Schiit Audio Jotunheim

I have been into this amazing hobby for about 4 years now. I have bought all of my own equipment and my reviews and impressions are my honest opinion. I am a amp collector, and feel a person can not have enough amps, especially good mid level headphone amps. I have been watching a lot of Netflix and wanted to use my headphones, without using my TOTL amps. I am a fan of Schiit Audio and own a lot of hot Schiit. And when I heard about Schiit Audio’s balanced Jotunheim, I snagged one in a New York minute. I chose to get my Jotunheim in black. I chose only to get the amp only.
I really like the heavy metal/. Industrial design of the Jotunheim. This amp is nice and heavy and will stay on the desk and not readily slide about. This plucky black amp even seems impervious to the antics of my fat cat Kali. On the back side of this amp, is the Power button, single end RCA/ unbalanced inputs and XLR balanced inputs as well as RCA pre outs. On the front there are two switches and a volume knob. One switch allows for the selection between the phono, dac and amp functions. The other switch is for Low or high gain.
The Jotunheim balanced amps sounds very, very nice indeed. If this amp had been out, when I started this wonderful hobby, I would not had gotten the Schiit Audio Asgard 2, Lyr 2 or my Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon. This sweet little amp has almost every connection that a fellow audiophile could need.. It has SE and balanced inputs and SE and XLR headphone out jacks. And more importantly the Jotunheim has plenty of power to drive any headphone. Furthermore the Single end audio architecture is the best found in any Schiit Audio Amp. The previous Sumpter circuit was alright but the new design just sounds much better to my humble ears.
And to my humble ears the Jotunheim sounds quite good. The bass is nice and impactful, The mids are sweet with just a touch of edginess. The treble is good and was not sybylant. The sound stage is nice and the imaging is fairly detailed. Furthermore this amps has plenty of power and could drive all of my headphones. I really like how my Audeze iSine 20 and Mr Speakers Aeon Closedback sounds out of this amp.
I am very impressed with Schiit Audio’s Jotunheim. This black beast of a amp sounds great and can drive any IEM or headphone one should have, This solid stage amp is versatile and has plenty of inputs and outputs. I think the Jotunheim is a great sounding mid level amp, especially for the money.
I used the following equipment for this review.
DAP: Questyle QP1R
DAC: Schiit Audio Yggdrasil and Gungnir

INTRODUCTION

Schiit audio has been gaining some great reputation for coming up with the best bang for the buck dacs and amps. They do not produce too many dac/amp combos, rather, they like to go and build individuals amps and dacs. Jotunheim is one of their two dac/amps, the other being the Fulla. Nevertheless Jotunheim is not your daily dac/amp, these surprised many audio enthusiasts with its performance and I will tell you why in this review.

ABOUT SCHIIT AUDIO

from their website:

Schiit got started in 2010 when two audio industry veterans decided it was time to shake things up a bit. The two audiophiles are Jason Stoddard, formerly of Sumo, and Mike Moffat, formerly of Theta. Together, they have designed dozens of audio and A/V products, from the Andromeda III to the Cobalt 307 to the DS Pre and Angstrom 200.

So, yeah: fully balanced differential power amplifiers, fully discrete I/V conversion stages, audiophile D/A converters, relay-switched stepped attenuator volume controls in preamps. the first DTS home theater surround processor on the market . . . we’ve done a ton of stuff.

In the old days, audiophiles went up the food chain from the table radio to the console stereo to separate speakers the size of refrigerators and monoblocks that would cook a cat. Today, nobody starts with a table radio. Everyone—and we mean everyone—starts with headphones.

So, yeah. We do a lot of headphone stuff. Or “Personal Audio,” as they’re starting to call it. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have products that are totally comfortable in a speaker-based system, from all of our DACs, to the Mani phono preamp, to the Ragnarok integrated amp. Whether you’re looking at personal audio or at a speaker-based system, we have fun, affordable products that’ll put a smile on your face.

