mmmadog
100+ Head-Fier
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.
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.
The Jot has a clear, neutral sound that some find to be clinical. You probably prefer warmer sounding amplifiers.I did have a Valhalla 1 with hd650 that I liked and wish I still had other than dealing with tubes.
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/jotunheimguys, what is the power of this amplifier for speakers?
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 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?
I could not agree more with your description.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 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.If Jot is considered to have a neutral tuning, what h/p amps are considered to be brighter than Jot?
I could not agree more with your description.
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.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.
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.