Schiit JOTUNHEIM User manual

CONFIGURABLE DESKTOP CONTROL CENTER
IN NORSE myThOLOGy, jOTUNhEIm IS ThE LAND OF ThE GIANTS.
OUR jOTUNhEIm ISN’T ExACTLy GIANT IN DImENSIONS.
BUT IT mAy BE GIANT IN ImPACT.
ThE FIRST CONFIGURABLE DESKTOP CONTROL CENTER
mAKES DAC/AmPS SEEm SO “LAST DECADE.”
JOTUNHEIM
OWNER’S mANUAL

Jotunheim is the rst congurable desktop
control center. It combines a highly capable
balanced and single-ended headphone amp and
pre-amp with a modular architecture that allows
you to add a DAC, phono preamp, or any future
modules we come up with. Forget the built-in
obsolescence of other amp/DACs, and enjoy your
time in Jotunheim!
INTRODUCTION
WhAT’S IN ThE BOx
(1) Jotunheim
(1) Power cord
(0) Stick-on feet (they’re pressed in!)
The following is required by the roughly 9,542
government agencies and regulations we have to
comply with. If you have some common sense, they
should seem pretty straightforward. In any case, read these
instructions before proceeding farther, follow all instructions,
and heed all warnings. Or else!
1. If you don’t know how to install audio devices, get a
qualied professional to help.
2. Never use this device near water, and clean only with a
dry cloth.
3. Assure adequate ventilation, do not block any ventilation
openings, or place near heat sources.
4. Use only the supplied power cord or suitable replacement.
Route cords away from trafc areas and protect them from
being pinched. Unplug the cord from the outlet if the apparatus
is unused for a long period of time.
5. To prevent electric shock, do not use the plug with an
extension cord, receptacle, or outlet unless blades can be
fully inserted.
6. Refer all servicing to qualied service personnel. Service is
required when the device has been damaged, including cord or
plug damage, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into
the device, the device has been exposed to rain or moisture,
does not operate normally, or has been dropped.
WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR
ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS DEVICE TO
RAIN OR MOISTURE.

GETTING STARTED
1. If you chose Jotunheim as an amplier only
(no DAC or phono card), simply:
a. Plug it in with the supplied power cord
b. Connect your inputs and outputs (sources,
headphones, powered monitors, power amp, you
know, whatcha got).
c. Turn on the amp, select the correct input, wait
15-20 seconds for the relay protection to engage
the output, and enjoy.
2. If you chose Jotunheim with the optional DAC
card, you’ll also need to connect your source to
the DAC module.
a. Use a high-quality, USB 2.0-rated cable of 2M
or less in length.
b. On some Windows machines, you may
have to install drivers, which are available at
schiit.com/drivers.
3. If you chose Jotunheim with the optional phono
card, you’ll also need to connect your turntable.
a. Using short, high-quality, well-shielded cables,
connect the RCA outputs of your turntable to the
RCA inputs on the Jotunheim.
b. Also connect the turntable ground to the ground
post with a short, sturdy wire.
c. Note that the phono preamp’s gain is xed at
42dB, input impedance is 47k, and load capacitance
is 100pF. The Jotunheim’s phono card will work well
with most moving magnet (MM) cartridges.
ABOUT UPGRADES
Additional cards for Jotunheim may be released
in the future. When this happens, you can return
the Jotunheim to us to have the card installed, or
have it installed by a qualied electronic tech. If
you’d like to be the rst to know about
upgrades as they become available, sign up
on the SPAM link on our site.

