Schiit Jotunheim impressions

Interesting that half of the people loves the Jotunheim and the other half has problems with it's treble, small soundstage ect.

I love the Vali 2 for what it is but when I first heard the Jot with my Modi Multibit and HD650, it was a "wow" moment for me. Loved the bass and the clarity.
I mostly listen to jazz, soul, folk, hip-hop and with 90% of my music I prefer the Jot.

It is sometimes problematic with badly recorded music, or music with lot of tape hiss where the Vali 2 smoothens out the the sound and makes it more listenable. And with complex music where the lack of depth and smallish soundstage makes the music sound busy and congested.
I hate sibilance but I don't think the Jot makes it worse than the Vali 2.
Recently I got a Teac HA-501 amp and its huge (or accurate) soundstage and depth was eye opening to how bad the Jot is in this regard. But I still like and will keep the Jot. I know a friend who recently sold his Liquid Carbon and kept the Jot. We all have our preferences and different perception of sound.

It seems if you buy it without first listening to it, it could be either your best purchase or your biggest disappointment.

 

I had a Liquid Carbon v2 and the Jot for 6 months, just sold the LC. The LC has lusher mids, especially good for strings and voices, and deeper soundstage, but the Jot won the race for the kinds of music I listen to most. In particular, I feel that drums, cymbals, piano, plucked strings have faster attacks, less muddled timbres, more realistic decays than they had on the LC. When I'm hungering for soundstage, I walk downstairs to my living room system with the Yggdrasil and the Hegel H360

 

Same, sold the Liquid Carbon after a head to head for 2 months with Jot.

 

That's good to know as I've been really wanting to add a Yggdrasil to my H360 too! The Totem Arros have stunning imaging, I really really want that now!!

 

My speaker setup: KEF Reference 1s + REL T7i subs. My living room can't accommodate anything much taller than the Ref 1s on their stands because of a stairway, there's a lot of space above the speakers and my listening position, but enough damping from carpet and sofas to create a somewhat resonant but not boomy space. The Yggdrasil improves considerably over the H360's built-in DAC, everything is just more real and more well separated. And the H360's built-in is no slouch. I had a friend visit who was considering buying an H360 to go with KEF Reference 3 speakers (which he did), but I did the slightly evil thing of A/B-ing the built-in and the Yggdrasil, and even though is not a super-experiencing audiophile, he got it right away. Anyway, back to Jot, one thing I really like is that although the soundstage and overall experience of my living room system is superior to my headphone system, dynamics, color, and timbre are pretty close -- fast, neutral, punchy -- so I don't get a jolt switching between upstairs on headphones and downstairs on speakers.

 

There's lots of good advice on the Vali 2 thread on tube rolling for that amp. So far, I have tried stock, Reflektor 6N23P, Philips Miniwatt PCC88, and Sylvania 6CG7. The 6CG7 give the Vali 2 some milder characteristics of the Jotunheim. e.g. make it a bit faster, punchier, bit more treble sparkle, thinner - but still many rungs below Jot in these qualities (not that Jot is especially thin).

I have Valvo PCC88 and Tungsram PCC88 valves on the way for Vali 2. Also going to try a 5670 type tube. Will post impressions on Vali 2 thread in due course.

You could maybe give the 6CG7 tube a try before risking a Jot. Could give you what you're looking for. The Jot is like marmite, you either love it or hate it

 

Thanks for sharing. I'll take my remaining tube questions to the Vali 2 thread so this thread can remain on topic!

 

Enjoying my lightly modded K702 on the Modi Multibit/Jot. Just bass port sticker removal and rear PVC cup dampening. Sounds fantastic.. punchy, massive soundstage with a slight hint of warmth.

 

I plugged the Jot in tonight as the FedEx man just dropped it off today. I'm going to give it a couple of hours to warm up before I really listen critically but right away the attack and slam are impressive. Bass notes have real authority. The tone isn't as warm and friendly as the Lyr 2 with LISST that I just unplugged and am used to but that may change as the unit warms up. My current setup is Metrum Musette to the Jot using XLR out to a modded HE-400S.

On high gain, 9 o'clock on the dial is about as loud as I want to get with this headphone. This beast has power to spare.

 

You've probably already seen this referred to in the thread, but leaving it on 24/7 DOES seem to make a difference in terms of harshness.

I'd never rule out mental burn-in, but whatever the case, I currently find it a very nice and balanced presentation with the HD650.

**EDIT**

Of course, it will NEVER be as friendly as the Lyr 2. I have the Vali 2/HE-500 combo on hand to scratch that particular warm/musical itch.

 

So do you recommend having it on for extended period of time?

 

Last time mine was turned off was to bring it to a headphone meet.

 

Same here. I haven't turned it off since it arrived several months ago.

I'd flip it off if I were going on vacation or something, but otherwise there's no need. Just treat it like a computer.

 

I posted a summary in the Schiit amp compendium thread but leaving the Jot on overnight made a big difference to my ears. After 24 hours it sounded clear, powerful and detailed but not harsh in any way. I do have the Jot paired with a Metrum Musette which is a very sweet sounding DAC so it may also be taking some of the edge off. All I can tell you is that I absolutely love the pairing. The sound is immaculately detailed, sharp as a blade and yet retains that NOS musicality that I adore. And for what it's worth I don't feel that the Jot is holding back the Musette in any way, shape or form despite the Musette costing almost three times as much.

 

It's the Metrum, use a more neutral DAC and hear sharp as a razor blade become your head is stuck in a guillotine. Metrum Pavane -> Magni 2U -> stock HD 800 was perfectly fine which says a lot. The Modi Multibit is also okay here too.

 

It might be my old hearing, but Bifrost Multibit>Jot does not sound that sharp for me. I can listen to many hours of jazz and classical through Ether C Flows. In fact, I recently sold a Liquid Carbon that I did not like as much as the Jot, too lush and a bit fuzzier in the higher frequencies. Maybe we should cluster impressions according to age

 

Well crap, now we got different kinds of synergy as well . Collect em' all, I guess... TBH at this point I don't know what amp HD650 doesn't synergize with well.

 

I've got Bifrost Multibit>Jot too and hear no razor blades. Can listen for hours on the Elear. I've got 45+ year old ears too.

 

I have Bifrost Multibit/Saga/Jot, and a collection of ears. After ear rolling, I did find that the 37+ year old ear provided better overall balance than the 22yo or 49yo ears on my Eikons.