Mike Moffat separately aligns each molecule of every JFET, using a special Absolute Zero containment suit…er, well, no. What makes them special are three things:

Unique Multibit DAC and Digital Filter Technologies
Today, virtually every DAC uses a reduced-bit technology known as “delta sigma.” Multibit DACs have largely gone by the wayside, thanks to less-expensive delta-sigma technology. The few multibit DACs that exist either use NOS (new old stock) D/A chips, one of two or three still-extant multibit chips, or build their own R2R ladders at high cost. We’ve always believed that multibit DACs provide the best sonic performance, especially when coupled with Schiit’s unique, DSP-based closed-form digital filter. This is why we created two entirely new multibit DAC architectures using current-production, medical/military grade D/A converters that have linearity specs far exceeding any audio DAC. If you’d like to learn more, read about Yggdrasil, Gungnir Multibit, or Bifrost Multibit.

Innovative Analog Approaches
On the analog side, we’ve also taken innovative approaches, each uniquely designed for the task at hand. Even our least expensive headphone amplifier is essentially a miniature, fully discrete, DC coupled, Lin-topology power amplifier. We’ve introduced unique output stages to wring more power out of Lyr 2 with its Dynamically Adaptive output, re-introduced inherently balanced topologies like the circlotron in Mjolnir 2, and created unique “analog computer-style” protection systems. For Ragnarok, we introduced the entirely new concept of 100% intelligent microprocessor management of the entire amplifier–from bias to DC level to overcorrect protection…and included a relay-switched stepped attenuator, for perfect channel matching and no ICs in the signal path…and also created an amplifier that’s comfortable driving everything, from tiny IEMs to giant speakers.

Designed for the Real World
The real world is a complex place, which is why all of our products are overbuilt. Pick up one of our affordable Valhalla 2 or Lyr 2 amps, and marvel at the weight, heft, and solidity (each of those two amplifiers use two separate transformers with real high-voltage supplies—an approach that’s usually far beyond their modest price. Then, we test them extensively with Stanford Research audio analyzers (and our ears), and we burn-in every product from Asgard 2 on up for a minimum of 1 day to help catch any early failures. (Ragnarok and Yggdrasil get 4 days each). We also keep very close tabs on any service and support needs, so you can rest assured of years of great sound.

And—it bears mentioning—we believe that close-coupled, local control of all of the aspects of production delivers better products. That’s why we design and produce our stuff here in the USA, with the vast majority of parts cost going to US-based companies manufacturing in the US. We need all of that clarification in there because some people have played games with what “Made in USA” means. When we say it, it means that our chassis guys are right over the hill in the San Fernando Valley, our transformers are made here in California, our boards come from the east coast (of the USA), and we design, assemble, and test everything here in Valencia, California.

DISCLAIMER

This unit was purchased for review purposes. As usual, my reviews are unbiased.



SPECS

Amplifier:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 2Hz-700KHz, -3dB
Balanced Headphone Output:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 7500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 5000mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 3000mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 900mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 500mW RMS per channel
Single-Ended Headphone Output:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 2500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 1500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 800mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 350mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 175mW RMS per channel
THD: <0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS
IMD: <0.0015%, CCIR
SNR: >109db, A-weighted, referenced to 1V RMS
Crosstalk: >-70dB, 20 Hz-20KHz
Output Impedance: Less than 0.1 ohms, balanced or SE, at both gain settings
Gain: 2 (6dB) or 8 (14dB), selectable via front switch
Inputs: Balanced XLR and Single-Ended RCA, selectable via front switch
Outputs: Balanced headphone (4-pin XLR), single-ended headphone (1/4” TRS), balanced line preamp, single-ended line preamp
Optional Inputs: AK4490 Balanced USB DAC or Passive MM Phono
Gain Stage: Proprietary Schiit Pivot Point™ fully discrete differential current-feedback topology
Power Supply: One 48VA transformer with 6 stages of discrete or integrated regulation and over 70,000uF total filter capacitance

