Schitt Freya problem or Jolida amp problem?

Well, I hope that’s the case, petware. Rather than the Freya maybe it is just something in how the JoLida is wired....maybe. If it "thinks" it’s going to get a balanced signal you can’t also feed it something unbalanced. It won’t take both balanced and unbalanced inputs simultaneously. Can’t say I’ve encountered that with any of my gear so might be something to confirm (or not) by a call to JoLida. Good luck. Hope you can at last get down to enjoying some music and not stressing (I would be) over whether your gear is broken. :-)

Hello petware -
No clue what is going on w/your Freya/Jolida combination. Not sure what help it is but I’m wondering if what Wolf is thinking about is the somewhat cryptic (well, cryptic to me) comment on the Freya Connections page of the owner’s manual:

"Note: Freya does not convert singled-ended to balanced except when using the tube gain stage."

Do you still have the balanced (output?) cables hooked up to the JoLida from the Freya when you try getting signal from Passive or JFET modes via single-ended outputs to the JoLida? I’m wondering if the balanced connection to the JoLida somehow only lets it recognize a balanced signal from the Freya (as it provides in tube mode). 

This is jamming up my brain.

Huh...okay, well then, sounds like you are good to go.  As far as comparisons between balanced vs unbalanced, if the JoLida incorporates true balanced circuity, try living with balanced for a while (a few weeks) then go to unbalanced and play a recording you know well.  Sometimes that's the easiest way for me to hear differences.  Short term listening and quick A/B testing isn't always as helpful.