes equal on both sides. The sound was definitely brighter even at lower volumes.

Here's the problem: I want to like the Jot+DAC. I don't want to return it, but it's hell bent on convincing me otherwise. The amp portion is actually fantastic, but the onboard DAC is hear-damagingly bright, flattens a 3D image, and it simply feels like I am playing really loud music inside a cramped cardboard box; it feels so claustrophobic. It squeezes dynamic range so everything is fast and whispers are essentially normal voices and the loud parts of songs seem to lose their expressive characteristics. While all details are there, they do not necessarily grab attention anymore. In Michael Jackson's Billy Jean, the intro has maracas. With the SRH-840 plugged into my MacBook Pro directly, they grab your attention. There is more to that intro that becomes unnoticeable despite them still being heard from within the Jot+DAC. But when I plug in the SRH-840 to the Element, then the experience is so much more pleasureable and visceral.

I am a pianist. My piano is placed unfortunately at a corner in my house where the acoustics are such that if I hit the keys strong enough, the octaves above middle C, the sound seems to float only in that corner and jumble up and I hear a slow moving wah wah wah. My Jot+DAC exhibits this in the SRH-840. In short, aside from the sibilance, the higher frequencies seem to lose control.

Unfortunately, I had to travel only after a week of receiving the Jot. This is why I was able to do the pink noise exercise only for one night. And what's worse is when I get back, I will be past the 15 days where Schiit will accept my return.

So, I may end up having to sell the Jot+DAC at a loss. I'm a little disheartened. In any case, I too was thinking of purchasing the Bifrost Multibit to replace the onboard DAC. Although, I am torn because then it defeats the purpose of the all-in-one chassis which was one of the selling points of the Jot. I wonder if despite being past their return policy if they will still let me return at least the onboard DAC and replace it with a purchase of a Bifrost Multibit.

Thanks to your thoughtful post, I think there is a Bifrost Multibit in my future.

Seeing that you live in Los Angeles, you may consider visiting their retail store. Take your headphones with you and ask to demo a Jot+Bimby combo.
The Schiitr
22508 Market Street
Newhall, CA 91321
Open Thursday thru Sunday, 10AM-6PM.*

 

[Peter Ong]

I haven't heard the unpleasant shrill sound you describe. Either you have a defective DAC or the USB from your laptop has a lot of electrical noise. The Jot DAC card is like the base Modi 2 and is powered by the USB (not by the Jot internal power supply), and it is susceptible to being affected by electrical noise on the USB. You should try the Jot on a different computer. If the results are the same it might be a defective card.

Hello rkw,

I ordered a 1/8" to RCA cable. When I return from my travels, I will bypass the onboard DAC of the Jot+DAC and use the DAC in my MacBook Pro through the headphone jack as a test. Although I am convinced the issue is truly the Jot's onboard DAC because, as I had mentioned in a previous post, I had isolated the Jot amp before by using the Element's DAC and that was connected via USB and that resulted in terrific sound quality. But I want to hear anyway the output of the MacBook Pro's headphone jack. I should also add that the headphone jack and DAC of MacBook Pros are excellent albeit short on power to properly drive the 48ohm Shure SRH-840.

Peter

 

[Peter Ong]

Seeing that you live in Los Angeles, you may consider visiting their retail store. Take your headphones with you and ask to demo a Jot+Bimby combo.
The Schiitr
22508 Market Street
Newhall, CA 91321
Open Thursday thru Sunday, 10AM-6PM.*

Thank you. Great advice. I have been planning to do this.

 

[rkw]

Seeing that you live in Los Angeles, you may consider visiting their retail store. Take your headphones with you and ask to demo a Jot+Bimby combo.
The Schiitr
22508 Market Street
Newhall, CA 91321
Open Thursday thru Sunday, 10AM-6PM.*

Thank you. Great advice. I have been planning to do this.

You'll be able to check it out completely if you bring not only your headphones, but also your Jot-DAC and laptop. I presume they have a demo Jot-DAC there. You could compare it with yours, using your laptop in the exactly the setup that gives you bad sound. If you can reproduce the problem there (and it doesn't happen with their demo unit), I'd imagine that they'd let you exchange it for a replacement on the spot.

 

[tuna47]

I have the onboard dac I find it harsh for my taste
I use my mojo as a dac much better

 

[joeexp]

I have the onboard dac I find it harsh for my taste
I use my mojo as a dac much better

Yep Chord Mojo $599; Jotunheim DAC: $150 -- What a surprise!

 

[alpovs]

Yep Chord Mojo $599; Jotunheim DAC: $150 -- What a surprise!

Jotunheim DAC is actually $100 (self-install board or when ordering a new combo).

 

[maxh22]

Yep Chord Mojo $599; Jotunheim DAC: $150 -- What a surprise!

Brand new Mojo is $498

 

[joeexp]

So the Mojo is only 5 times more expensive then?

 

[FredQc]

Hello, Jot community!

I am really enjoying my Jot+DAC since April and now I found it sounds even better with JRiver 23 compared to foobar2000. I was using foobar2000 with WASAPI drivers and I was hearing "clicks" when playing music in EVENT mode. PUSH mode did not have the clicks but sounded worst. Anyway, resolved now with JRiver. So, I am rediscovering my music library again

One question, since I have the +DAC, does it matters to leave it on 24/7 like the other expensive DACs ?

 

[Oklahoma]

Not as much. With the multibit dacs it is due to the fact that the chips themselves need to stay at a constant operating temperature to function properly.