No posts from me.
All my statement is based on my having the JOT 2 here a few months before announce in testing and comparing with higher priced amps that i had in house when I compared.
For me it easily compares well with amps way above $399. But thats “my” experience.
YMMV
Alex
Interesting discussions here.
First off, Knives Out was one of my two or three fav movies last year. Parasite being the other, and i also liked jojo rabbit. 
Secondly, I’m keen to try the Jot 2 even more now. I currently use the bright A90 and the warm Elise, though this would potentially replace the A90. It’ll be interesting how they compare.
I had the original Jot and it was not as bright as the A90 when I compared both.
Asgard 3 is a great amp. I may end up getting one again someday. Its a great bargain.
Thanks for putting in the effort and sharing the results.
I’m leaning now toward the Asgard 3 and putting the $200 toward a mid-level IEM.
In the interest of full disclosure, I will be returning my Jot 2. My prior observations that it performs quite capably remain unchanged, and I continue to recommend that others consider whether the Jot 2 may be the right fit in their systems.
Given the other amps that I own (with 1 other amp in the process of being built), the Jot 2 would likely get limited use, via either its balanced (vs my LTA MZ2) or SE (vs my Vali 2 and incoming tube amp) outputs. I was prepared for that when I purchased the Jot 2, but also was unexpectedly presented with an opportunity to trade some gear last week that required me to come up with some cash on my side.
All things considered, I decided to return the Jot 2.
Got my replacement Jot 2 in. Spent the evening listening and comparing it. These are just initial impressions, so bear with me. Bifrost 2 > Jot 2 (Bal in/out, high gain) > Empyrean & Verite Closed.
On the first unit I said:
The unit I have now has very good impact, bite, and definition. In fact, it might be one of this amp’s best qualities. The smoothed over / round attack quality is gone. (So is the ‘blown speaker’ sound. Thank goodness!) “Return to the Sauce” by Infected Mushroom is a track that has so many elements to it that just highlight these qualities with snappy clicks and other effects, and it’s a fun listen to boot. Guitar attack on Blues tracks like “Miss Ida B.” by Buddy Guy and “St. James Infirmary” performed by Hans Theessink sound immediate and correct, with bite when called for. Luckily, it isn’t overdoing it either.
Treble - on “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones, I’m not left wincing when she goes high and really belts out a few notes. It doesn’t sound harsh when she pushes it either. The same is true for “Fire on the Floor” by Beth Hart. It seems free of grain and emphasis, but it’s not lacking detail at all. This might be some of the best solid state treble I’ve heard. All of my “does it hurt” tracks to test treble just sound great, and no, it doesn’t hurt. The track “Bright Lights” by Gary Clark, Jr. will normally wear me down with the snare drums. I love the song, but it seems to be a causality of the loudness wars or some overemphasis placed during mastering. I’m not getting as much of the fatigue I usually get on this track.
Bass - It kicks. Good slam. No one-note or flabbiness here. I don’t particularly like the song, but it’s a good test for bass: “Three Ralphs” by DJ Shadow. Give it a spin. I’d say it also passes Torq’s “Chameleon” by Trentemoller test. Moving through various blues and rock tracks, bass guitar and kick drums all seem spot on. No complains from me here.
Mids - I’m still getting a super tiny slight feeling of recession here. Less than on the first unit I had, and only on some tracks. “Something Good Coming” by Tom Petty seems to have a hint of this, but “Rock Me” by Great White does not. Opeth’s “Ghost of Perdition” sounds great, but Mastodon’s “Andromeda” and “Black Tongue” seem just a touch hollow. It’s very subtle. It’s not even bothersome. It may be that the speedy and impactful quality of the bass and treble are intruding a bit here, making it seem that way? Will investigate more.
ok, need sleep.
OK, that’s weird, because the treble really hurt my ears (a lot) until I used my VDH cables to tame the highs. This was for every song, not just the “does it hurt” tracks.
I was comparing to a Lyr 3 (with Treasure Globe tube that has good highs), Burson Soloist (which has extended but not piercing treble, and to me has the “best SS highs” that you’re describing for the Jot) and Pendant (slightly rolled off compared to the Burson) using exactly the same cables. All fed from BF2, and using Verite and Stellia.
Now I wonder if I got a defective amp.
