[indrakula]

I can't post any pics because I've already done the MB upgrade to Jot. However, here are the steps that I did to do it.

1. Remove the volume knob (1/16" hex driver) then the nut and washer behind the volume knob.
2. Remove all the screws in the back (phillips head screw driver)
3. Remove the screws on the bottom of the chassis as the upgrade board comes with an aluminum standoff that must be installed.
4. Install the aluminum standoff provided.
5. Plug the MB DAC into the pins on the main board.
6. Attach the DAC to the standoff with provided screw.
7. Reassemble everything back.

That is how I did it and I'm sure that there may be other ways. Hope this helps.

Thanks, i will try these steps as i will receive my multi dac tomorrow

 

[Phasor]

Thanks, i will try these steps as i will receive my multi dac tomorrow

Once you get everything open you will see that it's pretty straight forward. Just carefully line up the pins and socket from DAC to mainboard and push down.

 

[Decim8r]

Well, I had given the Jot+DAC more than the benefit of the doubt. I really wanted to like it, but tonight, I give into what my ears have been telling me since the beginning.

This is what I have learned from the Jot+DAC. The DAC is terrible! The amp is very nice. I knew this less than 30 minutes in to listening to it, but I really wanted to like Schiit. I had started the return process with Schiit, but at the last minute, I chose to keep it so now I'm really beyond the return window. But, I can lie to my ears only for so long. I'm supposed to enjoy the music, not keep justifying the Jot+DAC is just as good.

I tried burning it in. The sound did get better. I think my headphones benefited from the exercise too. But the DAC sound just would not open up. It continued to feel closed in like the sound is a ball of noise in the middle. So much detail was getting muffled. On every listening session, when I felt like doing an AB test with the Element, the difference is so apparent. The DAC makes listening to the Jot like I'm inside a shoebox. The Element is like listening to an appropriately sized listening room and the details, that the Jot does not hide so much as it gets lost in the ball of sound, are so beautifully apparent with perfect separation.

I listened briefly to the Jot bypassing the DAC by using the Element through the RCA inputs. The amp sounded great. I visited Schiitr last weekend too. I listened to a Jot+DAC, but I connected a Bifrost Multibit to it instead. It sounded great. It is clearly the onboard DAC that sounds like a pile of schiit.

Tonight, I finally removed the Jot+DAC from my desk and replaced it with the Element as my primary listening amp. I'm saddened and disappointed by this very expensive mistake.

The headphones I used were:
Sony MDR-7506
Audio-Technica ath-m50x
Shure SRH-840
AKG K7xx
Sennheiser HD650

The only headphone that sounded good with the Jot+DAC was the AKG K7xx because the soundstage of the headphones were so unbelievably wide it countered the closed-in-ness of the Jot+DAC.

In conclusion, I would recommend the Jot only w/o the DAC, but I would highly recommend the JDS Labs Element. Now, I need to figure out whether to sell the Jot+DAC or just use it in a secondary listening station.

This review really resonated with me. I just got my new black Jot + Multibit the other day and I must say that I'm a bit disappointed compared to my two year old Element that I have been using. Narrow sound stage definitely comes to mind and the voices in songs seem very forward to me. Imagine the singer basically singing directly into your ear while the band keeps playing. I have noticed that the bass is significantly more pronounced than the Element, but not sure if that will be a good thing in the long run as it can be a bit fatiguing after a while.

My caveat is that most of my cans are single ended, so the XLR connects are a bit of waste for me. Some of my higher driving headphones like my ATH-r70x requires the higher gain to be enabled to really hear anything unless you feel comfortable setting the volume to near max on the low gain mode which is never a good thing.

I listen to a variety of different music sources whether it be YouTube, MP3s, streams from Spotify and some music CDs. I don't really listen to FLAC or high definition streams like Tidal. What I can say is that the Jot + Multibit are brutally honest with the source. Good recordings sound awesome, bad recordings sound like Schiit...Case in point a favorite busker song that I listen to on YouTube, , sounds great with the Element, but utter crap on the Jot.

