[mmmadog]

I did have a Valhalla 1 with hd650 that I liked and wish I still had other than dealing with tubes. Also I'm using Beyerdynamic T1.2 balanced right now.

 

[Atgm1]

guys, what is the power of this amplifier for speakers?

 

[rkw]

Just got a used Jot with balanced dac and for the price this is a really good deal but I guess I'm not a fan of the Schiit house sound.

I did have a Valhalla 1 with hd650 that I liked and wish I still had other than dealing with tubes.

The Jot has a clear, neutral sound that some find to be clinical. You probably prefer warmer sounding amplifiers.

guys, what is the power of this amplifier for speakers?

Jotunheim is for headphones and has insufficient power to drive speakers. You can use it as a preamp for a separate power amplifier. Look at the product info on the Schiit website: https://schiit.com/products/jotunheim

 

[mmmadog]

Not so much about being warmer which I do like it's about being more open and airy sounding. The Jot is very bright like some have posted and doesn't have the best midrange to me or bass. Maybe the Jot is best with a better Schiit dac. The Audio GD C2 I had was not the best until I got the Dac-19. Things really opened up. This is a great all in one for most people I just like a more lively sound while listening to music.

 

[alpovs]

The Jot is not really bright. It's neutral. Thus the DAC is very important, the Jot simply amplifies what's fed from the DAC. It's very good with Schiit's multibit DACs. The DAC-19 is also multibit. Have you tried it with the Jot?

 

[ToTo Man]

The Jot is not really bright. It's neutral. Thus the DAC is very important, the Jot simply amplifies what's fed from the DAC. It's very good with Schiit's multibit DACs. The DAC-19 is also multibit. Have you tried it with the Jot?

If Jot is considered to have a neutral tuning, what h/p amps are considered to be brighter than Jot? I don't have experience with lots of h/p amps but Jot's probably the brightest amp I've tried, though Mjolnir 2 can come a very close second with certain tubes. The Chord Hugo TT 2 sounds a touch warmer to my ears but is still very fast and clean and provides excellent resolution. The Arcam irDAC-II sounds very evenly balanced but lacks the resolution of the TT 2. The Audio-Technica AT-HA5050 has a hint of sweetness in the upper mids and lower treble that makes for a slightly more relaxed listening experience.

The differences between these h/p amps aren't massive, certainly not anywhere near the tonal differences you hear in different headphones, and none of the above mentioned amps change the fundamental characteristics of any of the headphones I've paired with them. e.g. I could still reliably identify each of my headphones in a blind test regardless of which amp I pair it with. I do however notice that 'treble-happy' headphones like the DT880, HD800S and ATH-ADX5000 sound more tolerable / less etched through amps like the irDAC-II, TT 2 and AT-HA5050H than through the Jot and Mjolnir 2.

I'd like to find reliable examples of a 'neutral', 'warm' and 'bright' h/p amps. Different listeners have different sliding scales, so one person's 'neutral' might be 'bright' to someone else, which makes it very difficult when trying to select an amplifier based on other listeners' opinion of how its tuned.

I could be wrong, but it seems that listeners use the terms 'neutral' and 'warm' a lot more than they use 'bright'. Does this mean there aren't as many 'bright' h/p amps on the market, or are some people mistaking 'bright' as 'neutral'?

 

[sup27606]

I have tried Jot from several low-midrange DACs (<$100 HifimeDIY 9018, ~$250 Modi multibit, Chord Mojo, built-in DAC of ponoplayer), Jot doesn’t appear to me as more bright than my other amps, even through a HD800. To me, it appears to be transparent, warmer through Mojo, a bit sparkly through the 9018 DAC. Likewise, it have also tested it through a variety of headphones, Sen 6XX, 800, Audeze Sine, EL-8, iems like Andromeda. Each time, Jot revealed more of their personal characteristics, mid bass of 6xx, sparkling highs and resonance peak in hd800 (it doesn’t sound overly bright through the 800, quite acceptable). The jot never felt like it synnergizes any better with warmer or brighter headphones. Such characteristics, I would say are pointing towards a neutral character.

The jot also has excellent bass texture and extension, compared to my other tube amp, La Figaro 339. It is also the only amp among my other amps desktop and portable, that runs the andromeda’s without hiss or congested soundstage or lean bass, without needing to use dongles like iematch.

The jot doesn’t improve the soundstage significantly. If soundstage or imaging cues were present in the signal, it would deliver them, but not with significant improvements, like some other higher end amps are known to achieve, but that’s a different aspect from what we are discussing here.

Before buying Jot from another headfier, I always read that Schiit amps are ‘steely’ and brighter, but when I heard Jot, it did not match those impressions. I think, Schiit designed it quite well, and managed to keep the price low.

Now, here are my personal hunches. Keeping it on 24/7, as many users do, may make it smoother and slightly warm, but I haven’t verified it myself. The other thing, when I compare the SE vs the balanced input with headphones such as 6xx and HD800, the balanced seem to have slightly fuller bass, at similar volume. The fuller bass may mitigate the highs, giving it a less bright character, but I am not sure of it. I use Jot mostly through the balanced output, except when using andromeda’s.

