Jotunheim is covered by a 5-year limited warranty that covers parts and labor. And if you don’t like your Jotunheim, you can send it back for a refund, minus 5% restocking fee, within 15 days of receiving it.

By “designed and built in California" this is what we mean: the vast majority of the total production cost of Jotunheim—chassis, boards, transformers, assembly, etc—goes to US companies manufacturing in the US. Our chassis are made minutes from our facility. Our PCBs are done just over the hill from us, or done in NorCal. Our transformers are also made in California. You get the picture.

Unique Fully Discrete Gain Stage Jotunheim's gain stage is a unique, inherently balanced, fully discrete current feedback topology that provides both balanced and single-ended output without the need for splitters or summers. It provides extremely wide bandwidth and excellent measured performance—together with the advantages of constant, low feedback across the entire audio band. What does all this techno-talk mean? In English, excellent performance from all inputs and outputs.

Select high or low gain with the flick of a front-panel switch, for compatibility with both easy-to-drive and hard-to-drive headphones. Select from two different DAC modules, a phono input module, or no module at all to tailor Jotunheim exactly to your needs.

Balanced and single-ended preamp outs mean that Jotunheim is ready for any powered desktop monitor—or to plug into those gigadollar monoblocks you’ve been eyeing.

IEMs? Sure. HE-6? Sure. If this means nothing to you, just be confident that you can plug any headphone into Jotunheim and get great sound, with ultimate power and authority. Balanced or single-ended—it doesn’t matter. With 5W output into 32 ohms from the balanced outputs, Jotunheim has tons of power to spare.

Don’t get stuck with dumpster fodder when DAC technology changes—choose Jotunheim and be ready for today…and the future. Configure Jotunheim to your needs: use it as just an amp, or add an internal DAC or phono preamp. In the future, you’ll be able to easily upgrade to a different module—maybe even something beyond a DAC or phono preamp.

You asked for it—a one-box, do-all, no-excuses desktop system that’s ready for any headphone and powered monitor on the planet. Done. At the same time, why don’t we make the conventional, non-upgradable DAC/amp idea seem, well, a bit outdated? Done and done. Welcome to Jotunheim!

Optional Multibit DAC: USB Input Receiver: C-Media CM6631A D/A Conversion IC: Analog Devices AD5547 Digital Filter: Schiit Comboburrito Time- and Frequency-domain Optimized DSP filter Input Capability: up to 24/192 Analog Output: fully differential, active summing and filtering Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.25dB, 2-100kHz, -3dB THD: <0.005%, 20Hz-20KHz, full scale IMD: <0.006%, CCIR S/N: >109dB, referenced to 2V RMS, unweighted

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 Input Impedance: 50K ohms Gain: 2 (6dB) or 8 (18dB), 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: Multibit DAC, AK4490 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

I thought you guys said you’d never do a DAC/Amp!

This isn’t a DAC/amp. This is a configurable desktop control center.

But if you choose the DAC card, it’s a DAC/amp!

Yep, it is. And if you choose a different card, or no card, it’s a phono/amp or just an amp/preamp. The main point is that it doesn’t have to be a DAC/amp.

I don’t see the difference.

Here’s the difference: buy a DAC/amp that isn’t modular and upgradable, and you’ll be chucking it in the can in a couple of years when digital technology changes. With Jotunheim, you just swap in a new DAC card. Or decide, “heck with it, let’s do phono now.” Or never have a DAC. Or never have a phono. It’s up to you…and it’s updatable for the future…and it’s got a modular slot that, well, who knows what we’ll decide to put in it next?

But you said amp/DACs were inferior!

Nope. We said we didn’t like combined products due to obsolescence, and we didn’t like a noisy DAC section sharing power supplies with an amp. We killed the obsolescence issue with modular architecture, and we’ve gone to huge lengths to isolate the Jotunheim’s amp section from digital noise, including RF-suppressing, 4-layer board layout and multiple isolated, regulated supplies. Boom. Problems solved.