Optional Dual AK4490 DAC:
USB Input Receiver: C-Media CM6631A
D/A Conversion IC: AK4490 x 2
Input Capability: up to 24/192, including 24/176.4
Analog Output: fully differential, passive summing and passive filtering
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB, 2-100kHz, -3dB
Maximum Output: 2.0V RMS
THD: <0.0015%, 20Hz-20KHz, full scale
IMD: <0.002%, CCIR
S/N: >106dB, referenced to 2V RMS, unweighted

Optional Passive Filtered Phono Stage:
Gain: 42dB
THD: <0.01%, A-weighted, at 1V RMS
SNR: >80dB, A-weighted, inputs shorted
Crosstalk: -70dB, 20-20kHz
Sensitivity: 2.3mV for 400mV output
Overload Margin: >20dB
Input Impedance: 47k ohms
Input Capacitance: 100pf
RIAA Accuracy: +/- 0.25dB, 20-20kHz
Topology: Fully passive RIAA network with AD8599 gain stages and PET film capacitors throughout, DC coupled, with DC servo

Power Consumption: 25W typical
Size: 9” x 6” x 2”
Weight: 6 lbs
THE BUILD QUALITY

Balanced and quarter inch input for headphones in front of the unit



Balanced input and output / RCA input and output at the back of the unit



full metal/aluminum design. Very sturdy with thick rubber feet installed. The design is simple with 2 gain setting (low/high) and a switch to change options (user manual is useful for this).



What I have here is only the amp itself, but you can get a balanced dac or phono option for extra 100 dollars.

my only complaint is that the on/off switch is at the back, making it inconvenient for those tucking it in somewhere.



SOUND QUALITY

Clean and powerful. Neutral with a hint of warmth. Trying with multiple dacs, the conclusion was that the amp is very clean but does lack the ability to really dig in and extract the last bits of details/dynamics of the music. However, the amp should be able to run anything clean and effortlessly. I wish I had a pair of he6 to test that theory.

Overall Thoughts

Best price for a truly balanced amp. Truly amazed.

It been a while since I had an All in one Dac/amp setup, Last time I had one this was some years ago when I owned an Audio-GD NFB15.32. The Schiit Jotunheim had all of the features I wanted in an All in one.



For headphones the front of the unit has a 6.3m connection which is your standard headphone jack, most people will need to use a 3.5 to 6.3m adapter to plug their headphones. On the right side of it is the XLR 4 pin balanced connector, which is where those with headphones that need far more power then what the standard jack provide. Usually people would need to rewire there headphones to use it, unless you own headphones that are design with removable cables, which means all it would take is a cable swap to use it.





Single-Ended Headphone Output:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 2500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 1500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 800mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 350mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 175mW RMS per channel





Balanced Headphone Output:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 7500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 5000mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 3000mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 900mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 500mW RMS per channel



As you can see it has plenty of power for most headphones, Even IEM's will work but I suggest you check the volume, so you don't blow your ears off the side of your head, when you start up your favorite song. The last thing you need is being blasted with piano's or bass.



Both output's did not give me any issues at all, no hissing, one warning both will play sound at the same exact time, so if you happen to have another pair of headphones that are easier to drive then the other. Then it be best to remove them, before you use your hungry pair of headphones. That way you wont damage the other pair of headphones. A switch to allow you to select the headphone jack would be useful, so you wont have to unplug headphones.



On the left side of the headphone jacks, is where the volume knob, the Low & High gain and last the input connector. The upper position is for USB, the Mid is for XLR and the bottom is for RCA, the USB is only usable when the dac module is installed, while the other two is for using the Jotunheim as a headphone amp with an outside source. I had some issue with the USB input but due to the drivers, I had to add a hardware ID from an older driver, for the latest ones to install for some odd reason. But other then that, no issues from using the USB input it self.



Speaking of the input's it turns out that even if you're using RCA input, due to the amp design it will still give you true balanced sound, which I found out when I happen to see some one running the jotunheim from an modi multi bit on a forum. I didn't believe it at first til I messaged schiit, what do you know it was true. This is another bonus feature for those who can run balanced with their current non balanced Dacs. Meaning you can plug in any RCA source and still get balanced, due to the differential amp design that the Jotunheim uses.



