Schiit Jotunheim impressions

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Bill-P, Aug 30, 2016.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    14022xx OG Jot.
     
  2. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Thanks Marv! So 14026XX should be the newer version then? Or just means it’s roughly the 400+ unit, which may still be fairly old...

    Edit: Nvm, I think I figured it out looking at some older for sale ads - I found an ad from Nov 2016 that said it was 2 months old, and had serial 1402583, which is only about 20 units behind the one I’m looking at. So i think I’ll pass on this one and wait for a newer one.

    Thanks for the help folks.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2020
  3. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    Maybe I'm dumb here but wouldn't 14025xx be later than 14022xx and therefore NOT OG Jot?

    I've got a 14045xx so newer or OG me wonders ...
     
  4. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Yes, but it depends when the revision was made. Hard to nail down, but seems like maybe the revision happened sometime in 2017, but 14025xx seems to have been made prior to Nov 2016. Jot launched around Aug/Sept 2016, so very likely the OG version.

    Your serial seems much later, so you may have the revision but not sure. To play it safe, I’m trying to get one under 2 years old.
     
  5. Andre Y

    Andre Y Friend

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    I just got the ES9028 card for my very old Jotunheim 1, and installed it myself. I got it mainly because I was curious about Unison, and it replaced the AKM4490 card that came with the Jot (ver. 1.01 "passive balanced DAC"), which I've been told has been revised since, with my version said to have a sharper, more forward sound compared to later versions.

    Some notes on installing it since it came with no instructions.

    1. There are videos on YouTube showing how to open the Jot, so I won't go over that except to say there is a sweet spot where you slide the top cover off that the mushrooms don't catch on the far end of the keyhole, and it's a matter of millimeters, so go slowly and be patient when sliding the cover forward. Try to slide it forward evenly on the left and right sides, as it will get stuck easily if the cover is crooked.

    2. The original card stood on its edge, so it was perpendicular to the board, but the ES9028 sits parallel to the board, and you can tell because the pins that plug into the main board are straight instead of bent. Because of this, there is a standoff that comes with the ES9028 that screws in the the hole where the AKM card's L bracket was screwed into to support the card.

    3. Speaking of L brackets, the ES9028 comes with a small L bracket to attach the endplate that the USB-C port sticks through to the DAC card. The plate basically has one correct orientation because there are 3 holes that need to be aligned, so test fit it before screwing things in. Use the black screws for the externally visble screws (two of them on the plate), and the two silver screws for the insides (the L-bracket to card connection, and the card to standoff connection).

    This L-bracket is also not symmetrical: use the shorter leg on the rear panel, and the longer leg attaches to the DAC card. It's good to loosely test fit things to find this out!

    4. I found it easier to screw the rear panel into the chassis first, and then install the card because it made it easier to plug the card into the main board's socket. So to get the L-bracket square, attach the plate to the DAC card first, make sure the L bracket and rear panel are all aligned, and then unscrew just the rear panel from the card. This way when you put the card into the main board with the rear panel already screwed into the chassis, the L-bracket will be aligned with the panel and its screw hole.

    The card doesn't seem to plug very deeply into the main board socket, and that's OK. It just has very long pins to reach down to the socket.

    5. Putting it back together was a little fiddley, but go slowly, and you'll get it done. Don't force anything. Two things to be aware of: aligning the power LED to the hole in the panel (I used tweezers), and making sure the headphone jacks fit through their panel holes. It's easy to get the lid into a position where it's slightly lifted, and the headphone jacks don't align with the holes anymore, and since it's a very tight fit, you won't be able to fully close the lid. I found it was helpful to slide both sides in evenly, so the left and right sides were sliding back at the same pace. This helped with getting the mushrooms in the keyholes and not getting stuck. It's a pretty precise fit, so the assembly doesn't have a lot of room for slop and things will get stuck if you get a little bit out of alignment.

    Since the Jot takes balanced signals from its input card, I left the switch on the ES9028 card on the "Bal" setting. There is an SE setting which I presume is for Asgard and Lyr, which are single-ended devices. I'm guessing Rag uses the Bal setting, but ask Schiit if you're installing this yourself.

