Very interesting review! I will take some time to digest this.
Iāve spent a good part of the day with the Jnog paired with the Erish and using the HD650ās. I donāt have all the fancy adjectives and nomenclature to describe what I hear, but this is what I can say.
The pairing is warm (but not too warm), clean and smooth.
What I reference the Geshelli stack against for comparison is a stack of Schiit. I like Schiit. I have the Modi multibit, Magni 3, Loki and a Jotuenheim with the multibit DAC module. With Schiit I would say it is neutral, almost cool, clean and even sterile.
Itās difficult for me to articulate what I am hearing as differences, but I like the Geshelli stack a bit more than my Schiit stack. Itās a different sound, not better or worse per se, but different in a way that I like it better.
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Your description seems pretty clear to me. Well done and keep it coming!
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Anyone else paired this up with an RNHP ? Or any rough comparisons to the Bifrost2 (I know thatās kinda an apples & oranges story)
Iām very tempted by the JNOG (or Modius) as a stepping stone from E30/Modi3 to the āendgameā Bifrost2 / RNHP pairing.
The Bifrost2 cost is just a bit too far right now.
You and I are in the exact same boat friend. Iām curious about pairing this with the RNHP. I canāt quite swing for the BF2 but I want to know if the JNOG is worth spending to move past the entry level DACs and if it has good synergy with the RNHP. The Allo Revolution is also on my list at a similar price point and Iāve been told it pairs well with the RNHP.
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Ha! From the in depth descriptions on the JNOG above I am leaning towards yes. Thank you btw @Raimei-Templar for the in depth writeup.
However! itās always good to have a few descriptions to cross reference, although at the same time FOMO, limited edition and all that shiteā¦
Yea the ALLO Revolution came recommended to me too but is out for me as itās USB only.
soooā¦what differentiates the JNOG from the ENOG, aside from it adding USB input?
Feck it, just ordered a JNOG, Itāll take a while to get here, but Iāll post notions about it & RNHP when I get it.
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Sorry for the late replies guys. Iāve been working on the reviews. The Erish review is at 1,600 words, but Iām just about done with it. The JNOG is next. Iām listening to them both nowā¦lol
To answer your question the RNHP sounds absolutely fantastic with the JNOG, even better than the ENOG. As a single-ended combo, I think it will rank with some of the best, especially for the price.
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Unicorn Tearsā¦ or Pixie Dustā¦
$hit something magicalā¦lol
Ok, Iāve told this story before and it is in the reviews as well.
Iāve had the Erish for a few months and my initial thoughts were that it was good but nothing special. Not what I was expecting from Geshelli especially compared to their other amps. I tired different headphones etc but something still sounded off.
I contacted Geshelli and Geno recommended that I test the Erish against the JNOG. The ENOG just wasnāt enough for the Erish, it was out running the ENOGā¦
I know that sounds nuts, if you own an ENOG you know just how amazing it really is. Anyway a few days later the JNOG arrived for testing.
What in the actual #^$(#&%
How could a DAC make such a huge difference. Jaw dropping good.
FLAC> JNOG> ERISH> Focal Clear = the most transparent combo Iāve ever heard. It sounds just like what I imagine the artist and sound engineer intended.
I love the ENOG 2> RNHP> focal clears but the JNOG> Erish might have it beat.
Of course one is a single ended setup and the other is balanced.
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I just realized I didnāt explain the actual differenceā¦lol
Iām not super versed in all the technical details from that I understand the DAC chips are a slightly better model and the circuit design is more focused on the balanced output and the single-ended is a completely different circuit on the same board. The USB is a separate module optional module from Amanero. Looking at the cost on their website I think Geshelli is adding/ selling them at cost or really close to cost.
Had some time so tried comparing the RCA outs of the JNOG to the RCA outs of the Modius and wellā¦I cant tell them apart lol. I would say they are effectively identical, so if you are only going to use RCA just pick the one that looks cooler to you!
