[GearMe]

I agree that the HD800 with the internal DAC of the Joti are a bad pairing. I've heard that combo myself and found it painful. I cannot say how the HD800 might sound with the Jot if you were using a different DAC, nor how it might sound if you were using an HD800S or a modded HD800.

I would also like to know this...especially if someone is using a Gen 1 HD800 with the Jot and a Bimby or even the Multibit Modi

 

[NikonGuy]

..

 

[Ancipital]

I would also like to know this...especially if someone is using a Gen 1 HD800 with the Jot and a Bimby or even the Multibit Modi

 
I had a chance to plug some HD800 into my Jot, and I didn't even dare, I'd have been bleeding from the ears and face.
 
I did plug in some HD800S, and fed it from a Mojo, and that was a tad bright (even though the Mojo has a pretty relaxed sound compared to my Mimby) but not unpleasant. The characteristic giant soundstage was there, the London Philharmonic Orchestra sounded as large and distinct as you'd expect. I could live with that- though maybe someone who is normally treble sensitive would find it a bit intense, and need to EQ it a bit. I don't think the Jot would be my first choice of amp to buy on purpose for an HD800S, but I didn't hate the pairing and could probably live with it.
 
The owner of the HD800/HD800S that I was hogging actually laughed at my unwillingness to plug the HD800 in, and agreed that it might be a bit much. Maybe a heavily modded HD800 would be OK, but I simply haven't had the chance to listen to one of those through my Jot. I'd still be clenching my buttocks a bit as I brought the volume up, I expect.
 
So far, my favourite way to use the Jot is optical into Modi Multibit, connected SE into Jot, and then stock HD650 balanced out of the Jot. It's a ballsy, detailed sound that is honestly rather great for the money, and very easy to listen to.
 
I can only speculate wildly that the balanced Schiit multibits would sound a tiny bit cleaner and clearer as you go up the range. I'd love to plug a Yggy in and compare. I think folks who have plugged in some of the bigger multibit DACs have already reported in, though, saying good things- both on Head-Fi and elsewhere.

 

[XERO1]

  Give this ago, there is a free 21 day trial.
 
http://sonarworks.com/headphones/overview/
 
I am using it with JRiver & my HD650's and it is exceptional, I now have sub bass!

 
And audible distortion at higher SPLs.

 

[NikonGuy]

..

 

[MWSVette]

I would also like to know this...especially if someone is using a Gen 1 HD800 with the Jot and a Bimby or even the Multibit Modi

 
I have the Jot/Bimby/HD800(low serial #) w/Moon Audio Black Dragon cables in both balanced and single ended cables.
 
Contrary to some others I like the pairing.  That said the combination is extremely transparent and detailed.  On poor recordings the sound signature can be harsh.  But on well engineered, before the loudness war era recordings the combination can be sublime.  Of all of my headphones the HD800 are the pickiest regarding the entire sound chain.  However this is not news to anyone who owns them. 
 
So to my mind is the Jot the very best pairing for the HD800, no.   Are they make your ears bleed terrible, sound so bad you will not even plug them in, no.  Do some other cans consistently sound better ie HD600, TH-X00 HE-500, yes but that is because they are generally more forgiving than the HD800 to begin with.
 
Keep in mind I am not as young as I used to be and may now be more tolerant of the highs that others find so troubling. And of course IMHO,YMMV, yada,yada ect...

 

[lenroot77]

And audible distortion at higher SPLs.

Have u tried the software yourself or are u making assumptions? There are more than a few of "technical/ reputable" headfi users who have given this software a thumbs up. I thought it was worth a look upon their critiques and gave the trial a go.

I made the purchase and personally I think it's great. It turns the hd800 into a daily driver. I enjoy just about everything with the hd800's now. No need to mod or spend extra money on the hd800S's either.

 

[lenroot77]

Give this ago, there is a free 21 day trial.

http://sonarworks.com/headphones/overview/

I am using it with JRiver & my HD650's and it is exceptional, I now have sub bass!

I have used Sonarworks on the hd800's, hd650's, K712's and dt990's. Believe it or not while there is a noticeable difference with the Hd650's they show the least "improvement". It's great software but I have to say I really only need the hd800's now cause they give me the sound I enjoy and there's no reason to have several different headphones.