I currently have the new Lyr3 on the way, hoping that setup will replace my existing Element. I think I've heard enough from the Jot that it's not worth it to justify the replacement of the Element just yet and will be going back to Schiit during the MBG window.

 

[sup27606]

I thought that the balanced DAC (I thought we need to be specific from now on, since there are more than one DAC modules now) was somewhat harsh sounding with a closed in soundstage and muffled imaging cues. The differences are immediately evident when comparing to a dedicated DAC like the Modi Multibit. To me, the balanced DAC is a good example of compromise design. I think its a waste of money to get the jot with the DAC (I made the mistake!) since it limits the Jot's performance to such an extent. If one is getting the Jot as his/her main listening rig, then it's wiser to get a dedicated DAC like Mimby which would open up Jot's sound. Alternatively, if one is getting the Jot as an auxiliary system and needs a DAC/AMP combo, there may be cheaper options where the performance difference between the DAC and the AMP is not that wide. Either way, to me it seems like a lose/lose situations. That said, if the new multibit DAC module sounds similar to Mimby, it would be a real win/win situation, since the new card can be obtained cheaper than the Mimby and at the same time would reduce clutter. However, its not clear what compromises were adopted to fit the multibit card into the Jot enclosure and what effects they have on the music, especially when Mike Moffat said many times that it's extremely challenging to fit a multibit DAC inside Jot, if not impossible.

 

[Tuneslover]

I thought that the balanced DAC (I thought we need to be specific from now on, since there are more than one DAC modules now) was somewhat harsh sounding with a closed in soundstage and muffled imaging cues. The differences are immediately evident when comparing to a dedicated DAC like the Modi Multibit. To me, the balanced DAC is a good example of compromise design. I think its a waste of money to get the jot with the DAC (I made the mistake!) since it limits the Jot's performance to such an extent. If one is getting the Jot as his/her main listening rig, then it's wiser to get a dedicated DAC like Mimby which would open up Jot's sound. Alternatively, if one is getting the Jot as an auxiliary system and needs a DAC/AMP combo, there may be cheaper options where the performance difference between the DAC and the AMP is not that wide. Either way, to me it seems like a lose/lose situations. That said, if the new multibit DAC module sounds similar to Mimby, it would be a real win/win situation, since the new card can be obtained cheaper than the Mimby and at the same time would reduce clutter. However, its not clear what compromises were adopted to fit the multibit card into the Jot enclosure and what effects they have on the music, especially when Mike Moffat said many times that it's extremely challenging to fit a multibit DAC inside Jot, if not impossible.

Yeah I just never fully understood Schiit's venture into the Jot+DAC module when they were so against all in one components. Yeah I get it that it's design is flexible (with or without DAC) but it seems limited in that only the USB input gets the DAC signal, especially for me that primarily use's the coaxial and toslink inputs. I bought the Jot (amp only) and have it connected to the Bimby that I already owned. They sound and look terrific stacked.

 

[MWSVette]

Yeah I just never fully understood Schiit's venture into the Jot+DAC module when they were so against all in one components. Yeah I get it that it's design is flexible (with or without DAC) but it seems limited in that only the USB input gets the DAC signal, especially for me that primarily use's the coaxial and toslink inputs. I bought the Jot (amp only) and have it connected to the Bimby that I already owned. They sound and look terrific stacked.

Agreed I too bought the Jot amp only. The add-on cards for me were not necessary as I already had a Bimby. Even now with the multibit card unless I absolutely had to have an all in one the Mimby or Bimby are better DACs and more flexible.

When it was only the Jot I was not concerned, but now with the Lyr 3 going in the Amp/DAC direction and Jason talking about an AB class Asgard 3 Amp/DAC and potentially doing away with the Valhalla 2. I begin to wonder if Schiit is moving away from their each component in its own box philosophy.

I would hate to see that as I love stackable Schiit...

