[cmabooty]

Do you think a good 50-100$ USB cable will affect the sound quality of the comp->Joti chain? I know its a digital signal, but its all about good isolation of the wire, right? Computer is a hell of a noise source, so is it worth to spend money on good usb cable with 2-3 iso layers to "maximize" Joti's SQ potential? 

All a good cable will do is make sure all that noise makes it to your DAC.

Shielded cables keep out *outside* noise. If there's noise coming across the wire...

 

[acguitar84]

The combo of the Jortunheim and the mimby on my downstairs system is frying my brain! Heck, the Concero HD sounded really good through the Jortunheim too.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Do you think a good 50-100$ USB cable will affect the sound quality of the comp->Joti chain? I know its a digital signal, but its all about good isolation of the wire, right? Computer is a hell of a noise source, so is it worth to spend money on good usb cable with 2-3 iso layers to "maximize" Joti's SQ potential? 

I bought a used LH labs 1G USB cable and it sounded much better than the stock one I was using (until I ditched USB entirely for SPDIF). But YMMV, it depends on which cable...experiment and come to your own conclusions.

 

[Allanmarcus]

If enough of us want a coax card (and I do), they'll make one. So let's make some noise!

The problem with using a DAP's line out is (I believe) you lose balanced.

You are confusing headphone balanced out with balanced interconnects. Two different things. Also, fully balanced internals in an amp and a DAC and balanced line level outputs are necessarily the same. A device can have line level balanced out and not be fully balanced. A device can have balanced headphone out and not be balanced.

I wouldn't worry too much about balanced between the DAC and amp too much. A fully balanced DAC could easily have RCA interconnects and sound wonderful.

 

[XERO1]

I wouldn't worry too much about balanced between the DAC and amp too much. A fully balanced DAC could easily have RCA interconnects and sound wonderful.

 
It's true.   99% of the benefits of a balanced headphone amp come from the amp itself being a balanced design.
 
And if your DAC has a design that doesn't overtly favor either the SE or the balanced outputs (some do), there should be very little (if any) difference between the sound quality of the DAC's SE and XLR outputs (other than the extra 6dB of gain the XLR's usually give you).

 

[nerone]

  The combo of the Jortunheim and the mimby on my downstairs system is frying my brain! Heck, the Concero HD sounded really good through the Jortunheim too.

 
I have a Concero HD that I'm currently using with the Vali 2, does this mean I must buy a Jodie?
 
(please, say no...please, say no...)

 

[acguitar84]

   
I have a Concero HD that I'm currently using with the Vali 2, does this mean I must buy a Jodie?
 
(please, say no...please, say no...)

Ok, i have to make a disclaimer here, I've been drinking lots of beer 

 
That said, I've never heard either DAC, the Mimby or the Concero HD sound this good, as they have plugged into the Jotunheim. I'm having a lot of fun!! If there's anything I find as a weakness, it's the upper mid bass maybe? I'm not sure. I'm a good musician and I transcribe music a lot, but I have to admit, as an audiophile, I'm a grasshopper, lol. Kind of new to this hobby. Anyway, that said, I'm not sure what you're using as an amp right now, but I'm really enamored with the Jotunheim. It really seems to be powerful, brings music out there!  I'm an older dude now, and in my generation, car stereos were important. I remember having some 6 by 9's and had a cassette/radio combo in my car. Then, I bought a high powered Equalizer power amp, and the difference was amazing, I loved the power behind the music driving it. IMO, that's what the Jotunheim is doing. All it needs is crazy lights on either side as it jams out the music so to speak.
 
Right now, listening to King's X. Great stuff!  I plugged in the Concero HD, but went back to the Mimby. I have to admit I really love the multibit tech schiit is doing. But, the Concero HD is a nice piece of gear too. Gosh, it seems like having power in an amp really helps out any DAC really.
 
Also..I'm listening through speakers tonight! Not Headphones.

 

[XERO1]

  I remember having some 6 by 9's and had a cassette/radio combo in my car. Then, I bought a high powered Equalizer power amp, and the difference was amazing, I loved the power behind the music driving it. IMO, that's what the Jotunheim is doing.
 