 

[alpovs]

I have tried Jot from several low-midrange DACs (<$100 HifimeDIY 9018, ~$250 Modi multibit, Chord Mojo, built-in DAC of ponoplayer), Jot doesn’t appear to me as more bright than my other amps, even through a HD800. To me, it appears to be transparent, warmer through Mojo, a bit sparkly through the 9018 DAC. Likewise, it have also tested it through a variety of headphones, Sen 6XX, 800, Audeze Sine, EL-8, iems like Andromeda. Each time, Jot revealed more of their personal characteristics, mid bass of 6xx, sparkling highs and resonance peak in hd800 (it doesn’t sound overly bright through the 800, quite acceptable). The jot never felt like it synnergizes any better with warmer or brighter headphones. Such characteristics, I would say are pointing towards a neutral character.

The jot also has excellent bass texture and extension, compared to my other tube amp, La Figaro 339. It is also the only amp among my other amps desktop and portable, that runs the andromeda’s without hiss or congested soundstage or lean bass, without needing to use dongles like iematch.

The jot doesn’t improve the soundstage significantly. If soundstage or imaging cues were present in the signal, it would deliver them, but not with significant improvements, like some other higher end amps are known to achieve, but that’s a different aspect from what we are discussing here.

Before buying Jot from another headfier, I always read that Schiit amps are ‘steely’ and brighter, but when I heard Jot, it did not match those impressions. I think, Schiit designed it quite well, and managed to keep the price low.

I could not agree more with your description.

 

[alpovs]

If Jot is considered to have a neutral tuning, what h/p amps are considered to be brighter than Jot?

I don't know about that. But the Jot sounds very similar to the THX AAA 789, and there is a measurement of the 789 on one website that states "Frequency response is essentially ruler flat to 40 kHz". These amps essentially amplify what they get from the DAC. And I find most delta-sigma DACs bright unlike multibit DACs.

 

[G0rt]

I could not agree more with your description.

I really enjoy my (2019) Jot with HD660S and my Beyers, from Gungnir MB. I've heard that the most recent Jotunheim is tuned warmer than OG, but I have no direct experience.

 

[mmmadog]

I wonder if there are certain frequencies that some people are more sensitive than others because with the Jot and the Dac-19 I find my self lowering the volume on most music because the highs are killing me. I even swapped rca cables from Kimber Kable to some cheapies and it seemed to tame it some. I have found with the DT880 600 ohm and the T1 they like to be turned up a bit to sound there best and I'm not able to get there. Again for your average set of headphones the Jot for the price is a good deal.

 

[aisalen]

I wonder if there are certain frequencies that some people are more sensitive than others because with the Jot and the Dac-19 I find my self lowering the volume on most music because the highs are killing me. I even swapped rca cables from Kimber Kable to some cheapies and it seemed to tame it some. I have found with the DT880 600 ohm and the T1 they like to be turned up a bit to sound there best and I'm not able to get there. Again for your average set of headphones the Jot for the price is a good deal.

Maybe the culprit here is the beyer that you are using? I read that these headphones has too much highs for those that are sensitive. I have home amiron coming that is warm in conparison according to many to be paired with my jot. I agree that jot is neautral and accurate compare to my dv336. I like both depending on the mood.

 

[Tuneslover]

I have the original Jot and while I agree that there is some high frequency emphasis with this amp I wouldn't say that it is a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I find that it brings out details in the music brilliantly. I find that the bass with the Jot is quite good and that my HE500 sounds fantastic with this amp. On the other hand my HD650 is a bit thin sounding when it comes to the bass so I replaced the stock Sennheiser pads with the warmer sounding Dekoni pads and now I find my HD650 sounds very nice with the Jot.

Another consideration to soften the high frequencies of the Jot is incorporating a Loki, which I did. The relatively inexpensive Loki does a very nice job of customizing the sound of my headphones. The Loki adds additional flexibility enabling me to more precisely dial in the sound I am seeking.

 

[KyungMin]

I just picked one of these up and sounds fairly neutral to me (delta dac option) I’m running balanced for my hd800S, hd6xx and t1.2. I have Valhalla 2 connected to it since the K812 can only used in SE mode. Really enjoying this dac/amp. Other amps/dacs I have in my collection are e17/k5 combo, audio-gd Sparrow, audioquest cobalt, darkvoice 336se, musical paradise mp-301 mkii and fiio q1 mkii. I’d say the warmest amp I have is the sparrow by far.. don’t have the time to run my other headphones yet but I’ll eventually get to them. Really happy with the jot and Val.

 

[ToTo Man]

I really enjoy my (2019) Jot with HD660S and my Beyers, from Gungnir MB. I've heard that the most recent Jotunheim is tuned warmer than OG, but I have no direct experience.

What does "OG" stand for, original model?