That's why I'm very curious about the Jot as people impressions are that it is very transparent and amplifies what it's given.

 

[Maxx134]

The Jot can make the HD800 hurt your ear, not because of treble,
But because of dynamic sharp impacts can hit with severity in the dynamics..

Picture a recording of a drummer hit two sticks together..
Or edge of drum with stick.
On louder volumes it will hurt your ear it is such sharp attack.
Bass and signature is powerful overall with Jotun,
but you still wanna turn up volume on an 800 to hear its bass which is just so quick it's gone just after you percieve it hit you..
Hit & run.
Lol

 

[ColtMrFire]

So far, my favourite way to use the Jot is optical into Modi Multibit, connected SE into Jot, and then stock HD650 balanced out of the Jot. It's a ballsy, detailed sound that is honestly rather great for the money, and very easy to listen to.

So the stock 650 sounds good out of the Jot? One of things I keep hearing is modding the 650 is a good idea to get rid of the "veil" and muddiness. My Jot and 650 are on the way and I had planned on modding it.

 

[ToTo Man]

  Give this ago, there is a free 21 day trial.
 
http://sonarworks.com/headphones/overview/
 
I am using it with JRiver & my HD650's and it is exceptional, I now have sub bass!

 
Sorry to go OT again but for software like this to DSP your headphones accurately, as a minimum requirement it must surely need to know what amp you are using (and DAC too if you wanna be really pedantic), as this will impact the headphone's sonic response?  Also no two examples of the same headphone model will sound exactly the same (e.g. I've had three pairs of HD600 and they've all sounded slightly different), so in effect the company is relying on your HD600 sounding the same as the HD600 they tested in their lab (unless of course they've tested multiple units of the same model and taken an average).  In-room loudspeaker correction seems more intuitively accurate to me because you are actually measuring your in-room response with a mic and making a correction based on that measurement, rather than upon assumption.  Still, the headphone DSP will probably be better than no DSP I suppose...
 
[size=x-small]EDIT - My bad, I see now [/size]they base the DSP on model averages for the cheaper option and offer custom calibrations as the more expensive option.  I wonder if you could also send your amp to them to use for the calibration?

 

[XERO1]

  I would think that's headphone dependent, HD650's wont distort at higher SPL's in my tests.

​My EQ'd HD650 did whenever I played a song that had deep bass.  And it was the drivers that were distorting, not the EQ software clipping the signal, which can be another source of distortion if you don't know what you're doing.
 
YMMV, of course.

 

[sheldaze]

Can you compare TH-X00 (mahogany if possible, but PH works too) on Magni2U vs Jot?

I had Mahogany - I have now only the Purpleheart. I could likely borrow to try a Mahogany at the next regional meet, but I prefer to listen in quiet while at home. Meet conditions vary so much. I also threw in a brief listen to my HD650 to further explain my position.
 
The basic difference, TH-X00, Magni2U versus Jot, is like watching a concert, and being closer or further away from the stage. Both amplifiers sound good! But there is just more that you hear through the Jot. There is more around each instrument, as you would expect if you were sitting closer to the stage. There is also more of a perception of the location and direction of each sound. But both amplifiers sound very good.
 
Compare this to the HD650. Volume knob went up a lot, to play at about the same level as I used for the TH-X00. Clarity went up a lot too - more on that in a moment. I heard the same kind of better separation and nuance to each instrument. Listening to some Dire Straits, I could better picture the fretting and pick strike on the guitar strings. But something else happened. I simply wanted to listen to the Jot and not so much to the Magni2U. The sound was cleaner, in an electrical sense - less dirty. It was not just clearer, but more enjoyable on the Jot. This is what I meant by my earlier post, that if your headphone swings a little more current or voltage, I think the jump to Jot is even more.
 
