[Selbi]

Clinch your cheeks and get ready for an experience (depending on your headphones). The Jot is a great upgrade, however I'd get the internal DAC or preferrably Mimby over the Fiio. Don't get me wrong, I like Fiio however this setup is like comparing Big League Chew to Wrigley's pink.

I got the Fidelio X2, which only has a single 3.5mm plug. I'm asking myself if $399 (+$100 as I likely need the USB extension) is really worth the price if I'm not even gonna use the XLR output.

 

[watchnerd]

I got the Fidelio X2, which only has a single 3.5mm plug. I'm asking myself if $399 (+$100 as I likely need the USB extension) is really worth the price if I'm not even gonna use the XLR output.

 
I don't know why anyone would buy the Jot if they don't want to move to a balanced system, either on the preamp or the headphone.
 
The other SE amps Schiit offers put out plenty of power.

 

[Voxata]

Yes, but do yourself a but do yourself a favor and man a cable. Send me a PM if you're looking for quality but also cheap.

 

[Selbi]

I don't know why anyone would buy the Jot if they don't want to move to a balanced system, either on the preamp or the headphone.

The other SE amps Schiit offers put out plenty of power.

My original question was if the Jotunheim offers a significant sound improvement over my Fiio E10K with a Magni 2, even if I don't use the balanced output. Just in theory.

Yes, but do yourself a but do yourself a favor and man a cable. Send me a PM if you're looking for quality but also cheap.

Again, my headphones have a single aux input, not two for each side. I cannot make use of the balancing.

 

[watchnerd]

My original question was if the Jotunheim offers a significant sound improvement over my Fiio E10K with a Magni 2, even if I don't use the balanced output. Just in theory.
Again, my headphones have a single aux input, not two for each side. I cannot make use of the balancing.

 
My comments remain: why buy balanced if you're not going to use it?

 

[Selbi]

My comments remain: why buy balanced if you're not going to use it?

So does my question remain: does the Jotunheim otherwise improve sound enough to justify buying it?

 

[watchnerd]

So does my question remain: does the Jotunheim otherwise improve sound enough to justify buying it?

 
Versus what?  For how much money?

 

[soonercane]

So does my question remain: does the Jotunheim otherwise improve sound enough to justify buying it?

No. In my opinion, there is no reason to buy a Jotunheim if you won't use balanced. If you already have the Magni 2, you'd be far better of getting the Modi 2 MB than a Jot, and it would be cheaper.
 
Oh, and hello everyone, I guess this is my first post here. Funny, I actually just finished building a balanced cable for my HD650s. I was actually about to come here confused because the balanced cable was just a little bit quieter than the stock SE cable was until I realized that I had it on low gain and that the balanced out on low gain as almost as loud as the SE out on high. I'm much happier with the output for the HD650s now. With SE I found myself turning the knob a bit more than I'd like for quieter stuff like classical. I'm really impressed with this thing now.
 
Quick backstory, I've actually had the HD650s for about a month and the Jotunheim came in a week ago. This is my first setup of this quality and I just can't pry myself away from listening to everything I own all over again now. I'd say I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have a decent listening setup, but I'm sure you've all experienced the same. Now let's see how long I can stay satisfied with this

 

[MWSVette]

  No. In my opinion, there is no reason to buy a Jotunheim if you won't use balanced. If you already have the Magni 2, you'd be far better of getting the Modi 2 MB than a Jot, and it would be cheaper.
 
Oh, and hello everyone, I guess this is my first post here. Funny, I actually just finished building a balanced cable for my HD650s. I was actually about to come here confused because the balanced cable was just a little bit quieter than the stock SE cable was until I realized that I had it on low gain and that the balanced out on low gain as almost as loud as the SE out on high. I'm much happier with the output for the HD650s now. With SE I found myself turning the knob a bit more than I'd like for quieter stuff like classical. I'm really impressed with this thing now.
 
Quick backstory, I've actually had the HD650s for about a month and the Jotunheim came in a week ago. This is my first setup of this quality and I just can't pry myself away from listening to everything I own all over again now. I'd say I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have a decent listening setup, but I'm sure you've all experienced the same. Now let's see how long I can stay satisfied with this

 
Welcome to the club...
 
The balanced output on the Jot is substantially more powerful than the SE.  If SPL matched there will be little or no difference in sound quality between the two.

 

[exiges]

I am really impressed with the specs and reviews of this product. I read all the messages in this discussion last weekend and got very excited. Now I'm waiting for the European supplier to get their hands on new stock so I can order one. Currently I don't have any DACs or amps so I'm intrigued to find out how much of a difference this makes.

I'm in the U.K. And ordered mine directly from Schiit USA, you may want to consider doing that rather than waiting for the EU distributor

 

[watchnerd]

  No. In my opinion, there is no reason to buy a Jotunheim if you won't use balanced.
 

 
+1.
 
If you're SE-only, use a different tool, you get more bang for the buck.

 

[Ancipital]

   
Welcome to the club...
 
The balanced output on the Jot is substantially more powerful than the SE.  If SPL matched there will be little or no difference in sound quality between the two.

 
Doubled slew rate wants to insist otherwise, with a suitably resolving chain.

 

[Tuneslover]

So does my question remain: does the Jotunheim otherwise improve sound enough to justify buying it?

Not heavens parting better than the Magni2U I had but the Jot (balanced) seems to have shifted my HD650'S and HE500'S into an extra gear or two.

 

[Mikko Peltonen]

I'm in the U.K. And ordered mine directly from Schiit USA, you may want to consider doing that rather than waiting for the EU distributor

That would be faster but I'd probably need to pay taxes and a huge shipping fee which would make it an expensive buy. Also if the unit was defected, or in case I needed to send it for repairs, I'd need to pay the shipping fees back to the US.

 

[gmahler2u]

 
 
Happy New Year