 

[Bazirker]

Yeah I just never fully understood Schiit's venture into the Jot+DAC module when they were so against all in one components. Yeah I get it that it's design is flexible (with or without DAC) but it seems limited in that only the USB input gets the DAC signal, especially for me that primarily use's the coaxial and toslink inputs. I bought the Jot (amp only) and have it connected to the Bimby that I already owned. They sound and look terrific stacked.

Schiit is just listening to the market. I personally much prefer combined DAC/amps, largely because space is a premium for me and I don't want a massive stack on my desk. There's something about having a single box that handles my audio...I get what you're saying though.

 

[dr cornelius]

It is interesting to see Schiit moving forward with more DAC/amp combos - it looks like a response to consumer demand. Also the fact that Schiit approaches their DACs with upgradeability, the combo idea is a natural direction IMO. I went with the original balanced DAC, knowing that I’ll upgrade when they come out with the next change, so now I’ll try the Multibit. I have a feeling most people are listening with a Jot straight out of their computer, so the USB is enough.

 

[Tuneslover]

It is interesting to see Schiit moving forward with more DAC/amp combos - it looks like a response to consumer demand. Also the fact that Schiit approaches their DACs with upgradeability, the combo idea is a natural direction IMO. I went with the original balanced DAC, knowing that I’ll upgrade when they come out with the next change, so now I’ll try the Multibit. I have a feeling most people are listening with a Jot straight out of their computer, so the USB is enough.

I suppose if market demands this then that's what they need to do. I only hope that they don't make compromises in sound quality just so that they can fit in a DAC for DAC's sake.

 

[Bazirker]

I suppose if market demands this then that's what they need to do. I only hope that they don't make compromises in sound quality just so that they can fit in a DAC for DAC's sake.

Of course they're making a compromise somewhere, or else they wouldn't bother making their stand-alone DACs so large, and the integrated DACs wouldn't cost less than stand-alone. I struggle to imagine the new integrated multibit DAC somehow matches the performance of a stand-alone mimby, but I suppose it's possible. One would hope that a consumer spending hundreds of dollars on a piece of niche audio equipment would take the time to research sound quality and understand the trade-off they're making.

 

[Tuneslover]

Of course they're making a compromise somewhere, or else they wouldn't bother making their stand-alone DACs so large, and the integrated DACs wouldn't cost less than stand-alone. I struggle to imagine the new integrated multibit DAC somehow matches the performance of a stand-alone mimby, but I suppose it's possible. One would hope that a consumer spending hundreds of dollars on a piece of niche audio equipment would take the time to research sound quality and understand the trade-off they're making.

I too wonder if there is an audio quality difference (compromise???) regarding the full sized Bifrost MB versus MB option for the Jot. However I can say that there is very very little difference between my Bimby and Mimby. The only thing is that the Mimby gets quite warm and isn't upgradable. Physical component upgrading (requiring shipping my unit back to Schiit) has no appeal to me. I simply buy a new unit and sell the outdated one.

 

[Oklahoma]

I need to go through mike's thread but I believe he said the mb card for jot and lyr was the same as mimby just without the extra inputs.

 

[alpovs]

When it was only the Jot I was not concerned, but now with the Lyr 3 going in the Amp/DAC direction and Jason talking about an AB class Asgard 3 Amp/DAC and potentially doing away with the Valhalla 2. I begin to wonder if Schiit is moving away from their each component in its own box philosophy.

I think this doesn't violate their philosophy because one can still buy separate components. For example, Jot or Lyr 3 as amps only and Mimby or Bimby non-multibit or multibit etc.

 

[rkw]

I too wonder if there is an audio quality difference (compromise???) regarding the full sized Bifrost MB versus MB option for the Jot.

One compromise is that the Jot cards don't have the Gen 5 USB interface of the Bimby.

 

[jimmers]

One compromise is that the Jot cards don't have the Gen 5 USB interface of the Bimby.

I'd rather have a little Schiit on top of a Jot (Mimby) for the same cost as a Schiit module installation.
- still no Gen 5 but would have S/PDIF for alternate source (pie steamer etc.).
( I have a Gen 2 Bimby, use Coax, so no point in Gen 5 for me).