Back to the clarity? Yeah, I wish sometimes I knew much more about the electrical circuits in these amplifiers. The TH-X00, to my ears, is not a super dark headphone. But it depends. I fell in love with the Mahogany on a Grace Design m9xx. I fell in love again, more recently with the Purpleheart on a Moon NEO 230HAD, and most recently on a DNA Sonett 2. Yes, I'm comparing Jodie to amplifiers costing around $1.5K. I already compared it to Rag, and personally picked the Jot. It was the inner details of the music that I heard more of, why I switched to the Jot. But this comparison was made using HD650 and HE1K headphones. Now using the TH-X00, the sound seems a little dark on both M2U and Jot. It is not dark on my Moon or Sonett. I cannot tell you the engineering reason why - it just is, the way I hear it. My opinion - nothing more. The more chances I get to drive other easy headphones, the more I'll be able to comment.
 
The short answer to your question - TH-X00, where do you want to sit in the theater? More up front, or more towards the back?

 

[earnmyturns]

Since the jot arrived, i pulled thme out to try, and some of the instruments were piercing....finally, found the word i want to use.

I tried from jriver-usb jot dac-hd800, jriver-usb mojo-se jot-hd800, and jriver-optical mojo-se jot-hd800. These three setups all give me a headache on some songs with high instruments.

Given that you varied the DAC, it looks like it might more from the Jot-HD800 combo rather than the DAC. For contrast, I've been listening to Bimby>Jot>Ether C Flows since I got the Jot up to 8h/day (when I had some focused work and stayed in my home office rather than the usual rounds of meetings at work), no headaches or other tiredness. I listen mainly to jazz, classical Baroque, West African, and Persian/Turkish/North African with strings ranging from low double bass to highs plucked kora (West African harp). Right now listening to the wonderful "Musique de Nuit" and "Chamber Music" albums by Ballaké Sissoko (kora) and Vicent Segal (double bass). The higher kora notes are really clear but not piercing at all, and the deep bass from the double bass is strong but not overwhelming. In contrast, I used to find Asgard 2>Alpha Primes good but eventually tiring after several hours, so I'd go listen to my speaker system in the living room. Now it's if anything the other way round. The varying behavior of these different components in different combinations is what makes this hobby both enticing and frustrating (not to mention so potentially expensive)
Attached, spectral report via MusicScope of a typical track (kora, double bass, and balafon), showing quite a bit of energy between 3kHz and 10kHz.

 

[Ancipital]

So the stock 650 sounds good out of the Jot? One of things I keep hearing is modding the 650 is a good idea to get rid of the "veil" and muddiness. My Jot and 650 are on the way and I had planned on modding it.

 
You have to remember that "good" is a very personal and nebulous thing; it differs from one person to another.
 
Part of it will be what condition your ears are in, how well you can hear highs. Part of it will be which music you tend to enjoy. Part of it will be psycho-acoustic, what your brain is used to listening to and "filtering". Part of it is.. taste.
 
It's worth remembering that the HD650 are a re-tuning of the HD600, more or less. The HD600 are fairly analytical, and while people bravely talk about how they want a flat, neutral response, often they don't really. Sennheiser added a lift to the bass and smoothed off some of the highs, to make a more "musical" or "enjoyable" sound:
 

People who really do like a flattish frequency response might not enjoy this. There's a bunch of mods that you can do (Dynamat, cutting a hole in the foam, pulling the plastic spider out etc.). People who fret about the HD650 sounding "veiled" think that these mods make it sound clearer and maybe even faster- at the expense of some clarity in the mid-bass. It's a tradeoff. However, as a way to make a sort of "mini 800S", it's pretty clever.
 
Me, I love the sound of the HD650. It's like listening to hygge. There's plenty of detail, with a detailed chain- Mimby and Jotunheim provide that for me. Tons of micro-detail, and a snappy well-controlled bass. If I find a downside, it's that it's not so much "sorry about your wallet" as "sorry about your missing hours of sleep", as I lose track of the time, or get a serious case of "just until the end of this album".
 
So yes, to me, unmodded HD650 balanced out of the Jot sounds good, it's a really enjoyable combo. Were I to feel a modding itch, I'd actually get a second pair, just because it'd be nice to be sure of having the option to get this sound, no matter what went wrong/right with the modding. Are my HD650 as resolving and is the sound stage as big as the HD800S? Nope, but then few things are- they're extremely good.
 
Is it a musical, detailed and thoroughly fun listen? Hell yes.