Makes me wonder if this is more prevalent than we think. It would support the varied conclusions folks have drawn about this amp.
@ProfFalkin makes me more interested in this now. Nice summary/review. Not buying just in case this is a more common production issue and they don’t have their schiit together.
@PaisleyUnderground Jot 2 balanced out, high gain may have just the right amount of treble for the Empyrean, but may be too much for the Stellia, taking into account their native tonality. As for the Verite, it might come down to preferences or varying treble sensitivity (or slight product variation). Such configuration was pleasant with my VC. I hope you didn’t get a defective amp.
I wondered if it was down to my personal taste, but that would contradict my experience with the Lyr 3, Asgard 3, Pendant and Soloist, where my listening experience is consistent with other people’s accounts.
I kept the Jot 2 because it sounds wonderful as a pre-amp for my powered monitors, as long as I’m using my VDH “treble filter” interconnects. Ironically, I chose it over the A3 because I thought the A3 rolled off the treble slightly. I don’t know if I’ll use the Jot as a headphone amp because the Soloist and Pendant both sound better to me and I’m always going to reach for them. And the Lyr 3 has a wonderfully musical sound with my Stellia, so I do listen to that combination every now and then.
But that’s OK. I wanted a solid state pre-amp to drive my monitors, and I’m fine paying $399 for that. But if my amp is defective, I would like to know. If nothing else, I don’t want to tell people it’s bright if that’s only the case with my unit.
Good point. It’s instances such as this where I generally avoid generation 1, just released products.
Jot 2 balanced (especially high gain) likely has greater treble extension/presence than the A3. I’m glad there still is a use case for the Jot 2 in your system as a solid-state speaker pre-amp. It might be worth having Schiit take a look at it.
It’s odd that with the Eikon (Jot 2 balanced out and high gain), I sometimes found there to be excessive treble. I didn’t think that with the VC (but I only listened using SE in). I also got the VC at a later point in time and didn’t do as much critical listening/comparisons as with the Eikon. My ears also could have become more acclimated to the Jot 2 by then (or there was some amp burn in). Notwithstanding all of the above, I was always able to find a configuration that delivered pleasing sonics.
The Auteur was treblish at times so I don’t think it’s surprising to hear you say that about the Eikon.
I was rather surprised by the Jot2 treble myself, as I was expecting a brighter sound myself. I can’t quite put into words the somewhat paradoxical sound of it either. It has more attack, impact and detail than many of my other amps without doing it in the usual more treble volume = more detail method.
I already compared it to my BW2, and it makes the BW2 sound a little mid-centric and soft, with less overall impact. Anyone who has heard the BW2 might understand why that is significant.
As for unit variations, I don’t know what others have reported. I’ve been avoiding Jot2 reviews as not to bias my impressions.
Thoughts on a Utopia pairing?
Probably overkill? My head would probably implode.
The Utopia sounded like a impact and speed nail driver when I had the loaner unit in house. It seemed forced and over emphasized to me, and that was with the T4/3F, Pendant, Asgard 3, etc. Amps that are supposedly great pairings with Focal headphones.
Tonally, it would probably be very very good. It has great bass, and seeing how it drives the VC (which is probably my most treble heavy headphone) without leaving my cringing on bright songs, it might tame enough of the top end enough I would enjoy it more.
I know we do have differing opinions re the Utopia but I agree it can be over dynamic with the wrong gear.
Jot2 may be too much push for the U but may not be bad treble wise, if I’m understanding your tonality assessment.
Yeah, edited the above for that.
Not to interject @ProfFalkin, but if the Jot 2 balanced out, high gain is excessive with the U, low gain or SE out might be favorable.
I suppose it depends on which of our Jots is representative of the “true sound” of the amp. If someone uses my Jot 2 with a Utopia, I can imagine their ears bleeding.
Ouch! And without the particular cables. I believe you’ve landed on a favorable configuration of the Jot 2 with your Stellia?
Yeah, this morning I set out to explore the SE/balanced, high/low gain differences, and got 20 min into experiments when real life intruded.
It seems at first blush that impact/slam seems entirely controlable in a progressive way. It seemed like SE + low gain was a very normal sound, a softer sound even. Going to SE + high lent a bit more excitement. Balanced + low had more still. Bal + high was where my impressions were made.
So, if bal + high is just too forceful, you could just step it down a notch or two by going different gain or SE.