 
I had a similar experience when the stock deck in my Civic died and I replaced it with an upper-end Eclipse deck. It was a literal night-and-day improvement that I honestly didn't expect.  It was like someone had magically replaced all of the speakers in my car with much better drivers.  If I had known what an improvement that deck would have made over the stock one, I would have replaced it the same day I bought the car!

 

[acguitar84]

damn, some great memories! I can still see myself driving down the highway, listening to "ah leah" by Donnie Iris, just cranking, lights on each side of the new amp/EQ pegging out, everything sounding great. Great memories!

 

[rwelles]

  @jude - can you PLEASE post some notes comparing the Jot + DAC module to the Grace m9xx?
Both cost $500. I intend to buy one and use a PC as source. SE only. Powered speakers through the RCA pre-amp outputs, and various headphones (HE400i, HD600, AT m50x, Audeze Sine) which are all SE.  No IEMs at all.
Mostly to be used with Rock and Alternative music, as well as movie watching (on PC).
 
Having listed above my setup and use scenarios - should I opt for the m9xx or Joty with DAC?
 
Thanks in advance!!

First off, I ain't no @jude so he cares to chime in, I humbly step aside. 

 
 
I've just moved from the m9XX to the Jodie. imo (very humbly!!), the DAC is at least as good as the Grace. But the amp section is much, much better! I'd vote that you get the Jodie and upgrade the DAC as your wallet (and ears) allow. hope that helps.

 

[scottcocoabeach]

  HEy everyone, any background hiss with IEMs or sensetive cans with jotunheim?

I had a chance to test this a little further tonight. I hooked up my Gumby to the balanced and singled ended connections and also connected the internal DAC so I could listen to all the inputs at the same time. My 64 Audio U3's seem to pick up quite a bit of noise on some of my other AMPs. With the Jotenheim I don't hear any noise with the volume all the way down or when listening to music. I paused the music and then turned the volume up and was able to hear some noise around 11am on the dial. Since that would blow my ears out with music playing, I would say that noise with IEM's (at least the 2 I have tested) is not an issue. I think this is a very good AMP for sensitive IEM's. With my 64 Audio U6's I didn't get noise (again with MUSIC PAUSED) until around 12 on the dial. Right now I am listening to them around 8 on the dial to give you an idea of how far I am on the dial from getting anything near close to where I would start to hear amp noise.
 
I would caution anyone to be very careful when checking this as you could risk serious damage to your hearing and IEM'/ headphones ever turning the dial up this high, please note again my source was paused. Even with my HD800's it's amazing how little I have to spin the volume dial.
 
I will also mention that I had just purchased the Magni 2 Uber ,just before the announcement and although I didn't have noise with my IEM's it wasn't a fit do to channel imbalance at the listening levels I wanted and turning it up enough to get rid of the balance issues would have made it way too loud. I don't have that issue with the Jodie.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 

I have a Concero HD that I'm currently using with the Vali 2, does this mean I must buy a Jodie?

 
(please, say no...please, say no...)

Ok, i have to make a disclaimer here, I've been drinking lots of beer  .

Maybe the next Schiit item should be the Schiit Sahti

 

[cskippy]

  I had a chance to test this a little further tonight. I hooked up my Gumby to the balanced and singled ended connections and also connected the internal DAC so I could listen to all the inputs at the same time. My 64 Audio U3's seem to pick up quite a bit of noise on some of my other AMPs. With the Jotenheim I don't hear any noise with the volume all the way down or when listening to music. I paused the music and then turned the volume up and was able to hear some noise around 11am on the dial. Since that would blow my ears out with music playing, I would say that noise with IEM's (at least the 2 I have tested) is not an issue. I think this is a very good AMP for sensitive IEM's. With my 64 Audio U6's I didn't get noise (again with MUSIC PAUSED) until around 12 on the dial. Right now I am listening to them around 8 on the dial to give you an idea of how far I am on the dial from getting anything near close to where I would start to hear amp noise.
 
I would caution anyone to be very careful when checking this as you could risk serious damage to your hearing and IEM'/ headphones ever turning the dial up this high, please note again my source was paused. Even with my HD800's it's amazing how little I have to spin the volume dial.
 
