SU8 DAC upgrade to Jotunheim DAC?

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
1

Hi guys,

Haven’t had a chance to listen to an SU8 before but I have an opportunity to purchase one.

Wondering whether it would be a significant upgrade over the Ak4490(?) DAC isn’t so good.

Cheers!

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2

The su8 is pretty solid and imo would be an upgrade over the internal 4490 that is in there now, would be more neutral, cleaner, and more detailed with a bit less peaky sound imo. Also imo if you don’t need usb the enog 2 pro is also solid in this price range.

3

I have the Jot with 4490 and SU-8, it’s not a significant upgrade.

4

I think it is an upgrade, but you are correct, it’s not a very large difference. IMO I would just upgrade the amp instead first

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5

Agreed, is the SU-8 an improvement if you can live with it’s somewhat bright ES DAC sound, but the 4490 in the Jot is comparable to most of the entry level options, I think most people would be better off waiting until they afford something definitively better, like a Bifrost2.
I spent and I think a lot of people end up spending a lot of money side grading in the budget space.

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6

It’s pretty easy to have happen with dacs since in the budget realm good dacs end up being more similar than different

I mean before that I would focus on a higher tier amp imo, but yes the bifrost 2 would be a significant upgrade. Something more reasonable for this case might be looking for a used bifrost 1 multibit which tend to be around the 300 range

7

Okay awesome, good things to think about.
Thankyou!

At this moment I’m using the Jot as a Pre more than a headphone amp.
I have a nice balanced DIY hybrid tube amp for my cans and a power amp connected for my speakers.
I enjoy it for that flexibility, but if the inbuilt DAC was holding it back then I would consider upgrading.

8

Not sure whether it is a option but couldnt you upgrade the 4490 internal to the multibit dac card for the Jotunheim…?

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9

The Multibit card is certainly better but, as @M0N points out the bigger question is if the Jot is a keeper, investing more into it now would a more expensive upgrade path later.

10

would not necessarily argue that point… It was just a suggestion.