Schiit Jotunheim impressions

I've had a very limited exposure to headphone amps. I use a Bifrost Multibit as DAC. I started with an Asgard 2, and I've listened to some of the earlier Woo units with integrated DACs (didn't much care for them, too "polite"). Moved from A2 to Jot for balanced output. I've also owned a Liquid Carbon 2.0, which I've sold. I listen to modern jazz, baroque, modern classical, West Africa (kora!); mostly acoustic with a few electric instruments (jazz guitar, Fender Rhodes). For me, the Jot bests both A2 and LC, in different ways, with my Ether C Flow headphones. Jot > A2: I felt that the A2 sounded a bit muddled in mid-to-high range, especially piano; Jot fixed that. Jot > LC: LC felt unrealistically lush in the mids, and less crisp than the Jot in mid-highs. My speaker system is Yggdrasil>Hegel H360>KEF Reference 1+REL T7i, my travel system QP1R>InEar ProPhile 8. I also listen to live, mostly acoustic, music, 20-40 shows/year.

So, here's the question, for you all who experienced a lot more amps: if I wanted to replace the Jot by something else solid-state that is significantly better, not ridiculously priced (not paying for single block machined airframe aluminum or similar fashion statements), balanced in and out (have a balanced Holo Spring KTE L3 on the way), which three candidates should I consider?

 

I'm just not into the "bash everything not made/designed by us" thing. Comes off as superior and snooty. Granted some amp are made pretty shoddy but the Jot is not one.

 

Re: head-case

Notice they left the pic-n-place photo dirty/dusty as possible to help embellish their point, it almost looks like water damage! https://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/12921-schiit-jotunheim/

vs. these pic's when I opened it up:

Schiit Jotunheim impressions

Schiit solders the thru hole components in house, and probably would not be a good idea / overkill to dip the whole board in an ultrasonic cleaner. So yep, some flux underneath the board.

 

I apologize for the derailment, this question and answer probably should be in the general advice thread.

Your question is difficult however I will take a stab at it since we listen to similar types of music. For jazz and acoustic music I have a budget system with Valhalla 2 and HD650 kiss modded that I like better for this type of music than Jotunheim.

For bass centered music, funk, EDM etc, Jotunheim is fantastic.

I have thought a lot about where to go from here and it seems a good move up that has balanced capabilities is Mjolnir 2. Many on this forum speak highly of Neurochrome HP-1. There is also EC Black Widow 2 but it doesn't have balanced, but many here love this SS amp.

I also wonder how married you are to your headphones, do you need closed only? Maybe consider a change there as well.

For the kind of music you listen to, I also would say a TOTL tube amp and open headphones should where to go. At the NYC SBAF meet, I listened to jazz tracks on @jmcmasterj EC Studio with HD650 and Utopia. It was next level stuff and the direction I would head if I had the disposable income to get there.

 

I think the Jot does a fantastic job of representing the nuances of stringed instruments correctly. Plucks, strums, thrums, vibration, etc. sound like I remember from all of the live performances I have heard over the years. But it is just one piece in the chain, isn't it? As good as the Jot is it won't make music coming out of a crappy pair of headphones magically increase in fidelity. Which is why its always useful to talk about synergy and the gear chain as a whole rather than just by the piece.

I listen to a lot of acoustic and electric guitar and my current "daily driver" setup consisting of the Metrum Musette, Schiit Jotunheim and grille-modded Hifiman HE-400S headphones works very well in presenting a realistic and pleasing rendition of the music that I enjoy. The synergy is great. But for someone else with different headphones or different musical tastes I can certainly see why the Jot wouldn't work for them.

And as to your question about upgrades from the Jot; at Schiit Mjolnir with LISST tubes would fit the bill nicely. The Lake People RS08 has balanced out but not balanced input (and fwiw I don't think this is a big deal with most amps, honestly) but costs $999 new.

 

@earnmyturns I have two Neurochrome HP-1s and would be willing to lend one out. We're both in the Bay Area and I noticed that you work at Google. I could either shuttle it along with a friend that works at the MV campus, or you could pick it up from me in SF. I'm relatively new to SBAF, but I assume there's a PM functionality? Let me know if this interests you.

 

@strangecargo here's how you start a PM conversation:

It's pretty simple to figure out once you click around, but it may not be immediately obvious.

 

Headphones need to be closed for my use cases -- do not disturb surrounding family or colleagues. When quiet is not needed, I prefer my living room system. I don't like darker signatures, that's why I sold my LC. Jot with my current home headphone chain does get a bit over-bright on, for instance, some harpsichord recordings. Those same recordings work better on my speaker system. Still, the Jot is lovely on strings I listen to, as @MattRG noted, suitably impactful on jazz drums , and full on double bass.