I will also mention that I had just purchased the Magni 2 Uber ,just before the announcement and although I didn't have noise with my IEM's it wasn't a fit do to channel imbalance at the listening levels I wanted and turning it up enough to get rid of the balance issues would have made it way too loud. I don't have that issue with the Jodie.

This is what I wanted to hear.  I have a Jodie coming in and use 64 Audio U8 and have been using the UE line buffer as every amp I've tried ( Carbon, 10ES2, Ember) all give varying degrees of amp noise.  

 

[scottcocoabeach]

I just wanted to mention that I wouldn't get too stressed out about Schiit not having a relatively low cost Multibit _Balanced_ DAC (although I consider the Gumby a massive bargain!). The Gumby single ended in sounds significantly better than the built in DAC which is fully balanced. I would expect any of the Multibit DAC's connected single ended to outperform the DAC add-on option (although I have only personally listened to the Gumby so far). I'm sure others will compare the Bimby and Mimby to the add-on DAC option listening balanced.
 
I will say the Gumby Balanced in is an improvement over SE although the volume difference can make it a little hard to judge, as I have to spin the dial a bit when switching and using an SPL in between would take too long between comparisons. I definitely hear an improvement with balanced in from the Gumby versus singled ended in, which I would expect, and should be the case.
 
So Gumby Balanced In > Gumby SE In (and I suspect other Multibit Schiit DACs) > JOT DAC option Balanced In
 
It's really not all about SE or Balanced connections, the quality of the DAC itself will be a big factor in what reaches your ears.
 
Comparisons were done using HD800 Balanced with Super Dupont mod and  Norne Audio Draug 2 cable.
 
*All that being said I consider the JOT DAC option a bargain for the money in _very early_ listening impressions. For those on a budget it's a great option until you can save up to move to a Multibit DAC.

 

[nerone]

  Ok, i have to make a disclaimer here, I've been drinking lots of beer 

 
That said, I've never heard either DAC, the Mimby or the Concero HD sound this good, as they have plugged into the Jotunheim. I'm having a lot of fun!! If there's anything I find as a weakness, it's the upper mid bass maybe? I'm not sure. I'm a good musician and I transcribe music a lot, but I have to admit, as an audiophile, I'm a grasshopper, lol. Kind of new to this hobby. Anyway, that said, I'm not sure what you're using as an amp right now, but I'm really enamored with the Jotunheim. It really seems to be powerful, brings music out there!  I'm an older dude now, and in my generation, car stereos were important. I remember having some 6 by 9's and had a cassette/radio combo in my car. Then, I bought a high powered Equalizer power amp, and the difference was amazing, I loved the power behind the music driving it. IMO, that's what the Jotunheim is doing. All it needs is crazy lights on either side as it jams out the music so to speak.
 
Right now, listening to King's X. Great stuff!  I plugged in the Concero HD, but went back to the Mimby. I have to admit I really love the multibit tech schiit is doing. But, the Concero HD is a nice piece of gear too. Gosh, it seems like having power in an amp really helps out any DAC really.
 
Also..I'm listening through speakers tonight! Not Headphones.

Oh, that's not good at all...my wallet is not happy right now.
 
The Concero I use at work, at home I have a Mytek 192-DSD, which to me is even better than the Concero, and what you said makes me think even more about getting a Jodie.
At home I use the Mytek connected to a Musical Fidelity M1HPAp, that also serves as a preamp for my Musical Fidelity M6i, which I also use to drive headphones (some resistors needed, but works). And the M6i is even better than the M1HPAp.
 
Regarding listening to speakers, did you have any problems with it? I remember reading that someone had some clicks or pops while using it as a preamp, if I recall correctly the balanced outputs were being used and the problems occurred while changing sources. But I'm also curious about turn on thump while using speakers, as I had similar problems with the Vali 2 and Valhalla 2.
 
I also like a lot to hear music while driving, sometimes I just went driving with no other purpose than listen to music. This was helped by the fact that I had a great Pioneer-Xtant-Morel setup at the car...Too bat it doesn't fit the new car anymore.