I dont think my Jot 2 order will ship until after the holidays, since they have a 7-10 day shipping thing on new orders now, but hope it turns out well. Cant wait to try another $2400 solid state amp!
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The way the shipping is right now, you’re probably better off if they wait until after the holidays to ship. You’ll have a fighting chance to actually receive it.
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I’m in the same boat. Ordered over the weekend, but am fine on waiting. Looking forward to it.
Right now I’d be careful shipping anything valuable. Take pictures of your items and how you packaged it. Lots of temporary employees in the parcel carrier workforce. I just “lost” a package sent to Cardas via UPS. Going through the time consuming back and forth to get reimbursed.
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Years ago when I was doing a lot of buying and selling of used gear the magic number with UPS insurance was $5,000. It flipped some kind of switch with them and they assigned an actual person to my case and they called me with updates until they found the package.
Don’t know if they still work this way but after I discovered it anything I didn’t want to loose got $5,000 insurance.
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I ordered a flag my daughter wanted for Christmas on Nov 30. It made it to Springfield MA (the main hub for our Postal region) 2 days later. It since has left Springfield and returned there from other parts of the country twice. It been there for it’s third visit since Dec 15th and has finally left yesterday. Hopefully I’ll see it today.
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This inspired me to dig out some old Van den Hul “The Second” interconnects, which I bought in the early 90s. They were all the rage back then, because the conductors were made out of carbon, and apparently removed the metallic glare from CD music. They sounded fine on my 2 channel system at the time (or more likely I told myself they sounded fine) but they were much too warm and laid back when I tried them a few months ago with my headphone setup.
I’ve been struggling with the brightness and aggressive sound of the Jot 2, and using these cables helped to tame that. I can now listen using high gain without wincing. These are not a long term solution but it was interesting to use these cables as a tone control, similar to adding a tube buffer.
Bear in mind that I’m still using the J2 single ended. I ordered some XLR cables last night to see if that helps.
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I hope you solve the Jot 2 puzzle.
The early impressions of the Jot 2 seem to be pretty varied. I don’t know whether to view this as a positive or a negative.
I tend to prefer units that are consistent and don’t impact the rest of the chain but there’s also something to be said for the ability to tweak and customize.
It likely isn’t for those demanding plug and play or immediate gratification. It will likely reward others.
The variances seem to be a consequence of its versatility.
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Therein lies some difficulty though, yes?
Unless folks are very clear about what setting and configuration is being reviewed, which you have been btw, it seems that keeping this amps characteristics straight is a challenge. I am curious if that was the intention all along or just a coincidence of the design choices?
I almost purchased this on impulse when news of its arrival broke, I feel fortunate at the moment that I didnt as this one still seems a bit iffy IMO. Its unclear if Schiit has a winner here or not. Apparently the new Vali is a pretty impressive little amp that may be the new star for them. I wont begrudge Schiit too much re the Jot2 as they did make the BF2.
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True and thanks, especially regarding the challenge of keeping characteristics straight. With this product, Schiit would have been better served in setting expectations and providing clearer guidance, and bundling modular XLR/SE headphone cables.
I’m tempted to say it was a consequence of the design choices.
This amp will not be a winner for everyone. I really like my Vali 2. The 2+ is likely an advancement from a technical performance perspective, but I understand less warm and laid back.
I wasn’t as disciplined as you with this product purchase. I was a bit concerned about first batch/run production/assembly errors. Thus far, I don’t regret it.
@PaisleyUnderground congrats on your favorable results with the 2nd Interconnects. Savvy. Jot 2 whispering 
. I’m also wary of certain configurations being too bright and harsh. Toward that end, SE out from BF2, Jot SE in, and switching from Eikon Lambskin to Auteur Lambskin pads have helped.
The XLR cable purchase shouldn’t be futile as you may get different results and it may allow your ears to be exposed to the various permutations of DAC and amp.
Jot 2 preferred configuration for ZMF Eikon with Auteur Lambskin pads (Eikon Lambskin pads previously) for Tea for Tillerman and Chameleon:
BF2 SE out > Jot 2 SE in > XLR out, high gain. For a more tame and relaxed alternative, same except Jot 2 SE out.
Using a SYS and “XLR to RCA cables” out of the BF2 into the SYS, I compared the XLR and SE out of the BF2 feeding the Jot 2 SE in via the SYS. I preferred SE out of the BF2 using both Jot 2 SE and XLR outs - as if higher quality mics, vocalists holding mics closer to their mouth, more details retrieved. It could be that my XLR to RCA cables are inadequate/inferior. Perhaps I need to try one of those black box converters to conclude.
