What I enjoy most about Amos' reviews is that he uses his technical knowledge to explain audio concepts in a simple way that anyone can understand. And this really does make his videos both helpful and enjoyable.
Thanks for the review was really informative and I enjoy your presentation on the couple other videos I watched tonight (just found your channel a few days ago and had time). Signed up a patron, keep up the great review!
Compared to my chi-fi amps that measure quite a bit better all my headphones except one sound better with the Jot2 and a few sound a lot better. The THX amps and other like it can be to clinical sounding and music just sounds dull or even boring but with the Jot2 there's a more musical and fun sound with just as much detail as the chi-fi amps imo. I love the Jot2 and it pairs extremely well with my Neo and I feel like it's the best amp I've owned so far.
do you have a tract to test airiness on sources where the track will sound airy and bright on one source, but instantly lose that airiness and spaciousness on a more fun sounding source? I ask this because I want to make sure the Jot2 will not do this.
Yes, Jot2 is a ballsy amp. Very musical and enjoyable. I totally agree. Compared to the THX AAA stuff, this is punchier, has better bass definition, slightly warm and rounded off (kinda like tube hybirds), with actual depth, but somewhat narrow in width (still way wider than say a Magni3). Detail retrieval I'd say is on par with the THX stuff, maybe a smidge blurier at times in the treble, but the bass definitely is better defined on the Jot2.
I just got a Jotunheim 2, had an Asgard 3 but I wanted to go balanced, and also felt like it would be a better pairing with the Bifrost 2/64 and Focal Clear MG and Focal Radiance, which yes it is. It's definitely punchier, the kicks in a lot of my favourite songs seem to feel deeper and there's a everything is maybe a bit cleaner, while the soundstage maybe is a little wider, for gaming I feel like I can pinpoint stuff even better than the Asgard. That being said, the upgrade for many wouldn't be worth it. I definitely think the Single Ended output sounded better than the Asgard and it's not too much different from the Balanced output to my ears, but Balanced outputs more power. The Jotunheim is the better buy, being more versatile, but if you don't see yourself ever going balanced, then the Asgard 3 is still great.
@@upltsk00 I just got one in myself, went with the Multibit DAC. I see no reason to buy Schiit DACs if you aren't choosing their Multibit stuff, it's how they sound best.
@@RaKnows Yeah, I think in most cases if you're buying something like an Asgard 3 or Jotunheim 2, or anything higher end, the Bifrost 2 is worth getting since it does make a pretty big difference I found. It does also depend on the headphones being used of course.
Mate I am so glad I found your channel. It’s made me realise how many of the “Audiophiles” on here don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m Tasmanian so it’s a pleasure to listen to your very articulate and detailed descriptions. My hat goes off to you sir. I have a chord Mojo 1 driving, Audeze LCD2C what would be a better matching DAC/Amp?
I agree I have the Jot 1 and NFB1 and the Jot does have the old school punchy sound. The NFB is more open and slightly smoother, Bass hits harder on the Jot but the NFB can hit some low lows.
I'm running balanced Sundara with a Jotunheim 2. Using Schiit Freya S preamp for remote controlled source switching and volume control. Sounds excellent IMHO.
What amp do you use for the pair? What do you think of the amplification of the Jot 2? Is it able to feed hungry cans such as Hifiman HE-6se and LCD-4? Thank you
Good video, but how does the Schiit Jotunheim 2 compair with the offerings from Lehmann audio? Yes, Lehmann are only single ended but does that really matter if the amp is well designed.
Thank you for your thorough video. I own the Meze 109 pro and was wondering how they would pair with the Jotunheim 2. Could you recommend a 3rd party xlr cable for the 109’s?
8:59 can you recommend a clean sounding amp that isn't THX that has great dynamics that is not flat? which amp has big enough power supply? is there one better than or similar to Master 9 now for better value or more budget friendly?
Thinking about an asgard 3 or the jotunheim 2. I have a dt1990, sph500, Ad900x, about to get a t1 2nd Gen. Have a schiit heresy and a topping e30 to start. I was using a creative g6 to start, but it wasn't powerful enough to drive the dt1990 fully. Is the jotunheim 2 really worth it over the asgard 3?
Do you think that the jot2 works well for easy to drive headphones (like focals) and IEMs? Or is it so much power that the usable volume settings are limited?
Now this is a very important info because I was planning to purchase jot 2 for my grado with 38ohm impedance. I know it doesn't need the power that jot 2 offers but I am planning to buy a HEDDphone in the future so I thought I might just invest in jot 2 since it got both single ended and balanced port. I planned to use the single ended for grado and balanced for the HEDDphone. Guess I will go with Asgard 3 instead. Thanks for asking this question!
excellent review thank you, I was thinking of matching a topping d30 pro with this, wondered if you had any experience or thoughts on this, don't want a warm DAC with the Jotunheim also the preamp function would be good for taming the power
Made my decision! Gonna purchase this to pair with my Gustard x26 pro dac! But do I need to add the dac module on the jot 2 when I purchase, our I can keep it off since I already have a dedicated dac! Thanks
I have a Asgard 3 paired with a Modius currently powering Audeze LCD-XC 2021. This is a very good pairing. I have a Jot 2 on order and just got Cardas Clear Light balanced cable hoping to get a little more resolution and slam. Can you please give me some insight as to what I should expect with the Jot 2 SE and balanced compared to Asgard 3? Thanks!
It would have been nice if you said how it is with IEM's and a few other normal stuff. The Susvara is the Extreme end of the difficult to drive spectrum and a quirky headphone and a good Schiit test lol.
The Magnius uses a wall-wart, so I highly doubt it. It's just a basic, generic chip-amp for people who see the word "balanced" and the price (and probably measurements) and buy it. I expect it's decent though.
Well honestly Asgard 3, Jotunheim 2 and Lyr 3 can all drive LCD-X well. Jotunheim 2's main power comes from balanced output though, which means you gotta pay $150 to Audeze for their balanced cable for LCD-X. I personally think going Asgard 3 is the way to go. Even one of Schiit co-founders uses Asgard 3 + Bitfrost 2 as his main set up so it can't be too bad.
Did you read the web site correctly? It says: • The LCD-X Premium Edition comes with both Balanced and Single-ended cables, the 1/4" to 1/8" stereo adapter, and our premium travel case. • The LCD-X Creator Edition comes with the Standard Single-ended cable and our new economy travel case. Even so, you can buy Audeze compatible headphone cables from various companies for less than what Audeze charges.
Would like to know this too. Have you reviewed the Singxer SA-1 would you say the JOT 2 is better with Planers like the Ananda and with hip-hop, Rap and R&B reggae music etc
If you can, go to a CanJam. You can usually try all high-end headphones there. If you're ever considering coming to Japan, contact me through the contact form on hear.audio. :)
I wish he'd explain the switches. Will this device let me switch between preamp Out to my powered speakers and the headphone and control the volume of both with the single knob? Also, can I switch between the balanced in and the phono-in assuming I had the phono module?
I don't get why you keep saying Jotunheim 2 is better than Asgard 3 from single ended output... Asgard 3 has clearly more power from single ended output. Asgard 3 has 300mW at 600 ohms, Jotunheim 2 only 165mW. Jotunheim 2 naturally is better from balanced, but you specifically said its better from single ended which just seems odd to me.
I'm talking about actual sound quality, something that power figures wont show you. The single-ended output of the Jotunheim was clearer than the Asgard.