    The chips on the board besides the ES9028 include the LME49724 and OPA1662 on the ESS chip's outputs. I'm guessing it's like Modius in that the LME49724 does the balanced analog outs, and the OPA1662 does the single-ended outputs. There's also a PIC chip and some clocks which are probably the Unison section. There's also a voltage regulator close to the output stages. Like Jason mentioned, the USB-C port is through hole mounted, so it should be more robust than a surface-mount part. And all the components are on one side of the board only: the other side has nothing.

    Anyway, it sounds great, and I have no complaints, but I can't really compare it to the original DAC card since one had to go out for the other to go in. I'm not sure I'd recommend self-installation for beginners.
     
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  6. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Hey, a bit of a blast from the past, and I know people are enjoying the Jot 2 now.. but I have an early production OG Jot (no DAC/phono addon) that is getting squirrely. It often doesn't power on right away, and needs a bit of fiddling.

    I've been unable to narrow down if the "fiddling" is simply that the power switch needs to be on for a while so it's powered until the amp wakes up (dying power caps or something?) or that in my impatience, I have nudged something marginal by touching it- or maybe thermal expansion making a dry-ish joint start working.

    Sometimes it powers up just fine. Other times it takes a couple of minutes. I've obviously swapped out the power lead for a known good one and made sure there's nothing amiss with the power outlet.

    I've had it from new, it has never been opened, so there's no monkey business. I was just wondering if this was a known failure mode, and if so, the best way to deal with it. I don't really want to replace it as I swear that the damn thing sounds better in its dotage than it ever did.
     
  7. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    Good to see you!
     
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  8. BearFacts

    BearFacts Acquaintance

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    Not sure if it is the same issue, but I had a power related problem with my Valhalla, and it turned out to be a cold solder joint at the power toggle switch. I reflowed the solder at the connection points on the pcb and all has been good since.
     
  9. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Yes, I did wonder about that, a few minutes does feel a lot like thermal expansion of a joint or something. That said, not sure if I am up for unloading some caps through my little soldering iron/myself due to lack of skills.

    Hey @Wilson, glad to see you're still around :)
     
  10. batriq

    batriq Probably has made you smarter

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    Not sure where you are but happy to help. Feel free to DM me.
     
  11. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Yeah, it's definitely something amiss around the switch, it's deteriorating to the point where it needs An Wiggle(tm) to come on. I suppose that's good in a way, it's a relatively simple thing if it's the switch disintegrating, or the soldering of the switch to the PCB dying.
     
  12. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Ok, sorry for following myself up, but it's def. the switch distintegrating, you can feel it now. That's at least quite easy to understand.

    @schiit - Hey Jason, could you give me a part number for a 2016 early production run (September or so) Jotunheim power switch please?

    I'm going to use it as an excuse to replace the unit with a Jot 2 anyway, but I'd like to try to get the original up and working again as a spare, as it's a useful device. Seems silly to abandon it for a small part like that.
     
  13. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    They're custom switches--email [email protected] and let them know you need a DPDT power switch, and I'm sure they'll send you one.
     
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  14. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Oh, that'd be handy. Cheers :)
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Thanks for saving the environment, saving old out of warranty gear, instead of recycling putting it on ship bound for a toxic junkyard somewhere in Africa.
     
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  16. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    That said, $5 for the switch is fine... $35.10-$79.48 to ship it... not so much. That might actually doom the poor old Jot.
     
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  17. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Any chance these guys might have that part? https://www.schiit.co.uk/ (Contact links at the bottom)
     
  18. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    I doubt it, they rarely even have normal stock. I often have to buy direct, but I'll drop them a mail just in case.
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2023
  19. BearFacts

    BearFacts Acquaintance

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    If you are going to keep the unit and just use it as a spare, and if it just the power switch, I would think that you (or someone local that is handy with a soldering iron) could rig an alternate switch.
     
  20. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Well now, the UK dealer has proven unexpectedly helpful, thanks Mark!

    switch.jpg
     
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