5 SE Headphone Jack. Plug in standard head-
phones here (with “standard” being dened as
“most headphones with the typical 1/4” head-
phone plug you recognize, and if you have 1/8”
plug headphones, you can use an adapter.”)
6 Balanced Headphone Jack. Plug in your fancy-
pants balanced headphones here, using a 4-pin
male XLR plug conforming to the K1000 output
jack wiring specication. Ensure no pins are
shorted to each other or tied to ground, or bad
things can happen.
1 Input Switch. If the name wasn’t clue enough,
this selects the input. All the way up for the
internal card (DAC or phono), middle for balanced
input, bottom for SE input. Hint: if you don’t have
a card installed, you won’t hear anything when the
card is selected.
2 Gain Switch. Up is high gain, down is low.
3 Volume Knob. Turn it to the right to make the
music louder. Stop before it hurts.
4 Power On LED. Do we really have to tell you
what this one does?
1 2 3
4
5
6
CONTROLS

5 SE Preamp Output. Connect to powered moni-
tors or a speaker amp with RCA cables.
6 Balanced Preamp Output. Connect to powered
monitors or a speaker amp with XLR cables.
7 On-Off Switch. Up is on. Down is off. Pretty
simple, right?
8 AC Input. Plug the power cord in here. Plug the
other end into an outlet of the correct voltage.
Trying to run a 115V product on 230V will blow
the fuse and generally make for a bad, bad day.
1 Card Input. If you have a module installed, the
input for the module will be here. If you don’t have
a module installed, it will be covered.
2 Ground Lug. If you have a phono card installed,
there will be a ground lug here. Connect to your
turntable ground for minimum hum.
3 Balanced Input. Connect a balanced source
here with XLR cables.
4 SE Input. Connect a standard source here with
RCA cables.
012345678
115VAC 30W
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CONNECTIONS

I hear hum through the headphones,
what do I do to x it?
You may have a ground loop. To x a ground loop,
try a ground loop isolator or an EbTech HumX. If
it’s low-level hum and noise, you can use Lo gain
to reduce it.
There’s no sound for a while after I turn
Jotunheim on.
That’s perfectly normal. Jotunheim delays the
headphone output for 20 seconds after you rst
turn the amp on.
There’s no sound with the input switch
in the top position.
Do you have the optional DAC or phono card? If
you don’t, you won’t get any sound.
Can I leave Jotunheim on all the time?
Yes, you can.
Can I use both headphone outputs
at the same time?
Yes, you can, but be careful—if one pair of head-
phones is very sensitive, and the other is not, you
FAQ
may damage the sensitive pair if you turn it up too
loudly while listening to the other pair.
My Windows computer doesn’t see the DAC card
via USB, what’s up?
You may need to download and install Windows
drivers. Go to schiit.com/drivers to get them.
I installed the USB drivers, but Windows still
doesn’t see the DAC—what’s up?
You may be running into USB port power
management problems, bad cables, or any
number of other things. Go to schiit.com/faq/dac-
problems and schiit.com/faq/usb-problems for
troubleshooting.
I’m having hiss and hum from the phono card,
how do I x that?
Start at schiit.com/faq/phono-problems for
troubleshooting tips.
It doesn’t turn on, what do I do?
Plug it in to a different AC socket. Ensure you are
not currently in a blackout. Then email us if it still
doesn’t work.

Schiit Audio warrants to the original purchaser that this product shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for
ve (5) years from the date of purchase. If a defect covered by this warranty occurs during this period, Schiit Audio will repair
the defective product, free of charge. Date of purchase will be based on customer receipts, otherwise date of manufacturing
will be used.
If you believe you need warranty service, contact us rst. Schiit Audio products sent back to us without a Return Authorization
(RA) will be returned to the sender without repair. To contact us and obtain an RA, email [email protected].
Warranty Limitations. This warranty shall not apply if a product: (a) is modied or tampered with; (b) is damaged by
negligence, accident, unreasonably use, or other causes unrelated to defective materials or workmanship, or (c) has had the
serial number altered or removed.
Any implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability and tness for a particular purpose, are hereby limited in
duration to the warranty period of 2 years. In no event shall Schiit Audio be liable for consequential or incidental damages
resulting from the breach of any implied or expressed warranties. Some states do not allow these limitations, so they may not
apply to you. You may also have other rights which vary from state to state or province to province.
5-yEAR LImITED WARRANTy
Application for Council Directives 72/23/EEC
Conformity declared for EN60065, EN50082-1

SChIIT.COm
[email protected]