Holy hell, this thing is cheap for a real balanced differential amp/DAC!

Well, maybe not in the grand scheme of things. I mean, you can get a decent laptop for what Jotunheim costs. But yes, we are very proud of the value we’ve been able to pack into Jotunheim. An all-new, proprietary Pivot Point™ differential discrete topology, multiple switchable inputs and preamp outputs, balanced and single-ended headphone outs, a big 27mm Alps 4-gang balanced pot, and an optional differential DAC module with passive filtering. And a ton of power. And a 5-year warranty. And…but we’re getting tedious, aren’t we?

But this is probably a “fake” balanced amp, right, where you convert from balanced to single-ended and back again?

Nope. When we say, “balanced, differential,” we say what we mean, and mean what we say.

Wait a sec, there are a lot of combined amp/DACs out there using op-amps and digital volume, or converting to single-ended internally, or all of the above, that cost a whole lot more than this, right?

Right.

Aaaannd?

And they ain’t Schiit.

So, if we get a DAC module, is this an amp/DAC or DAC/amp? Yes. And how did you achieve this magical no-compromise bullschiit? By not simply sticking a headphone amp chip in a DAC or sticking a half-assed DAC in a headphone amp. Used as a DAC, it operates no differently than Bifrost or Gungnir—but with the added functionality of a volume control, and, of course, a headphone output. So I can use this as just a DAC? Sure. If you get one of the optional DAC modules. What’s the difference between the DAC modules? $100. Sheesh. Besides that, what’s the difference between the DAC modules? Okay, we’ll be serious. You can choose one of two different DAC modules for Jotunheim: Multibit DAC Module. This one uses Schiit’s unique DSP-based digital filter and true multibit DAC architecture, with the AK5547 D/A converter. It’s essentially a Modi Multibit with only USB input.

This one uses Schiit’s unique DSP-based digital filter and true multibit DAC architecture, with the AK5547 D/A converter. It’s essentially a Modi Multibit with only USB input. AK4490 DAC Module. This one uses two AK4490 DACs (hardware-balanced configuration) for excellent measured performance at low cost.

Or can I use it as just an amp?

Yep, you can do that too. You can also use it as a great preamp. And you can even use it as a phono preamp with the phono input card. You just can’t have both DAC and phono at the same time, sorry.

What is this “Pivot Point topology?”

It’s a new, Schiit-proprietary, differential current-feedback topology that provides exceptional performance—low distortion, high bandwidth, inherently balanced output, and the ability to use one side of the topology as a single-ended output, to eliminate the need for summers. It’s also fully discrete, with no op-amps (except the DC servo) or integrated “chip” outputs, and is completely DC-coupled from input to output. It is, quite simply, the highest-performing, most flexible gain stage we’ve ever created. And it’s like nothing else out there.

So it’s not a circlotron?

No. It is inherently differential and balanced, but it is not a circlotron, nor is it supersymmetric. Beyond that, buy one and reverse-engineer it, like any other company with no imagination.

I’m frustrated! I want to know everything about this magic gain stage!

Go to college. Learn engineering. Be nice. Stop by at shows. Then maybe we’ll tell you more.

You’re screwing with me!

Yep. We probably won’t tell you anything, even at shows. Yes, I know, we’re dinosaurs in this open-source age.

Hey, this isn’t the same old Schiit chassis you’ve been using forever. What gives?

Oh, you noticed. This new, more efficient chassis is sleeker than our previous products, isn’t it? It’s also a big part of the Jotunheim’s attractive price. We’re not about putting the same old stuff in bejeweled boxes. In this case, there’s a whole lot of insanely-new-and-cool stuff in a very simple, affordable box.

What’s Jotunheim in Norse mythology?

It’s the land of the giants. Which we believe is very appropriate for this all-new concept. But you tell us…