Schiit Jotunheim impressions

Anyone have any impressions on the Jot and Hd800 WITH Sonarworks?
I realize the Hd800/Jot don't have the best synergy but I'm curious to know if the Sonarworks software fixes all this?

Thanks

 

Get a pair of RCA Male to 2 RCA Male Y adapters such as Tecnec Y-P-2P. Use these to connect source outputs to Vali 2 input and Passive Preamp / Switch such as Saga or Goldpoint SA-2. Connect Vali 2 output to another input on passive preamp / switch. Output of PP/S connects to headphone amplifier. Now set gain of Vali 2 such that switching between direct and through Vali 2 yields the same sound level. A/B away. Post your findings.

Source outputs tend to be in the range of 50 to 150 ohms.
Inputs tend to be in the range of 10K to 50K ohms.

 

I am rather fond of using Sonarworks with HD800 as can be observed in the system in this post:

 

Thanks @Garns, but I'm dizzy already

Have yet to draw a schematic so I can visualize this, but I trust it will work given the source (thanks @atomicbob!). Assume a Schiit Sys qualifies as a PP/S. I could justify fifty bucks to have the convenience of not having to reconnect. All this is hypothetical as I won't get the gear until Q3, but maybe someone else can try it in the meantime.

 

There's a free 30 day trial so you can test the waters for yourself.
I didn't hear much difference with HD800 although I enjoyed the mono monitoring function. Did not purchase the license after the trial

 

Hi guys

Please forgive my last of knowledge in this subject. I recently purchased a Jot. I wanted to know whether connecting via the SE inputs uses the DAC or does it just go straight to amplification? And only way to use the DAC is via USB?

I apologise in advance if this is really obvious.

 

That's correct, using either the SE or BAL inputs bypasses the DAC and just uses the amplifier. The only way to use the DAC is via USB.

 

Le boggle- didn't hear much difference? Silly question.. you did load the HD800 profile, right? It's quite a dramatic difference for me- and I stick to the flat profile rather than any of the crazier choices even. Also, the wet/dry was at fully moist.. err wet?

 

I did. With my setup I couldn't hear any difference. Hm. I'll check settings one more time.

 

Anyone compared the Jot(wDAC) to Aune S6?

 

Please do- I'm curious. Also, try some different styles of music, maybe- as the tonal shifts in the mids are more subtle than the toughened bass and slightly tamed treble. The differences are less subtle than differences in Vali 2 tubes* and you can hear those OK, after all.


* Some Bugle Boys arrived yesterday- thanks! Have been rotating one through against an EH6CG7, fun stuff.

 

I noticed a big difference (flatter, no sparkle, less air and less engaging) with Sonarworks even with my HD800S....Something is up. I use it for bass boost since I bought it but EQ probably would have done just as well.

 

If you're using Sonarworks with the HD800S then I would expect it to sound off. At least unless they've added an S version of the HD800 profile since I last looked,

 

Yes S version, hopefully they do come out with one. Just adding that there is a difference using Sonarworks (even if it's not a good one). With the hd650 the EQ was fantastic with zero mods.

 

Gotcha!

I use Sonarworks with the HD650 (and other cans) for validating/tweaking mixes and it makes a big difference. Oddly I don't care for it when actually listening to music for pleasure (but, again, hearing the difference is easy).

 

Saga, Vali2, Jotunheim impressions

So my Saga arrived a few days ago and I ended up spending the last three days testing different setups with the Saga, Vali 2 and the Jotunheim.

My conclusion:

• The differences are very small so if you don't like the Jot's sound non of these will make you like it, just buy a different amp.
• If you happen to like the Jotunheim then I'm not sure that the Saga worth it, as the Jot sounds already good without it. But the Saga does dials back the Jot’s forwardness and widens the soundstage a little. I couldn’t hear similar effects using the Vali 2 as preamp.
• The Vali 2 is an awesome amp.