On the rear of the device you will find the power switch, XLR/RCA Input and output, and the power connection. Like the headphone jacks, both XLR and RCA output's also play audio.



Here something that I did not know, I found out recently that the low and high gain settings don't just effect the headphone jacks, but also effect the XLR and RCA on the rear. I figured it out when I was trying to see what was causing my speakers to output at low volume even at the volume settings on the front of the unit. I gonna guess that the reason this is, is to let you control the power that is being sent to the speaker rather they are passive or active.



The jotunheim does get warm but not burning hot like amp’s or dacs that I own before, I could keep it on for days and it still warm to the touch, it has a nice weight to the unit, it also doesn’t feel or look like it was cheaply made.


Setup

I will be using the USB input of the jotunheim with the latest drivers installed on windows 10. The headphones that I will be using are, The Audio Technica Ath-AVA 400 which is unbalanced, The R70X which is also from AT in unbalanced and balanced and last my speakers the JBL 305’s that will be plugged into the rear XLR connectors.



For music playback I will be using music-bee with it set for ASIO to have bit match playback. The music are in lossless format.




Songs

Gorillaz – Let me Out


Max Cooper & Toms Hodge – Remnants


Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block


Com Truise – Du Zirconia






Headphones





Audio Technica AVA-400


Gorillaz – let me out

The voices are done really well for this headphone, with nice amount of bass behind the voices because of that they are not thin at all. The voices are also projected from the center of me and spread out to the front of me to the sides. The whispers on the sides are heard but there times where they are not, when they are heard its when there isn’t much going on. Due to the bass being too much, they end up getting hidden behind the bass. The separation is good in this song but not perfect.



Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants

Separation in this song is done really good on this headphones, You are able to hear each instrument separately due to them not being overlapped. The sound image comes off as being large with the sound spreading around the channels, sounds spacious in this song, Even with the AVA-400. The piano sound like a piano, you can hear the light and the heavy notes, along with the drum kit that is being played as if you’re standing between them. The only thing is at times when the piano is hit hard, the bass has a slight boom to it, which also includes the low end bass. While there is a bit of brightness in the highs, even tho it has nice amount of details.



Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



This song was selected for its amount of bass and it mid and low bass. The first thing you notice is the mid bass which has a good amount of impact to it, which doesn’t static. The low end bass comes off as hard hitting at times, other times it comes off as being too boomy.



The highs are not that good in this song due to some kind of tinny sound that I hear, and like other songs there is a slight brightness to the song.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



There is a nice airily sound to this song at the start, but right away you can hear the brightness in the highs, its very noticeable but its not super bright, it’s def not smooth, sadly the tinny sound is also still there. While the rest of the song is perfectly fine, The bass hits very hard while having a slight boom to it like a sub-woofer.



Even the snare’s share the same brightness issue and the tinny type of sound. Even through the imaging was very good with space between the sounds.





Audio Technica AT-R70x(Unbalanced)



Gorillaz – let me out



On this headphone I feel like I am sitting in a chair, with the singer in front of me on stage. The whispers almost sound like they’re being spoken into my ears. The claps are heard from the center as well, the bass does a good job going deep, accurate and not bleeding into the other freqs. I find the separation to be good even, there are times where its hard to tell something apart, but its minor.





Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants

Other then being able to hear every thing clearly and clean with good separating and imaging, nothing else sticks out to me. I guess you could say that every thing else is neutral. But it still sound good to me.





Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



The bass sound good, going deep while at the same time hitting hard, the snares and hit hats are detailed, not too much and not bright at all. I feel like the drums set is in front of me. You can hear the guitars as they being played which are not thin including the synth. The sound image is outside of my head.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



The start of the song has an open type of sound with the synth, the bass also goes deep, while still hitting with a bit of an impact. Like the other songs there is no brightness, while having some amount of detail from the snares, as it pans around the channel.



