Justin S

I found the settings in this review quite enjoyable but there are many to try ofc: https://www.headphones.com/community/reviews-learning-and-news/focal-clear-review-ultimate-hd-6x0-upgrade

Whoa. It's like another headphone with those settings. They're more 600-y. I will investigate this further!

Yeah i couldn't go back to stock...

Thanks MellowVelo and roshambo123. I'm going to put more time in with the Hilo - it's the shiny new thing right now - and then do some comparisons and write them up in a thread.

Thanks, Vtory. That's what I'll do. I know it's an older DAC but still in production. I haven't been around that long, so I did not see the Changstar thread or the chart.

@Justin S here's the DAC chart and brief review of the Hilo, in case you didn't see it. https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/marveys-dac-chart-of-awesomeness.63/#post-2086

As good as the Hilo internal headamp is with the Focals, the Jot2 brings the musical and slam to the Senns. With the Clears, the Jot 2 is less than the Hilo headamp.

Jot2 just never really clicked with me. I almost preferred my Asgard 3 in some ways.

I do like the Jot 2 and love it with the Yggdrasil LIM and the Geshelli J2. With the Hilo, it presents rounder, and a bit too thick. The headout on the Hilo is really surprising. I am going to sell the Jot2 and look for a good tube hybrid for some color when I want it.

I hate when that happens.

It lets you instantly flip betwee sources: Zero detectable difference between the USB and AES inputs (Purr1n's magic usb card | PI2AES). Serious clocks?

Even the shitty motherboard optical sounds very good. This thing is crazy. The head out is a bit closer sounding but more resolving than the JOT 2 (it has a dedicated DAC). I think I'll flip the JOT2 and and try to find a tube hybrid for when I want some colour. Any recommends for Focal Clear OG?

2541 sold, used Hilo bought for almost the same price. In the meantime, the Geshelli J2 is valliantly filling in.

Yes. I just turned it off. I had two offers at my price this morning. I'm going to live with it and await the LIM Gungnir :-) What are you running there @rlow ?

Yggdrasil A2 in my 2-channel system, and Modi Multibit in my headphone rig.

Cool. I am definitely curious about the Yggdrasil A2.

I keep going back and forth on it. I feel like I imprinted on the LIM when I first got the Focal and now nothing else is doing it for me. I imagine I should wait a while with the 2541 before making any rash choices.

This is a bit like "watch Justin twist in the wind in real time" but holy jumpin! This thing went from meh (compressed, muddy, soft) towards fabulous (dynamic, spacious, realistic sounding) over the course of the last day - I'm at about 60 hrs on it now.

Well after a couple of weeks in, I decided to sell the 2541. I missed the Yggdrasil.

IIRC you have trim pots on the 8020s? If so you might give digital attenuation a try. Get to max comfortable volume on the pots at digital full scale and attenuate in JRiver/FB2k/Roon etc.

I have been thinking in that direction. 2X2 xlr switcher and be done with it. At least then I won't have 3 volume knobs on my desk (SPL 2control, 2541, Jot2) :-)

Just emailed with Al Freundorfer at Mapletree Audio. He's going to build me a 3in X 2out XLR switcher. My SE source (a video monitor) has a volume control on it and sends more than enough signal with an adapter to the Genelecs for my purposes. So it'll be 2541 | Video Monitor -> MAD Swticher -> Genelecs | Jot 2. That'll be a tidier desk and more importantly, direct connection to the 2541 for monitors and headphones.

The older Allo DigiOne is definitely painful with the BF2>Jot 2>Clears. It sounded great with the LIM - likely better clocking on the Yggdrasil. I'm going to drag my PI2AES to the studio and see how that sits.

Yes. The PI2AES is an improvement over the AlloDigiOne on the Bifrost 2. Without the PIAES, the BF2 presents some itchy treble behaviour over S/PDIF, and I find Unison from my computer on the BF2 from my computer just a bit mushy. While the PI2AES improves the situation, I'm still not 100% convinced my the BF2>Jot2>Clear combination. I find it a touch woolly.

I'll be dammed. My current thinking is that PI2AES+Geshelli J2 > PI2AES+BF2 with the Jot 2. The G-J2 doesn't have the density of the BF2, but it is more spacious and more clear sounding. Looking for a 2541 or Yggdrasil GS now.

Thanks, gents. I have flirted with a number of other forums and the combination of rigor, hilarity, and "f**k that" at SBAF feels like a good fit. Happy to be SBAFs with you all.

You got promoted to Friend for being in the film biz because I'm in the biz too.

Here, you can, and have to, say "fuck". No stars. We don't give stars for stars ;)

Aaaaay. Friend-status! Let the f-bombs fly! Thanks, @purr1n .

I'm an idiot - I was feeding Roon Crossfeed to the Allo when testing this out - it always sounds a bit muffled when comparing to direct feed. PCIE USB board is still better than Mobo USB...

I did the same and have been very happy with the OG Clear. I imagine a Utopia is in my future.

They have arrived. Out of the box, shiny-new-toy first impressions = more bass, more bass texture, more space. Moaaar! I'm sure there's a lot to discern here, but I'll put some burn-hours on them and assess against the Elex this weekend and post in the OG Clear thread.

I put up some brief impressions and a little comparison on the Clear OG thread. The short story is the Clears have better bass extension - almost to a fault, and better detail. They're very likeable. There's a little scoop in the frequency response around the mids that I'll try to figure out. I like them and will be selling the Elex.

No idea what ASR EQ is supposed to be but I imagine they want everything to look like the Harmon curve

The ASR eq is is +7db Low Shelf at 80Hz and a 3db Q3 notch-y bump up at 4700Hz. All this without adjusting for headroom. I tried it for fun - it's coarse and weird. It make the Elex sound more consumer-y. GoldenSound's is a little 1 db lowshelf at 53Hz and a wide 2dB Q0.5 peak at 400hz. It fills out the low midrange a little and adds an almost imperceptible amount of lowbass. It's nice.

Spent a few days with the LIM/JOT2/Elex. The LIM will have go back to the living room in the coming days so I'm now flipping between the Geshelli J2 and the LIM in my suite. The J2 is pretty good. I had been thinking the Elex would require at least a BF2 to get me part way to the LIM. The J2 is a little less "fluid" and doesn't have the heft of the LIM. I'll keep flipping back and forth and see where it leads.

So with the HD600s I strongly preferred the ALLO S/PDIF on the G-J2 and on the Yggdrasil. I found the USB softer and less focused. With the Elex, USB on both is better. It reads as more substantial and spacious with the Elex. (Roon->W10->USB>G-J2 (BAL) | Yggdrasil LIM (SE) -> Jot2 -> BAL -> Elex.) I'm going to try @purr1n's magic USB card now.

Magic USB card installed. My preliminary impression with the card is that USB through the G-J2 and Y-MIL is more clear, spacious and substantial feeling than Mobo USB and the Allo S/PDIF. I'll test more and draw up a post for that thread.

Why does Jot 2 high gain suck compared to low gain (at least with HD6X0)? This was quite confounding to me when I had the loaner. Which reminds me, I need to write up my impressions…

In my system with the HD600s, high gain flattens out the presentation, and glosses over subtleties. It is weird because I associate high gain with emphasising dynamics and staging. On my erish 2, high gain is more engaging.

Also running a Jot 2 + HD600 chain for my work setup. Really enjoy it

I found that the J2 really scaled with something other than my noisy workstation motherboard. I pulled out my old DigiOne last week and it made a significant difference in the sound.

Yup. Adding Modius was an improvement over mobo audio here also.