Here's my comparison between the Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid (MCTH) and Schiit Jotunheim (Jot), arriving at 30 hours of burn-in.
Using Gumby Gen 5, I was using balanced from Gumby to Jot and SE from Gumby to MCTH.
I’ve been mainly listening through HD650 & HD800S.
1. Pairing with HD650 (connected via SE 1/4” plug)
Starting with HD650, the sound from MCTH is very organic and lively. Having been using SS amps all these years, (Asgard, O2, Jotunheim) there's an immediate sensation of sweetness & smoothness on first listening to MCTH. Vocals are incredibly real and full of emotions, emanating waves of sonic pleasures into the space around my head. The bass was a tad soft but in a very relaxing way. One could easily float in this pool of music, liquid music and forget about anything else.Plugging into the Jot, the whole sound signature changes. As if woken up from a dream, everything became more transparent and imminent. The leading edges of sound from different instruments became more apparent, especially from violins. When needed, the edge brings satisfaction to the music and vocals became really clear and pure, opposed to the wave-like presence from MCTH, Jot makes vocals sound like they just happened in space, touching less of the air around it and emanating less into the space. For longer listening sessions or when dealing with recordings of lower quality, however, the slight brightness and analytical characteristics of Jot would become too unforgiving.
MCTH is slightly veiled and dark comparing directly to Jot with less macrodynamic slam and punch, but overall is still resolving enough with the same details.
Being fast with it's transients, micro-details come and go faster on the Jot, while on the MCTH they are more approachable and enjoyable. Because of this, the soundstage is more fulled with delicate sounds spreaded around and overall staging seems to be a bit larger on the MCTH. (Or this might be the effect of the Jot being more focused sounding therefore have a closer imaging)
It's a bit astonishing discovering such radical sound differences between two amps. MCTH makes HD650 sounded kind of STAX-like, showing sweetness and the special liquid glow of electrostatic headphones. Dynamics are a bit compressed yet music became easily enjoyable.
Jot on the other hand brings out HD800-like technicalities to the HD650: powerful sound, precise edge and the best dynamics I've heard from a HD650.
For HD650, I think the MCTH complements the Jot with a different flavor and approach to sound reproduction. Being more used to the macrodynamic slams provided by Jot, I find myself liking the Jot better. But I also know that depending on the mood, there would be times that I'd find Jot to be too aggressive and would want to just chill with the sound of MCTH. I’d rationally argue that Jot brings out a more ‘accurate’ sound, and at the same time, my body tells me that I’m having more of those goosebumps moments from MCTH.
Another thing to note is, I find the MCTH a bit meh for rock and metal, maybe a tad too slow and soft? Especially compared to Jot+HD650 which work wonders for the genre.
2. Pairing with HD800S (connected via 4-pin XLR)
Sound impressions are mostly the same as above. MCTH is softer and sweeter, Jot is more muscular and more transparent.However, being used to the technicalities provided from Jot+HD800S, I'm feeling that the MCTH is somehow pulling down the performance of HD800S. Jot always have the sheer might and strength to pump up the drivers when needed, creating a very full and meaty sound. Especially in movie OSTs or orchestral music, the pair can really pull off speaker like explosives and dynamics. At times the MCTH is too gentle and becomes chaotic when music gets busy. There are even times that the midrange to lower treble suffer from graininess because of the drivers are not driven by enough force.
While the much lighter, wetter touch of edges from MCTH is beneficial to HD650, creating a dream-like experience, for HD800S it actually sounded a tad smeared over and takes away the high-definition capabilities of the headphone. In fact, to my astonishment, I found a lot of songs that HD650 actually out-performed HD800S when using MCTH.
There's something really magical about the pairing of Gumby+Jot+HD800S that I've noticed from the first time I set up this combination: Very holographical, realistic and true to life sound recreation. Not only the music feels right, but also the air and atmosphere sounds right. Sometimes even the noise in the room sounds right and you can sense the absent of it and feel that someone/something is present in the recording studio not making a sound but blocking certain noises.
Changing anything in the chain would always break the spell and the MCTH is no exception. There's such a serious synergy between Gumby+Jot+HD800S that I can't live without.
Without knowing Jot, I’d say the MCTH is a pretty nice pair for the HD800S, especially at the price point. I wouldn’t notice anything missing listening exclusively to MCTH. But once compared directly to Jot, I’d say Jot holds the upper hand.
Conclusions:
- For HD650, the MCTH is an insane value amp that I’d say performance is on par with Jot with a different approach in sound reproduction.
- For HD800S, the MCTH is ok, but I love my Jot.
- Jot + HD800S = Gumby magic instruments.
- MCTH + HD650 = unprepared goosebumps.