Chain: Synology NAS->ethernet cable->Raspberry PI 3->Hifiberry Digi+Pro-> BNC cable->Yggdrasil->Saga|Vali 2|Jotunheim
The Yggdrasil and Jotunheim have been powered on for about 2 months now.
Most of my listen ingredients was done with a KISS modded HD650, occasionally swapped for a Sony MA900.



I tested the Saga with a RCA VT-231 Smoked Glass, a Sylvania 6SN7WSG and a borrowed red base RCA 5692 tube. I tried all of them in all setups. They all sounded a little bit livelier than the stock tube but I couldn’t hear any other difference between them. It is a good thing, it means I don’t have to buy expensive tubes for the Saga.
For the Vali 2 I had a Tesla E88CC gold pin, an Amperex A-frame 6DJ8 and a WE386A (with adapter) tube.
I should have bought a socket saver for the Saga, to rise the tube a little bit because I've already managed to loosen the glass envelope of the stock tube out of it’s socket.

Albums used for testing:
The Coryells - The Coryells (Chesky Records)
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (2013 Japanese Release)
Eagles - Hotel California (Hd Tracks)
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (2001 Columbia Remaster)
Adele - 21 (Japanese Edition)
Dr. Dre - 2001
Infected Mushroom - Army of Mushrooms
System Of a Down - Toxicity (Japanese Edition)
other random tracks

My impressions of the different setups:

Yggdrasil->Vali 2->Jot
This one surprised me as I couldn’t hear much difference compared to the Jot on its own regardless of the tubes used. Maybe a little wider soundstage. I even went back to this setup a few times just to be sure.

Yggdrasil->Jot->Vali 2
Vali 2 tonality but with a little added Jot bass and clarity. Different tubes had different sound as expected. I preferred the Yggdrasil->Jot to this setup.

Yggdrasil->Saga->Jot
This again was a surprise, bigger difference than I expected. The Saga tames the forwardness of the Jot, adds a little soundstage and dimension but bass slam is a little-bit less too. It is immediately noticeable with A/B-ing, but removing the Saga from the chain and listening to the whole album again reveals better how much forward sounding the Jot is. But with some music (mostly female vocals) I preferred the Jot without the Saga. It might not be a correct representation but the forwardness adds more intimacy.

Yggdrasil->Saga->Vali 2
Little wider soundstage, than Vali 2 on its own, differences between the tubes were more noticeable, exaggerated even.
The Amperex had sweet highs, bloomy bass, the Tesla had very strong bass, the WE396A had very balanced sound.
With the HD650 I preferred the other setups involving the Jot. But when I plugged in the Sony MA900, this setup with the Amperex tube had a really nice tone, awesome soundstage, realistic vocals and timbre. I think I will go back to this setup more in the future for easy listening.

+1 Just because
Yggdrasil->Saga->Jot->Vali 2 (I tried to hook up the microwave oven and the blender too, but I had no more space in the wall outlet.)
It didn’t really add anything to the other setups but it introduced some noise into the system.

 

Thanks for the thorough comparisons.

Interesting that you didn't hear any difference with the Vali 2 in front of the Jot (where as @a44100Hz did), but did hear a difference with the Jot in front of the Vali. I'm still debating whether to get the Modi Multibit and Vali or both amps to have tube, tube pre into SS, and pure SS options.

 

Yes I was surprised too. I suppose you can't be sure what works for you until you actually try it.
I know I would be happy with the Modi Multibit/Vali 2 if I ever feel the need to downgrade. I would recommend to get the Vali 2 and a few tubes first and spend some time with it. Depending on the tubes, the difference is really not that big. In my experience the Vali 2 with the WE396a (was recommended by Mike Moffat on the other site) tube tonally sounds really close to the Jotunheim.
Actually today I've tried the Vali 2 with an adapter and the Saga stock 6SN7 tube and I'm in a little bit of a shock. Beside that it looks like as if my Vali 2 grew a golden schlong, it sounds really close to the Sagaheim, right out of the Yggdrasil. Like really close. It misses the clarity but has similar bass/tonality.
Anyone else tried a 6SN7 with the Vali 2?

 

Haha! What kind of freak adapter are you using for that to work??