Note: While it did sound good, I feel running the headphone unbalanced is holding it back. Which I notice when I was listening to the other songs it felt off. At times it was a little hard to hear what was going on in some parts of the songs, other times it wasn't.



Audio Technica AT-R70x(Balanced)



Gorillaz – let me out



The first thing I notice is how well every thing songs in compared to the SE output, the singers locations in the song is imaged greatly. I hear each of the different people who are singing separately and cleanly with very good projection of the voices. The whispering even sound like they are besides my head whispering into my ear.



The sound stage comes off as being spacious to me, the bass goes deep with good feeling to the tone. The whole song sounds really good, better then what I ever heard before.



Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants



Every thing sound so clean, the instruments can be heard exactly the way they are being played, with very good spacing. The piano can be heard as you can hear how hard and how soft the keys are being pressed and how fast or slow he releases them. The sound stage is spacious as well, The piano is in front of me and the reverb spreads thru the sides with the drum-kits on my left and right with an overall 3Dish type of sound. Sounds really great to me then before.



Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



Same results as the other songs I tried, very good sound image nice and spacious with great separating. The bass goes deep as well have a nice impact to it, not too much either which is good which means no sub woofer bass any where.. The synthesizers sound great as do the drums including the snares which all have the right amount of detail to them. Even the little spoken words in the song sound just as good as it does in the rest of the songs.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



Same every thing is so clean, clear and really spacious with drums that hits really hard with good impact. Bass goes deep with the hit of the drum kits. The panning of the hit hats can be heard along with the rest of the song with very good detail, nothing is blending in to each other, so the separation is also good..



JBL LSR 305's



Gorillaz – let me out



The voices are really good coming from the center of the sound field, it’s like I sitting in the front row with the image of them singing to me. With the whispers on the side of the channels, which I can hear really well, nice and clear. The lows goes deep and hit hard without any of that muddy or sub-woofer type of bass. Even the voices are not tinny, there isn’t too much bass in the mids. There is no brightness issues any where in the song. None of the singers or the instruments are over lapping each other which is great, as they have their own room.







Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants



The sound field is very spacious in this song while having great separation and details. The drums kit comes across being clean as it heard across the sound field. You can hear how hard and soft the piano is being pressed, including the piano pedal. The imaging is really great in this song. That was the first thing I notice. There nothing wrong I can say about this song as it plays on my JBL 305’s, it sound that good to me. It’s like I am sitting in the front of the piano hitting the notes my self.



Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



The bass hits really hard in this song, with nice impact, the lows goes deep while the mid bass sound really good in the voices and the ambient guitars. The snares sound really clear and detailed and even then, there is no brightness, including the synth but it is a little too detailed in some parts of the song. The low end bass has very good impact to it, while not being muddy. None of the instruments invaded on each other space, each of them can be heard clearly and clean.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



This song also have that type of airily sound that I heard from Remnants including it’s separation and details. The main differences is that you can hear the snares in crazy detail in this song including how hard its being hit and how soft. Also the Bass goes very deep with force, but its not too much force to the point of it going boom or muddy up the sound. It has great amount of impact behind it.



Now there does sound like there is a little too much details in the snares and the synth, but that doesn’t really bother me as I like that amount of detail in my songs. But it might be too much for some people.



Conclusion

Schiit Jotunheim worked very good with the range of different gear that I tried with it rather it was my JBL 305’s, My Audio Technica AVA500’s or my Audio Technica ATH-R70X’s. What surprise me the most is when I connected my R70X to balanced, The amp paired great with the headphones like it was a perfect match.



Now I did have a little problem with the drivers which I fixed by editing the ini, but still after that it worked great. I do wish you could switch between the 6.3 and balanced headphone jack to stop from plugging and unplugging different headphones even going far as being able to mute the jacks, when you’re using the speakers without having to unplug stuff.



Back to the driver’s one major improvement that I can see which can be a benefit to the module, is to move away from C-media and to something else, such as Xmos or some other USB chip, because the drivers is the major downside, That’s really need to be improved.

Other then that my gear sound wonderful which causes me to really enjoy it a lot no regrets at all.