Schiit Jotunheim impressions

I'm actually noticing quite a bit of micro detail and overall resolution on the 650. Modi Multibit in the house.

Switching to some jazz I feel a lot better. I was doing Tears for Fears initially. Will try some classical in a bit.

It still has the Sennheiser house sound I love, just dipped in a barrel of dark chocolate. I also notice the soundstage is about average like my old 600.

 

Please define "older"

 

Thanks for providing this correction. I was thinking of the same post. The built in DAC actually uses the advanced tech of the Jotun for power, if I recall correctly. So, even if the Modi Multibit is better overall, it would still have an inferior power supply than the Jotun DAC.

 

Bam!

What makes Jotun's power supply so special? Haven't heard Jason mention anything of the sort.

 

Funny, I just got my 650 and plugged it into the Joti, and my first thought was how close these are to my 600. Maybe since my reference is bright-leaning neutral, going to the 650, which is dark-leaning neutral, wasn't as much of a shock as going from bright as the face of the sun cans.

Currently listening unmodded and this is a very different animal than the modded pair I heard with the Valhalla 2/Bifrost Multibit. I suspect the particulars of that gear made for bad synergy with the 650, because with the Joti and Modi Multibit the 650 is wonderfully controlled, detailed, and hardly what I would call dark at all.

I'm loathe to compare these to my 600 because my 600 needs new pads so I don't want to judge them based on how they currently sound.

 

If the 650s arent "dark" I wonder what is.

On the 650 Jazz and Sinatra sounding pretty great...

Classical not so much, which is a problem since it's my favorite genre.

The Jotun is definitely the real deal.

 

I actually wonder if Jot's DAC + stock 650 would make a good pairing?

 

Oops wrong thread. Move along...

 

The 650s are dark-ish but they don't sound dark to me on the Joti. *shrug*

 

Congrats, you officially have Beyer Ear.

 

Everything is relative, compared to beyers and grados everything will seem to be dark

 

I had beyer ear (his T-90 used to be mine . I'm not saying I out grew it. I still prefer a sig that many of you would call bright. That said, I'm one of them "older" folks (50+). I've done some unscientific testing and I don't think I can hear above 16.5. Every time I've heard the HD650 I've felt it was too dark. My greed/beyer treble headless has mellowed as I reach for the PMx2 more and more, as well as a modded (lawton & doggie treats) TH600 at work. I'm looking forward to RMAF and the jodie/650 loaner to validate before I buy me a jodie. I'm hoping it will add more life to the PMx2, which is already pretty darned nice and relatively easy to drive.

@ColtMrFire first, I told you so

Maybe the HD600 might be better for you. It will clamp like hell at first, but you can gently stretch it out (not in the middle, or it will crack).

 

Even coming from the 600s the 650s were dark to me. I know Sennheiser is like a religion around here with 650 being Jesus and owning a T90 makes me a heretic and I'm supposed to feel horrible or something, but I really want to know what a dark HP sounds like since apparently the 650 isn't dark. Or was SSL being snarky? If so, nevermind. Going off topic anyway.

 

I've owned the 600 twice. Loved it but did not have the technical abilities I was after with regard to large complex orchestral passages.

 

@ColtMrFire I think SSL was just having a friendly jibe. I didn't find a lot of the brighter headphones that bright either--DT880, HE 400, HD800--so I think I can understand where you're coming from.
Did you switch immediately from one of your brighter headphones to the 650? Starkly contrasting sound signatures aren't good to compare head-to-head like that.

 

Speaking strictly from my reading and my experience with what the unmodified 650 can do with a competent amp, you would be enjoying yourself immensely with that pairing. And it's easy to forget that the Jot was designed for longevity, who knows what Schiit has planned in terms of upgrading the DAC module.

 

Did some quick listening to the internal DAC. Not doing any A/Bing with the Modi Multibit, and ignoring the audio nervosa aspect of using a USB connection, I would say that the internal DAC on the Jot sounds very good with the 650. It's a nice, warm sound. The bass may be a bit smudgy but it's not unbearable. If you can't afford a Modi Multibit but want a good pairing for the 650, you could do much worse than the Joti with internal DAC.

 

It seems the general consensus is that the Jot is a fail with the hd800. Does the same apply for the 800 S? I would guess this is true but was wondering if anyone actually heard them together?