Thank you to all for such informative replies!

 

I don't recall seeing much about taming the Jot's stridency using EQ. Anyone approached it that way? I'm considering a Jot for my desk at home simply because the GO2A is too dinky and is too easy to rip around by mistake with a TRRS-->4-pin XLR adapter--> 4-pin XLR connector attached to it. I'd use the GO2A as source. I imagine fairly small amounts of EQ would be needed.

 

Thinking about getting active monitors, was wondering if there's any that I could use the Jot and my my surround speakers with. Just not sure how it would work. Since the Jot only has 2 channel support I think I would need a way to enable sound through the Jot and the default on the PC, so there's 2 coming from the jot and 2-3 coming from the default.

 

Black Jotunheim(s? Is Jotunheim singular and/or plural?) are back up on Schiit's Site.

 

Surround doesn't work that way. You would need a 5.1 receiver to receive the 5.1 surround signal and convert it to 6 individual analog channels. Most receivers have integrated amps so you would just run passive speakers for each channel. An active surround setup is a lot more complicated, and usually requires specialized gear and careful planning and routing. Using the Jot for just two channels out of the 5 main plus sub won't really work. Just use it for 2 channel stereo listening and get a 5.1 surround setup as a separate system.

 

Just adding in here, I think you could get the Jot to work in a 5.1 setup, but you'd need to feed it input from a 5.1 receiver, which then begs the question of why you have the Jot in that chain anyways. The most I could see the Jot being practically used for is a 2.1 setup if your sub is handling the crossovers.

 

My experience with the Jot is minimal ... two or three hours comparing as an amp only against a 10 year old Headroom BUDA with Desktop Power Supply. Left no doubt in my mind that tge BUDA is a far superior amp with a large range of cans. Granted the BUDA was pitched much higher at the time but I've been reminded by many that there was incredible progress on the on the amp front over the last decade. Which would make it a fair contest after all ... one which Jotunheim lost. Even the relative cheap and unknown Perreaux SXH2 (common ground if course) improved on several aspects of the Jot's performance.

I think the Jot is good at the price but concerns over some upper mid / lower treble harshness, glossed over details, bleached timbre and small soundstage prevents a summary recommendation. My advice to potential buyers would be to carefully audition the Jot and as many other alternatives as possible (including up and down the Schiit lineup) before parting with money.

 

Been waiting for 2 months for my order. Those who waited for only 2 or 3 weeks, you're lucky.

 

So recently I got my Jot back into action as part of a new work system: Modi Multibit -> Jot -> HD650 bal. Over extended reacquaintance what has really stood out to me as its biggest flaw is the outright weird soundstage. It's super thin and bent into a weird shape: the centre protrudes forward, the sides are wrapped round right beside your ears and there's not much in between the mids and the sides. When combined with the punchy, super clean sound the Jot has, the net effect is somewhat artificial bordering on the surreal.

Well, today I tried the phase reversal trick, and blow me if it doesn't go quite some way to fixing up the weird staging. Here's what I hear:

• Some depth! Not heaps, but more than zero.
• The soundstage is no longer bent in a strange shape. The centre no longer protrudes forward, and the sides are level with the centre and face forwards rather than sideways.
• The centre no longer feels as disconnected from the sides (though it still is a bit).

This doesn't make the Jot stage like a tube amp but it does stop it staging like something beamed down from the planet Mars. If I had to sum up in one word the change I would say it makes the Jot sound more "natural".

Downsides? All I can think of is that it make the weird thickness in the Jot mids seem more prominent, but that's mainly because I am no longer boggling at the strange staging. I think in reality it only changes the staging and not much else. I would recommend anyone else who has issues in this department to give it a go and see what they think.

(NB I am a DIY bozo so I got my phase reversal cable made up by Redco for $20.)

 

Lol funny you posted that! I just fixed my phase reversal cable and am now listening to the Jot again, which says a lot since it's been 24/7 Zana Deux since it's acquisition.

 

@Garns ... Which of the two methods from @Torq post did you use?

"There are two straightforward ways to do this, both of which require a balanced headphone connection/cable:

1. If you have a fully balanced DAC/amp/headphone setup, you can use two “polarity/phase reversal cables”, one between the DAC and amp, and the second between the amp and your headphones.
2. Alternatively, you can invert the polarity/phase of one channel in your music player software** and then use a single “polarity/phase reversal cable” between your amp and your headphone."

Edit: Is method 1 even possible with the Modi Multibit? If I'm reading Torq's post correctly, you need a balanced cable between the DAC and amp.

 

Method 2. I downloaded the Flux Stereotool plugin and use it in my audio player.