Personally I would recommend just getting a Modi 3+ if you are only going to use RCA though as now that it has the Unison USB its roughly 99% as good as the Modius RCA.
JNOG and Modius XLR outputs are a solid upgrade to something like the Modi though IMO, so they are a great value as long as you have a amp that accepts XLR.
AS for the difference with the ENOG and the JNOG, the main difference is the output stage now uses the much better OPA 1656 op amps as opposed to the 1642 the ENOG used. These are the same op amps used in the Erish and Archel 2.5. The JNOG also has separate single ended and XLR output stages which should improve performance. I had a ENOG last year but its been so long I cant say how much better the JNOG is unfortunately.
I do have some minor nitpicks with the JNOG, the biggest one being that the xlr outputs do not match the XLR inputs of the Archel 2.5, the Left and right are reversed, so I must cross the xlr cables to connect them. Its not anything that is a serious issue but I would prefer that they match since they are intended to be a stack. The other minor gripe is that the connector on the Amenero USB board is a little wobbly. This isnt Geshellis fault as they didnt make it and I havent had any issues with dropouts but would have preferred it be a more snug connection.
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Does this do Native DSD [without internal PCM conversion]? A lot of stuff claims to be Native, but does PCM conversion for volume control, etc. Thanks!
Just talked with Geno about this. Apparently, yes it is native bit-perfect DSD. Prob gonna snag one.
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To add to the DSD commentary, this is a excellent DSD dac. I have a version of Thriller DSD that most dacs for whatever reason cannot play but the JNOG plays it with no issues and it sounds great. This is the first AKM based dac I had that was actually able to play it.
I was only ever able to get Burr Brown based IFI/TEAC dacs to play the album before. None of the topping stuff nor the Burson Playmate (both 1 and 2) were able to.
Not sure what is up with this particular version (got it from Acoustic Hi Res) but its served as a great test for DACs!
It is not doing any kind of conversion as far as I can tell as its REAL LOUD compared to PCM, so it seems to be in native format.
The JNog also wins the honor of being THE ONLY dac I ever had which was able to do DSD x8 Native conversion with JRiver. Jriver has the ability to convert anything on the fly to native DSD 512 but every dac I ever tried (even ones who claimed DSD512 COUGH TOPPING/BURSON COUGH) were not able to do this.
So I would say its got all your DSD needs covered and then some!
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Looks like theyāre temporarily sold out for a few weeks while they wait for more USB units. Anyone have one theyāre looking to get rid of? Thanks!
Would these be considered āTrue Balancedā even though they use a single AKM chip? I know there are dual op-amps, though so I think it might be?
BTW, I had gotten a Topping D70, but only after contatcting their customer service did I find out that, no, even if you bypass volume control, it is not native DSD as it is internally converted to PCM and back to DSD. Only newer DACs by them [E30, D70s, D90] have this feature, which is a shame bc I wouldāve kept the D70 if it could do true native DSD.
Yes the Jnog is fully differential (balanced). The AKM 4493 is actually inherently differential, no need for two of them. Having two of them would be a ādual-monauralā setup which would theoretically if implemented perfectly have a slightly higher SNR but there is no real need for it on a practical level. It is confusing but balanced( differential) and dual-monaural are not the same thing.
AKM4493 is actually able to drive both a differential and single ended stage at the same time which is why both the JNOG and the Modius have separate output stages for single ended and balanced. This enables you to use both at the same time without any degradation in performance. Pretty nice as you can get 2 amps and have two people able to listen at the same time. Nice if you have a friend/spouse who wants to watch movies or music with you at PC.
Have to amend my previous statements over not being able to tell apart the RCA outputs as I decided to try them off the Schiit Asgard 3 rather than the Archel (its RCA inputs are just ok IMO) and now I can tell them apart. The JNOGs RCA is just straight better than the Modius one IMO. Still think you should go XLR to get the most out of both, but JNOG RCA is actually really good. Really nice with the Asgard 3. Gap between its RCA and XLR is much smaller than the Modius.
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EDIT: FOUND. 