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I will say that the Jot 2 is worth the effort!
With my regular cables (the same ones I use with Lyr 3, Asgard 3, Pendant, Soloist 3XP with no brightness issues), BF2 SE out > Jot SE in > XLR out, high gain was too bright for me. Switching to low gain was better for headphone listening but still a little bright for my powered monitors.
With the Van den Hul cable, BF2 SE out > Jot SE in > XLR out, high gain was perfect for the Verite and Aeolus. The brightness was dialed down, the bass was still tight and the detail was still there. Low gain was better for the Stellia (which sounded good on both SE out and XLR out) and my powered monitors. Those are the same settings I would have used with the Lyr 3 or Asgard 3 (but with the regular cable).
I ordered a pair of Pangea XLR cables from Amazon, which should arrive on Monday. I had enough “cash back” on my Amazon credit card to cover the purchase, so I can pretend it was free. 
I wanted to try the XLR input on both the Jot 2 and the Soloist 3XP, and if I don’t notice any difference on either one, I can return the cable.
I happen to have another pair of Van den Hul The Second cables that are XLR to RCA. These were originally used to connect the XLR output of my CD player to the SE input of my Audio Research preamp, because the dealer who sold me my equipment told me the CD player had better sounding XLR outputs. I used the cables for 20 years with no issues, but when I asked Schiit a few days ago if it was OK to use those cables to connect the BF2 to the Jot, or the Jot to my powered monitors, this was their response:
It’s not safe to use XLR-RCA for any purpose. I would highly advise against that. Use RCA and/or XLR but no conversion cables.
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With a balanced XLR output each channel has a + and - wire (4 in total).
SE connection has 3 wires total: Left +, Right +, Common ground (-).
Converting balanced XLR to SE by tying the two -'s together creates a short between the XLR -'s which is the “bad things happen to amps” part.
Some SE devices offer XLR connectors but they don’t have a true balanced (differential) electrical circuit. The SE common ground is wired to both XLR grounds. This is no-harm-no-foul since there was only a single common ground anyway.
It may be that some differential circuits survive having the channel grounds shorted, but do you really want to do that to your valuable equipment?
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It always amazes me when a new product comes out and all “us” experts get out our “knives” and start excising and tearing it apart for all kinds of reasons…
Often we hear, is it any better that the previous model, is it more expensive, why is the power switch on the back, where is the on/off light and why is it that color, why is the volume knob not this color or that color, why did they use this gain or that gain, can I get it in black, it runs so hot, yadda. yadda, yadda.
There are soooo many settings!! I am so confused! Why did they do this to me???
Oh and how dare they say this is like a $2400 amp! What were they thinking? What did they compare this too?? Why dont they tell me, and tell me now.
Instead of hey here is a new model, that has these “new and improved” features, more power, better specs, multiple inputs, multiple outputs, more switches, more potential versatility, improved design, improved power, yadda, yadda, yadda…
And oh its the “SAME” price!
And then they have the “gall” to tell me if I dont like their Schiit, well go buy someone elses!!
Ah ! The Nerve!
Human Beings are Funny Creatures at Times eh?
OBTW: This is intended to be a satirical commentary on the audio humor of the day…
Happy New Year…now back to trying to figure out this new confusing tech!
Alex
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I suspect if your brand-new improved technology car randomly switched the function of the gas and break pedals you wouldn’t be so amused.
If it’s true that this amp has drastically different sound based on connections and settings then it’s a product that goes against normal expectations and should be clearly labeled and marketed as such.
Yeah thats a good apples to oranges comparison…
And I am sure all other amps have well articulated differences is sounds possible…
And the caveat of “if its true…” is so much a subjective one…
I am looking many amp manuals from other vendors as well to find this valuable information…hmmmm
looking pretty sparse here as well?
Guess I am going to stop using this amp and go back to a simple Asgard or Lyr 3, a lot less stress.
:>)
Alex
Calling all those who Android, v60 pourover using a hand grinder, manual transmission (stick shift), prefer automatic/mechanical over quartz watches.
For all others, please avoid the Jot 2.
Humor.
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Good Morning!!
Comparing the Jot 2 this am to a HPA-1
Very interesting…
Alex
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All three of my Corvettes has stick transmissions!!! Oh yeah!!
No paddle shifters for me!!! LOL
A.
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It’s clear you didn’t understand my post at all.
If we went back and forth enough we could get there but no reason to put the forum through that.
I’ll let it rest here.
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